>Given the U.S. incarceration rate, it is safe to say that people in
>the USA, in practice, enjoy civil liberties less than those in other
>rich nations.
>
>***** The Justice Policy Institute reports that this year [2000],
>the U.S. prison and jail population will top two million for the
>first time. Using the most up-to-date Justice Department statistics
>and trends, the Institute estimates that the U.S. now has the
>world's largest incarcerated population, and highest incarceration
>rate. Just six weeks into the new millennium, America has earned the
>distinction of having a quarter of the world's prison population,
>despite having less than 5 percent of the world's population....
You could also say that the distribution of civil liberties is as polarized as that of income. The U.S. excels at polarization.
I've just put a chart of 1999 international incarceration rates up at <http://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/IntlIncarc.gif>. No text but a caption, but it's all pretty self-explanatory. There may be newer data but I haven't checked.
Doug
