At this point it's nearly common knowledge that the United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world, at 716 prisoners per 100,000 residents. But how does that break down by state? The Prison Policy Initiative has constructed a handy chart that breaks it down in comparison with other nations around the world. Here are the biggest offenders (click to enlarge):
Just out of curiosity, I compared Iran to Louisiana, our worst prison state at 1,341 prisoners per 100,000 people. The result: Louisiana imprisons 4.72 times as many people per capita as Iran (at 284). Indeed, Iran is actually closer to the U.K. and France than to us. Our peer nations in mass incarceration are places like Rwanda, Russia, and El Salvador.
Click here to see the rest of the report, and see where your state lands.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.