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old dude, all hair, swell new teeth

30 October 2005

¿K parte de Bill don't you understand / verstehe / comprende?



Vleeptron is on a Filching Spree this weekend and has filched these two translations of The Bill of Rights -- the first ten Amendments to the Constitution of the United States of America -- from a curious organization headquartered in Hartford, Wisconsin: Jews For The Preservation of Firearms Ownership, Inc.

(We were actually hunting for The Bill of Rights translated into Cambodian, it must be out there somewhere, but Vleeptron can't find it yet. All assistance gratefully appreciated, etc.)

Why gun-totin' pistol-packin' American Jews devote space on their website to translations in a buncha lingos of this document is hardly a mystery. Starting late in the Twentieth Century and continuing to this day, The Second Amendment became the Incendiary Political Hot Potato of The Bill of Rights, as states and the federal government began passing Gun Control Laws -- legal attempts to restrict the right of American Citizens to buy and possess certain kinds of firearms. Gun Control Laws were a political response to an increase in violent crimes involving firearms.

But opponents of Gun Control Laws (there are a few of these) hold up The Second Amendment -- and a Constitutional Amendment is the Highest Law of the Land, its authority trumps ordinary federal or state laws -- and argue that The Second clearly makes it Unconstitutional for Congress or any local legislature to restrict the right of American citizens to own any firearms they want.

Gun Control Advocates point to the first phrase --

A well regulated Militia,
being necessary to the security of a free State,

and argue that the Founders who wrote and passed the Second Amendment were actually and exclusively talking about militias -- the common practice of all American communities to create, arm and train a corps of volunteer citizens to be ready to defend the community against dangerous emergencies. To American lawmakers in the late 18th century, this meant two things:

* the ability of American frontier communities to defend themselves from attacks by hostile Indians, AND

* the ability of American communities to defend themselves against and blast the living crap out of the Army of King George III of Great Britain, a few years earlier, or if Britain should ever violate the Peace Treaty and invade the USA again. (They did in 1812. Most of the American troops who won the Battle of New Orleans would be characterized not as Regular Army troops, but as Volunteer Militia -- coonskin-cap frontiersmen, Jean Lafitte and his Pirate Pals, etc.)

Now you expect Vleeptron to settle this Hot Potato.

No way.

If I want to worship, adore, idolize and marry the First, Fourth and Fifth Amendments and have their baby, I'm a little uncomfortable screaming that the Second Amendment is Evil or Fatally Misunderstood by gun-toting violent psycho trogolodytes and must be ignored.

And to get down to the nub of the controversy -- I'm not entirely sure what Jefferson and Madison and Hamilton were thinking about this Right of citizens to own firearms.

They were certainly remembering that armed American farmers and deerslayers gave the Rebels the decisive strategic advantage over the British Army. Colonial American frontiersmen and farmers had quickly become the best marksmen in the world, and American gunsmiths had developed superior hunting (and long-distance killing) rifles, like the Kentucky Longrifle.

Col George Hanger, a British officer [during the Revolutionary War], became very interested in the American rifle after he witnessed his bugler's horse shot out from under him at a distance, which he measured several times himself, of "full 400 yards [366 meters]," and he learned all he could of the weapon. He writes:

"I have many times asked the American backwoodsman what was the most their best marksmen could do; they have constantly told me that an expert marksman, provided he can draw good & true sight, can hit the head of a man at 200 yards [183 meters]."

-- M.L. Brown, FIREARMS IN COLONIAL AMERICA

Without armed citizens, Jefferson, Madison, Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, etc., wouldn't have been America's Founding Fathers. They would all have been executed by a British firing squad or hanged as traitors. (A few signers of the Declaration of Independence were indeed executed by the British during the long War of Independence.)

The next nuance is what the Framers of the Constitution, grateful to their armed citizen neighbors for America's very Independence, thought about the appropriate part armed American citizens might or should play in any future Big Dispute against their own government. And this problem very promptly arose in Shays' Rebellion and The Whiskey Rebellion -- pissed-off armed Americans declaring armed rebellion against the new federal government and its own armed claims of authority over pissed-off armed citizens.

You tell me exactly what the Framers of the Constitution were thinking. Leave a Comment. Try not to use phrases like "I will kill you if you try to take my collection of Kalashnikov and Uzi assault rifles and Glock pistols away." Vleeptron does not find such phrases to be effective persuasive rational arguments.

But that's why the pistol-packin' American Jews from Wisconsin -- YEEHAW & SHALOM! -- are happy and proud to present to you ...

{ [ ( o ) ] )

Verfassungszusätze
(The Bill of Rights in German/deutsches)

Erster Artikel

Der Kongress soll kein Gesetz erlassen, wodurch irgend eine Religion zur herrschenden erklärt, oder die freie Ausübung einer anderen verhindert, oder die Freiheit der Rede und Presse, oder das Recht des Volkes, sich friedlich zu versammeln und dem Kongresse Petitionen für die Abstellung von Übelständen, wie Adressen vorzulegen, beschränkt würde.

Zweiter Artikel

Da eine gutgeordnete Miliz zur Sicherheit eines freien Staates nötig ist, soll das Recht des Volkes, Waffen zu besitzen und zu führen, nicht geschmälert werden.

Dritter Artikel

Kein Soldat soll in Friedenszeiten in irgend ein Haus ohne die Bewilligung des Eigentümers, und selbst im Kriege nicht, außer nach gesetzlichen Bestimmungen, einquartiert werden.

Vierter Artikel

Das Recht des Volkes, seine Personen, Häuser, Papiere und Effekten gegen ungerechtfertigte Nachsuchungen sicher zu wissen, soll nicht angetastet und kein Durchsuchungsbefehl ausgestellt werden, außer auf begründete Ursache, durch Eid oder Versicherung an Eidestatt unterstützt und mit besonderer Beschreibung des zu durchsuchenden Platzes und der mit Beschlag zu belegenden Personen oder Gegenstände.

Fünfter Artikel

Niemand soll eines Kapital -- oder entehrenden Verbrechens wegen vor Gericht gezogen werden können, außer auf eine Vorlage und Anklage der Grand Jury; solche Fälle ausgenommen, welche sich bei der Land- oder Seemacht, oder bei der Miliz, wenn in aktivem Dienste, wie in Kriegszeit und in allgemeiner Gefahr ereignen. Niemand soll aber für ein und dasselbe Vergehen zweimal in Gefahr von Leben und Freiheit gebracht werden; eben so wenig soll er gezwungen sein, in irgend einem Kriminalfall als Zeuge gegen sich selbst auszusagen, noch seines Lebens, seiner Freiheit oder seines Eigentums beraubt werden dürfen ohne das gehörige Rechtsverfahren. Auch soll Privateigentum nicht ohne angemessene Vergütung zu offentlichem Gebrauche verwendet werden dürfen.

Sechster Artikel

Bei allen kriminalrechtlichen Klagen soll dem Angeklagten das Recht eines schnellen und öffentlichen Verhörs zustehen, und zwar durch eine unparteiische Jury des Staates und Distrikts, in welchem das Verbrechen begangen wurde, welcher Distrikt vorher rechtsmäßig auszumitteln ist. Dann soll ihm die Natur und Ursache der auf ihm lastenden Beschuldigung mitgeteilt und er mit den gegen ihn aufgerufenen Zeugen konfrontiert werden; auch steht ihm das Recht zu, Zeugen zu seinen Gunsten gerichtlich zum Erscheinen im Gerichtshofe zwingen zu lassen; eben so soll er die Unterstützung eines Advokaten zu seiner Verteidigung haben.

Siebenter Artikel

In Sachen des gemeinen Rechts, wo der fragliche Wert zwanzig Dollars übersteigt, soll das Recht einer Prüfung durch Geschworene vorbehalten bleiben und kein solcher, schon durch eine Jury geprüfter Fall soll nach einmal in irgend einem andern Gerichtshofe der Vereinigten Staaten, es sei denn nach den Vorschriften des gemeinen Gesetzes, vorgenommen werden.

Achter Artikel

Übermäßige Bürgschaft soll nicht verlangt werden, auch sollen keine übermäßigen Geld-, noch grausame und ungewöhnliche Gefängnißstrafen auferlegt werden.

Neunter Artikel

Die Aufzählung gewisser Rechte in der Verfassung soll nicht dahin ausgelegt werden, als würden dem Volke dadurch andere Rechte aufgehoben oder beeinträchtigt.

Zehnter Artikel
Die den Vereinigten Staaten durch die Verfassung weder übertragene, noch durch diese den Staaten untersagte Gewalt soll den einzelnen Staaten, oder dem Volke vorbehalten bleiben.

{ [ ( o ) ] )

La Lista de los Derechos del Ciudadano
(The Bill of Rights in Spanish/Espanol)

Párrafo 1

El Congreso de los Estados Unidos tiene prohibido establecer leyes para:
- la creación de una iglesia oficial
- limitar el libre ejercicio de cualquier religión
- limitar el libre ejercicio de la palabra o de la prensa
- limitar el derecho de reunión con fines pacíficos
- limitar el derecho de peticionar al gobierno para corregir injusticias.

Párrafo 2

Voluntarios entrenados adecuadamente (Milicia) son necesarios para el mantenimiento de la Libertad en cada Estado, y el derecho de la gente de tener armas no será infringido.

Párrafo 3.

Durante la paz, los soldados no serán alojados en ninguna casa privada sin consentimiento del propietario; Durante la guerra, de acuerdo con lo que prescriba la ley.

Párrafo 4

Se garantiza el derecho de la gente a estar seguras en su persona, en la inviolabilidad del domicilio, papeles privados y efectos personales contra intromisiones del gobierno.

No se permitirá a los jueces autorizar la entrada a domicilios privados que no estén fundadas en causa probable y juramentadas describiendo por escrito: el lugar, las personas afectadas y que bienes serán impugnados.

