US incarceration rates vs the world

Wed, 04 Oct 2023 17:26:49 GMT

Yesterday, I was listening to NPR's Code Switch segment on The Invisible Victims of Mass Incarceration (transcript). The interviewee, Vincent Schiraldi, was basically advertising his recently published book, "Mass Supervision: Probation, Parole and the Illusion of Safety and Freedom". One memorable quote from the interview:

So in 1972, Nixon launches the war on drugs. And every year from then to 2008, prison populations grow. So in '72, we have about the same incarceration rate as our Western allies. By 2008, we have an incarceration rate that is five, seven, 10 times our Western allies.

This statement might be exaggerated but not that much. I also found US incarceration trends for 1974-2001 (went from 1.3% to 2.7% of adult US residents). In addition, here is a 2021 sobering read about incarceration in Alabama, Louisiana and Florida.

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US incarceration rates vs the world