At Slate.com, Daliah Lithwick writes about America’s prison problem and Senator Jim Webb’s (D-VA) upcoming effort to address it.

A couple of quotes from Lithwick’s column:

The United States, with 5 percent of the world’s population, houses nearly 25 percent of the world’s prisoners. As Webb has explained it, “Either we’re the most evil people on earth, or we’re doing something wrong.“

…

Webb also reminds us that while drug use varies little by ethnic group in the United States, African-Americans—estimated at 14 percent of regular drug users—make up 56 percent of those in state prison for drug crimes.

Good column, worth reading. Key an eye on Webb’s initiative.

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