12 Surprising Facts About Prisons:
1. Over 2.2 million people are currently in u.s jails or prisons.
2. the u.s. has the highest prison rate in the world at about 724 people per 100,000.
3. Half of the world's prison population of approximately 9 million people is held in the u.s.
4. Over 2.7 million children in the u.s have a parent behind bars.
5. There are over 5,000 jails and prisons in the u.s.
6. There are more jails than colleges in the u.s.
7. In many parts of the country, there are more people in jail than living on college campuses.
8. The u.s. prison population has more than quadrupled since the early 1980's , when mandatory minimum sentencing laws for drugs went into effect.
9. About half of the inmates in federal prisons are servingtime for non-violent drug offencses.
10.Federal law currently requires a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years for a first time, non-violent drug offense.
11. Approximately 60% of federal drug offenders are subject to mandatory minimum sentences.
12. The average annual cost to incarcerate one inmate in federal prison is about $29,000.00 a year.
