The United States imprisons more people than any other country in the world and spends more than $80 billion a year to house approximately 2 million prisoners.
Tough penal laws have doubled the country’s prison population over the past three decades, with laws such as “three strikes and get out” punishing life sentences for a variety of crimes.
Why is America putting so many people in jail, and what’s behind California’s new clemency push? But in a clear sign that Americans are rethinking crime and punishment, a voter initiative in California’s November election called Proposition 36 seeks to overhaul the state’s three-strike law.
Some 27 states have enacted three-strike laws modeled on California’s version, one of the first laws in the country.
Activists campaigning to change California’s three-strike law are also working to raise awareness about prison conditions. Their aim is to use special security units in high-security prisons.
