When the COVID-19 pandemic was first detected in the United States, it was clear that the virus would cause widespread suffering and death among incarcerated people. Advocates were quick to call for prison and jail releases. However, a little more than a year later, decarceration appears to have stalled. After an unprecedented 14 percent drop in incarceration in the first half of 2020 \u2014 from 2.1 million people to 1.8 million<\/em> <\/strong>\u2014 incarceration declined only slightly from fall 2020 to spring 2021.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nDid you spot that?\u00a0 Amidst all the alarmism and hand-wringing, the report tells us that there are 1.8 million people incarcerated.\u00a0 The population of the US is a bit more than 331 million.\u00a0 That means that roughly one-half of one percent of the population is incarcerated.\u00a0 The number not incarcerated is roughly 99.5%.\u00a0 So, according to “reform” forces, when upwards of ninety-nine percent of your population is walking the streets, you’re “incarceration nation.”<\/p>\n
Ladies and gentlemen, there’s a reason they so routinely use their catch-phrases rather than give us actual numbers.<\/p>\n
Prof. Berman has his own take (emphasis added):<\/p>\n
I find all this data fascinating, and I am actually encouraged that prison populations as reported by Vera is now below 1.2 million, which is<\/em><\/strong> the lowest it has been in over 25 years (and probably the lowest per capital in more than three decades).<\/em> <\/strong>This Vera report is clearly eager to stress that incarceration is still “mass” in the US, but I am still eager to note that we are still generally trending in the right direction. Whether that will hold as we get closer to getting past COVID, as as murders and gun assaults are spiking, is the story I will be watching closely in the months and years ahead.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nYes, it’s all true.\u00a0 The prison population is now less than it’s been since the last Millennium.\u00a0 You remember\u00a0 —\u00a0 Bill Clinton and the blue dress and all that?\u00a0 Before anyone ever heard the term “9-11”?<\/p>\n
This is not to mention the other point “reform” forces blank on, to wit, that the best way by far to reduce the number of people incarcerated is to reduce the behavior for which incarceration is warranted\u00a0 — mainly cheating, stealing, violence and dealing in hard drugs.\u00a0 “Reform” forces seem to be hypnotized by the notion that the only people who need reform are us<\/em>.\u00a0 Thieves, thugs, and the fellows who want to sell smack to your 15 year-old\u00a0 — hey, boys will be boys!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
One of the most unfortunate features of the national discussion about criminal justice is that the vocabulary in which it’s conducted has been hijacked and tortured beyond recognition by the “reform” forces.\u00a0 How many of their articles start out by blasting the United States as “incarceration nation” and then go on to heap yet more scorn on America, the “carcereal state”?\u00a0 You can’t look through “reform” literature for five minutes without getting beaten over the head with this stuff. Only one problem.\u00a0 It’s bunk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-prisons"],"yoast_head":"\n
The "Incarceration Nation" Narrative Is Pure Baloney - Crime & Consequences<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?p=3958\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The "Incarceration Nation" Narrative Is Pure Baloney - Crime & Consequences\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"One of the most unfortunate features of the national discussion about criminal justice is that the vocabulary in which it’s conducted has been hijacked and tortured beyond recognition by the “reform” forces.\u00a0 How many of their articles start out by blasting the United States as “incarceration nation” and then go on to heap yet more scorn on America, the “carcereal state”?\u00a0 You can’t look through “reform” literature for five minutes without getting beaten over the head with this stuff. 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