comparison
The highest prison population has ever been in the United States was in 2013, the prison rate also peaked in 2008. About 1 out of 100 americans were behind bars, the length of sentences truly distinguished American prison policy. We imprison more of our citizens than any other country in the world, as a proportion of our population we imprison 17 times as many people as Iceland, 12 times as many as Japan, and 10 times as many as Switzerland. The country that is the closest to us is Russia, most inmates are in state prisons and each state has its own crime and sentencing laws—not to mention different levels of economic development, different levels of gun ownership, and different cultures that might or might not produce more violence.
"American prison stays are much longer, so the total incarceration rate is higher"
- New York Times