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We’re number ONE! USA! USA! USA!

All too often, I present a view that may be seen as overly critical of our country and the way it is run. Where others see American compassion and strength, I might see dehumanizing colonial policies or another meaningless photo op.

Well, today I’m going to take off my cynical blinders and present a story that shines a bright light on America and the kind of true greatness and world leadership that we, as a nation, can still achieve when we truly believe in something.

According to Justice Department figures released yesterday, America is the world leader in incarcerating our own citizens! That’s right - Russia, China, even the Axis of Evil - none of these countries are even close to our unmatched superiority in this highly competitive international race.

The nation's incarceration rate tops the world, according to The Sentencing Project, another group that promotes alternatives to prison. That compares with a rate of 169 per 100,000 residents in Mexico, 116 in Canada and 143 for England and Wales.

Russia's prison population, which once rivaled the United States', has dropped to 584 per 100,000 because of prisoner amnesties in recent years, the group said.

The U.S. inmate population in 2003 grew at its fastest pace in four years. The number of inmates increased 1.8 percent in state prisons, 7.1 percent in federal prisons and 3.9 percent in local jails.

And unlike a lot of Government programs that are criticized for shoddy management and inefficiencies, our prison system continues to grow at a such a healthy clip that soon, with any luck, every man, woman, and child in the US will have interfaced personally with a friendly jailor.

Here are some highlights from the excellent report on US Prison Population released yesterday by the Justice Department:

The nation's prisons and jails held 2,078,570 men and women on June 30, 2003, an increase of 57,600 more inmates than state, local and federal officials held on the same date a year earlier, the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) announced today. The 50 states and the federal government together held 1,380,776 prisoners. Local municipal and county jails held 691,301 inmates.

From July 1, 2002, to June 30, 2003, the number of state and federal prisoners grew by more than 2.9 percent, the largest increase in four years. The federal system increased by 5.4 percent, and state prisoners increased by 2.6 percent. During the same period, the local jail population increased by 3.9 percent.

The BJS report, Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear 2003, indicates that incarceration rates of state and federal prisoners continued to rise. At midyear 2003, the number of sentenced inmates was 480 per 100,000 U.S. residents, up from 476 per 100,000 on December 31, 2002. There were 238 jail inmates for every 100,000 U.S. residents on June 30, 2003. Overall, one out of every 140 U.S. residents was incarcerated in prison or jail.

During the year the number of female state and federal inmates grew by 5.0 percent, compared to a 2.7 percent male inmate growth. By June 30, 2003, the female inmate population reached 100,102.

On June 30, 2003, the federal system had 170,461 prisoners, more than any state prison system. Since 1995, the federal system has grown an average of 8 percent per year, compared to an average annual growth of 2.9 percent for state inmates and 4 percent for jail inmates during the same period.

An estimated 12 percent of all black males in their twenties were in jails or prisons last June 30, as were an estimated 3.7 percent of Hispanic males and 1.6 percent of white males in that age group. Sixty-eight percent of prison and jail inmates were members of racial or ethnic minority groups.

Jails — locally operated correctional facilities typically holding inmates sentenced to a year or less as well as people in various stages of the criminal justice system, such as awaiting trial- added more inmates than new beds in the 12 months preceding June 30, 2003. Still local jails were operating at a national average of 6 percent below their official rated capacities. State prisons were between 1 and 17 percent above rated capacity, and federal prisons operated at 33 percent over capacity at the end of 2002.

The 50 largest jail systems housed a third of all jail inmates. Nineteen of these operated at or above their rated capacities.

White non-Hispanics made up 43.6 percent of the local jail population, blacks 39.2 percent, Hispanics 15.4 percent, and other races (Asians, American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders) 1.8 percent.

So, good numbers, but still room for improvement: Local jails are operating below capacity, so lets fill them up. Also, I can’t help noticing that only 12 percent of young black males are in prison at any one time. Now, I realize that we can’t lock up all young black males, but isn’t 12 percent a rather low threshold? Let’s set the bar a little higher for next year!

The Sentencing Project