This report says that we are the biggest police state in the world. It also points at systemic racism. Link.

New High In U.S. Prison Numbers
Growth Attributed To More Stringent Sentencing Laws

By N.C. Aizenman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, February 29, 2008; A01

More than one in 100 adults in the United States is in jail or prison, an all-time high that is costing state governments nearly $50 billion a year and the federal government $5 billion more, according to a report released yesterday.

With more than 2.3 million people behind bars, the United States leads the world in both the number and percentage of residents it incarcerates, leaving far-more-populous China a distant second, according to a study by the nonpartisan Pew Center on the States.

The Port of Tacoma has bought a 745 acre parcel of Rocky Prairie land located right in the middle of a sensitive area with Millersylvania State Park less than half a mile to the north and a state fish and wildlife reserve bordering it on the south. For 15 years, the state park and the wildlife dept have had their eye on this property, which, in combination with the neighboring McIntosh forest reserve, would create an amazing wildlife corridor and preserve several threatened native species. But the Port of Tacoma outbid them and wants to build a huge truck and train freight transfer station and possibly a solid waste transfer site (hauling garbage from all over the region) right in the middle of this precious swatch of undeveloped land.

If you have further questions please check out www.FriendsOfRockyPrairie.com or email forprairie@hotmail.com.