The United States has 5% of the world's population, but 25% of the world's prisoners.
The total incarcerated population in the U.S. is a staggering 2.4 million — a 500% increase over the past 30 years.
One in every 108 adults was in prison or jail in 2012.
One in 28 American children has a parent behind bars.
At the end of 2007, 1 in 31 adults was behind bars, on probation or on parole.
Currently, 65 million Americans have a criminal record.
There are more people behind bars today for a drug offense than there were in 1980 for all offenses combined.
The U.S. spent $80 billion on incarceration in 2010 alone
About as many people were returned to prison just for parole violations in 2000 as were admitted in 1980 for all reasons combined.
Parole violators accounted for more than 35% of all prison admissions in 2000. Of those, only one-third were returned for a new conviction; the rest were returned for a technical violation, such as missing a meeting with the parole officer. A public defender will routinely have