Párrafo 5

Excepto en situaciones militares en caso de guerra, o en el caso de la Milicia en situaciones de peligro público: Nadie puede ser llamado a responder contra una acusación criminal sino ha sido juzgado previamente por un Jurado especial.

Nadie puede ser juzgado dos veces por el mismo delito.

Nadie puede ser obligado a declarar contra sí mismo.

Nadie puede ser privado de su vida, libertad, o propiedad sin el correspondiente proceso legal.

No se puede expropiar ninguna propiedad para uso público sin justa compensación.

Párrafo 6

En todos los procesos judiciales en lo criminal, el acusado tiene el derecho de un proceso rápido y en público, por u jurado imparcial.

El juicio será en el Estado y distrito previamente definido por ley, donde el crimen ha sido cometido. El acusado será informado de la naturaleza y causa de la acusación, Tiene además el derecho de confrontar a los testigos de la acusación, presentar sus propios testigos defensores, y la asistencia de un abogado para su defensa.

Párrafo 7

En los juicios comunes (no criminales) donde el valor de la disputa es por más de veinte dólares, el derecho de juicio por jurado será preservado y no podrá ser re-juzgado en ninguna corte de los Estados Unidos más allá de lo que indica el derecho consuetudinario.

Párrafo 8

No se podrá exigir demasiada fianza, ni aplicar multas onerosas, ni infligir castigos no usuales y crueles.

Párrafo 9

La enumeración de ciertos derechos en la Constitución no deberá ser interpretado para negar otros derechos retenidos por la gente.

Párrafo 10

Los poderes no explícitamente delegados al Gobierno Federal de los Estados Unidos en la Constitución, ni los poderes prohibidos por ella a los Estados, están reservados para los Estados o la gente.

crummy old wine department: The Death of Nelson

Woman with a Blue Man
(filched from charlottesometimes)

I lost hundreds of beloved treasures in The Dreadful Hard Disk Catastrophe of '03. Some are Gone Forever. (Before a Soviet rocket probe sent back photos in the 1960s, there was an Ancient Legend that All Lost Objects were on the Dark Side of the Moon.)

But to my delight and astonishment, many of my Favorite Old Lost Objects were not really and truly Lost Forever, but had been mirrored and filched and re-published on other websites and blogs and lists, and I am infinitely grateful, and infinitely flattered that other Cyberspacians have chosen to devote precious Digital Space to post my weird crap.

One of them is charlottesometimes, a very talented artist and photographer with a slight and nifty orientation toward GothErotica, and a very, very advanced and original political mind. (Also a sense of humor -- that Endangered, Nearly Extinct Species of the Human Ideosphere.)

So here is a bit of Bob's Crummy Old Wine for your weekend entertainment.

VLEEPTRON
HORRIBLE TRUE FACT

OF A CRUEL, UNJUST WORLD:

Of all men who die while having sex,
85% are having sex
with Someone Other Than Their Wife.

~ ~ ~

Monday, May 13, 2002

The Death of Nelson

It's the 30th anniversary of the ghastly, racist Rockefeller Laws, passed at the psychotic urging of New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller. Despite an overwhelming community, human-rights, religious, public-health and judicial outcry, in and out of New York State, to end the Rockefeller Laws, the New York Statehouse is in political gridlock over the issue and can't pass anything. Every elected politician is terrified that if they vote for reform, their next opponents will say:

"My opponent is soft on drugs!"

and

"This sends the wrong message to our kids!"

So, incredibly, Nelson Rockefeller's vile, cruel, savage legacy of racist, Gulag-packing, decades-long mandatory-minimum drug felonies -- the model for nearly every state's and the federal response to non-violent drug addiction and use -- is still alive and well 30 years later.

Nelson himself isn't.

Here is how Nelson Rockefeller died.

Nelson Rockefeller was married to Happy Rockefeller, they had kids, the whole Family Values bit.

Nelson Rockefeller had a bunch of very high-class, expensive art. So much so that he needed a full-time curator. He found one, Megan Marshak. She was 27. Nelson was 71.

71 - 27 = 44

Anyway, Megan Marshak was such a good curator that Nelson bought her a brownstone apartment in a real nice Manhattan neighborhood. He used to go over there all the time, usually in the evenings, and they would talk about art.

One night -- 26 January 1979 (a Friday) to be precise -- they were talking about art and Nelson vapor-locked. He wasn't wearing many or any clothes, maybe just his socks and those weird rich-guy sock garters, and he fell on the floor and started sunfishing and turning blue.

Now if this had happened to me, my art curator would immediately have leapt for the phone and called 911, and a few minutes later I'd probably be sitting up, and a paramedic would ask me my name and where I thought I was, and I would be thinking about getting dressed and moving on.

But this was Nelson Rockefeller. This guy was rich and powerful on a level we can't even enumerate. He'd also been Vice President of the USA for a while, and he'd run for The Big Job once or twice on the Republican ticket. The media loved to publicize all his activities, with visual aids if possible.

And this was the most un-boring, entertaining and highly surprising thing Nelson Rockefeller had ever done. This was The Mother of All Photo Opportunities.

So his art curator picks up the phone.

But she doesn't call 911.

She calls a girl pal, a TV news person, and the pal comes over to the brownstone, and they chat about what's The Right Thing to do in a tricky situation like this.

It's more complicated than just a naked old guy sunfishing and turning blue on the carpet. First, he's married to Someone Else, and she's as famous and rich and powerful as the naked old guy is.

Second, Ms. Marshak is a complete unknown to the media and the public, and to Mrs. Rockefeller and the kids -- so far. If she plays this one wrong, by tomorrow morning she is going to be the most famous art curator on Earth.

So there's a lot to chat about. The girls chat for about an hour, going over all the options.

Even after analyzing the Blue Man Problem for an hour, there just aren't a lot of these. Eventually somebody, not Megan Marshak, calls 911, and the paramedics hit the siren and haul ass to 13 West 54th Street.

Nelson was still twitching a little, and they got him into the ambulance. They pound on him and blow air into his lungs and shoot him up with all sorts of thrilling things, maybe zap him a few times, but he's not sitting up for anybody. He codes in the ambulance. He is an ex-Nelson.

Within hours, the media puts all the big noisy messy pieces together, splash them all over Page 1, and that's why it only cost me 35 cents on 27 January 1979 (a Saturday) to read all about Megan Marshak's last art consultation with Nelson Rockefeller.

Megan Marshak got to keep the brownstone, but the neighborhood wasn't quite as nice as it used to be because there were always 15 news photographers camped on the front stoop waiting for her to try to sneak out to get groceries.

Isn't that an attractive story? Tell me you still don't believe in Karma.

28 October 2005

please sign my loony psycho bleeding-heart liberal petition


Try to imagine what the text at the bottom of this post means to someone in the People's Republic of China, or to someone in Tibet, or to someone living in Burma/Myanmar, or someone living in "liberalized" post-Soviet Russia (whose president used to run the KGB).

Imagine what reading a Spanish translation of this means to people living in El Salvador today, as their government tries to stamp out MS-13 / Mara Salvatrucha with new repressive emergency measures called "Super Mano Dura" -- Super Firm Hand.

Imagine what reading the paragraph below would have meant in Pinochet's Chile, or in the Brazil of the years of "Kiss of the Spider Woman," or in Portugal under Salazar and his ghastly repressive PIDE. Imagine what reading this text would have meant to a Cambodian during the years of Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge terror.

Imagine what this meant to Germans living under National Socialism.

The Bush administration will not have been the first administration to use the United States Constitution and its first ten Amendments -- the Bill of Rights -- to wipe shit from their asses and laugh at the American people as these Protections from a Hostile, Suspicious, Punitive, Repressive Government of Scoundrels are stolen from all citizens, not likely ever to be returned. It is a historical mistake and inaccuracy even to think that Republican administrations hate the Bill of Rights more than Democratic administrations.

The War on Drugs in particular -- just arbitrarily today, I'll call it 30 years old, but it's really almost a century old -- has been an enthusiastic Bipartisan achievement, with Democratic Congress members and Senators falling all over themselves to shred the Bill of Rights into little pieces faster and urinate on them with more contempt than their Republican colleagues.

And the same desecration of the Bill of Rights takes place in almost every state legislature, by both parties, to applause and self-congratulation, with great pride and career satisfaction. As this is written, at least a half-dozen legislative committees are meeting in Washington and in statehouses around the country and voting to weaken or discard a Constitutional Protection. After the Right has been discarded, the lawmakers pose proudly for photos with police and Homeland Security officials who demanded it and claimed it was absolutely necessary to protect us all from Terrorists.

Protections for every ordinary citizen which Thomas Jefferson and his fellow American Visionaries astonished the World with by giving to All Citizens of the just-born United States of America. They were all fresh off the boat from Europe. They were going to make their new United States of America very different. Permanently different, they hoped. But they knew these Rights and Protections would only survive if the citizens who came after them had the wisdom and courage to keep fighting for their Constitutional protections.

There's an old newspaper and political science gag that pops up and gets written about every year or two. A bored newspaper editor sends a reporter, or an ambitious Poli Sci undergrad goes to a big shopping mall and sets up a little card table with a clipboard and a pen, and asks the shoppers to sign a petition. Most people who glance at the language of the petition drop the clipboard and walk away; they won't sign it. It's too radical, too revolutionary, too loony, too screwy. They think hyper-liberal kommie radicals are trying to overthrow the government. The shoppers don't want their names on it; they're afraid they'll get in trouble with the government. Very few people will sign it.

And almost no one recognizes what it is.

