U.S. 'Correctional Population' Hits New High

From the NY Times:

The report found that there were 691,301 people in local and county jails and 1,387,269 in state and federal prisons last year, for a total of 2,078,570. That was an increase of 3.9 percent in the jail population and 2.3 percent in the prison population.

At the same time, the report said, there were 4,073,987 Americans on probation at the end of last year, an increase of 1.2 percent from the end of 2002, and 774,588 on parole, up 3.1 percent.

That's 6.9 million, or 3.2 percent of the population. This is the system the Bushies thinks should be exported. Not only is it controlling these 6.9 million, but it serves as a reminder to the rest of us how easy it is for the cops to plant drugs in your car. Meanwhile, the real criminals like Bush and Cheney, responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands, not only go unpunished but are actually rewarded.