Cecil Adams on the high incarceration numbers in the US

[FSogol]

From his "The Straight Dope" column:

Dear Cecil:

I’ve heard the U.S. has the highest percentage of its population incarcerated of any country in the world. Is there a single crime or category of crime in which we excel that puts us in the top spot? Or are we just better at committing crime across the board? My guess is the war on drugs accounts for much of our prison population. Can you provide a breakdown showing how we've achieved our less-than-enviable position?

and Cecil replies:

The drug war contributed, but it’s not the major factor behind our crazy high imprisonment rate. What does explain it then? I’ll just say the more you delve into this, the more complicated it gets.

Let’s review the incarceration rate, first discussed in this space in 2004. The U.S. currently has more than 321 million people. According to the World Prison Population List, the United States has a total prison population, including pretrial detainees, of 2.24 million. This works out to 716 prisoners per 100,000 people, the highest rate in the world.

Whole article here:

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/3241/is-any-one-crime-to-blame-for-the-high-u-s-imprisonment-rate?utm_source=Chicago+Reader&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=594146_The+Straight+Dope+08%2f07%2f2015&dm_i=2JCR,CQG2,2KTJUC,TI4K,1

[daleanime]

1. Bookmarked

[FSogol]

2. The statistics he quotes are eye-opening. n/t

[kelliekat44]

3. Look at it this way: Think of all those votes locked up in jail and how they get counted within the

states for Congressional distribution for representation.

[hedda_foil]

4. Hang on ... state laws re voting rights shouldn't affect federal offices.

I don't think there's a federal law restricting current or former prisoners (in state or federal prisons) from voting. There's so much variability from state to state, from allowing them to vote even from prison to denying the vote to everyone who has ever been convicted of a felony.

I wonder if there is a federal law that might be expanded to allow all citizens to vote in Federal elections either through the U.S. justice department or executive order.