The stats you cite below seem to add up to a noncorrelation between incarceration and crime, which certainly doesn't surprise me. What am I missing?
It's gratifying to see that NY State has reduced its prison 'population'. Some of that reduction is certainly due to a growth in 'work release' programs and other forms of virtual incarceration, which set severe limits on the liberty of the felon but don't cost the state nearly as much. (They can't have cell phones, I recently discovered. That will probably change as soon as Verizon finds out about it.)
On Tue, 27 Mar 2012 01:45:19 +0200 Joseph Catron <jncatron at gmail.com> wrote:
> In fairness, Florida has both more prisoners and less crime, making it
> parallel to neither example.
>
> http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2010-03-17/live/fl-state-prison-population-20100317_1_prison-population-prison-count-additional-inmates
> http://www.theledger.com/article/20111222/EDIT01/111229822
>
> You can see a quick breakdown of the state inmate population by "Top 10
> Offenses" here:
>
> http://www.dc.state.fl.us/oth/Quickfacts.html
>
> It's a mix of violence, drugs, burglary, weapons, and "Lewd and Lascivious
> Behavior." (By the standards of my current environment, I think
> three-quarters of Miami's population could be convicted of that one!)
>
> On Tue, Mar 27, 2012 at 12:18 AM, Dennis Claxton <ddclaxton at earthlink.net>wrote:
>
> > Michael Smith wrote:
> >
> > Any one loon like George Zimmerman is a lot more dangerous than any
> >> number of potheads or turnstile- jumpers or deadbeat dads or
> >> graffiti-painters.
> >>
> >
> >
> > Much talk against prison policy is unconvincing because people don't know
> > what they're talking about. Or, to be kind, they don't have the latest
> > info. You're in New York right? I ask because what you say here gives a
> > false impression of what's going on there:
> >
> > http://www.aclu.org/**infographic-safety-numbers-**
> > prison-population-statistics-**new-york-vs-indiana<http://www.aclu.org/infographic-safety-numbers-prison-population-statistics-new-york-vs-indiana>
> >
> > August 15, 2011
> >
> > In the last decade, New York drastically reduced its prison population and
> > at the same time experienced a huge drop in crime. Indiana, on the other
> > hand, drastically increased its prison population — and consequently the
> > burden to taxpayers — while seeing a much smaller drop in crime than the
> > national average.
> >
> > graphic here:
> >
> > https://www.aclu.org/files/**drugpolicy/safetyinnumbers.pdf<https://www.aclu.org/files/drugpolicy/safetyinnumbers.pdf>
> > ______________________________**_____
> > http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/**mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk<http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk>
> >
>
>
>
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Michael J. Smith mjs at smithbowen.net
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