US leads the world in long prison sentences: Study

Tori Richards

December 20, 05:32 PM December 20, 05:32 PM

The United States imposes the world’s lengthiest prison sentences and is also a leader in the number of people spending decades behind bars, according to a recent study.

The Council on Criminal Justice completed the first academic study comparing prison sentences among the world’s developed nations and found that American sentencing policies are more aligned with those of Latin America and the Caribbean than industrialized European countries.

“Sentences reported in the U.S. differed from the sentencing outcomes reported in European nations and were more on par with those of less developed countries,” the report said.

“The variation was especially striking when comparing the U.S. to the Netherlands, where legal practitioners estimated the probable sentences for both burglary and drug importation as three to five months, compared to five or more years under American sentencing policies.”

Forty percent of the world’s population of people serving life in prison are in the U.S., along with 83% of inmates serving life without the possibility of parole.

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However, the amount of time people serve before becoming eligible for release could factor into the lengthy sentences. In Belgium, Denmark, and Finland, it’s 12 years or less. In Georgia, it’s 30 years, and in Texas, it’s 40 years.

While the U.S. imposed the longest sentences for homicide and rape, people on average served half their sentences before being released.

“U.S. states punish more severely than countries that contend with higher levels of violence,” the study said. “The U.S. has a lower overall homicide rate than most Latin American nations but incarcerates more people and for longer periods of time.”

However, European countries might catch up in the future. The use of long sentences has been increasing in places such as Germany, where the number of prisoners sentenced to life was up from 21.4% in 1995 to 30.2% in 2012.

White Dwelling downplays Mexico's absence from Summit of the Americas

Katherine Doyle

June 06, 08:31 PM June 06, 08:31 PM

As President Joe Biden prepares to host Latin American leaders in Los Angeles, the White Property is downplaying Mexico’s boycott and pointing to the president’s monitor history of diplomacy in the region as the bedrock for cooperation on urgent financial, migration, and local climate troubles.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s preference to forgo the Summit of the Americas is “a sovereign decision” that “we just disagree with,” a senior administration formal instructed reporters on a get in touch with Monday. Lopez Obrador created the decision after Biden made a decision not to invite Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, countries whose leaders the White Dwelling slammed as “dictators.”

“We believe that the best use of this summit is to deliver jointly nations that share a established of democratic principles,” the official argued.

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The shift by one particular of America’s closest regional allies is a blow to the Biden administration as it prepares to host the weeklong function for the very first time considering that 1994. Twenty-a few heads of governing administration are set to show up at, but crucial regional associates are abstaining, which include individuals from Honduras and El Salvador, each international locations from in which the United States has sought to stem the move of migration.

Biden is anticipated to make various bulletins, commencing with a coverage speech Wednesday to introduce the Americas Partnership for Financial Prosperity, a approach to enhance regional expenditure and trade, reinforce governments, and battle weather improve. He will also commit additional than $300 million in food support. The president will also preview a conference with other leaders later on in the week to introduce a migration prepare. Termed the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration, the initiative is closely tied to other financial initiatives presented during the week.

“This summit is about creating and strengthening our foundation with our important associates on these concerns that are most consequential for the countries and folks of the region,” the official reported.

Biden has for a long time “worked to understand his vision of the [Western] hemisphere that is middle course, protected, democratic,” the formal said. As vice president underneath Barack Obama, Biden was the administration’s level man or woman for diplomacy in the location, exactly where he visited far more than 16 occasions.

Whilst Biden will not be assembly with important regional companions this sort of as Lopez Obrador, he is expected to sit down with some others, like Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and Venezuelan politician Juan Guaido. There is “a very good chance” the president may fulfill with Guaido, whom the U.S. recognizes as the country’s interim president, the White Home reported.

Biden’s closest advisers will host gatherings all through the 7 days, such as his secretary of state, vice president, secretary of commerce, trade ambassador, and a lot more, aiming to boost America’s commitment to a area intently tied to the U.S. via trade, migration, and other issues.

“There’s no other aspect of the earth that impacts the security and prosperity of the United States far more straight than the Western Hemisphere,” the official claimed.

The U.S. proceeds to confront supply chain shortages as very well as a surge in the selection of migrants arriving at the southern border, each political concerns for Biden heading into the midterm elections.