The worst part is the fact that an estimated 3% to 5% of inmates are innocent and have been wrongly convicted. Think about that. Our prison population is over 2 million people, so if only 1% of them are innocent then that comes out to about 20,000 people rotting in jail for nothing. Gotdamn.
That's not even including the vast number of people who get locked up for victimless crimes like possession of marijuana, a "crime" that black men are disproportionately arrested for despite marijuana use occurring at a near even rate across all races. That one dude was in there for driving with a suspended license. Could you imagine ending up in that type of environment for smoking weed or driving without a license?
And yeah, I'm sure many of those prisoners deserve to be there, but plenty of them are no more guilty than the average American. That could be any one of us. This is some terrifying shyt.
That's not even including the vast number of people who get locked up for victimless crimes like possession of marijuana, a "crime" that black men are disproportionately arrested for despite marijuana use occurring at a near even rate across all races. That one dude was in there for driving with a suspended license. Could you imagine ending up in that type of environment for smoking weed or driving without a license?
And yeah, I'm sure many of those prisoners deserve to be there, but plenty of them are no more guilty than the average American. That could be any one of us. This is some terrifying shyt.