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Mass incarceration in the United States has created numerous environmental justice concerns, including both the environmental footprint of prisons and incarcerated individuals' exposure to environmental harm. Prisons around the United States contribute to the water contamination of surrounding bodies of water. [344]
On January 1, 2008 more than 1 in 100 adults in the United States were in prison or jail. [7] [8] Total U.S. incarceration peaked in 2008. [5] The U.S. incarceration rate was the highest in the world in 2008. [4] It is no longer the highest rate. [9] The United States has one of the highest rates of female incarceration. [10]
Total U.S. incarceration (prisons and jails) peaked in 2008. Total correctional population peaked in 2007. [14] If all prisoners are counted (including those juvenile, territorial, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) (immigration detention), Indian country, and military), then in 2008 the United States had around 24.7% of the world's 9.8 million prisoners.
It's no surprise that incarceration in the United States is a complex issue. The nation currently leads the world with 2.2 million people serving in jails or prisons.
In the Huffington Post piece "Mass Incarceration's Failure", attorney Antonio Moore states "The incarceration rate for young black men ages 20 to 39, is nearly 10,000 per 100,000. To give context, during the racial discrimination of apartheid in South Africa, the prison rate for black male South Africans, rose to 851 per 100,000."
The amount of money spent on mass incarceration annually could be allocated to other areas of need, such as public safety or the reduction of crime. [13] Every year, $182 billion is spent on mass incarceration. Within that total, approximately $81 billion is spent on public corrections agencies and about $63 billion on policing. [13]
More than 160 leaders directly impacted by incarceration and criminalization have sent a letter to Vice President Harris calling on her to create a campaign platform that addresses mass incarceration.
The mass incarceration of drug users is viewed as a waste of taxpayer money by drug reform advocates. The United States spends over $51 million yearly on the war on drugs. Organizations that focus on reform such as the Sentencing Project and Campaign Zero also claim that the likelihood of imprisonment for drug related charges is racially disparate.