7.3 Million in Corrections

Study: 7.3 million in U.S. prison system in '07 - CNN.com

The U.S. correctional population -- those in jail, prison, on probation or on parole -- totaled 7.3 million, or 1 in every 31 adults.

This is deplorable. I have been researching a move, with my 6 month old son, to the United States so I can volunteer for a non-profit organization, but this statistic has me wondering how intelligent of a move that is. 1 in 31 is a little too close for comfort. And while there are many people who work hard to reverse this trend, there are just too many who don't care. I wonder what it will take to have this widely accepted as a problem. Probably when 1 in 10 are incarcerated and there is not a single soul in the US who is not affected by it in some way. It's a shame things have to get so utterly drastic before the masses agree it's an issue.

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