Over the course of the last 35 years, the rate at which the U.S. places its citizens in jails and prisons has risen dramatically. For the first 70 years of the twentieth century, U.S. incarceration rates remained relatively stable at a rate of about 100 per 100,000 citizens. Since 1970, the U.S. has experienced a large and rapid increase in the rate at which people are housed in federal and state correctional facilities. Currently, the U.S. incarceration rate is 491 per 100,000.
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Counties Ranked by Drug Imprisonment Rate
Counties Ranked by African American Drug Imprisonment Rate
Counties Ranked by the Ratio of African American to White Drug Imprisonment Rates
Addendum to the Vortex, January 2008
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