LAND OF THE FREE?

"Does America joyously lead the world in something? Yes, but 'tis not a joy, but the sad fact that the United States of America is a leader in incarceration. There are about 2.3 million people behind bars - one of every 100 citizens. The prison population has more than doubled over the past 15 years. America has several times the number in jails of other countries: four times Israel, six times Canada or China, eight times Germany, and 13 times more than Japan. America, with a bit more than 4% of the world's population, accounts for one-fourth of the world's prisons and has more inmates than the leading 35 European countries combined." (Oklahoma Observer, 7 December) RD