Almost 10% of All Prisoners Are Now Serving Life Terms

[CShine]

Almost 10 percent of all inmates in state and federal prisons are serving life sentences, an increase of 83 percent from 1992, according to a report released yesterday by the Sentencing Project, a prison research and advocacy group. In two states, New York and California, almost 20 percent of inmates are serving life sentences, the report found. The increase is not the result of a growth in crime, which actually fell 35 percent from 1992 to 2002, the report pointed out. Instead, it is the result of more punitive laws adopted by Congress and state legislatures as part of the movement to get tough on crime, the report said.

The jump in the number of inmates serving life sentences imposes large costs on states, about $1 million for each inmate who serves out his full sentence behind bars, said Marc Mauer, the assistant director of the Sentencing Project and an author of the study. This is a heavy burden on taxpayers at a time when most states are facing record budget deficits and many states are searching for ways to cut prison costs.

The great majority of prisoners serving life sentences, now totaling 127,677, have been convicted of a violent offense, with 68.9 percent convicted of murder, the report found.

But, Mr. Mauer said, "the very broad application of life sentences has blurred the distinction between what is a really serious crime deserving a life sentence and some crimes where there is less culpability." For example, he said, 4 percent of those serving life sentences were convicted of drug crimes and 3.9 percent of property crimes, and a sizable number were battered women who killed their husbands after they themselves had been beaten.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/12/national/12prison.html

[mmm]

1. I would never have guessed that

That's alarming

[DBoon]

2. Prison is now our welfare system

Think of it as the ultimate way to degrade those on the dole

[saigon68]

6. sorry for the repost this is imporatant



http://www.correctionscorp.com/

CCA specializes in the design, building and management of prisons, jails and detention facilities
and providing inmate residential and prisoner transportation services in partnership with
government.
The company is the sixth largest corrections system in the nation, behind only the federal
government and four states.
CCA is the founder of the private corrections industry and is the nation’s largest provider of jail,
detention and corrections services to governmental agencies.
CCA has approximately 65,000 beds in 64 facilities, including 38 owned facilities, under contract
for management in 20 states and the District of Columbia.
The company manages more than 62,000 inmates including males, females and juveniles at all
security levels and does business with all three federal corrections agencies, almost half of all
states, and more than a dozen local municipalities.
CCA continues its market leadership position in the corrections industry managing over 50% of
all beds under contract with private operators in the United States.



CCA joined the NYSE in 1994 and now trades under the symbol CXW.

http://www.shareholder.com/cxw/

FROM THEIR WEBSITE

WHY DO BUSINESS W/CCA

By partnering with CCA to manage a portion of a government corrections system's inmate
population, federal, state and county agencies can reduce expenses, avoid untimely capital
expenditures, increase their flexibility in addressing fluctuations in inmate populations, and
improve the quality of inmate programs that are fundamental to the rehabilitation process. CCA is
the nation's largest owner and operator of privatized correctional and detention facilities and one
of the largest prison operators in the world. Four factors set CCA apart in the minds of
corrections and government leaders: performance; experience; flexibility; and value.



An estimated two million individuals are incarcerated in our county today and the inmate
population growth continues to rise between 3 and 5 percent annually. More than 12 percent of
all federally sentenced offenders and approximately 6 percent of state prisoners are currently
managed by a privately-operated corrections management company - and those figures are
growing

[northofdenali]

3. One statistic not included, that I'd be very interested to know....

Is how many of that 10% serving life are minorities.

[NutritionFacts]

4. If you want those stats

look at the state prisons for the real shockers.

[saigon68]

7. A Lot




http://www.correctionscorp.com/ccahistory.html


Houston Processing Center (1984)
Houston Processing Center was CCA’’s first design, build and manage contract from the U.S.
Department of Justice for the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (formerly the
Immigration and Naturalization Service) in Texas. Construction was underway on the Houston
Processing Center in Texas when the INS notified CCA that it needed housing for detainees
earlier than expected –– in January. Co-founders Tom Beasley and Don Hutto went to Houston
to find a motel to temporarily house detainees. The owner of the local Olympic Motel agreed to a
90-day lease. After a team of contractors cleaned and secured the facility, an INS inspection team
approved the facility for use by 86 detainees, scheduled to arrive at 11:00 p.m. on Super Bowl
Sunday. Hutto bought toiletries at Wal-Mart with his American Express card, produced photo ID
cards and rolled fingerprints, while other corporate officers distributed sandwiches and helped
security staff escort detainees to their living quarters. CCA’’s Houston Processing Center opened
a few months later, in March 1984, and remains in operation for BICE today.

[robbob]

5. Wonder how many of those

fall under the "three stikes you're out" type of legislation?

[noonwitch]

10. I wonder how many are violent offenders and how many are drug lifers?

In some states, including Michigan, you can get life for possession with intent to deliver a large quantity of heroin or cocaine.

[Kolesar]

8. In Ohio, the prison guard association lobbies against shorter sentences

Ohio tried to solve the budget crisis by closing a prison and they began lobbying to keep people behind bars.

Ohio's prison population has gone from 21000 to 49000 since the 1980s.

[colonel odis]

9. but on the bright side, free labor at the call centers for years to come!

(do i have to say that was sarcasm?)