Prison/Jail & U.S. Population Demographics

Common Sense Commentary: I print the following population and prison/jail demographics, not as a result of discrimination, on my part, but as a matter of fact, in response to a question which arose as a result of my blog on higher rates of  unbelief in some parts of the US as compared to others.  When the truth is politically incorrect, and certain civil facts cannot be discussed in our country, without recrimination, freedom of speech, and freedom itself, will have been buried, with our US Constitution, under a gravestone marked ..."Freedom died, Tyranny  prevailed".

According to the US Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), Males accounted for 89.2% of total prison and jail population, in the US, in 2009. Females accounted for only 10.8%.  Now, tell me, is the nearly 1000% higher percentage of men incarcerated, compared to women incarcerated, an injustice to men or sexual discrimination against men, or is it simply a fact that men commit more crimes than women?  As a man, should I be insulted and feel discriminated against when that fact is mentioned?  No, of course not, if I am not a criminal. By the same token, blacks and Hispanics should not be insulted or feel discriminated against, if they are not criminals, by the following demographics reported by the US Bureau of Justice Statistics. "The truth shall make you free."


According to the US Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) non-Hispanic blacks accounted for 39.4% of the total prison and jail population in 2009. Blacks, including Hispanicblacks, accounted for 41% of total prison and jail inmates. According to the 2010 census of the US Census Bureau blacks (including Hispanicblacks) comprised 13.6% of the total US population.

Hispanics (from wherever) were 20.6% of total jail and prison inmates in 2009. Hispanics comprised 16.3% of the total US population according to the 2010 US census. The Northeast has the highest incarceration rates of Hispanics in the nation.
The Hispanic community is not monolithic, and thus there are variations, even with incarceration rates. Among the Hispanic community, Puerto Ricans have the highest incarceration rate, and are up to six times more likely to be incarcerated than whites, and may explain the higher incarceration rates for Hispanics in the Northeast region. Illegal immigrants, usually Mexican nationals, also make up a substantial number of Hispanics incarcerated.
In 2010 black non-Hispanic males were incarcerated at the rate of 4,347 inmates per 100,000 U.S. residents of the same race and gender. White males were incarcerated at the rate of 678 inmates per 100,000 U.S. residents. Hispanic males were incarcerated at the rate of 1,755 inmates per 100,000 U.S. residents.

Census data for 2000, which included a count of the number and race of all individuals incarcerated in the United States, showed for each state that the proportion of blacks in prison populations exceeded the proportion of whites among state residents in every state. In twenty states, the percent of blacks incarcerated was at least five times greater than their share of resident population.

Estimated number of male inmates held in custody in state or federal prison, or in local jails, by race, and Hispanic origin, June 30, 2009.
	Male
Year	Totala	Whiteb	Blackb	Hispanic
2009	2,096,300	693,800	841,000	442,000
Note: Detailed categories exclude persons who reported two or more races. All totals include persons under age 18.  Note: Blacks make up 13.6% of total U.S. population. Hispanics make up 20.6% of total U.S. population. aIncludes Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Asians, Native Hawaiians, and other Pacific Islanders, and persons identifying two or more races. bExcludes persons of Hispanic or Latino origin. If you watch any of the "Cops, Law Enforcement" TV shows, you will readily see why these statistics are true. For America's sake, let us solve these problems, not deny them. RB