USA:land of freedom or prisoners?

There are 49,000 prisoners serving a life sentence in the US.  The incarceration rate is 707 prisoners per 100,000 population.  In Russia it is 474, in the UK it is 148 and in Canada it is 118 (per 100,000).  The incarceration rate is therefore 6 times greater in the USA than in Canada.  Parole supervision is extended to 480per 100,000 in Canada; in the USA it is 5 times greater at 2400.
There are 220,000 prisoners in federal prisons, mostly for major crimes, 1,360,000 prisoners in state prisons and 730,000 in local jails (mostly waiting for their trial).  The total is trerefore 2,300,000 prisoners in the USA!  The worst states are Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississipi and Alabama.
It wasn't always like this.  The incarceration rate for drug offences is 10 times what it was 30 years ago.  Minimum sentencing rules, 3 strikes and you are out! sentences judges and procecuters elected by a worried public have all contributed to increasing the prison population.  The National center on addiction and substance abuse poll reveals that 2/3 of prisoners have a drug problem but only 1/9 of them have found help.
Teaching activities have been squeezed out of budgets.  New York and California are cuting populations by freeing prisoners early.  It has been demonstrated that social workers helping the transition out of prison (does he have a social security number? helpful family? a realistic view of the labor market?) is a cost effective way of preventing prisoners from being sent back to prison. The Michigan prisoner re-entry initiative has been a success : prisoners are released early and receive help in the transition to freedom.