Poorly correlated then. Lots of people are incarcerated for things most people consider inappropriate because the criminal justice system is so awash in perverse incentives.
Probably a sizable number of them. Because the people in prison are still people, and there's no good reason to keep most of them locked in a cage if they're not posing a risk to other people.
Especially since nearly 1% of the U.S. population is currently in prison, and probably a multiple of that being ex convicts. That's a huge number. I know a couple people that were somewhat maliciously prosecuted that still have trouble because of it.
One was 18yo dating a 17yo (later married). The other was convicted of illegal gambling (had a poker club with people kicking in enough to cover appetizers).
Here they quote U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics from 2020 with around 1.7M of prisoners. That's about 15% lower than that number, but still quite high.
The US also has the highest prison population in the world, I'm so surprised everyone seems to be fine with that. I cannot imagine calling yourself free when 1 in 150 people is imprisoned.
Yeah. American prisons are overflowing with guys who got caught pulling $220k out of the bank in a structured fashion. This is the real source of our prison overcrowding.
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