Our Prison System Today

Contained in these statistics are not just "numbers", but human beings; husbands, wives, brothers, friends and now, even children under the age of 18.

It is not our purpose to criticize the penal system in our country, but to make everyone who visits this site a bit more knowledgeable as to the circumstances and concerns surrounding the present inmate population.

Perhaps you will stop and think, for a moment, on the obvious inconsistencies apparent in these figures, and also the impact they have on certain populations in our society. Of course, the destruction caused by drug related crimes in young people is of utmost concern to MPM.

When any one sect of our humanity is affected to such a degree, so is all of society changed, including you!

•     Approximately 97% of the men and women in prison WILL RETURN to society. Of these 97%, between 78%and 93% will RETURN to prison in the first year of their parole. Of this percentage most will go back in their first six months. (Fed. Bureau of Prisons, or BOP)

•     There are nearly 2 million inmates in the US.

•     We spend an average of $100million a year on new prisons.

•     Most prisons are overcrowded and dangerous; inmates sleep on floors, in tents, converted broom closets and gymnasiums, or are crowded to 4x the capacity for the cell.

•      240,000 brutal rapes occur in prison each year; victims are young, nonviolent male inmates, most are teenagers.

•      61% of prisoners are serving time for drug related crimes.  In most prisons, drug problems are not addressed.

•      African-Americans and Latinos comprise over 94% of the drug offenders in prison.

•      74% of the public polled, would choosetreatment over jail/prison for those convicted of drug possession.

•      Kathleen Sawyer, Director of BOP, states : "the Bureau’s growth since the mid-1980's has been the result of the    Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 (which established determinate sentencing, abolished parole, and reduced good time) and mandatory minimum sentences enacted in 1986, 1988, and 1990. From 1980 to 1989, the inmate population more than doubled, from over 24,000 to almost 58,000. During the 1990's, the population more than doubled again, reaching 140,000 in early 2000."

•      The Federal Prison System incarcerates now: 134,000 males,10,000 females

•       The average age is 37

•      83,000 are white; 56,000 black, 2,000 Asian & Native American

•      Drug offenders are 58% or 63,000 of the inmates compared to robbery and fraud etc., which are about 8,000.

•     Sentences of less than 1 year are under 2,000. Sentences for 5-10 years are 33,000 and 10-15yrs. at 21,500. 3,285 are lifers.

•      Population Growth:

               In 1970 the total population was 21,000

               In 2000 the total population was 122,750

·       Drug offenders in 1970 were 3,384  (16.3%)

·       Drug offenders in 2000 were 63,621 (56.9%)

The obvious conclusion is that the increase in drug related crimes and the practice of strict sentencing for these crimes, has created the current crisis within our present prison system, with no relief in sight.   However, the “real” problem is not the drug, but rather the THINKING behind the drug. Change the WAY one thinks and the sedation is no longer needed.

Hence, a reduction in crime based on the changing of one’s mind, bringing the “crisis” under control.