As we know, we have a thing for prisons. With 5% of the world's population we manage to hold 25% of the world's prison population. We're able to achieve such a weird situation because we have a different perception of criminality than most other advanced countries. Heck, in the federal system alone, there are now well over 4,000 offenses carrying criminal penalties in the United States Code. In addition, an estimated 10,000 to 100,000 federal regulations can be enforced criminally.
The costs of our penal system have increased dramatically over the past 25 years. California now spends more money on prisons than on schools. And the outsourcing of prisons has not resulted in any cost savings. The budget problems naturally make the prisons less safe and secure, largely because of overcrowding.
Don't we have better things to spend our money on?
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