by Chris Ekcinaws

Created on: March 25, 2007   Last Updated: April 19, 2007

Benjamin Franklin summed up the founding idea of America best when he said "Anyone who trades liberty for security deserves neither liberty nor security." At a time when this nation has the highest prison population in the world, the United States should follow those words. We have become so paranoid about crime that we have locked up too many people for too long of a time, often unfairly and because of racial prejudice.

America is referred to as the "land of the free," but a look at the facts proves that nickname to be misleading. With approximately 285 million people living in the U.S., we make up 5% of the world's total population. Yet due to harsh drug laws and frequently racist law enforcement, this country holds 23% of the global prison population, according to a report by England's Home Office Department. We not only lead in our sheer number of inmates, but our 686 prisoners per 100,000 citizens ratio is the highest on earth.

According the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of people currently in the nation's corrections system exceeds the number of people in Wyoming, North Dakota, Vermont, Alaska, Delaware, South Dakota, Montana, and Maine combined. For a country which prides itself in setting the global standard for personal freedom, it is appalling that our government considers the equivalent of 16% of our states as criminals.

With so many people in jail, one would expect that there is a crime epidemic in this country. According to the FBI, however, the national crime rate dropped each year for total of 12%, between 1995 and 2002, with a preliminary report suggesting that crime rates dropped again significantly in 2003. Compared to other countries, the U.S. does not have reason to panic over crime. An Interpol publication claims our nation's crime rate is about 40% lower than France, and 58% lower than that of England.

Some would argue that our low crime rates can be attributed to our high amount of inmates, and that the judicial system is working. However, the FBI also reports that while crime rates have doubled since 1960, our incarceration rate has tripled. The large difference in these statistics suggests that the increase in inmates is not helping to solve crime problems across the country.

Not only is our prison population too high, it is ethnically unequal and proves that the judicial system is racist. In 1994, the nation's population was 13% black. The percentage jumps to 46% when we look at the state and federal prison system population that same

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