Why are there so many people in the US jails?

another reason could be that states that are not experiencing higher levels of crime feel no need to incarcerate criminals at higher rates.

Originally posted by zeeblebot
http://www.podval.org/~sds/jails.html

Why are there so many people in the US jails?

The US jail population as a proportion of the general national population is the largest in the developed world.

Why?

I can think of three explanations:

Socialism
US has too little socialism (welfare etc) to keep the underclass (i.e., the people who do n ...[text shortened]... cing guidelines
US sentencing guidelines are much stricter than in other countries.

...

That's not all the link says! Why did you leave out the bit about the failure of the mental health system?

Originally posted by sh76
And, of course, by "happiness" you can only be referring to bong hits and the like. Correct?

For some people; for some that's medicine.

Originally posted by sh76
That's an interesting article; I'll read it later.

But just as a matter of common sense, how could keeping the criminals in prison for longer NOT reduce crime?

There's a segment of population which has adjusted to the fact that it's going to be spending quite a bit of time in jail for stupid reasons, and has decided to use that time as a crime training camp.

Okay; I think I see what you're (DrKF) getting at regarding the harsher sentencing rules perhaps not being a deterrent on others.

But the point of incarceration is not just deterrence. It is incapacitation also. If harsher sentencing decreases crime through incapacitation rather than deterrence, does it really matter?

There are good reasons to reduce sentence lengths and lighten punishments in general. But, I don't think that the fact that these sentences work to reduce crime through incapacitation rather than deterrence is one of them.

Originally posted by zeeblebot
http://www.podval.org/~sds/jails.html

Why are there so many people in the US jails?

The US jail population as a proportion of the general national population is the largest in the developed world.

Why?

I can think of three explanations:

Socialism
US has too little socialism (welfare etc) to keep the underclass (i.e., the people who do n ...[text shortened]... cing guidelines
US sentencing guidelines are much stricter than in other countries.

...

Privatised jails.
If you're running prison for a profit (like using them as back-offices for banks and plane-companies), justice very quickly comes second to pleasing share holders.

That and you're locking away school kids for having food fights and adult women for smoking marijuana...

Originally posted by sh76
[b]Between 1991 and 1998, those states that increased incarceration at rates that were less than the national average experienced a larger decline in crime rates than those states that increased incarceration at rates higher than the national average.

Okay, contest: Who was able to read that sentence and understand it the first time through? Whoever was wins a virtual Snapple. 😉[/b]

i think i did, but probably i was adding the context that DrK likely would not have posted the opposite.