State Incarceration
Critical Analysis
There were more than 1.2 million people in prison in the United States in 2020, according to data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics. According to the interactive map above, as of 2020, what state had the highest rate of incarceration (number of prisoners per 100,00 people)?
According to the interactive map above, as of 2020, what was the rate of incarceration (number of prisoners per 100,00 people) in your beautiful state?
According to the interactive map above, as of 2020, what region of the U.S. had the lowest rate of incarceration and what region of the U.S. had the highest rate of incarceration?
What do you think accounts for the difference in incarceration rates for these two regions?
State governments spent a combined $55 billion on corrections in 2020, with most of the spending going toward operating state-run prisons. Spending per prisoner varies widely across states, from about $18,000 per prisoner in Mississippi to $135,978 per prisoner in Wyoming in 2020. States spent an average of $45,771 per prisoner for the year. How does this illustrate the concept of federalism?
Based on the data from the visual below* how much does your state spend per prisoner every year?
My state, North Carolina (North 'Cackalacky'), spends $10.22 K per student per year in K-12 education. At the same time, NC spends 52.88K per inmate per year. How much does your state spend on education per pupil every year?
Make a claim about the appropriate ratio of spending on education versus incarceration.
Most states leave the operation of jails to county and city law enforcement agencies. Jails hold people awaiting trial or those with sentences of less than one year. An inmate is transferred to a state-run prison after being convicted of a felony with a sentence of one year or longer. The U.S. penal population (people in jail + people in prison) of 2.2 million adults is by far the largest in the world. Just under one-quarter of the world's prisoners are held in American prisons. We’re number one! Identify some of the main causes of the growth in the U.S. prison population?
Americans spend a lot of money on incarceration. Explain why most politicians do not make reduction of prison population a big part of their policy platform.
Learning Extension
Learn about incarceration in your state and share what you learned in class or online.
Action Extension
Contact your governor (state warden-in-chief) and express your opinion spending on your state prison versus educational systems.