Here's one paragraph from the psycho kommie bleeding-heart petition that almost nobody at the American shopping mall wants to sign:

Amendment IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Enmienda IV

El derecho de los habitantes de que sus personas, domicilios, papeles y efectos se hallen a salvo de pesquisas y aprehensiones arbitrarias, será inviolable, y no se expedirán al efecto mandamientos que no se apoyen en un motivo verosimil, estén corroborados mediante juramento o protesta y describan con particularidad el lugar que deba ser registrado y las personas o cosas que han de ser detenidas o embargadas.

27 October 2005

Harriet: joining the Carswell/Bork Oblivion League


VLEEPTRON WISHES TO SINCERELY APOLOGIZE to Harriet Miers if anything we said in two recent posts hurt her self-esteem or fucked up her chances to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court.

She would have been a fair and valuable Associate Justice. About the only thing anyone was able to learn about her opinions and feelings was that, while running for the Dallas Texas City Council, she promised a bunch of Evangelical Fundamentalists that she would do everything in her power to overturn Roe v. Wade and make abortion -- getting one or providing one -- a crime in the United States again. (See her Questionaire below.)

Presidential Puppenmeister Karl Rove appears to have made a telephone conference call to a network of Evangelical Fundamentalists to assure them that, if appointed to the Supreme Court, Harriet Miers would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade at the court's first opportunity. But Rove said that, not Harriet. Maybe she's changed her mind since the City Council race. Maybe she could have approached Roe v. Wade with a completely open mind.

We'll never know.

She sucked as a nominee -- I mean, she couldn't even fill out the Senate Judiciary Committee's questionaire adequately. The Republican committee chairman and the ranking Democrat jointly sent it back to her and told her to do it again, this time with actual facts.

We sure dodged the bullet this time. President Bush is so powerful and beloved by all Americans these days -- they're crazy about the way he's handling the Iraq thing, some top White House staffers will probably be indicted Friday on federal felony charges over the leak of a covert CIA operative's identity for political revenge, and Bush was just so awesome coming to the rescue of New Orleans' hurricane victims -- that putting anyone Bush wants on the Supreme Court should be a walk in the park, with no trouble from the Senate at all.

Harriet's chief opponents were Bush's own Republican Fundie Faith-Based "base." And when it came down to it, Bush bluntly told them to "Trust me."

And the Faith-Based Fundies didn't trust him, and said so. She was sunk after that.

I wonder whom he'll try next. This should be fun. I think he should nominate a woman lawyer who represents Planned Parenthood.

* * *

Running for an at-large seat on the Dallas Texas City Council in 1989, Harriet Miers answered a questionaire from the anti-abortion group Texans United for Life Political Action Committee [PAC].

==========================

Dear Ms. Miers:

Texans United for Life Political Action Committee represents more than 30,000 pro-lifers in the Metroplex [greater Dallas area].

TUL PAC first surveys candidates, then conducts interviews in an impartial way to determine which candidates truly possess the pro-life philosophy. Other factors, such as voting records, where applicable, and electibility, are taken into consideration before an endorsement is made.

Thank you for taking the time to meet with members of our PAC on Thursday afternoon, April 13. Please bring several copies of the enclosed candidate survey with you. We must have your completed survey in hand in order to conduct the interview.

Sincerely,

William E. Price

President

===============

CANDIDATE QUESTIONNAIRE, DALLAS CITY ELECTIONS, 1989

[Miers' responses are in italics. They all say Yes.]

1. If Congress passes a Human Life Amendment to the Constitution that would prohibit abortion except when it was necessary to prevent the death of the mother, would you actively support its ratification by the Texas Legislature?

Yes

2. If the Supreme Court returns to the States the right to restrict abortion, would you actively support legislation that would reinstate our 1973 abortion law that prohibited all abortions except those necessary to prevent the death of the mother?

Yes

3. Will you oppose the use of public monies for abortion except where necessary to prevent the death of the mother?

Yes

4. Will you oppose the use of City funds or facilities by any persons, groups, clinics or organizations to promote, encourage or provide referrals for abortions?

Yes

5. Will you vote against the appointment of pro-abortion persons to City Boards or Committees that deal with health issues? (To the extent Pro-Life views are relevant.)

Yes

6. Would you refuse the endorsement of any organization that supports abortion-on-demand?

Yes

7. Will you participate in press conferences to promote the goals of the pro-life movement?

Yes

8. Will you use your influences as an elected official within the confines of your oath of office to promote the pro-life cause?

Yes

9. Will you participate in pro-life rallies and special events?

Yes

10. What other ways can you think of in which you could use your office to promote the pro-life cause? Would you like to be considered for an endorsement by our PAC?

Yes

Source: Vleeptron is embarrassed to admit we got this off the Fox News Channel's website.

Ramanujan's Taxicab!

Ron Bizer of the USA State Shaped Like a Human Right Hand Mitten Palm Toward Viewer -- and I must state his Full Name Here because this is a credit for Intellectual Property:

© 2005 Ron Bizer, All Rights Reserved

-- is my Old Army Buddy, and a Very Talented Artist, whom I seem to have accidentally contaminated with the Postal Art / Mail Art Virus.

He began The Life Artistic as a teenager drawing Stuff for the Rubes (that's us) at Carnivals, and told me what Rebesak and Blue Steam are. (Blue Steam is conveyed around the Midway in buckets.)

Still a teenager, he was one of a stable of small underpaid slaves whom Big Daddy Roth forced to draw a very famous series of Monsters Driving Crazy Hot Rods called Odd Rods.

THIS WONDERFUL THING
just received is an
ORIGINAL PIECE OF MAIL ART
FOR VLEEPTRON
.


It is not Hardy's Taxicab, but RAMANUJAN'S TAXICAB.

The self-taught Indian mystic mathematician Ramanujan has hailed a taxicab to drive him to Infinity.

Pizza for Ron!

No Pizza for all of you, who have still not provided (in accord with the Vleeptron PizzaQ No Googling Honor System) the Number of Hardy's Taxicab -- "the smallest number which can be expressed as the sum of two cubes in two different ways."

this is the nearest to being alive


The 'Wall of Death' has been an attraction on the show grounds around Europe for over 70 years and remains one of the world's greatest travelling shows in existence. Using vintage Indian motorbikes the Ken Fox troupe perform to stunned audiences on an 18ft high vertical wall. With over 20 years experience Ken Fox is widely recognised as the world's leading Wall of Death rider and performs tricks and stunts with grace, agility and the finely tuned precision of a true artiste. Certainly a show NOT to be missed.

[VLEEPTRON SEZ: Ken Fox, on his Indian Motocycle (manufactured in Springfield, Massachusetts USA) is the blur at the left of the image. It is just slightly possible that this is the very same Wall of Death which Richard Thompson was thinking about.]

[VLEEPTRON CONFESSES: You can waste your time on the other rides, but riding a 1969 twin-carburetor Triumph Bonneville Motorcycle -- "world's fastest production motorcycle" -- at 105 miles per hour -- this is the nearest to being alive.]


Okay, so I'm a Dickhead.


Richard Thompson is one of the most astonishingly brilliant songwriters and performers on Planet Earth. This is one of his most brilliant songs.

Don't look for some cheesy MIDI -- buy the goddam CD. (Or, you know, download the .mp3 to your iPod, whatever you Youthoidz do with music that you can't touch or feel.)

Fans, followers and obsessive Kult worshippers of Richard Thompson are called Dickheads. I'm a Dickhead. Sometimes he likes to play a mile from my house. How very convenient and thoughtful of him. (I have his autograph on a paper pie plate.)

And sometimes I schlep to London's Royal Albert Hall to see and hear him. He made the cavernous Victorian monstrosity as intimate as a dark little nightclub. I got to sit in a Royal Box 'cause I bought my tickets late.

Best I can do for the tune is these guitar tablatures. But that's totally cool because he plays them on his guitar. Fabulously. (STEVE_H -- learn this song! Now!)

[VLEEPTRON EXTRA! Werner Herzog's wild new documentary film, "Grizzly Man" -- Richard Thompson does the soundtrack!!! Unglaublich!]

Wall of Death

Richard Thompson

on "Shoot Out the Lights" with Linda Thompson (1982)
Watching The Dark (1993)
two letter words: live 1994 (1996)
Celtschmerz: Live UK ?98 (1998)
Faithless (2004)

Let me ride on the Wall of Death
one more time
Let me ride on the Wall of Death
one more time
You can waste your time on the other rides
but this is the nearest to being alive
oh oh oh Let me take my chances
on the Wall of Death

You can go with the crazy people
in the Crooked House
You can fly away on the Rocket
or spin in the Mouse
The Tunnel of Love might amuse you
And Noah's Ark might confuse you
but Let me take my chances
on the Wall of Death

On the Wall of Death
All the World is far from me
On the Wall of Death
It's the nearest to being free

Well you're going nowhere
when you ride on the Carousel
And maybe you're strong
but what's the good of ringing a bell?
The Switchback will make you crazy
Beware of the Bearded Lady
Oh oh oh let me take my chances
on the Wall of Death

Let me ride on the Wall of Death
one more time
Let me ride on the Wall of Death
one more time
You can waste your time on the other rides
but this is the nearest to being alive
Oh oh oh Let me take my chances
Let me take my chances
Let me take my chances
on the Wall of Death

it's the end of the world as we know it, i feel fine

CD by Hip Hop/New School artist G-STAK, scrubrecords.com

Look out the window! Did you see those flying pigs?

The Weather Channel just announced that Hell's freezing over!


Down at the cemetery, the dead are climbing out of their graves! Thousands of them!

And in another Sign that the Apocalypse is Nigh,

a federal judge just threw out all the wiretap evidence that the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) had collected from the cell phones of twelve alleged major-weight cocaine dealers.

This is bad, right?

These were Evil Drug Kingpins, right?

And what do we do with Evil Drug Kingpins in America? (Especially if they're Off-White.)

We frame 'em and fast-track 'em to 50 years in Supermax prison!

