[TruthTalk] Land of the Free

[Marlin halverson]

"Land of the Free Just some interesting factoids here: In 1923 there were only 61 prisons in the entire United States. Today, there are literally thousands. In many states upto as much as 30--78 percent of the counties have at least one prison.  I read an article by Paul Craig Roberts on America and its prisons. I quote a small portion here: "The US has a unique distinction: It is the world’s greatest prison state.  The US, "the land of the free," has the biggest prison population in the world and the highest rate of prisoners per capita of all countries – including countries that President Bush believes need liberating by US armed forces. Even China, with one party rule and a population that is 4.5 times larger than the US population, has 30% fewer total prisoners than the US. China’s per capita rate is a small fraction of the US rate.  The US prison population per capita is three times higher than "axis of evil" country Iran, five times higher than Tanzania, and seven times higher than a civilized European country like Germany.  One out of every 142 Americans is in prison – and this does not include military prisons or INS jails. ... Between 1980 and 2000, a period during which the US population grew by 21%, the number of state and federal inmates soared by 312%." http://www.truthontheweb.org /NwsClpz/051504.html