Monday, June 02, 2003
Yay, us!!
With a record-setting 2 million people locked up in American jails and prisons, the United States has overtaken Russia and has a higher percentage of its citizens behind bars than any other country.
Those are the latest dreary milestones resulting from a two-decade imprisonment boom that experts say has probably helped reduce crime but has also created ballooning costs and stark racial inequities.
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When he discusses crime and punishment with foreign colleagues, Coyle (director of the International Centre for Prison Studies at the University of London) says, the United States is such an anomaly that it must often be left out of the discussion. "People say, 'Well, that's the United States.' They see the U.S. as standing entirely on its own," he says.
702 prisoners per 100,000 population
posted by chris at 8:19 PM
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