P R I S O N S T A T I S T I C S
SOURCES :
- Human Rights
- Watch Punishment And Prejudice
- Us Dept. Of Justice
- Federal Judicial Center 1992
- Bureau Of Justice Statistics
- The Sentencing Project
- Critical Resistance
- The Dark Alliance
- War On Drugs
- Federal Bureau Of Prisons
VOTER DISENFRANCHISEMENT
33 states prohibit felons to vote while on parole/ 29 states prohibit felons on probation
7 states permanently prohibit felons from voting even after they have completed the terms of parole: Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Virginia, Kentucky, Iowa, Nebraska
2 states allow felons to vote while in prison: Vermont and Maine
1.5 million black men have lost their right to vote
WOMEN
Over 70% of women incarcerated are for non-violent crimes
90% of women incarcerated are single mothers
(NY state) 56% of women in NY state prisons are for drug violations and of that 56%,
91% are women of color
NEW YORK STATE STATS
43% of NYS inmates are serving time for first felony convictions
82% of NYS drug dealers are white, 16% black and Latino
94% of NYS drug offenders are black, 5% white
Prisons are a main source of economic development for white rural communities
The town of Dannemora has more inmates than residents
Building 1 prison provides 550 new full time jobs and 190 short term jobs (like construction)
5.5% of white youth are sent to adult prisons; 34% of black youth are sent to adult prisons
It cost $32,000 to imprison someone for a year
It cost $17,000-$20,000 for inpatient drug treatment and $2,700-$4,500 for outpatient
(In 1997) 80% of drug offenders in NYS had never been convicted of a violent felony
(In 1973) 1 or 2 vans left from Columbus Circle to take loved ones Upstate. now over 35 buses and vans are chartered.
Black And Latino's make up 25% of NYS residents but make up 83% of NYS inmates and make up 94% of all drug offenders.
From 1817 to 1981 (a span of 164 years) NYS built 33 prisons. From 1982 to 2000 (an 18 year span) NYS built 38 prisons, not including annexes.
NEW YORK STATE
Rockefeller Drug Law was introduced on the legislative floor in 1973 but was not implemented until the late 70's early 80's, right on schedule for Reagan's "War On Drugs" campaign during the height of the crack epidemic in '79-'80.
The Rockefeller Drug Laws enacted in 1973 requires a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years to life for possession of 4oz or sale of 2oz of a narcotic
Prisons are lobbied for and considered a prize. Mayor of Coxsackie (Henry Rausch) said: "I'm advocating right now another prison, or at least additions to the existing prisons… because the more beds we have over there, the more inmate population, the more water they're going to use, and the more sewer services they're going to use and the more jobs are going to be needed… you politic for it - that's what you do."
NATIONAL STATISTICS : AMERICA IS THE WORLDS PRISON SUPERPOWER
Over 2 million people are incarcerated in the US
African Americans Make Up 65% of The National Inmate Population (Over 1 Million) , Yet African Americans make up only 13% of the us population
9 million people are on probation or parole
The US has the highest number of people incarcerated in the world and still maintains the highest homicide rate worldwide, therefore prisons is not a solution or deterrent
US makes up 5% of the worlds population and 25% of the worlds prison population
California alone has more inmates than France, Germany, Great Britain, Singapore and the Netherlands combined!
