WASHINGTON, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- More than 5.6 million Americans are in prison or have served time there, according to a report by the Justice Department.
That's 1 in 37 adults living in the United States, the highest incarceration level in the world, the Christian Science Monitor reported Monday.
It's the first time the U.S. government has released estimates of the extent of imprisonment.
If current trends continue, it means that a black male in the United States would have about a 1-in-3 chance of going to prison during his lifetime. For a Hispanic male, it's 1-in-6; for a white male, 1-in-17.
Marc Mauer, assistant director of The Sentencing Project, a non-profit advocacy group based in Washington, said, "We have the wealthiest society in human history, and we maintain the highest level of imprisonment.
"It's striking what that says about our approach to social problems and inequality," he said.