That's the way it always works on the TV Cop Shows, like "Marvin Sloodge, Federal Narc" and "LuAnne Stevens, State Narc" and "Bo & Peep, Identical Twin County Narcs" (that one's my fave, it's a new Fox show starring the Olson Twins).

We provide Evil Drug Kingpins with a comatose underpaid overworked incompetent public defender, and then give these Evil Sleazebags a Kangaroo Kourt Trial, based on all kinds of invisible, intangible, spectral evidence from sworn drug-sniffing dogs and professional informants with a long certified record of lying under oath.

We depend on our District Attorneys and US Attorneys to lie their asses off, suborn perjury, and pack the jury with all-white 75-year-old grandmothers knitting GUILTY to send the Evil Drug Kingpins to the slammer forever.

That's what Americans want, that's what Soccer Moms expect, that's how Diane Feinstein and Orrin Hatch re-write the laws every year. That's how Congress and the state legislatures pumped up the drug laws and made them exempt from the protections of the Bill of Rights.

Because we must protect Our Precious Children from the Scourge of Drugs.

Right?

Well, this newspaper must be high on drugs, because they're just not getting it.

And this federal judge must be high on drugs, because he's just not getting it.

And this Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis (I think maybe he was one of those ACLU Jewish lawyer guys) obviously didn't get it.

The World Will End Tomorrow!

But until then -- check this out. Check this out. Check this out. Twelve alleged Kokaine Kingpinz are about to walk out of jail as free as Michael Jackson.

Can this truly be America?

Color me ...

[x] astonished
[x] happy
[x] relieved
[x] proud to be an American
[x] proud of the editorial writer at the Courier-Journal, I want to have his/her baby
[x] deeply grateful to this federal judge

{ [ ( o ) ] }

[VLEEPTRON ADVISORY: The boldface and italic emphasis below is Vleeptron's.]

Louisville Courier-Journal (Kentucky USA)
Tuesday 25 October 2005


Editorial
Following wiretap rules

Electronic surveillance is a powerful tool, one that law enforcement must use prudently to safeguard the privacy of innocent citizens.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Russell's recent ruling -- which bars prosecutors from using wiretap evidence in a major drug case -- is a firm reminder of the importance of following the rules before tapping private conversations. It is believed to be the first time a federal judge has issued such a ruling in Kentucky.

The front-page headline -- which noted that 12 drug suspects could walk as a result of the decision -- could serve to inspire anger against the judge.

Certainly, it is deeply troubling that a man who seems to be a drug kingpin for this region may not be convicted as a result of the ruling.

But Judge Russell deserves praise, not condemnation, for having the courage to decide as he did. It is more than a bit useful to note that the defendants who may benefit from the ruling were represented by a team of seven former prosecutors.

They understand that specific procedures must be followed to obtain a wiretap warrant. In this case, an FBI agent went to another federal judge, who was allegedly given misleading information about steps that had been taken to justify the tap.

Those steps (which include using traditional investigative procedures first unless they would prove too dangerous) are not mere formalities.

They are vital constitutional safeguards that the Fourth Amendment provides for individual liberty and protection of those accused, but not yet convicted, of wrongdoing.

Justice Louis Brandeis wrote in 1928:

"Our government teaches the whole people
by its example. If the government
becomes
the lawbreaker, it breeds
contempt for law;
it invites every man
to become
a law unto himself;
it invites anarchy."


That truth is the same today. Judge Russell deserves praise for having the courage to reassert it.

* * * * * * *

Louisville Courier-Journal (Kentucky USA)
Sunday 23 October 2005


Wiretap ruling could
free 12 drug suspects


By Kay Stewart
kstewart@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal

After wiretapping two of his cell phones and recording thousands of conversations, federal authorities charged Reggie Rice with heading a major drug-conspiracy operation in Louisville.

The seized evidence was startling -- nearly 50 pounds of cocaine with a street value of more than $2 million, expensive gold and diamond jewelry, $250,000 and loaded assault weapons.

But Rice, 32, and his 11 co-defendants -- who all face charges that carry possible life sentences -- might soon go free because a judge has ruled that the wiretaps weren't justified and can't be used in court.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Russell's ruling this month is believed to be the first time a federal judge in Kentucky has suppressed evidence gained from wiretaps, one of law enforcement's most intrusive and regulated investigative techniques.

Although the case is significant and the government's motives understandable, Russell wrote, "despite the consequences, the court must apply the law as written, in good faith and in its intended manner."

Russell said that agents with a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration drug task force failed to seriously consider or attempt less intrusive investigative methods before they tapped Rice's phones, in violation of federal law.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Chance wouldn't comment on Russell's ruling, which came in response to a defense motion. But Chance argued during a prior hearing that the wiretap was appropriate and necessary.

Chance said a decision will be made whether to appeal Russell's ruling. He acknowledged the case is "heavily reliant" on wiretap evidence but said prosecutors are considering what charges would be possible without it.

A significant case

The ruling comes in a case that is significant because of the large amount of cocaine involved, plus the fact that several defendants, including Rice, have long arrest records and previous drug convictions, Chance said.

All 12 defendants are charged with conspiracy to traffic in 15 to 50 kilograms -- 33 to 110 pounds -- of cocaine from June to August 2004 in a federal indictment that says Rice organized and led the enterprise. Rice and three of the other defendants also face additional charges related to drug activities.

The drug-conspiracy charge against all the defendants carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.

They have all pleaded not guilty to the charges.

A known drug dealer

Rice, whose phones were tapped from June 23 to Aug. 7 of last year, was a known drug dealer, based on comments from defense lawyers, Russell said in his ruling suppressing the evidence.

But the judge said the wiretap was illegal because it was the first step law-enforcement officers took in their investigation into his alleged drug dealing.

Before resorting to wiretaps, the law says other investigative methods -- such as physical surveillance, confidential informants, search warrants, grand jury testimony and searching suspects' trash -- should be attempted or rejected as ineffective or too dangerous, the ruling said.

"Other than some uncorroborated thoughts and opinions, there is no evidence that any other investigative technique was ever used or even seriously considered," Russell wrote.
The judge said in his 27-page opinion that the 40-page affidavit submitted by an FBI agent and approved by Chief U.S. District Judge John Heyburn II authorizing the wiretap was misleading and lacked specifics relating to the Rice inquiry.

ABOUT WIRETAPS

Federal law restricts wiretaps by law enforcement because they are intrusive:

* Wiretaps must be authorized by a federal judge based on an affidavit submitted by law enforcement.

* Before a wiretap is authorized, officers must show that traditional investigative methods were unsuccessful or would be ineffective or too dangerous.

* A judge can require periodic reviews to determine whether the wiretap remains necessary.

* A wiretap is authorized for no more than 30 days, but law enforcement may apply for an extension.

* Judges may order that conversations unrelated to criminal activity should not be recorded by monitoring officials.

Source: Court records, U.S. Attorney's office

Copyright 2005 The Courier-Journal.

26 October 2005

Women In Prison -- you've seen the Movie, here's the Reality. It sux. It's scarier than the Movie.


after cowboy movies and gangster movies and Outer Space movies and Horror movies, one of Hollywood's favorite cliches is Women In Prison movies.

The Women Prisoners are mean and vicious to each other. They're forced to wear ugly grey uniforms, they can't use any makeup, they can't get their hair or their nails done, they have big fights where they roll around on the floor until the Big Evil Woman Warden breaks it up and then gives the innocent heroine a terrible cruel punishment -- she takes away the heroine's snapshot of her beloved smiling cherub little son Tommy, which was the only thing keeping her sane in her nightmare of Women's Prison. She's innocent, she was framed, it was all a misunderstanding. But no one believes her. It's hopeless. She'll never see Tommy again. Cliche cliche yadda yadda.

Starting in the Silent Movie era, Hollywood has made a Women In Prison movie reliably every year or two. The audience loves it. Did I mention the big nasty chick fight where they're rolling around on the floor until the Evil Woman Warden breaks it up?

The women in the audience love it because the women in the audience know: This could never happen to me. Hahaha. This will never happen to me. No way would I ever end up in prison. That's just crazy. I've never known a woman who went to prison. I've never heard of any woman who went to prison. So this is all Fiction and Make-Believe. Hahahaha. Hmmm, I should have asked for butter on the popcorn.

Okay, movie's over, lights are coming up, back to Reality. If these stats are a year or two stale, go back to the latest Justice Department stats for yearend 2004.

Everything has gotten worse.

filched from Drug War Facts but maybe they're lying. I mean -- who ever heard of a woman going to prison? Hahaha.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Women

1. The most serious offense for 72% of women in federal prisons and 30.4% of women in state prisons is violation of drug laws.

Source: Greenfield, Lawrence A., and Snell, Tracy L., Bureau of Justice Statistics, Women Offenders (Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, December 1999), p. 6, Table 15; Harrison, Paige M. & Allen J. Beck, PhD, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Prisoners in 2002 (Washington DC: US Department of Justice, July 2003), p. 10, Table 15.

2. The number of women incarcerated in prisons and jails in the USA is approximately 10 times more than the number of women incarcerated in Western European countries, even though Western Europe's combined female population is about the same size as that of the USA.

Source: Amnesty International, "Not Part of My Sentence: Violations of the Human Rights of Women in Custody" (Washington, DC: Amnesty International, March 1999), p. 15.

3. "During 2002 the number of women under the jurisdiction of State or Federal prison authorities increased 4.9%, compared to a 0.2% drop in 2001 (table 5). The number of men in prison rose 2.4%, up from 1.2% the previous year. At yearend 2002 there were 97,491 women and 1,343,164 men in State or Federal prisons."

Source: Harrison, Paige M. & Allen J. Beck, PhD, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Prisoners in 2002 (Washington DC: US Department of Justice, July 2003), p. 4, Table 5.

