We're #1! We're #1!
Using updated state-by-state data, the report said 2,319,258 adults were held in U.S. prisons or jails at the start of 2008 — one out of every 99.1 adults, and more than any other country in the world.
Needless to say, there are a lot more criminals to be incarcerated, right?
The report said prison growth and higher incarceration rates do not reflect a parallel increase in crime or in the nation's overall population. Instead, it said, more people are behind bars mainly because of tough sentencing measures, such as "three-strikes" laws, that result in longer prison stays.
Ah, yes, that ol' bipartisan favorite - getting "tough on crime."
Of course, there's a great deal of money to be made in the privatized prison racket and in gerrymandering congressional districts (Google cache) so I doubt that we'll see significant reductions in the prison population.
As a result, we're likely to remain #1 in this category for years to come. Hooray.
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