WOO-HOO! We're # 1!!!

Not only is the US number one in the world in terms of just total raw numbers, we're number one per capita.

At what does the Good Ol' US of A excel so spectacularly?

Imprisoning our own citizens:

A U.S. Justice Department report released on November 30 showed that a record 7 million people -- or one in every 32 American adults -- were behind bars, on probation or on parole at the end of last year. Of the total, 2.2 million were in prison or jail.

Did you catch that?

Let me repeat it:

. . . one in every 32 American adults -- were behind bars, on probation or on parole at the end of last year.

The article goes on to say:

"We send more people to prison, for more different offenses, for longer periods of time than anybody else," he [Ryan King, a policy analyst at The Sentencing Project] said.

Drug offenders account for about 2 million of the 7 million in prison, on probation or parole, King said, adding that other countries often stress treatment instead of incarceration.

WTF?!

Can we say that this is not working?

Does this even sound like we're talking about a democracy?

Is it possible for a country to call itself a democracy with this percentage of citizens behind bars?

And if that weren't depressing enough, A Spork in the Drawer tells us why if you're in prison, you'd best be certain to get right with God -- as long as it's the right God of course (and that God is not Catholic, Jewish or Muslim for sure).

[sigh]