The Bureau of Justice Statistics announced today the results of a study, based on what is likely to happen in America’s future over the next century. Computer models similar to those used by meteorologists to predict the weather, using a variety of statistics supplied by the Justice Department, covering the last 50 years of the US criminal justice system , predict that all USA citizens will be in jail by the year 2086.

“The US prison system is the steadiest, fastest growing business in the world today. It seems that no matter how many people we lock up, there are still going to be more breaking laws” points out the report. “At current levels of incarceration, projections for the distant future are pretty bleak. Although state of the art prisons are being built at a record pace throughout the country, federal and state officials just can’t keep up with the rising demand for more prison cells.”

For minorities, the 100% incarceration rate will come sooner. Afro-Americans, the largest and fastest growing sector of prison population, are expected to be completely off the streets by 2041. Hispanics are expected to stop immigrating to the US, and a mass exodus to safer countries is likely to occur, as community leaders encourage their followers to seek alternatives to prison.

“Most of the recommendations and solutions that we have proposed and implemented in the last five decades have backfired, resulting in an exponential growth of the prison population. As more laws are enacted to prevent various social behavior, more people become outlaws. Where are we going to put them all? In the not-so-distant future, we’ll have only two social classes, prisoners and prison operators. The operators eventually will all be incarcerated themselves, resulting in the 100% ratio”, states the report.

Who’ll hold the keys?

© Tony Biscaia July 97