I'm not say that, but maybe it really is the case. Someone has to be. Some country has to be the "most" of any category. Why can't Americans accept that maybe we really aren't the greatest country in every single metric? Maybe we have the most prisoners because we have the most people committing crime, and the prisons reflect that. I don't know, but isn't it worth looking into? Maybe the system isn't broken. At least, not the system the article refers to.

US has a high percentage of people in prison due to the 'law and order' auction during state elections. for example: In Connecticut, the penalty of possession of cocaine and heroin is maximum of 7 years. In contrast, other Western countries (like Australia) will simply give the offender community service and a fine if it's not a commercial quantity. The penalty simply get stiffer every election, as politicans tries to show the community how 'tough' they're on crime.

Which brings us to the question : if the offender is not a danger to the society, does the punishment fit the crime? How is locking someone like that away a benefit to the society?

On the other hand, the guy responsible for bankrupting AIG and wasting 80 billions dollar of taxpayer's money is not even charged of a crime. He's PAID a bonus instead. Something is totally out of whack here..

More freedom equals more crime. Just the price of doing business.

Or mabe its the privitizations of prisons. Perhaps the companies that are running the prisons are lobbying for legislature that locks up more people. Three strikes and your out.

Or mabe we're just evil.

"more freedom equals more crime."

Whatever gave you such a strange notion? I would wager that you were born in the US and have never been outside the country for any substantial period of time. Those of us who know a little of the world beyond our borders would laugh at such a ridiculous statement. We have more freedom in certain ways than many places and much less freedom in other ways. Time for you to get a passport and venture beyond the walls of a resort.

As far as the US being the "most evil": That really is a simplistic idea. There are reasons why we have a huge prison population. I guess it might be easier to just not examine those reasons and simply declare that we are "more evil" but that entails putting on a blindfold to some very obvious facts. One of these facts is that we put people in jail for things that would not be jailable offenses in other countries. We also put people in jail for drug offenses for years and years which is not the case in many other countries. We have decided that it is better to look "tough on crime" than to constructively look at social problems that would be dealt with better by other means. Every person in jail is costing us the equivalent of a Harvard education. Do we really have that kind of money to throw away?

i think the solution to the high prison population in this country could be solved by more all black juries.

kcassidy:

"more freedom equals more crime." Whatever gave you such a strange notion? I would wager that you were born in the US and have never been outside the country for any substantial period of time. Those of us who know a little of the world beyond our borders would laugh at such a ridiculous statement. We have more freedom in certain ways than many places and much less freedom in other ways. Time for you to get a passport and venture beyond the walls of a resort.

lol. I bet I've spent more time in other countries and own more houses in other countries than you ever have or will.

I sat through a presentation analyzing totalitarian regimes and democratic societies. It was interesting, but I doubt you have much time for anyone who doesn't agree with you.

Good day! :P

I agree, we have far more freedom in the U.S. I disagree with the author though, there are not nearly enough people locked up. Every time a major crime occurs we find out that the perpetrator has a record as long as your arm. Why are these people on the street? The kind of behavior that I see in public is completely unacceptable. There is a rudeness and indifference that would never have been tolerated in the past. Webb is passionate, but I would be moving in the other direction.

Talking Horse: the reason people who commit crimes often have already a long string of convictions is because they learned to be criminal in prison. We have given up on any pretense of rehabilitation (education, teaching a way of making a living, rethinking society and one's place in it, etc etc etc). Prison has become naked punishment with the most violent inmates actually are run the place and are free to terrorize their fellow prisoners.

People in prisons have to be let out sooner or later when they complete their sentence. To keep them in forever doesn't work. Look at California. People voted for "three strikes you're out" and what happened? A person stealing a piece of pizza is sent to prison for life, while a rapist on his first proven offense has to be let go because of lack of place in jail and the state is bankrupt. In Michigan, someone caught with a small amount of drugs is sent to prison for 40 years and has to watch violent criminals let go after a couple. Does that make sense to you?

It has been proven over and over again that punishment does not prevent crime. On the contrary it hardens people to not care about others. Some prisons used to offer studies towards a GED, and some even the opportunity to learn a real trade (like mechanic, plumber, etc and not a make believe one) and even college courses. All the stats show that prisoners offered an education while doing their sentence are the least likely to be repeat offenders. But these last years, politicians have whipped up public opinion against it (it's so much easier to prey on voters fears than on coming up with solution to their economic and other real problems) and on top of that we have privately owned prisons where the profit motive prevent the owners from providing minimally credible health care.... The horror stories that have come out must just be the tip of the iceberg. And yes, as other posters noted, we still spend more than the cost of a Harvard education on prisoners (profit is god, right?) Does that make sense to you?

ShortCut, LOL indeed! Can you tell us in which countries you own houses?

kati:

ShortCut, LOL indeed! Can you tell us in which countries you own houses?

You know what they say about fighting on the internet.......

shortcut: Kati called you on it and I had to laugh too when I saw your ridiculous claim of owning property around the world. Let's not fight on the internet indeed. Anyway, the claim that the US has more "freedom" and therefore more crime is also laughable. In what ways does the US have more freedom than Australia, The Netherlands, or Brazil (for example). I've lived in Brazil for 3 years and another 3 in the NL. There isn't overall less "freedom" there than in the US. In some aspects there is more freedom. For example in Brazil you generally have much more freedom to do with your property as you please where in many places in the US there are regulations on every aspect of how you use your property. In the NL you have freedom from police searches that only exist on paper here and not in practice. You also have the freedom to smoke pot if you so choose and the freedom to marry someone of the same sex. You also have the freedom of not having to worry about being the victim of a violent crime as it is much much rarer there than in the US. These are just a few obvious examples. Fact is, we put away per capita many times more people than comparable first world democracies. We put away more people than anywhere else in this world (with the possible exception being China). Does that make you feel safer? I don't feel safer. Violent criminals belong behind bars , but the majority of those in prison could be dealt with in other ways that would allow them to pay back their victims and society.

kcassidy:

In what ways does the US have more freedom than Australia, The Netherlands, or Brazil (for example). .

2nd ammendment for one.

As for kati calling me on it? What does that mean? I could say anything, just as she can, and how is anyone going to know if it's true?

She thinks that she's the only "worldly" person here. She's not. I own property in South Africa, Ukraine, and Iraq. I've lived (mostly military) in several places. And as a civilian I've lived in a few more places.

I think a bigger factor in the greater criminality of the U.S. is the damage psyches that resulted from the horrors of slavery. I think you'll find similar crime rates in most societies populated by a large number of descendants of slaves. Look at South Africa, Jamaica, Haiti, Brazil, ....