Nationwide more blacks are sent to prison for drug charges than violent crimes
From 1990 to 1998 homicide rates dropped 50% but homicide stories in the media rose 4 fold
As of 2005, total federal drug offenses account for 54%; homicide/aggravated assault/kidnapping 3.2%, sex offenses 1.1%, robbery 6.6%, weapons/arson 12.8%
85% of "three strikes you're out" convictions in California were for non-violent felonies (a man was sentenced to life for stealing golf clubs)
Since 1985 the # of people incarcerated has increased 113%
90% of all criminal defendants plead guilty without a trial because they can't afford a lawyer and hope for judicial leniency
52% of all people in jail have not been convicted of any crime but can not afford bail and spend months sometimes years in jail waiting for trial
Only 11% of federal drug offenses were king pins. The War On Drugs has not resulted in high level king pins arrested but rather low level dealers and users
African Americans make up 47% of all state inmates and 40% of federal facility inmates; therefore, African Americans make up 87% of inmates in State and Federal facilities (not including Latinos)
Blacks and Latinos make up 79% of drug offenders in State facilities nationwide (58% Black and 21% Latino)
1 In 3 black men between the ages of 20-29 years are in prison or correctional supervision
In 2003 12% of black men in their 20's were in prison or jail (1.6% white, 3.7% Hispanic)
8 Out of 10 aa males will be arrested in their lifetime
Between 1986 and 1991 African American incarceration rate increased 465%
In many states people convicted of a felony are denied public assistance, denied the ability to live in public housing, denied financial aid for college and denied employment opportunities in general
For every 1 white drug offender incarcerated there are 13 African Americans. 13-1 ratio nationwide even though drug use among whites and blacks is the same
Crack: a crack offense will receive a sentence 2-3 times longer than a powder cocaine offense. 6pounds of coke to 1 oz of crack garners the same sentence (100 To 1 Ratio)
Marijuana: weed accounted for 13% of state drug offenders and 19% of federal drug offense inmates; 32% of drug offenders in state and federal facilities are in for weed
The 13th Amendment permits "Slavery Or Involuntary Servitude" as a punishment for criminals
PROFITS AND PRIVATIZATION: "PROFITABLE PUNISHMENT"
Prison Industry employs more than 500,000 (1/2 million) people, making it the country's biggest employer next to general motors
American Express invested 31 million dollars in a private prison in Oklahoma which houses inmates from North Carolina
Companies like to use prison labor because of low slave wages, no strikes, no unions, no health insurance benefits,, no unemployment benefits, no workers compensation
Companies who use prison labor: IBM, Motorola, Texas Instruments, Boeing, AT&T, Compaq, Microsoft, Revlon, Twa, Chevron, Victoria Secrets (and many more)
Corrections Corporation of America's (CCA) stock increased 58% from 293 million to 462 million in 1 year (1996-1997)
1 payphone in prison generates $15,000 a year. Inmate calls generate over 1billion dollars in revenue for phone companies. MCI adds a $3 surcharge per call and overcharge…adding additional minutes to calls illegally (they were caught and fined)
Wackenhut Is the 2nd largest private prison company, revenues exceed 1billion dollars per year
Wackenhut's board of directors include former head of CIA, FBI director and former attorney general
Director of Federal Bureau of Prisons makes $126,000 a year; Director of Wackenhut Corrections makes $366,000 plus stock options and $122,000 a year bonus
British private company operates 2 private prisons in Florida. "Securior" company
TEXAS LEADS THE NATION WITH 28 PRIVATE PRISONS
Obviously prison is not a deterrence from crime so why not look at the social causes that lead to this high rate of crimes. If 2 million people are locked up, that's an epidemic. A doctor would reasonably research what is causing an epidemic; find the root cause in order to treat the illness, disease, and malady.
This leaves the social system and politicians off the hook. Put the blame on the "bad seed" the criminal and not look at the environment as part of the whole problem (poverty, racism, mental illness, illiteracy etc.)
"ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE" DOCUMENTARY:
Psychological warfare is based in violence and torture. Chemical warfare (crack, heroin cocaine etc) uses mind altering drugs for neutralization purposes. Dr. Mutulu Shakur acupuncturist cured thousands of drug addicts and was imprisoned in 1969 to date, he is one of many political prisoners.
