U.S. Still Maintains World Lead in Incarceration

The 2001 rate of incarceration of 686 inmates per 100,000 population continues to place the U.S. as the world leader in this regard. During the 1990s, Russia and the U.S. had shared this distinction, but growing concern about over-incarceration and dangerous conditions of confinement have led to a Russian amnesty of more than 100,000 prisoners in recent years, resulting in a significant decline in its rate of incarceration to 644 per 100,000.

the three states with the highest rates of incarceration – Louisiana,

Mississippi, and Texas – Are the same State that comprise the jurisdiction of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

For every 100,000 people in the United States, 3,535 blacks were locked up, compared with 462 whites and 1,177 Hispanics. One in 10 black men between 25 and 29 were incarcerated on December 31, 2001, while only 2.9 percent of Hispanic men and 1.2 percent of white men in the same age group were in custody.