One In Every Hundred

Ready for a shocking figure? There is one person out of every 99.1 people in the United States in prison. That number, while shocking in itself, also lends itself to other woes. Namely, money. The US spent 49 billion bones last year on prisons.

I am a military spouse and currently live at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas where prisons are everywhere you look. Not only is the United States Disciplinary Barracks on post, but Leavenworth county Kansas hails 13 prisons including the United States Pen. If you click on the previous link please note the beautiful dome that towers over this facility. It is literally in my backyard. If I look out my back window and catch a glimpse of it sometimes my mind registers it as a presidential monument (which it isn’t) until I remember it is a prison (which it definitely is…ask Michael Vicks who currently has a room there). They actually have a pretty nice field to throw some football and a track too that I can see from my backdoor. It almost looks normal if you can block out the concertina wire and guard towers that watch over it like a gaggle of pissed-off lunch ladies.

So, one in every hundred people are in the big~house right this very second. I think it makes me feel safe…until I think some more.