America is world's most incarcerated nation

Truthout - Despite a growing appetite among policy makers for criminal legal reforms, the United States is still the most incarcerated country in the world by a long shot. Even more progressive states have a higher percentage of their population behind bars than most other countries.

Thirty-one US states have a higher incarceration rate than any single nation worldwide, including countries with authoritarian governments, such as Russia and China, according to a new report by the Prison Policy Initiative. The US also leads the world in the incarceration of women. Only 4 percent of women live in the US, but the US accounts for over 30 percent of incarcerated women worldwide.