# Who's in prison & why are they there? Federal Bureau of Prisons website- Interesting **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 20, 2006, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-in-prison-why-are-they-there-federal-bureau-of-prisons-website-interesting/373411 "2006-09-20T13:49:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-in-prison-why-are-they-there-federal-bureau-of-prisons-website-interesting/373411/1 "2006-09-20T13:49:04Z")
[Bureau of Prisons website](http://www.bop.gov/news/quick.jsp#4) The preponderance of people sentenced for drug crimes is astounding. Drug Offenses: 94,310 (53.6 %) Weapons, Explosives, Arson: 24,873 (14.1 %) Immigration: 18,759 (10.7 %) Robbery: 9,768 (5.6 %) Burglary, Larceny, Property Offenses: 6,854 (3.9 %) Extortion, Fraud, Bribery: 7,326 (4.2 %) Homicide, Aggravated Assault, and Kidnapping Offenses: 5,530 (3.1 %) Miscellaneous: 2,267 (1.3 %) Sex Offenses: 3,877 (2.2 %) Banking and Insurance, Counterfeit, Embezzlement: 996 (0.6 %) Courts or Corrections: 724 (0.4 %) Continuing Criminal Enterprise: 578 (0.3 %) National Security: 98 (0.1 %) * * * ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-in-prison-why-are-they-there-federal-bureau-of-prisons-website-interesting/373411/2 "2006-09-20T13:57:53Z")
I’d like to see how that “drug offenses” breaks down. Dealers are one thing, basically because there is usually other crime attached to it. But I wonder how many are due to possession independent of other crimes. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-in-prison-why-are-they-there-federal-bureau-of-prisons-website-interesting/373411/3 "2006-09-20T14:08:11Z")
What would be construed as “Miscellaneous”? ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-in-prison-why-are-they-there-federal-bureau-of-prisons-website-interesting/373411/4 "2006-09-20T14:24:40Z")
[QUOTE=Cluricaun] What would be construed as “Miscellaneous”? [/QUOTE] Jaywalking. Tearing the tags off of mattresses. ---
**Author:** ![hawthorne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-in-prison-why-are-they-there-federal-bureau-of-prisons-website-interesting/373411/5 "2006-09-20T15:30:52Z")
You’d want to know a lot more about how the stats were compiled before drawing any conclusions. The numbers look like they sum to one, which means that someone who broke into a house and was tracked down and turned out to be an illegal immigrant who a gram of dope, an unlicenced firearm and an outstanding warrant for tearing tags off mattresses is somehow classified as being in only one category. If it’s done on sentences, the fact that drug penalties are relatively harsh would make a big difference to the numbers. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-in-prison-why-are-they-there-federal-bureau-of-prisons-website-interesting/373411/6 "2006-09-20T15:49:11Z")
[QUOTE=Cluricaun] What would be construed as “Miscellaneous”? [/QUOTE] Poking badgers with spoons. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-in-prison-why-are-they-there-federal-bureau-of-prisons-website-interesting/373411/7 "2006-09-20T15:50:23Z")
This is interesting data, but one should be aware that the distribution of the roughly 175,000 convicts in Federal prisons doesn’t necessarily tell us much about the rest of the roughly 2 million persons incarcerated in the U.S. Most everyday crimes _aren’t_ Federal crimes, after all. [QUOTE=Kalhoun] I’d like to see how that “drug offenses” breaks down. Dealers are one thing, basically because there is usually other crime attached to it. But I wonder how many are due to possession independent of other crimes. [/QUOTE] My thinking is that 94,000 is an awful lot of drug kingpins and high-level dealers even for as large a country as the U.S., so I’d assume until shown otherwise that most of these guys are low-level dealers and users. At the lower levels, the line between ‘dealer’ and ‘user’ is a blurry one. If four of us are sitting around watching the football game, and we decide to order a pizza, I’m not a pizza dealer even if I’m the one who places the order, collects the other guys’ money, pays and tips the delivery guy, and gives everyone their share of the pizza. But if the same transaction involved marijuana rather than pizza, the law would regard me as a drug dealer. So even if every last one of those 94,000 is technically a ‘dealer,’ I’m not buying the notion that most of these guys are predators who had to be gotten off the streets, absent better evidence than a Federal drug conviction for dealing. A decent minority of them surely are, but that doesn’t necessarily mean all of them are. ---
**Author:** ![Lobelia\_Overhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/54ee81/32.png) [@Lobelia\_Overhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobelia_Overhill)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-in-prison-why-are-they-there-federal-bureau-of-prisons-website-interesting/373411/8 "2006-09-20T15:51:39Z")
[QUOTE=Cluricaun] What would be construed as “Miscellaneous”? [/QUOTE] spamming message boards ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-in-prison-why-are-they-there-federal-bureau-of-prisons-website-interesting/373411/9 "2006-09-20T16:00:24Z")
