America: Land of The Free
The United States of America is number one. We are number one in the world at locking up our own people. It has become so prevalent there’s a term for the phenomenon, mass incarceration. America has less than 5% of the world’s population but is home to 20% of the world’s incarcerated people. In comparison, the U.S. total population is 330 million, and communist China, whose population is 1.39 billion people, incarcerates almost 800,000 fewer people than we do. Not only is there a problem on the national level, but at the state level, this issue appears even more dire.
The state of Georgia’s incarceration rates far surpasses even America’s. The U.S. has an incarceration rate of 670 out of 100,000 people – by far the leading country, with the UK way back in second with 139 out of 100,000. In comparison, the state of Georgia has an incarceration rate of 970 out of 100,000. Georgia is so far behind on criminal justice reform measures of other states within America that in 2013 it created the Georgia Council of Criminal Justice Reform, a council to conduct comprehensive reviews and come up with a plan to better manage the state’s swelling incarceration population. Accountability courts resulted out of this council’s initiatives (click here for the article). Our RED program works within the accountability felony/drug courts. Since our founding, we have had great success.
Numbers Don’t Lie! What our RED organization does costs a fraction of what it costs to prosecute, incarcerate, and supervise an individual in the justice system. Rest assured, by supporting RED you will be on the right side of the fight for justice and equality in our great country. Mass incarceration is hurting American families and our country’s economic well-being. We have long called ourselves “America, land of the free”, it’s time we get back to actually being that.
