We have less than 5% of the world's population but near a quarter of the prisoners.

Harry Belafonty, in his marvelous documentary of his civil rights activity "Sing your Song on HBO, said that the incarceration of blacks in this country is the last area of civil rights to be rectified. His point is that most of the inmates are black. The criticism is justified because blacks have fewer resources to fight for their rights and often succumb to a plea bargain foisted on them by a court appointed attorney who is trained to move cases rather than do justice to his constituents. As a result, the minority inmates who had few resources to fight for their rights to avoid imprisonment end up with fewer resources when their prison terms are over to effectively rehabilitate. On the racial equality level I can assure you that many white men deserve to be in prison but have not because of greater availability of resources. Consequently, the greatest presumption might be our denial in facing the civil rights issue in imprisonment.

Perhaps the budget cuts will aid minorities in lessening the prison population. It is a reality that cries to the heavens that we have less than 5% of the world's population but almost a quarter of the world's prisoners. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/23/world/americas/23iht-23prison.12253738.html?pagewanted=all

Something is truly rotten in the land of the free.