1 in 136 Americans in Jail or Prison in a Year!

TruthDig gives us the reporting from AP's Elizabeth White. The "War on Drugs" is likely a good point to start figuring out these numbers. Highest per capita rate in the world. Here's some reporting from Ms. White's work:

... The states with the highest rates were Louisiana and Georgia, with more than 1 percent of their populations in prison or jail. Rounding out the top five were Texas, Mississippi and Oklahoma.

The states with the lowest rates were Maine, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Vermont and New Hampshire.

Men were 10 times to 11 times more likely than women to be in prison or jail, but the number of women behind bars was growing at a faster rate, said Paige M. Harrison, the report's other author.

The racial makeup of inmates changed little in recent years, Beck said. In the 25-29 age group, an estimated 11.9 percent of black men were in prison or jails, compared with 3.9 percent of Hispanic males and 1.7 percent of white males. ...

Peace ... or War!