U.S. Prison Population Is Out Of Control

The citizens of the United States like to think of this country as a free country, but recent statistics regarding incarceration of its citizens in prison paint a very different picture.   The United States has more people in prison (both men and women) than any other nation on earth, including nations we regard as police states or nations that generally have little regard for human rights.

The United States currently incarcerates more than 2.2 million people -- a prison population that has exploded since 1980 (see above chart).   Some might think that is because we are a very populous country, but that would be wrong.   Compared to other high-population countries, the United States prison population is 153% higher than Russia, 505% higher than Brazil, 550% higher than India, and more than 2,000% higher than Nigeria, Indonesia or Bangladesh.

And when the rate of incarceration per 100,000 people is considered, the United States doesn't look any better.   Here are the top twenty countries with the highest incarceration rates:

1. United States...............738

2. Russian Federation...............607

3. Cuba...............487

4. Ukraine...............360

5. Singapore...............350

6. Botswana...............339

7. South Africa...............335

8. Taiwan...............259

9. Thailand...............257

10. United Arab Emirates...............250

11. Poland...............228

12. Israel...............209

13. Libya...............207

14. Iran...............206

15. Mexico...............196

16. Brazil...............191

17. Uzbekistan...............184

18. Lebanon...............168

19. Columbia...............152

20. Argentina...............148

Compare the 738 per 100,000 people of the United States to many other developed democratic nations:

United Kingdom...............145

Spain...............145

Australia...............126

Canada...............107

Italy...............102

Germany...............95

France...............88

Ireland...............78

Sweden...............78

Japan...............62

Even such countries as China (118), Iraq (60) and Pakistan (57) have much lower rates of incarceration than the United States.      

Why is the rate of incarceration so high in the United States?   Is the crime rate so much higher in the United States?   No.   According to criminologists Alfred Blumstein and Allen Beck, the rise in crime can only account for less than 12% of the rise in the prison population since 1980.   It is the extremely harsh and long prison sentences being given out in this country that accounts much of the other 88% of the prison population explosion.

Sadly, the long prison sentences and the rising prison population have not made this a safer country.   The violent crime rate, especially murder, remains one of the highest in the civilized world.   It has put a strain on this country economically though.   The most conservative estimate is that we spend over $42 billion annually to incarcerate our huge prison population (and we still generally have overcrowded and unsafe conditions in most of our prisons).

Currently there are about 9.2 million people incarcerated worldwide.   But if all nations followed United States incarceration policies and regulations, that figure would balloon to over 47.6 million people.

Another reason for our prison population explosion since 1980 is the failed "war on drugs".   The United States incarcerates more people for drug offenses than the European Union incarcerates for all offenses combined, and yet the drug flow into the country and drug use by citizens has not been abated.

Obviously, we are doing something wrong in this country.   A free country should not have a prison population so out-of-whack when compared to the rest of the world (the average rate per 100,000 people worldwide is only 166).   We need to take another look at our sentencing policies.   We also need to stop the failed "war on drugs" and treat drugs like the medical and education problem that it really is.   

For too long now the answer to our social problems has been just to "lock them up and throw away the key".   It isn't working.