this post was submitted on 02 Jan 2024
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This comment is excellent.
If your average prison sentence is 10 years, you will have 10x more prisoners than annual arrests/sentences.
It’s the same kind of misleading stat as life expectancy being 30 years in medieval time. If you survived childhood you could easily reach your 60s or later, just like how you can live that long without any serious health interventions today.
it’s not a misleading stat it’s a stat with nuance. slavery in the U.S. is legal per the 13th amendment, as are for-profit prisons.
this fiscal motive leads to more sentences for smaller crimes (marijuana possession) for longer times, and it’s obscene.
So a 10 year prison sentence isn't 10 times worse than a one-year sentence? You think 3 people in prison for a month each is worse than two people with a year each?