According to the International Centre for Prison Studies, no other country incarcerates a higher percentage of its population that the United States. The latest studies show that 716 people per 100,000 are incarcerated in America, the highest in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries (OECD). This staggering incarceration rate tops 2 million making up 25 percent of the worlds prisoners population.
The cost to maintain these prisoners is crippling America, reaching $80 billion a year, equating to $35,000 per prisoner. But why does America punish minor crimes with excessive sentences, with many serving an 10 year minimum sentence for minor drug offenses. Attorney General Eric Holder has recently stated that the levels of US incarceration are “ineffective and unsustainable”, and has pushed for reforms that will take America, for the first time, in the right direction to deal with the problem. From August minor drug offenses and non-violent suspects are no longer given the minimum decade sentence, helping to relieve pressures on the prison system.
You will find more statistics at Statista
Elderly prisoners who no longer pose a threat will also be released from prison. And lastly a greater effort will be made to give offenders drug treatment or involvement in community service rather than a lengthly incarceration.
These reforms will only be effective in federal prisons, making up only 10% of America’s prison population with the remaining prisoners being held in state of county lock-ups. Nevertheless this is still a bold move by Holder and one that will start to see a fair and just prison system put in place, where sentence lengths start to reflect the severity of the crime committed.
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