Jail-mania & the case of Willie Parker

In case you missed it — maybe you’re in lockup — the United States leads the world in most people in the slammer. A study by the Pew Center on the States found that for the first time, more than one of every 100 adults is in jail.

Our rate of increased prison costs over the past 20 years is six times greater than for higher education spending, the report said. In Kentucky, for example, the prison population has grown 600 percent over 30 years, while the crime rate has increased only 3 percent.

The average annual cost per prisoner, Pew said, was $23,876, with Rhode Island lavishing the most on the incarcerated — $44,860 per jailbird.

On average, states spend 6.8 percent of their general fund dollars on corrections and four states — Oregon, Vermont, Michigan and Connecticut — spend more on corrections than higher education.

Given the explosion of Yanks in orange jumpsuits, does it really make sense to add Willie Carroll Parker to their ranks?

The Washington Post reports that Parker, 81, was nabbed — at last — on Feb. 20 in connection an escape more than four decades ago. Parker, who bolted prison when he was serving time for robbery, has long since reformed his ways and has been living in open view in North Carolina.

Now, an ill man who can barely walk, the Post reports, is likely headed back to the bighouse.

His case illustrates how our send-em-to-jail approach is maddeningly warped, to the point that we are warehousing people to the detriment of educating them. To read the Post story about Carroll go to Washington Post Willie Parker story.

What do you think about this issue? Is the U.S. locking up too many people, or should we be putting more of them away?