STOCKADE

World's Biggest Prison

ASK YOURSELF: Are Americans more criminal than people in other nations? Of
course not. So why is America the world's foremost stockade, locking up a
much-higher ratio of citizens than other advanced nations?

One possible explanation is that America, descended from Puritans, is more
punitive-minded than other lands. Or perhaps it's America's latent racism,
which lurks behind the relentless prosecution of blacks.

Whatever the reason, the grim fact is that 2.2 million Americans currently
are behind bars - an incarceration rate five to 10 times higher than in
most modern countries. U.S. taxpayers shell out $40 billion a year to keep
so many confined in steel cages.

The U.S. Justice Department just reported that violent crimes and property
crimes have dropped to record lows. Lock-'em-up advocates undoubtedly will
contend that this happy news is a direct result of keeping 2.2 million
criminals off the streets.

However, Vincent Schiraldi, president of the Justice Policy Institute in
Washington, says this explanation doesn't hold water. U.S. regions with the
highest incarceration rate are suffering increased murders, he noted -
while regions with less imprisonment have less violent crime.

Washington Post columnist William Raspberry, who is black, outlined the
horrible racial aspect: Among adult black males, 16.6 percent have been
jailed, compared to 7.7 percent of Hispanic males and 2.6 percent of white
males. Sadly, the black trend is worsening so badly that nearly one-third
of African American boys born in 2001 are expected to spend some time
behind bars.

More than half of all federal prisoners were convicted on dope charges.
Their lives were wrecked because of America's blue-nosed values that
legalize alcohol and tobacco, yet attribute great evil to leaves from coca
and marijuana bushes.

The Justice Policy Institute says the foremost indicator of criminal
behavior is lack of education. Among black males who drop out of high
school, more than half eventually spend time in jail. Yet Bush
administration cutbacks are wounding education. "Schools are facing the
largest budget shortfalls since World War II," Schiraldi said.

Education, which can reduce crime, is being crimped to save money - yet
taxpayers must spend $40 billion a year on imprisonment. Even the
uneducated can do enough arithmetic to see the flaw in this formula.