More ideas about what is free...

-The United States has the highest incarceration rate per capita in the world

-In 2007, over 7.3 million people were on probation, in jail or prison, or on parole at yearend- that's 3.2% of all U.S. adult residents or 1 in every 31 adults.

-Prison incarceration rates are about 8 times higher for blacks than whites

-By the late 90's, about two-thirds of all state prison inmates were black or Hispanic

-More than 55% of federal inmates are sentenced for non-violent drug offenses

-The comparative death rate that results from legal versus illegal drug use is relatively 50 to 1

-18 to 24-year-old male high school dropouts had an incarceration rate 31 times that of males who graduated from a four-year college. Young black males with no high school diploma are 60 times more likely to end up behind bars

-From 1977-1995, U.S. prison spending increased by 823% while spending on higher education went up by only 374%

-It costs around $30,000 a year to incarcerate one person

-It costs over $3 billion a year to incarcerate drug offenders

(...some facts to ponder...)

Sources: Bureau of Justice Statistics; U.S Census Bureau; Invisible Punishment by Maurer and Chesney-Lind; SF Gate Prison vs. education spending reveals California's priorities, Harris; Strike the Root The War on Humanity, Wasdin