The American Prison System
by Derrick Hale

As of June 2002, the prison population in the country had exceeded 2,000,000 inmates, the highest it has ever been. The current rate of incarceration is 702 persons per 100,000. The current population is growing at a rate the prison system cannot keep up with.

The average cost to house one inmate for one year is $24,000, compared to around $7000 per non-collegiate student5. Statistics show that the majority of criminals come from low income families who are poorly educated. Emphasis should be placed on equal education across the board. When you have a more educated population, crime rates decrease and jail costs go down and more money can be funneled back into education. We must focus on preventing crime not punishing crime!

Children who live in these poor rural and urban school districts have the lowest test scores among fellow students and a high rate of being convicted of a crime. The connection between education and crime is obvious, uneducated equals? jail time. The Youth Corps of America, Inc. programs usually cost less than $25,000 per year. That is the cost of only one incarcerated person per year. We teach well over 20 youth per year in only one program, figure out the difference and make a contribution today. Prevention works.