This is astonishing. Somebody should raise this issue during this political campaign.

Adam Liptak reporting in the New York Times April 23 2008. (What a great intro...)

- Inmate Count in U.S. Dwarfs Other Nations’ - New York Times

The United States has less than 5 percent of the world’s population. But it has almost a quarter of the world’s prisoners.

. . . Americans are locked up for crimes — from writing bad checks to using drugs — that would rarely produce prison sentences in other countries. And in particular they are kept incarcerated far longer than prisoners in other nations.

. . . The United States has, for instance, 2.3 million criminals behind bars, more than any other nation, according to data maintained by the International Center for Prison Studies at King’s College London. China, which is four times more populous than the United States, is a distant second, with 1.6 million people in prison.

. . . It [US] has 751 people in prison or jail for every 100,000 in population. (If you count only adults, one in 100 Americans is locked up.)

The only other major industrialized nation that even comes close is Russia, with 627 prisoners for every 100,000 people. The others have much lower rates. England’s rate is 151; Germany’s is 88; and Japan’s is 63.

Inmate Count in U.S. Dwarfs Other Nations’ - New York Times

Hat Tip Dave Galbraigh's Smashing Telly - My number one fave 2008Watch Web Site.