[OC] The United States Prison CrisisSubmitted by cbarrettg t3_126w7ld in dataisbeautiful
cbarrettg OP t1_jebgmsh wrote
Reply to comment by Semple-Y in [OC] The United States Prison Crisis by cbarrettg
The dataset used to compare the United States to other countries is a few years older than the dataset used for comparing the states to each other, which is something I didn't notice before, good catch!
DevinCauley-Towns t1_jebxqkk wrote
Hmm, I’m not sure that fully explains the difference between the state level data and the national view. The nation was 629 “a few years earlier”, yet somehow the state average is around half of that. Did the country really reduce their total inmate population by ~50% in a few years?
Assuming the other country data remained the same over that same time span then the US would now be ranked ~20th globally rather than 1st. That seems like way too big of a difference to just be caused by a few years difference in the data.
As others have mentioned, is the state data ignoring federal prisons? Could they be defining populations in different ways? It’s tough connecting the two datasets without fully understanding why they are so different.
anonkitty2 t1_jecxwzd wrote
State prisons and federal prisons are two different types of prison. The state-level data only has state-level prisons. Federal prisons are in national data alone.
DevinCauley-Towns t1_jecz4o6 wrote
Right, but no where on this infographic does it mention the federal inmates are ignored from the state statistics. The state graphic simply says “inmates”, it doesn’t specify that it is only a subset of inmates physically housed within each state. You can easily look up the number of federal inmates located within each state or even facility, so it isn’t impossible to find the information. OP didn’t even seem to realize the datasets were that different, so that’s likely why it wasn’t called out in the graphic (and also why it should’ve been, since it’s not clear at all).
Jobstopher t1_jed0ht2 wrote
They obviously know that.
W4News t1_jedklng wrote
So hide the disparity in source data, then?
shinilh t1_jee0nhf wrote
Yes, don’t you remember all those sensationalist news stories about prisoners being released en masse due to COVID?
Calladit t1_jebvjzh wrote
Could there also be a disparity due to federal prisons? Or were they counted towards the state they reside in?
Semple-Y t1_jebjpga wrote
Well, there seems to be a positive trend in the US, then!
Temporary-Alarm-744 t1_jebu6bm wrote
Not for any good reasons. That trend happened after the criminal reform act and the only reason that went through was to increase the labour force. The for profits systems started to affect the pool of cheap labour to exploit
SilentHackerDoc t1_jeeb2gi wrote
This is kinda true... It might have amazing benefits too, but the only reason it actually made it through was corporate benefit. Our government makes decisions for big businesses and self-protection now, political power is purchased. Doesn't help people follow and listen to companies whose sole job is to peddle certain beliefs so they get paid by those big businesses.
Temporary-Alarm-744 t1_jeeiuh9 wrote
Yup, no rehabilitation or attempt at reform.just get out there and work shitty low paying jobs cause your a felon
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