Citizens of Georgia might be surprised to learn that, according to a recent study, Americans in their early twenties are four times more likely to have been arrested in comparison to Americans in their sixties. Furthermore, the study found that the rate at which white American men and women have been put in handcuffs has been skyrocketing over the past years, and a plausible reason for this is increased enforcement.
For example, the arrest rate for white men has gone up three-fold over the past 50 years, whereas the arrest rate for white women has even gone beyond that. As for black men, they are significantly more likely to get arrested than white men, but as time passes, this discrepancy is abating. Overall, almost one out of every three young men is likely to have been arrested.
Interestingly, the study also found specific factors that indicated how likely an individual would end up going to jail. For instance, there is a correlation between arrests and education. High school dropouts are 60 percent likely to find themselves on the wrong side of the law. Alternatively, less than a quarter of people with college degrees have had contact with the criminal justice system.
Another critical factor was income: The lower someone’s income was, the more likely it became that they were arrested at some point in their lives. In fact, being arrested just once meant that the individual probably made $6,000 less than their counterparts with clean records. Moreover, people with multiple arrests made about $13,000 less.
As a result of this worrying trend, Americans need to be on their guard and should do their best to stay on the good side of the law. That being said, if someone does find themselves being charged with a particular infraction, they might benefit from reaching out to an experienced criminal defense lawyer.