Some facts about prison

Buzz Feed -  The vast majority of people in jail have not been convicted of a crime, which means they are legally presumed to be innocent. They are typically waiting for a judge and jury to decide whether they are guilty — or, more likely, for a prosecutor to offer them a deal in exchange of a guilty plea without trial.  That means the immense majority of people incarcerated in America have not been determined to have committed a crime, but are being punished nonetheless. They are being held on the presumption that they would pose a risk to the community. But those assumptions could be mistaken. Most jail inmates would not pose a risk to public safety if released — according to Vera, 75% of all jail inmates are accused of nonviolent offenses, such as traffic violations or public disorder....

People in jail tend to come from disadvantaged backgrounds — whether because they belong to a racial minority, because they are mentally ill, or because they are poor. Black people make up about 13% of the population of the United States, but they comprise nearly 36% of all jail inmates, according to Vera.

A full 60% of jailed people have had symptoms of mental illness in the past year. Nearly 7 in every 10 jail inmates have a history of drug or alcohol problems. Often, though, these factors coexist in the same people. Many jail inmates are mentally ill, but also have a history of substance abuse.

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