Some additional information from: (The link includes an embedded link to the PDF report for those interested) http://gritsforbreakfast.blogspot.com/2009/10/world-population-list-all-nations-still.html Welcome to Texas justice: You might beat the rap, but you won't beat the ride. Thursday, October 01, 2009 World Prison Population List: All nations still incarcerate at lower rates than Texas The new World Prison Population List (pdf) is out from Kings College (London) and the United States once again tops the planet in the percentage of it citizenry incarcerated: * The United States has the highest prison population rate in the world, 756 per 100,000 of the national population, followed by Russia (629), Rwanda (604), St Kitts & Nevis (588), Cuba (c.531), U.S. Virgin Is. (512), British Virgin Is. (488), Palau (478), Belarus (468), Belize (455), Bahamas (422), Georgia (415), American Samoa (410), Grenada (408) and Anguilla (401). * Almost three fifths of countries (59%) have rates below 150 per 100,000. * The world population in 2008 is estimated at 6,750 million (United Nations); set against a world prison population of 9.8 million this produces a world prison population rate of 145 per 100,000 (158 per 100,000 if set against a world prison population of 10.65 million). Of course, even though Texas' incarceration rate has been recently declining, our rate still tops the US national rate by a wide margin, which makes Texas arguably the global incarceration leader. At last count, Texas prisons incarcerated more than 1,000 prisoners per every 100,000 residents. About one out of every 22 adult Texans is in prison, in jail, on probation or on parole compared to one out of 31 nationally.

Decriminalize drugs and three quarters of the prisons will empty. This is my libertarian view.

I think China has the right idea. Slaves are so much more advantageous than prisoners.

Do what China and other barbarians do. Send convicts into slave labor camps, and by pass prison. It looks good to international inspectors when they visit your prisons, and it makes up for the productive shortfall that all contolled economies must account for when competing with free economies.