We did it, you guys! It took a couple hundred years and a whole lot of broken promises from federal, state and local governments, but, finally, one out of every 100 adults in the United States is in a correctional facility.

The federal prison population swelled to 1.6 million last year. Add to that the 723,000 criminals housed in local jails, and that's one whole percent of the nation's adult population that goes to sleep behind bars. And, of course, this: "Incarceration rates are even higher for some groups." Can you guess to which "groups" the New York Times is referring? I think you can.

One in nine black men between the ages of 20 and 34 is imprisoned in some way (and that's not counting mentally). The rate of black women between the ages of 35 and 39 who are serving time is in lockstep with the national rate, one in 100, but that percentage drops to one in 355 for white women of the same age.

The researchers behind this data – like many, many of their contemporaries – say it's high time America's criminal justice system seeks other options to treat nonviolent offenders, specifically those whose crimes involve drugs and alcohol (DUI, marijuana possession, etc).

Conclusion: This is hardly anything new, unfortunately. The amount of information suggesting that our prisons are careening out of control seems to be directly proportional to their growth rate, and nothing's changing. To quote Mugatu: "I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!"

As most of you guessed, the above drawing is of Busta Rhymes, who showed up in court yesterday to begin hearings for two assault cases. Lucky for him, the Assistant DA in charge of the case had jury duty and the case got pushed back to November, which would be promising if he didn't still have to deal with a handful of others. I wish I could tell whether that's a smile or a grimace in the drawing.

[NYP]