How America got addicted to prisons and jails, from the former prosecutor who wrote 'Mass Incarceration Nation'.

The article focuses on the decline of the incarceration rate in the United States, which reached its lowest level since 1995 in 2021, yet remains one of the highest globally, with 530 individuals imprisoned per 100,000 people. The rise in incarceration rates began in the 1970s due to a spike in crime, leading to punitive laws and longer sentences, particularly for drug-related offenses. Despite a decrease in serious violent crime since the 1990s, prison populations have not significantly declined, indicating a complex relationship between crime and incarceration. The author argues that meaningful reductions in incarceration will require a reevaluation of sentencing practices and the types of offenses that lead to imprisonment. [Extracted from the article]