US prison population grows
The numbers of US citizens in jail continues to rise, despite the fact that crime rates continue to drop. A Department of Justice report released overnight in the US found that the American penal system has 2,131 180 inmates behind bars, representing a 2.3 percent growth in figures for the previous year. But why do incarceration rates continue to climb despite a 33% drop in crime rates? Criminologists have blamed the US’s adoption of so-called ”get tough on crime” policies that have mean hundreds of thousands of non-violent drug and property offenders face long mandatory sentences. To get an idea of what life is like behind US bars, Erica Vowles spoke to Buddhist nun, Robina Courtin, the director of the Liberation Prison Project, a group, which provides support and Buddhist materials for inmates in the US. She told the Wire what she thought were the causes behind the rate in inmate population.