2.298 million prisoners or .7% of the population

I absolutely agree that the prison system is a broken mess.

But why is it that so many Americans can't follow the law In the first place? American exceptionalism taken to extreme? We can play partisan games like 3rd4thT and I did above, but that doesn't really answer the question.

The answer lies in two areas, system and society. Everyone makes a bad choice in this world which can be influenced by family, friends, society, pride, anger, lust or greed. Some of these choices will lead to prison.

The criminal justice system is also a mess that throws anyone that even does a nonviolent crime into a very dark circle that is extremely hard for many former prisoners to get out of because of a society that scorns them based on media provided bias.

Go to jail>get out of jail>can’t get a job or legitimate income because of lifetime convict branding and cannot provide for self or family>resort to drastic measures to get income>go to jail. Rinse and repeat.

This is only made even more difficult for African Americans. Who have the added “benefit” of their skin color making the above mentioned circle even harder to get out of.

We need rehabilitation methods to allow people that have served their time to move on past their mistakes of the past and want more than a return to prison. A chance to pursue a legitimate income and have a happy 2nd chance at life. Not be stuck in an undercaste for the rest of your life. I personally believe this should be an option for nonviolent offenders, not murderers, rapists, pedophiles, etc. Most prisons have a majority of nonviolent offenders.

Serving time in box has done nothing constructive beside prove that the prison system and the criminal justice system are a hot mess with some of the most ridiculous sentencing practices and overcrowded prisons on the planet.

I agree that rehabilitation is not going to work for everyone, but that’s not a reason for the legal and prison systems to not pursue it with anyone.

I'm a therapist, and I certainly believe that some can be rehabilitated.

Why do Americans make more bad choices than the rest of the world? How many are really in prison because of these bad choices? When do choices cross the line from bad idea to criminal intent?

Stupid people that make bad decisions that ultimately wind up causing them to make more lawbreaking bad decisions is a big factor.

Some people are just terrible and think they can get away with shit. But I think part of the problem is that some laws are becoming more and more ridiculous and unfairly applied.

As laws become more totalitarian, who would have thought more people go to prison??

Your point is interesting to me. You see laws becoming more totalitarian, but I see more and more people not only breaking laws, but expecting to get away with it. I see people trying to game the system. I wonder if one causes the other, or if it is just a regional thing.

It's more like all of the above. We not only have stricter laws that get you thrown into prison for stupid things (like making a tweet in the UK), and we have a world-wide pandemic of IQ dropping, lack of critical thinking, and moral depravity.

Hillary and Biden, too!