4. "From 1995 to 2002 the average annual rate of growth of the female inmate population was 5.2%, higher than the average 3.5% increase in the male inmate population. Since 1995 the total number of male prisoners has grown 27%; the number of female prisoners 42%. By yearend 2002 women accounted for 6.8% of all prisoners, up from 6.1% in 1995."

Source: Harrison, Paige M. & Allen J. Beck, PhD, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Prisoners in 2002 (Washington DC: US Department of Justice, July 2003), p. 4.

5. "Relative to their number in the U.S. resident population, men were about 15 times more likely than women to be in a State or Federal prison. At yearend 2002 there were 60 sentenced female inmates per 100,000 women, compared to 906 sentenced male inmates per 100,000 men."

Source: Harrison, Paige M. & Allen J. Beck, PhD, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Prisoners in 2002 (Washington DC: US Department of Justice, July 2003), p. 4.

6. Women are the fastest growing and least violent segment of prison and jail populations. 85.1% of female jail inmates are behind bars for nonviolent offenses.

Source: John Irwin, Ph. D., Vincent Schiraldi, and Jason Ziedenberg, America's One Million Nonviolent Prisoners (Washington, DC: Justice Policy Institute, March 1999), pgs. 6-7.

7. From 1986 (the year mandatory sentencing was enacted) to 1996, the number of women sentenced to state prison for drug crimes increased ten fold (from around 2,370 to 23,700) and has been the main element in the overall increase in the imprisonment of women.

Source: Amnesty International, "Not Part of My Sentence: Violations of the Human Rights of Women in Custody" (Washington, DC: Amnesty International, March 1999), p. 26.

8. From 1985 to 1996, female drug arrests increased by 95%, while male drug arrests increased by 55.1%.

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Uniform Crime Reports 1985 (Washington DC: US Government Printing Office, 1986), p. 181, Table 37; Federal Bureau of Investigation, 1997 Uniform Crime Report (Washington DC: US Government Printing Office, 1998), p. 231, Table 42.

9. In 1998, there were an estimated 3,170,520 arrests of women, of which 272,073 were for drug offenses -- 18% of the total drug arrests in that year.

Source: Greenfield, Lawrence A., and Snell, Tracy L., Bureau of Justice Statistics, Women Offenders (Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, December 1999), p. 5, Table 10.

10. Between 1990 and 1996, the number of women convicted of drug felonies increased by 37% (from 43,000 in 1990 to 59,536 in 1996). The number of convictions for simple possession increased 41% over that period, from 18,438 in 1990 to 26,022 in 1996.

Source: Greenfield, Lawrence A., and Snell, Tracy L., Bureau of Justice Statistics, Women Offenders (Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, December 1999), p. 5, Table 11.

11. In 1997 a US Justice Department investigation of women's prisons in Arizona concluded that the authorities failed to protect women from sexual misconduct by correctional officers and other staff. The misconduct included rape, sexual relationships, sexual touching and fondling, and "without good reason, frequent, prolonged, close-up and prurient viewing during dressing, showing and use of toilet facilities." (CIV97-476, US District of Arizona).

Source: Amnesty International, "Not Part of My Sentence: Violations of the Human Rights of Women in Custody" (Washington, DC: Amnesty International (March 1999), p. 39.

12. Retaliation for reports of abuse impedes women's access to protection of their human rights. One woman who won a lawsuit against the Federal Bureau of Prisons for sexual abuse reported that she was beaten, raped and sodomized by three men who in the course of the attack told her that they were attacking her in retaliation for providing a statement to investigators.

Source: Amnesty International, "Not Part of My Sentence: Violations of the Human Rights of Women in Custody" (Washington, DC: Amnesty International, March 1999), p. 59.

13. Sick and pregnant women are routinely shackled during hospitalization and childbirth if they are inmates of prisons or jails in the USA.

Source: Amnesty International, "Not Part of My Sentence: Violations of the Human Rights of Women in Custody" (Washington, DC: Amnesty International, March 1999), p. 63.

14. "Female incarceration rates, though substantially lower than male incarceration rates at every age, reveal similar racial and ethnic disparities. Black females (with an incarceration rate of 191 per 100,000) were more than twice as likely as Hispanic females (80 per 100,000) and 5 times more likely than white females (35 per 100,000) to be in prison on December 31, 2002. These differences among white, black, and Hispanic females were consistent across all age groups."

Source: Harrison, Paige M. & Allen J. Beck, PhD, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Prisoners in 2002 (Washington DC: US Department of Justice, July 2003), p. 9, Table 14.

15. Approximately 516,200 women on probation (72% of the total), 44,700 women in local jails (70% of the total), 49,200 women in State prisons (65% of the total), and 5,400 women in Federal prisons (59% of the total) have minor children.

Source: Greenfield, Lawrence A., and Snell, Tracy L., Bureau of Justice Statistics, Women Offenders (Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, December 1999), p. 7, Table 17.

16. "Of the Nation's 72.3 million minor children in 1999, 2.1% had a parent in State or Federal prison. Black children (7.0%) were nearly 9 times more likely to have a parent in prison than white children (0.8%). Hispanic children (2.6%) were 3 times as likely as white children to have an inmate parent."

Source: Mumola, Christopher J., Bureau of Justice Statistics, Incarcerated Parents and Their Children (Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, August 2000), p. 2.

17. In 1997 an estimated 2.8% of all children under age 18 had at least one parent in a local jail or a State or Federal prison. About 1 in 359 children have an incarcerated mother -- for a total of 194,504 children with their mothers behind bars.

Source: Greenfield, Lawrence A., and Snell, Tracy L., Bureau of Justice Statistics, Women Offenders (Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, December 1999), pp. 7-8, Tables 17 and 18.

18. Forty-four percent of women under correctional authority, including 57% of the women in State prisons, reported that they were physically or sexually abused at some point in their lives. Sixty-nine percent of women reporting an assault said that it had occurred before age 18.

Source: Greenfield, Lawrence A., and Snell, Tracy L., Bureau of Justice Statistics, Women Offenders (Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, December 1999), p. 8, Table 20.

19. Many women in prisons and jails in the USA are victims of sexual abuse by staff, including male staff touching inmates' breasts and genitals when conducting searches; male staff watching inmates while they are naked; and rape.

Source: Amnesty International, "Not Part of My Sentence: Violations of the Human Rights of Women in Custody" (Washington, DC: Amnesty International, March 1999), p. 38.

20. As of June 1997, two-thirds of the AIDS cases in Hispanic women were directly linked to injecting drug use: 42.8% of Hispanic women contracted AIDS by injecting drugs, and an additional 23.2% contracted the disease through sexual intercourse with male injecting drug users.

Source: National Coalition of Hispanic Health and Human Services Organizations, HIV/AIDS: The Impact on Minorities (Washington, DC: National Coalition of Hispanic Health and Human Services Organizations, 1998), Figure 6, pg. 16.

21. African American women accounted for over 50 percent of all injection-related AIDS cases among women in 1997, although they made up only 12 percent of the female population. Similarly, Latina women accounted for almost 25 percent of all injection-related AIDS cases among women in 1997, although they made up only 10 percent of the female population.

Source: Dawn Day, Ph.D., Health Emergency 1999: The Spread of Drug-Related AIDS and other Deadly Diseases Among African Americans and Latinos (The Dogwood Center, 1998), p. i.

22. "Of the 13,573 treatment facilities that responded to the 2000 N-SSATS (National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services), 60 percent reported that they provided at least one of the special programs or services for women. Almost one third of the facilities (33 percent) provided one program or service, 17 percent of the facilities provided two programs or services, 8 percent of the facilities provided three, and 3 percent provided four programs or services (data not shown). Of the facilities providing programs or services for women, 63 percent reported providing programs for women only, 56 percent reported services addressing domestic violence, 34 percent provided programs for pregnant or postpartum women, and 16 percent offered on-site child care services."

Source: "Facilities Offering Special Programs or Services for Women," The Dasis Report (Washington, DC: Dept. of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Office of Applied Studies, Oct. 11, 2002), pp. 1-2.

23. "Facilities offering special programs or services for women were more likely to provide a variety of treatment services than facilities that did not offer such programs or services (Figure 1). These included transitional employment (with the largest difference, 42 percent vs. 25 percent), relapse prevention (83 percent vs. 67 percent), transportation assistance (42 percent vs. 26 percent), family counseling (83 percent vs. 69 percent), and pharmacotherapies (46 percent vs. 36 percent). Some 97 percent of facilities with women's programs or services offered individual therapy compared with 91 percent of facilities without special women's programs or services. In addition, 91 percent of facilities with women's programs or services offered group therapy compared with 84 percent of the other facilities."

Source: "Facilities Offering Special Programs or Services for Women," The Dasis Report (Washington, DC: Dept. of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Office of Applied Studies, Oct. 11, 2002), p. 2.

PEBKAC thing, ignore this.


pay no attention to this post. it's a PEBKAC thing. I'm trying to get my little signature image back.

Yay it worked!

NY Times: A Look at Those Who Died in Iraq


Here is the text part of two examples of an astonishing, heartbreaking on-line (Flash) feature of today's New York Times: The photos and brief bios and a bit of information about the most recent 1000 military deaths in Iraq. The feature is called


The page that opened for me when I clicked was

Soldiers who died on March 23, 2003

There are 65 soldiers (marines, sailors, etc.) on this screen page.

BRANDON U. SLOAN
Branch of Service: Army
Type of Duty: Regular
Hometown: Bedford Heights, Ohio
Age at death: 19
Date of Death: March 23, 2003
Type of Death: hostile, died while captured

LORI ANN PIESTEWA
Branch of Service: Army
Type of Duty: Regular
Hometown: Tuba City, Arizona
Age at Death: 23
Date of Death: March 23, 2003
Type of Death: hostile, died while captured

But there are many more pages filled with dozens of young men and women -- and some not so young, career soldiers in their thirties and forties. The Times ran this similar feature last year with the first 1000 military deaths in Iraq; I think this one is the second 1000.

