America imprisons 756 inmates per 100,000 residents,
a rate nearly fve times the world’s average.
About one in every 31 adults in this country is in jail
or on supervised release. Either we are the most evil people
on earth or we are doing something very wrong.

America imprisons 756 inmates per 100,000 residents,
a rate nearly fve times the world’s average.
About one in every 31 adults in this country is in jail
or on supervised release. Either we are the most evil people
on earth or we are doing something very wrong.

America imprisons 756 inmates per 100,000 residents,
a rate nearly fve times the world’s average.
About one in every 31 adults in this country is in jail
or on supervised release. Either we are the most evil people
on earth or we are doing something very wrong.

merica’s criminal justice system has deteriorated to the point that it is a national disgrace.

Its irregularities and inequi- ties cut against the notion that we are a society found- ed on fundamental fairness.

Our ailure to address tis prolem as caused te atio’s prisos to urst teir seams wit massive overcrowdi, eve as our eioroods ave e- come more daerous. We are wasti illios o dollars ad dimiisi millios o lives.

We eed to fx te sstem. Doi so will require a major atiowide recalculatio o wo oes to priso ad or ow lo ad o ow we address te lo-term cosequeces o icarceratio. Twet-ive ears ao, I wet to Japa o as- simet or PARADE to write a stor o tat coutr’s priso sstem. I 1984, Japa ad a populatio al te size o ours ad was icarcer- ati 40,000 seteced oeders, compared wit 580,000 i te Uited States. As soci as tat disparit was, te dierece etwee te coutries ow is eve more astoudi—ad prooudl disturi. Sice te, Japa’s priso populatio as ot quite douled to 71,000, wile ours as quadrupled to 2.3 millio.

in the U.S. is in
prison, in jail, or
on supervised

o te world’s populatio, our coutr ow ouses earl 25% o te world’s reported pris- oers. We curretl icarcerate 756 imates per 100,000 residets, a rate earl fve times te av- erae worldwide o 158 or ever 100,000. I ad- ditio, more ta 5 millio people wo recetl let jail remai uder “correctioal supervisio,” wic icludes parole, proatio, ad oter com-

muit sactios. All told, aout oe i ever 31 adults i te Uited States is i priso, i jail, or o supervised release. Tis all comes at a ver i price to taxpaers: Local, state,

ad ederal spedi o cor- rectios adds up to aout $68 illio a ear.

Our overcrowded, ill- maaed priso sstems are places o violece, psical ause, ad ate, mai tem reedi rouds tat per- petuate ad mai te same tpes o eavior we purport to ear. Post-icarceratio re-

etr prorams are apazard or, i some places, oexistet, mai it more difcult or ormer oeders wo wis to overcome te stima o avi doe priso time ad ecome ull, co- triuti memers o societ. Ad, i te ace o te movemet toward mass icarceratio, law- eorcemet ofcials i ma parts o te U.S.

ave ee overwelmed ad uale to address a daerous wave o oraized, requetl violet a activit, muc o it ru  leaders wo are

Wit so ma o our citizes i priso compared wit te rest o te world, tere are ol two possiilities: Eiter we are ome to te most evil people o eart or we are doi some- ti dieret—ad vastl couterproductive. Oviousl, te aswer is te latter.

we ave ee icarcerati more ad more people or oviolet crimes ad or acts tat are drive  metal illess or dru depedece. Te U.S. Departmet o Justice es- timates tat 16% o te adult imates i Ameri- ca prisos ad jails—wic meas more ta 350,000 o tose loced up—suer rom metal illess, ad te percetae i juveile custod is

Inmates at a facility in
California, a state that
spent almost $10 billion
on corrections last year