Senator Jim Webb (D-VA.) called the U.S. prison system disgraceful because it costs billions of dollars and diminishes millions of lives. In the past, criminal justice reform was a matter politicians routinely ignored, as being “tough on crime” was a method of ensuring votes from constituents. However, as constituents decried high taxes, and became aware of the high cost of incarceration, politicians began to propose a different option.
With a bi-partisan team co-sponsoring the new committee, there is a very good chance criminal justice reform will be successful, according to Senator Webb. Analyzing statistics from the Congressional Research Service, the committee found that the U.S. has an incarceration rate five times higher than any country on earth. This rate is extraordinary since the U.S. makes up only five percent of the world’s population, but accounts for twenty- five percent of the world’s prison population, 2,380,000 people.
The Congressional Research Service also found disturbing statistics concerning racial minorities. In America black males have a thirty-two percent chance of being incarcerated at some time in their life. Hispanic males face a seventeen percent chance, and white males only a six percent chance. Although they make up only twelve percent of the U.S. population, forty-two percent of those on death row are black.
The racial disparities are not limited to black males. Black females were found to have the highest incarceration rate among American women. A black female is four times more likely to be imprisoned than a white woman. According to a May 18, 2010 IPS News story , some of the reasons for such a disparate number between black and white prisoners include the practice of racial profiling by some police departments, and a tendency for black males and females to receive longer and severer sentences compared to other races.
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