For each, bios much too short, photos too small. Their lives were too short, and there are so many of them ... not enough time, not enough space. In today's actual physical NY Times, the print version of this catalog runs to and fills, without advertisements, several pages.

Are we safer from terrorists now?

Will this War make the Iraqis free and democratic, sovereign and self-governing, religiously and ethnically tolerant?

How long will our troops stay there, receiving hostile fire? A month ago, Rumsfeld predicted 12 years. The other day, Condoleeza Rice threw out a guess that our troops would be there 10 years from now.

Shortly after Japan attacked the American Naval base at Pearl Harbor (7 December 1941), Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy also declared war on the United States. All three were powerful, industrially sophisticated nations with surface and submarine naval fleets and air forces. Germany ended its war against the Allies with jet fighter planes and rocket bombs that could reach British cities -- weapons the Allies had not managed to invent or effectively defend against.

Japan was the last Axis power to surrender unconditionally, on V-J Day (15 August 1945).

The American part of World War II, from sneak attack to total victory over three military and industrial giants, lasted

3 years 8 months 8 days

Hostility against American troops ended completely and immediately at each surrender. Within months, most American troops were coming home. Germany, Japan and Italy have been parliamentary democracies and our allies and economic partners ever since.

2,267,787 USA Prisoners (yearend 2004) -- WE'RE STILL NUMBER ONE!

prison bars
fractal
unknown/anonymous
artist/programmer

U.S. Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
Bureau of Justice Statistics
Bulletin

Prisoners in 2004

October 2005, NCJ 210677

--------------------------------------------------------------
This file is text only without graphics and many of the tables.
A Zip archive of the tables in this report in spreadsheet format
(.wk1) and the full report including tables and graphics in
.pdf format are available from:

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/p04.htm

This report is one in a series. More recent editions
may be available. To view a list of all in the series go to
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pubalp2.htm#Prisoners

--------------------------------------------------------------

By Paige M. Harrison and
Allen J. Beck, Ph.D.
BJS Statisticians

---------------------------------------------

Highlights

The Nation's prison population rose 1.9% in 2004

During 2004 --

* Ten States had increases of at least 5%, led
by Minnesota (up 11.4%), Idaho (up 11.1%), and Georgia (up 8.3%).

* Eleven States experienced prison population
decreases, led by Alabama (down 7.3%), Rhode
Island (down 2.8%), New York (down 2.2%), and
Maryland (down 2.1%).

* The number of inmates under State jurisdiction
increased by 20,759 inmates (1.6%). The number
under Federal jurisdiction increased 7,269 (4.2%).

* Inmates in private facilities increased 3.3%
(from 95,707 at yearend 2003 to 98,901 at yearend 2004).

* Federal inmates held in private facilities
increased 13.3% to 24,768.

On December 31, 2004 --

* Local jails housed 74,378 State and Federal
inmates (5.0% of all prisoners).

* State prisons were between 1% below capacity
and 15% above; Federal prisons were operating
at 40% above capacity.

* Women were 7.0% of all inmates,
up from 6.1% in 1995.


* About half of male State prison inmates were
serving time for a violent crime, compared to
a third of female inmates. Females were more
likely to have a drug offense(31.5%)
compared to males (20.7%).


* About 8.4% of black males between ages 25 and
29 were in State or Federal prison, compared to
2.5% of Hispanic males and 1.2% of white males
in the same age group.

---------------------------------------------

The total number of prisoners under the jurisdiction
of Federal or State adult correctional authorities
was 1,496,629 at yearend 2004. During the year the
States added 20,759 prisoners and the Federal prison
system added 7,269 prisoners. Overall, the Nation's
prison population grew 1.9%, which was less than
the average annual growth of 3.2% since yearend 1995.

The rate of incarceration in prison at yearend
2004 was 486 sentenced inmates per 100,000 U.S.
residents -- up from 411 in 1995. About 1 in every
109 men and 1 in every 1,563 women were sentenced
prisoners under the jurisdiction of State or
Federal authorities.

Overall, the United States
incarcerated

2,267,787

persons at yearend 2004.
This total
represents persons held in --

-- Federal and State prisons
(1,421,911, which excludes State and Federal
prisoners in local jails)

-- territorial prisons (15,757)

-- local jails (713,990)

-- facilities operated by or exclusively for the
Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (9,788)

-- military facilities (2,177)

-- jails in Indian country (1,826 as of midyear 2003)

-- juvenile facilities (102,338 as of October 2002).

1 in every 138 U.S.
residents
in prison or
jail at yearend 2004


On December 31, 2004, 1,421,911 inmates were in
the custody of State and Federal prison authorities,
and 713,990 were in the custody of local jail
authorities. (Custody is defined on page 11.) During
2004 the total incarcerated population increased
54,321, or 2.6% -- less than the average annual
increase since 1995 (3.4%). Including inmates in
public and privately operated facilities, the
number in State prisons increased 1.8% during
2004; the number in Federal prisons, 5.5%; and
in local jails, 3.3%.

The rate of incarceration in prison and jail
was 724 inmates per 100,000 residents in 2004,
up from 601 in 1995. At yearend 2004, 1 in
every 138 U.S. residents were incarcerated in
State or Federal prison or a local jail.

U.S. prison population rose 1.9% during 2004

In 2004 the growth in the number of inmates under
State or Federal jurisdiction (1.9%) was less
than the percentage increase recorded for 2003
(2.0%). (Jurisdiction is defined on page 11.) The
population under the jurisdiction of State and
Federal authorities increased by 28,028 inmates
during 2004, smaller than the increase in 2003
(up 28,457). Since December 31, 1995, the U.S.
prison population has grown an average of 46,220
inmates per year (3.2%).

The Federal prison population totaled 180,328 at
yearend 2004, up from 173,059 at yearend 2003.
About 12% of all prisoners held were serving
time in the Federal system.

-----------------------------------------

At yearend 2004 15,757 inmates held in U.S. Territories

The U.S. Territories and Commonwealths --
American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands,
Puerto Rico, and Virgin Islands -- reported
15,757 inmates in the custody of their prison
systems at yearend 2004, a decrease of 4.5%
since 2003.

Prisoners with a sentence of more than 1 year
totaled 12,185 (more than three-quarters of
the total territorial prison population).

Relative to the resident populations in the
Territories, the rate of incarceration was
283 prisoners per 100,000 residents.

Of the 5 Territories, the U.S. Virgin Islands
had the highest prison incarceration rate (392
inmates per 100,000 residents), followed by
Puerto Rico (with 292). Puerto Rico, the largest
of the Territories, also held the largest number
of sentenced prisoners, 11,374 at yearend 2004.

------------------------------------------------

10 States reported increases of at
least 5% during 2004; 11 States had decreases

Between January 1 and December 31, 2004,
Minnesota experienced the largest increase in
prison population (up 11.4%), followed by Idaho
(up 11.1%), Georgia (up 8.3%), and Nevada
(up 7.8%). Eleven States experienced a decline.
Alabama had the largest decline (down 7.3%),
followed by Rhode Island (down 2.8%), New York
(down 2.2%), and Maryland (down 2.1%). In absolute
numbers, four jurisdictions grew by at least
2,000 inmates during 2004. The Federal system (up
7,269), experienced the largest growth, followed
by Georgia (up 3,896), Florida (up 3,521), and
California (up 2,069). Alabama and New York had
the largest drop in inmates(down 2,026 and 1,447,
respectively).

Overall, the number of inmates under jurisdiction
in the West grew 2.5%, followed by that in the
South (2.1%) and the Midwest (1.3%). The number
of inmates declined in the Northeast (down 1.4%).
In the same period the Federal system grew 4.2%.

The prison incarceration rate
reached 486 per 100,000 residents
in 2004, up from 411 in 1995

Eleven States exceeded the national prison
incarceration rate of 486 per 100,000 residents,
led by Louisiana (816), Texas (694), Mississippi
(669), and Oklahoma (649). Eight States,
including Maine (148), Minnesota (171), and
Rhode Island (175), had rates that were less
than half the national rate.

Since 1995 the sentenced inmate population in
State prisons has had an average growth of 3.1%
per year. During this period 16 States had an
average annual growth of at least 5%, led by
North Dakota (up 9.6%), Wisconsin (up 8.5%),
and West Virginia (up 8.2%). Between 1995 and
2004 the Federal system grew an average of
7.4% per year, an average annual increase of
8,386 inmates.

During 2004 the number of female
prisoners rose 4.0% -- more than
twice the 1.8%-increase among men

During 2004 the number of women under the
jurisdiction of State or Federal prison
authorities increased 4.0%

The number of men in prison rose 1.8%.

At yearend 2004, 104,848 women and
1,391,781 men were in prison.

From 1995 to 2004 the annual growth
of the female inmate population
averaged 4.8%, higher than the 3.1%
increase in male inmate population.

By yearend 2004 women accounted for
7.0% of all prisoners, up from 6.1%
in 1995 and 5.7% in 1990.

Relative to their number in the U.S. resident
population, men were over 14 times more likely
than women to be incarcerated in a State or Federal
prison. At yearend 2004 there were 64 sentenced
female inmates per 100,000 women in the United
States, compared to 920 sentenced male inmates
per 100,000 men.

Since 1995 the total number of male prisoners has
grown nearly 32%; the number of female prisoners,
53%. At yearend 2004, 1 in every 1,563 women and
1 in every 109 men were incarcerated in a State
or Federal prison.

Over a third of female prisoners held
in the 3 largest jurisdictions

Texas (13,958), the Federal system (12,164),
and California (11,188) held more than a
third of all female inmates. Oklahoma
(129 sentenced female inmates per 100,000
female residents), Mississippi (107),
and Louisiana (103) had the highest female
incarceration rates.
States with the lowest female
incarceration rates were concentrated in the
Northeast -- Rhode Island and Massachusetts (each
with 11 sentenced female prisoners per 100,000
female residents), and Maine and New Hampshire (both with 18).

