In Friday’s News Journal, there was an article by the Pew Foundation* that found, in the US, over 1% of our population is in jail at a cost of $50 billion for the states and $5 billion for the federal government. This is the highest percentage ever recorded.
The statistics are staggering. Over 2.3 million are incarcerated. One in 30 is between the ages of 20-34 with black men 4 times higher. Four states pay more for corrections than they do for higher education! Delaware comes in as 5th in paying the same amount for corrections as for higher education.
The study points out that US crime rates have not gone up. Stricter sentencing has.
In chapter 6 of our textbook, “Ethical Issues in Business”, this article provides an example of John Rowels’ warning when the concept of utilitarianism allows for “certain ways of distracting“ from the overall societal satisfaction or when “strictness of common-sense notions” becomes philosophically irrational. This is not to excuse “criminal” behaviors. Many such behaviors, however, can be explained by lack of access to drug and alcohol treatment, social inequities (Might Nozick rationalize retribution here?), and impulse behaviors due to high levels of lead poisoning…..
Here, Rawles concept of “Original Position” is important. I understand this is “fair play” without having prejudices that lead to different outcomes when inequalities, Rawles’ first principle, exist. This disparity is certainly most apparent with outcomes for “white collar” criminals compared to the average person in jail. Similarly, his second principle, of “difference” is sidestepped when we pay more to incarcerate individuals than we pay for individuals to have access to higher education. Absurdities such as this never cease to amaze me.
*Article an be also found at http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/02/28/prison.population.ap/
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