U.S. incarceration rates

From a report by the Center for Economic and Policy Research.  My understanding, and the implications of the report, are that the rise depicted on the chart reflects incarceration for non-violent crimes.

We calculate that a reduction by one-half in the incarceration rate of non-violent offenders would lower correctional expenditures by $16.9 billion per year and return the U.S. to about the same incarceration rate we had in 1993 (which was already high by historical standards). The large majority of these savings would accrue to financially squeezed state and local governments, amounting to about one-fourth of their annual corrections budgets. As a group, state governments could save $7.6 billion, while local governments could save $7.2 billion. 

When I saw this graph I was reminded of a story I saw earlier this week, of a woman who was jailed because she called 911 asking them to find a husband for her.  Clearly that was a boneheaded maneuver by an intoxicated woman, and clearly some form of punishment was appropriate, but incarceration is expensive.  It would seem that the legal establishment could come up with more creative and less costly punishments for non-violent crimes, sort of like some traffic offenders are sentenced to pick up roadside litter.

Via The Daily Dish.