Eleven States had an average annual increase of
more than 10% between 1995 and 2004, led by North
Dakota (18.0%), Montana (17.4%), and West Virginia
(15.1%). During this period the State female prison
population increased an average of 4.7% per year;
the Federal female prison population increased
5.7% per year.

Privately operated prisons held 6.6%
of State and Federal inmates in 2004

At yearend 2004, 34 States and the Federal system
reported a total of 98,901 prisoners held in
privately operated facilities. Private facilities
held 5.6% of all State prisoners and 13.7% of
Federal prisoners. Among States, Texas (with
16,668 State inmates housed in private facilities)
and Oklahoma (with 5,905) reported the largest
populations in 2004.

Six States had at least 25% of their prison
population housed in private prisons, led by New
Mexico(42%), Alaska(31%), Montana (30%), Wyoming
and Hawaii(both 28%), and Oklahoma(25%). At
yearend 2004, 8.1% of State inmates in the South
and 6.4% in the West were in privately operated
facilities, compared to 2.0% in the Northeast
and 1.4% in the Midwest.

Since yearend 2000 the number of Federal inmates
in private facilities has increased 60%, while the
number held in State facilities has decreased 1.3%.
As a percentage of all inmates under State and
Federal jurisdiction, the number held in private
facilities has remained stable (6.6%).

In 2004 local jails held 5% of State and Federal prisoners

At the end of 2004, 32 States and the Federal
system reported a total of 74,378 State and
Federal prisoners held in jails or other
facilities operated by county or local
authorities. These inmates held in local jails
represented 5% of all prisoners in 2004.

Louisiana had the largest percentage of its State
inmate population housed in local jails (47%).
Four other States -- led by Kentucky (29%) and
Tennessee (25%) -- had at least a fifth of their
population housed in local jail facilities.

About 85% of prisoners held in local jails were
in the South (62,966). Overall, the South held
10.5% of prisoners in local jails, followed by
the West(1.8%), the Midwest (1.3%), and the
Northeast (0.9%).

From yearend 2000 to 2004 the number of Federal
inmates held in local jails declined by about
50%, while the number of State inmates in local
jails rose about 20%.

24 States and Federal system
prisons at or above highest capacity


To estimate the capacity of their prisons,
jurisdictions were asked to supply three measures
for capacity at yearend 2004: rated, operational,
and design capacities. These measures were
defined as follows:

Rated capacity is the number of beds or inmates
assigned by a rating official to institutions
within the jurisdiction.

Operational capacity is the number of inmates
that can be accommodated, based on a facility's
staff, existing programs, and services.

Design capacity is the number of inmates that
planners or architects intended for the facility.

Twenty-one jurisdictions gave only 1 measure or
the same figure for each measure. For the 28
jurisdictions with more than 1 reported type of
capacity, estimates of population as a percent
of capacity are based on the highest and lowest
figures provided. At yearend 2004, 25 States
reported operating below 100% of their highest
capacity, and 24 States and the Federal prison
system, at 100% or more of their highest capacity.

Mississippi, at 74% of its highest capacity,
reported the lowest percent of capacity occupied.
Alabama, 105% over lowest reported capacity,
had the highest percent of capacity occupied.
At yearend 2004 the Federal prison system was
operating at 40% over capacity. Overall, State
prisons were operating between 99% of their
highest capacity and 115% of their lowest
capacity.

60% of State and Federal inmates
black or Hispanic at yearend 2004


At yearend 2004 black inmates represented an
estimated 41% of all inmates with a sentence
of more than 1 year, while white inmates
accounted for 34% and Hispanic inmates, 19%.

Although the total number of sentenced inmates rose
sharply (up 32% between 1995 and 2004), the racial
and Hispanic composition of the inmate population
changed only slightly. At yearend 2004 black males
(551,300) outnumbered white males (449,300) and
Hispanic males (260,600) among inmates with a
sentence of more than 1 year. More than 40% of all
sentenced male inmates were black.

Comparisons with previous estimates of inmates by
race and Hispanic origin are complicated by new
collection practices. Following guidelines
provided by the Office of Management and Budget,
estimates in 2004 were made separately for persons
identifying with one race (97.1%) and those
identifying with two or more races (2.9%).
Adoption of these guidelines reduced the number
and percentage of inmates identified as non-
Hispanic white and black.

An estimated 8.4% of black males,
age 25-29, in prison in 2004


When incarceration rates are estimated separately
by age group, black males in their twenties and
thirties are found to have high rates relative to
other groups. Expressed in terms of percentages,
8.4% of black males age 25 to 29 were in prison
on December 31, 2004, compared to 2.5% of Hispanic
males and about 1.2% of white males in the same
age group. Although incarceration rates drop with
age, the percentage of black males age 45 to 54 in
prison in 2004 was still nearly 3.3% -- higher
than the highest rate (2.5%) among Hispanic males
(age 25 to 29)and more than twice the highest rate
(1.2%) among white males (age 25 to 29).

Female incarceration rates, though substantially
lower than male incarceration rates at every age,
reveal similar racial and ethnic disparities.
Black females (with an incarceration rate of 170
per 100,000) were more than twice as likely as
Hispanic females (75 per 100,000) and 4 times as
likely as white females (42 per 100,000) to be in
prison on December 31, 2004. These differences
among white, black, and Hispanic females were
consistent across all age groups.

Violent offenders made up half of
State prisoners in 2002

In absolute numbers, an estimated 624,900 inmates
in State prison at yearend 2002 (the latest available
data) were held for violent offenses: 148,300 for
murder, 170,900 for robbery, 116,900 for assault,
and 142,000 for rape and other sexual assaults. In
addition, 253,000 inmates were held for property
offenses, 265,000 for drug offenses, and 87,500 for
public-order offenses.

Overall, the proportion of violent offenders
increased from 46.5% in 1995 to 50.5% in 2002.
Property offenders decreased from about 23% in
1995 to 20.4% in 2002; drug offenders remained
stable around 21%.

Offenses of State prisoners
varied by gender, race, and
Hispanic origin

About half of male State prisoners were serving
time for a violent offense in 2002, compared to
a third of female prisoners. Women were more
likely to be serving time for property and drug
offenses (28.7% and 31.5%, respectively) than
males (19.9% and 20.7%).

Offense types also varied by race and Hispanic
origin. Approximately half of white, black, and
Hispanic State inmates were violent offenders.
White prisoners were more likely to be serving
time for a property offense (26.4%), compared to
blacks (17.6%) and Hispanics (15.7%). Drug
offenders made up a larger portion of Hispanic
State inmates (27.4%) than of black inmates
(25.1%) or white inmates (14.8%).

Changing Federal prison population
related to drug and immigration
offenses

Prisoners sentenced for drug offenses
constituted the largest group of Federal
inmates (55%) in 2003, down from 60% in 1995.

On September 30, 2003, the date of the latest
available data in the Federal Justice Statistics
Program, Federal prisons held 86,972 sentenced drug
offenders, compared to 52,782 at yearend 1995.

Between 1995 and 2003 the number of Federal inmates
held for public-order offenses increased 170%, most
of which was the increase in immigration offenses
(up 394%). The number of immigration offenders
rose from 3,420 in 1995 to 16,903 in 2003.
Immigration violators represented over 10% of
Federal inmates in 2003.

The number of weapons offenders held in Federal
prisons increased about 120% (from 7,446 to
16,377)between 1995 and 2003 and represented
about 10% of the inmate population in 2003.

Violent offenders under Federal jurisdiction
increased 46% from 1995 to 2003, and accounted
for almost 8% of the total growth during the
period. Homicide offenders increased 146%, from
1,068 in 1995 to 2,632 in 2003.

While the number of offenders in each major offense
category increased, the number incarcerated for a
drug offense accounted for the largest percentage
of the total growth(49%), followed by public-order
offenders (38%).

------------------------------------------

The number of Immigration and Customs
detainees dropped 19% during 2004

The U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE), reported 19,057 detainees
on December 31, 2004, down from 23,514 at yearend
2003. Nearly two-thirds of these detainees(11,570)
were held in Federal and State prisons and local
jails, and about a third were held in ICE-operated
facilities (4,545) and private facilities under
exclusive contract to the ICE (1,678).

The number of detainees under ICE jurisdiction
more than doubled between 1995 and 2004. This
increase most affected State prisons, local jails,
and other facilities maintaining intergovernmental
agreements with ICE; they held 11,570 detainees in
2004, up from 2,286 in 1995.

Among the 19,057 ICE detainees for immigration
violations at yearend 2004, 10,931 had been
convicted of criminal offenses, and 1,402 had
pending criminal cases (not shown in table).
Detainees convicted of violent offenses (32.1%)
and drug offenses (30.1%) constituted the largest
groups under ICE jurisdiction, followed by
property offenses (15.5%) and public-order
offenses (14.1%).

---------------------------------------------

Number of prisoners held by military authorities
nearly unchanged during 2004

There were 2,177 prisoners under military
jurisdiction at yearend 2004. Fifty-nine percent
of the prisoners held by the Army, Air Force,
Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard had sentences
of 1 year or more. At yearend 2004 the Army's
Disciplinary Barracks, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas,
and five other local or regional Army facilities
held the largest share of inmates under military
jurisdiction (46%). The 11 Navy facilities held
30% of all inmates; the 6 Marine Corps facilities
held 19% of all inmates; and the 34 Air Force
facilities held 5% of all inmates.

The operational capacity of the 56 military
confinement facilities was 3,290 (not shown in
a table). At yearend 2004 these facilities were
operating at 66% of their operational capacity.
About 88% of prisoners held by the Army, Air
Force, Navy, and Marine Corps were convicted
inmates; 12% were unconvicted persons.

