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America incarcerates five times as many people per capita as Canada and 7 times as many as most European democracies. In the early 70s, there were about 200,000 people locked up in the U.S. In 2004 the prison population of 1.8 million represented a growth of over 800% in the past 30 years. Nearly 7 million people were on probation, in jail or prison, or on parole -- 3.2% of all U.S. adult residents or 1 in every 31 adults.

"America is great in many ways, but on a whole host of measures America is great in many ways, but on a whole host of measures - some of which are shown in the accompanying chart - ...not only are we not No.1, we are among the worst of the worst. These include the worst income inequality in the developed world except for Hong Kong and Singapore; and the world's highest per capita prison population at 1 out of every 15 people (which is greater than Russia's).