More Than 1% of US Adults Behind Bars

This story was on National Public Radio this morning as I listened it, working from home with a cold:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/28/us/28cnd-prison.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

States spend on average 7% of their budget on the prison system. In the NPR interview, they were talking about the 'Prison-Industrial Complex' which was offering jobs in depressed areas. I'd never heard the term before, but there is even a Wikpedia entry for it.

Gives a whole new meaning to America being the home of the free.