----------------------------------------------

Methodology

National Prisoner Statistics

The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), with the
U.S. Census Bureau as its collection agent,
obtains yearend and midyear counts of prisoners
from departments of correction in each of the 50
States and the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

The National Prisoner Statistics (NPS) distinguishes
prisoners in custody from those under jurisdiction.
To have custody of a prisoner, a State must hold that
person in one of its facilities. To have jurisdiction
means that a State has legal authority over the
prisoner. Prisoners under a State's jurisdiction
may be in the custody of a local jail, another State's
prison, or other correctional facility. Some States
are unable to provide both custody and jurisdiction
counts.

Excluded from NPS counts are persons confined in
locally administered confinement facilities who are
under the jurisdiction of local authorities. NPS
counts include all inmates in State-operated
facilities in Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii,
Rhode Island, and Vermont, which have combined jail-
prison systems.

NPS excludes inmates held by the District of
Columbia (DC), which as of yearend 2001 operated
only a jail system.

Military Corrections Statistics

BJS obtains yearend counts of prisoners in the
custody of U.S. military authorities from the
Department of Defense Corrections Council. In 1994
the council, comprised of representatives from each
branch of military service, adopted a standardized
report (DD Form 2720) with a common set of items
and definitions. This report gives data on persons
held in U.S. military confinement facilities inside
and outside the continental United States, by branch
of service, gender, race, Hispanic origin, conviction
status, sentence length, and offense. It also has data
on the number of facilities, and their design and rated
capacities.

Other inmate counts

In 1995 BJS began collecting yearend counts of
prisoners from the departments of correction in
the U.S. Territories (American Samoa, Guam, and
U.S. Virgin Islands) and U.S. Commonwealths
(Northern Mariana Islands and Puerto Rico). These
counts include all inmates for whom the Territory
or Commonwealth government had legal authority
(inmates under jurisdiction) and all inmates
physically located in prison or jail facilities
(inmates in custody). These counts are collected
by gender, race, Hispanic origin, and sentence
length. In addition, BJS obtains reports of the
total design, rated, and operational capacity of
correctional facilities.

Estimating age-specific incarceration rates

The number of sentenced prisoners within each
group was estimated for men, women, whites, blacks,
and Hispanics. In 2004 estimates were produced
separately for inmates under State jurisdiction by
combining data by gender from NPS and advance
data from the 2003-04 Survey of Inmates in State
Correctional Facilities.

The Federal Justice Statistics Program (FJSP)
provided counts of sentenced Federal inmates by
age for each demographic group at the end of
fiscal year 2003. The NPS provided counts of
sentenced Federal inmates by gender at yearend
2004 and counts by race and Hispanic origin at
midyear 2004. The FJSP counts were converted to
percentages and multiplied by the NPS totals at
yearend 2004.

Estimates of the U.S. resident population for July 1,
2004, by age, gender, race and Hispanic origin were
obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau. Age-specific
rates of incarceration for each demographic group
were calculated by dividing the estimated number of
sentenced prisoners in each age group by the
number of U.S. residents in each age group and then
multiplying by 100,000. Detailed categories exclude
persons identifying with two or more races. Totals by
gender include all inmates and U.S. residents,
regardless of racial identification.

-------------------------------------------

The Bureau of Justice Statistics is the
statistical agency of the U.S. Department
of Justice. Lawrence A. Greenfeld is the
director.

BJS Bulletins present the first release of
findings from permanent data collection
programs such as the National Prisoner
Statistics.

Paige M. Harrison and Allen J. Beck wrote this
report. Jennifer C. Karberg and Timothy A. Hughes
provided statistical assistance and verification.
Tom Hester and Carolyn C. Williams edited the
report. Jayne Robinson administered final production.

Data collection and processing for the NPS program
were carried out by Theresa M. Reitz and Pamela H.
Butler under the supervision of Charlene M. Sebold,
Governments Division, Census Bureau, U.S.
Department of Commerce.

Lauren E. Glaze and Christopher J. Mumola
collected and processed data on prisoners in
the U.S. Territories, in U.S. military
facilities, and in facilities operated by or
for the Bureau of Immigration and Customs
Enforcement.

October 2005, NCJ 210677

-------------------------------------------

This report in portable document
Format and in ASCII, its tables, and
Related statistical data are available
At the BJS World Wide Web InInternetite:


-------------------------------------------

NPS jurisdiction notes

Alaska -- Prisons and jails form one integrated
system. All NPS data include jail and prison
populations. Counts exclude individuals in
electronic and special monitoring programs.

Arizona -- Population counts are based on custody
data. Counts exclude 55 sentenced inmates housed
in contracted local jail facilities, some awaiting
transfer to the DOC.

The definition of operational capacity has
changed to include temporary beds and double
bunks used in situations of crowding.

California -- Population counts include felons
and civil addicts who are temporarily absent,
such as in court, jail or hospital.

Colorado -- Population counts include 214 male
and 1 female inmate in the Youthful Offender System.

Capacity figures exclude 6 privately run facilities
under contract with the Department of Corrections.
Connecticut -- Prisons and jails form one integrated
system. All NPS data include jail and prison
populations.

Legislation in 1995 abolished the capacity law
so that prisons no longer have a rated or
operational capacity. Design capacity is recorded
separately in each facility.

Delaware -- Prisons and jails form one integrated
system. All NPS data include jail and prison
populations. Jurisdiction counts exclude inmates
housed in facilities in other States.

Capacity counts include Department of Correction
halfway houses.

Federal -- Custody counts include inmates housed
in privately operated secure facilities under
contract with BOP or with State or local
government that has an intergovernmental agreement.
Custody counts exclude offenders under home
confinement.

Rated capacity excludes contract beds.

Georgia -- Population counts are based on custody
data, including inmates in privately operated
facilities.

Facilities in Georgia are not given rated or
design capacities.

Hawaii -- Prisons and jails form one integrated
system. All NPS data include jail and prison
populations.

Idaho -- Rated capacity is defined as 100% of the
maximum capacity; operational capacity as 95%
of the maximum (except in one facility which is
100%).

Illinois -- Population counts are based on
jurisdiction data. Counts of inmates with a
sentence of more than 1 year include an
undetermined number with a sentence of 1 year.

Iowa -- Population counts are based on custody
data. Counts of inmates with a sentence of more
than 1 year include an undetermined number with
a sentence of 1 year or less.

Kansas -- Population counts of inmates with a
sentence of more than 1 year include an
undetermined number with a sentence of 1 year
or less.

Louisiana -- Counts are as of December 29, 2004.
Counts include 16,069 males and 1,400 females housed
in local jails as a result of a partnership with the
Louisiana Sheriffs' Association and local authorities.

Massachusetts -- By law, offenders may be sentenced
to terms of up to 2½ years in locally operated jails.
Such offenders are included in counts and rates for
local jails. About 6,200 inmates with sentences of
more than 1 year were held in local jails in 2004.


Michigan -- Operational capacity includes
institution and camp net capacities and
populations in community programs.

Minnesota -- Custody numbers include ICE and
U.S. Marshal contract prisoners.

Mississippi -- Operation and design capacities
include private prison capacities.

Missouri -- Design capacities are not available
for older prisons. Operational capacity is defined
as the number of available beds including those
temporarily off-line.

Montana -- Counts include 278 inmates under intensive
supervision in the community. Capacity figures
include 2 county operated regional prisons (an
estimated 300 beds), 1 private prison (500 beds),
and a State operated boot camp (60 beds).

Nebraska -- Operational capacity is defined as
stress capacity (or 125% of design capacity),
which is ordered by the governor and set by the
Department of Corrections.

Nevada -- Rated capacity is defined as emergency
capacity. Design capacity is defined as one bed per cell.

New Jersey -- Population counts of inmates with
a sentence of more than 1 year include an
undetermined number with a sentence of 1 year.

New Mexico -- Operational capacity includes the
maximum number of contracted beds in private facilities.

North Carolina -- Capacity figures refer to
standard operating capacity, based on single
occupancy per cell and 50 square feet per
inmate in multiple occupancy units.

Ohio -- Population counts of inmates with a
sentence of more than 1 year include an
undetermined number with a sentence of 1 year or less.

Oklahoma -- Population counts of inmates with
a sentence of more than 1 year include an
undetermined number with a sentence of 1 year.

Capacity figures include private prisons and
contract jails.

Oregon -- Inmates with under a 1 year maximum
sentence remain under the control of local counties.

Rhode Island -- Prisons and jails form one
integrated system. All NPS data include jail
and prison populations. Custody numbers for
2003 and 2004 are not comparable.

South Carolina -- Population counts include 60
inmates who were unsentenced, under safekeeping,
or ICE status.

South Dakota -- Operational capacity is planned
capacity. Rated and design capacities are not recognized.

Tennessee -- Population counts of inmates with
a sentence of more than 1 year include an
undetermined number with a sentence of 1 year.

Texas -- Jurisdiction counts include inmates
serving time in a pre-parole transfer (PPT) or
intermediary sanctions facility (ISF), substance
abuse felony punishment facility (SAFPF),
temporary releases to counties, and paper-ready
inmates in local jails.

Capacity figures include public, privately
operated, and county contracted facilities
that are State funded. Non-contracted county
jail beds are excluded.

Vermont -- Prisons and jails form one integrated
system. All NPS data include jail and prison populations.

Virginia -- Rated capacity is the DOC count of
beds, which takes into account the number of
inmates that can be accommodated based on staff,
programming, services, and design.

Washington -- A recently revised law allows
increasing numbers of inmates with sentences
of less than 1 year to be housed in prison.

Wisconsin -- Operational capacity excludes
contracted local jails, Federal, other State,
and private facilities.

End of file
10/17/05 ih