THE CONTRAS OPERATION
1st Agenda: Columbian drug cartels allowed finances for the US government covert political operations abroad
2nd Agenda: to sedate and criminalize a young black male generation therefore taking them out of the political arena and eliminating a threat
Sources: The Dark Alliance. Gary Web San Hose Mercury News (Aug 22nd, 1996)
Bay Area Drug Ring sold tons of cocaine to the Bloods and Crips In LA. The millions of dollars in drug profits were used to buy arms for the Contra Guerillas in Nicaragua. The Contras were run by the CIA
The Contras Or the FDN (Nicaraguan Democratic Force) was the largest anti-communist group of rebels. FDN was created to topple the new socialist government of Nicaragua…The Sandinistas
Basically it was the CIA run Contras Vs. the Cuban backed Sandinistas (the new socialist Nicaraguan government in power.) The Sandinistas ousted US backed dictator Anastasio Somoza in 1979
The Columbian cartels dealt directly with the black neighborhoods of LA. The Bloods and Crips had direct Columbian cartel connection
You had a US backed guerilla army attempting to overthrow a revolutionary government and lo and behold… LA gangs connected.
Ricky Donnell Ross "Freeway Rick" purchased cut rate cocaine from Columbian cartel King Pins, turned it into crack and wholesaled it across the country. His two main suppliers were Oscar Blandon and Juan Meneses
Oscar Blandon former FDN leader and drug dealer - southern Californian drug distributor was able to obtain a federal court order preventing investigations into his ties with the CIA. US attorney L.J O'neal Argued "… there is no additional benefits to any defendant to inquire as to the Central Intelligence Agency"
Blandon admitted his drug ring sold more than 1 ton of cocaine in the US year of 1981. Blandon is quoted as testifying "whatever we were running in LA the profit was going for the Contra revolution".
The Justice Department released Blandon on unsupervised probation after serving only 28 months behind bars and paid him more than$166,000 to be a full time informant for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
Ricky Ross is currently serving a life sentence without parole. Ricky's other Columbian supplier (Juan Meneses) mysteriously escaped prison and Blandon is on the government payroll and a free man
Blandon was the biggest Nicaraguan cocaine dealer in the US
Blandon's boss, Meneses, never spent a day in jail even though the US government was aware of his bay area drug ring since 1974. They were aware of his homes, bars, restaurants, car lots, and factories. Meneses is listed on the DEA's computers as a major int'l drug smuggler and was implicated in 45 separate federal investigations.
Planes carrying large amounts of cocaine were flown from Columbia to an air force base in Texas. (El Salvador's Air Force supplied the CIA's Contras with aircrafts through the mid 1980's)
December 1981 president Reagan secretly ordered the CIA to spend 19.9 million dollars to fund the Contras. The CIA knew this was not nearly enough. So the two Nicaraguan exiles (now living in the US) Blandon and Meneses decided to help raise the funds for the Contra revolution. During this time (1979-1981) Meneses was known in Nicaragua as "Rey De La Droga" (King of Drugs) and was already under investigation by the DEA and FBI for smuggling cocaine into the US. Meneses was welcomed into the US and given a visa and work permit despite this information. For the next 6 years he supervised the importation of thousands of kilos of cocaine into California.
Crack hit hard in 1982. Over a ton of cocaine was pumped into LA. 54 million dollars of drug profits went straight from the hood to the CIA backed Contra army in Nicaragua
During this time Ronald Reagan was president and George Bush was vice president and former president of the CIA.
The Contra's also sold the gangs in LA uzi's and military equipment to "protect" their investments.
Because of Ricky Ross's connection to Blandon and his inexhaustible supply of high grade cocaine, Ross was able to undercut his competition drastically and had a corner on the market for the top quality and the lowest price. he was unbeatable
Ross moved to Cincinatti Ohio to cool off but got caught up with greed and decided to tap the virgin crack market there. He was quickly back in business. Got busted and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. A few years later, Blandon who was now working for the US government, agreed to set Ross up in a sting operation. Ross was given a "deal" to be released from prison early only to be set up by a Contra operation "Freeway Rick Task Force Operation". Rick was caught making a deal and sentenced to life without parole. Rick was already serving 10 years but the US government wanted to make Sure he was away for life so they released him early to set up the "life without parole" sting. Meanwhile Blandon and Menses were virtually untouched.
Ricky Ross was a star tennis player in high school and had a college scholarship for it too.
You don't hear anything about the Contras anymore but you still hear about communities plagued by crack.