I don’t have much to add to this article on prison reform by Bradford Plumer at The New Republic. It’s excellent — check it out.
If you’re wondering, the only senators with the guts to do something about America’s prison problem are Jim Webb (D-Va.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), and maybe Barack Obama (D-Il.). For more on how we became an incarceration nation — we lock up 750 out of every 100,000 people, murdering the world average of 166 per 100,000 — check out Mother Jones‘ special package “Debt to Society.”