Punctuated with dramatic graphs and statistical charts, this new report delineates the U.S. jump in incarceration of over 240% since 1980. Although it has only 5% of the world’s population, U.S. prisons and jails hold more than 25% of the people incarcerated worldwide. According to the report, one of every 48 working-age American men was in prison or jail in the year 2008.
Non-violent offenders make up over 60 percent of the prison and jail population.
The report concludes that reducing the incarceration of non-violent offenders (more than one million inmates) could substantially reduce government financial deficits “without any appreciable deterioration in public safety.”
The study was funded by the Ford Foundation and the Public Welfare Foundation.
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