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Mass Incarceration

The Incarceration Explosion

The United States incarcerates more people than any other country — approximately 1.9 million people behind bars and 4.9 million under correctional supervision (probation, parole) as of 2024. The incarceration rate is 531 per 100,000 — roughly five times the rate of the UK, seven times France, and ten times Japan. This was not always the case: the U.S. prison population was stable from 1925 to 1975 at around 200,000. The explosion began with the War on Drugs, mandatory minimum sentencing, three-strikes laws, and truth-in-sentencing policies. Sociologist Michelle Alexander argues in 'The New Jim Crow' that mass incarceration functions as a racial caste system, disproportionately removing Black men from their communities.

Mass Incarceration

The Incarceration Explosion

The United States incarcerates more people than any other country — approximately 1.9 million people behind bars and 4.9 million under correctional supervision (probation, parole) as of 2024. The incarceration rate is 531 per 100,000 — roughly five times the rate of the UK, seven times France, and ten times Japan. This was not always the case: the U.S. prison population was stable from 1925 to 1975 at around 200,000. The explosion began with the War on Drugs, mandatory minimum sentencing, three-strikes laws, and truth-in-sentencing policies. Sociologist Michelle Alexander argues in 'The New Jim Crow' that mass incarceration functions as a racial caste system, disproportionately removing Black men from their communities.