The policy that keeps on failing
Marlene Martin, national director of the Campaign to End the Death Penalty, looks at a study that exposes the consequences of the politicians' "tough on crime" hysteria.

ONE IN every 31 adults in the U.S. is in prison or jail or on parole or probation. That's 7.3 million people--or more than the populations of Chicago, Philadelphia, San Diego and Dallas put together.

These statistics--from a study released by the Pew Center on the States titled "One in 31: The Long Reach of American Corrections"--are the consequence of this country's 30 years of tough-on-crime policies.

Not surprisingly, the "long reach" doesn't reach everybody evenly--African Americans suffer the brunt of the system. According to Pew study, one in 11 African American adults are under the control of the corrections system, compared with one in 27 Latinos and one in 45 whites. Southern states continue to have the highest incarceration rates.

Link to con.