Page 87 - Freedom in the world_Neat

In the United States, most criminal and civil law is made and enforced by state and local
governments. Each state retains a degree of sovereignty, with its own constitution,
legislature, and legal codes, and states have wide powers to legislate matters not
preempted by the federal Constitution or federal laws. The various states generally have
similar laws on crimes such as rape and murder, but the treatment of lesser crimes and
misdemeanors varies widely from state to state. States also establish their own laws
governing the right to hold and dispose of property, the regulation of consumer products
and services, business and corporate law, torts, and other civil matters. In short, the rights
and responsibilities of citizens are not entirely uniform across the country.

Critics of the American system tend not to allege that the rule of law is stronger in other
countries. Rather, they protest the ways in which they believe America fails to live up to its
own ideals as expressed in its Constitution, its laws, and the rulings of its courts. Some
critics cite disparities in the law’s treatment of racial and other minorities as evidence of
continuing institutional prejudice. Others note unequal access to high-quality (and high-
cost) lawyers. They argue that overburdened courts and overcrowded jails and prisons
result in the substandard treatment of suspected and convicted criminals. Many find fault
in laws that severely punish nonviolent drug offenders, or object to recent legal and
administrative decisions that have limited the rights of individuals to hold and use their
property.

Criminal Justice

Incarceration. Today more than 7 out of every 1,000 residents of the United States are in
jail or prison,1 giving America the highest reported incarceration rate in the world. More
than 5.6 million people in the United States, or one of every 37 residents, have spent time
behind bars.
Other countries with comparable rates of incarceration include Russia, Belarus, and
Bermuda. However, some experts suggest that actual rates of incarceration in more
repressive countries are higher than reported. Cuba, for example, reports a rate of only 4
in 1,000,2 but keeps lists of prisoners secret, making this number impossible to verify.
Most Western European nations report incarceration rates of between 0.5 and 1.5 per
1,000 residents.
The rate of incarceration in the United States has risen steeply in the last 20 years, from
1.39 per 1,000 residents in 1980 to a high of 7.35 per 1,000 residents in 2005. Critics
accuse the United States of using incarceration to deal with social problems, such as drug
use, that many countries handle through treatment programs and other less drastic means.
However, the U.S. system’s defenders note that crime has declined sharply as prison
sentences have increased; incarceration, they argue, is an effective way to reduce crime.3
Rates of incarceration in the United States are not uniform across all segments of the
population. Women are incarcerated at one-ninth the rate of men, although the rate of
incarceration for women is rising more rapidly than the rate for men. Six of every 10 prison
inmates is a member of a racial or ethnic minority. A black male in the United States has a

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