[QUOTE=slortar] Jaywalking. Tearing the tags off of mattresses. [/QUOTE] And giving plastic bags to small children. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-in-prison-why-are-they-there-federal-bureau-of-prisons-website-interesting/373411/10 "2006-09-20T16:53:08Z")
So…what gets you out of the embrace of the state and into federal prison vs a state or local lockup? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-in-prison-why-are-they-there-federal-bureau-of-prisons-website-interesting/373411/11 "2006-09-20T17:02:38Z")
[QUOTE=astro] So…what gets you out of the embrace of the state and into federal prison vs a state or local lockup? [/QUOTE] You commit a federal crime. ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-in-prison-why-are-they-there-federal-bureau-of-prisons-website-interesting/373411/12 "2006-09-20T17:45:08Z")
[QUOTE=guizot] And giving plastic bags to small children. [/QUOTE] \ I’ve always thought [this](http://www.donotenter.com/cool/signs/feb_2002/lots_of_nots/bagbaby.gif)was more of a suggesting than a warning. \ ---
**Author:** ![wheelie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b4bc9f/32.png) [@wheelie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wheelie)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-in-prison-why-are-they-there-federal-bureau-of-prisons-website-interesting/373411/13 "2006-09-20T17:56:38Z")
[QUOTE=Cervaise] Poking badgers with spoons. [/QUOTE] I would think that offense comes with an adequate penalty built in : pissed-off badgers. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-in-prison-why-are-they-there-federal-bureau-of-prisons-website-interesting/373411/14 "2006-09-20T18:38:46Z")
[QUOTE=Cervaise] Poking badgers with spoons. [/QUOTE] Never saw a badger with a spoon. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-in-prison-why-are-they-there-federal-bureau-of-prisons-website-interesting/373411/15 "2006-09-20T19:17:34Z")
There are some federal offenses for simple possession, but most of them tend to be based on where you are rather than what you’re doing, e.g. on Indian land on federal property. Most federal drug offenders are in for trafficking, and the Feds usually are involved in prosecuting people moving larger amounts than you see in state courts, guys who tend to deal more in kilos than grams. They don’t mess around with the low level guys much. Seeing guys prosecuted for having 10 kilos of cocaine isn’t completely unusual, and occassionally you’ll see a huge bust of smugglers with a very literal boat load, like tons. Not tons like “lots,” tons like “tons.” Heavy stuff, no pun intended. ---
**Author:** ![Ragiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6de8d8/32.png) [@Ragiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ragiel)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-in-prison-why-are-they-there-federal-bureau-of-prisons-website-interesting/373411/16 "2006-09-20T21:44:31Z")
[QUOTE=gonzomax] Never saw a badger with a spoon. [/QUOTE] If you get one of those serrated grapefruit spoons, you could saw with it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-in-prison-why-are-they-there-federal-bureau-of-prisons-website-interesting/373411/17 "2006-09-20T22:12:13Z")
Wait, there are only 191,867 people in prison in the U.S.? (plus 18,706 in privately-managed secure facilities / 11,022 in other contract facilities) Or is this just federal prison, with more in state prison? ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-in-prison-why-are-they-there-federal-bureau-of-prisons-website-interesting/373411/18 "2006-09-21T00:10:16Z")
[QUOTE=gonzomax] Never saw a badger with a spoon. [/QUOTE] Some of the best advice I’ve ever head. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-in-prison-why-are-they-there-federal-bureau-of-prisons-website-interesting/373411/19 "2006-09-21T02:45:13Z")
> [@](#): > > Wait, there are only 191,867 people in prison in the U.S.? (plus 18,706 in privately-managed secure facilities / 11,022 in other contract facilities) Or is this just federal prison, with more in state prison? That’s only the people in federal custody. The total number of all prisoners in the country is much higher. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-in-prison-why-are-they-there-federal-bureau-of-prisons-website-interesting/373411/20 "2006-09-21T02:49:35Z")
The total prison population for the country is 2,186,230 (as of June 2005). This figure includes all people serving sentences in federal, state, or local prisons. But it doesn’t include people in jail awaiting trials or sentencing; nor does it include youthful offenders or criminally insane person held in confinement; nor people in military prisons. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-in-prison-why-are-they-there-federal-bureau-of-prisons-website-interesting/373411.md?page=2)