Prison Camp America

Today, the news came that the United States Court of Appeals in Sacramento, California, has ordered the state government of Governor Schwarzenegger to free 40.000 prisoners, an estimated 25% of the total prison population of that state. The immediate cause is the immense overcrowding in the prisons, which even after implementation of the measure would operate at 137.5% of capacity, and currently operates at almost 200%. (1) This is however not an isolated phenomenon. The United States has the largest prison population in the world, not just in absolute numbers (some 2 million), but also relative to population. It significantly surpasses such bulwarks of freedom as China and Russia, and according to official statistics, even North Korea. Blacks but also Hispanics in the United States are disproportionately part of this burgeoning prison population, and in fact more so than in the past, indicating a ferocious war against the American underclass and especially its minority members that has been going on since the 1960s. The black imprisonment is now seven times higher than the white one, whereas during the days of segregation and the civil rights movement, this was four times. (2) Continue reading “Prison Camp America”