"One of the most baffling aspects of the US criminal justice system is that incarceration rates continued to rise even after crime began dropping in the 1990s.

"One of the most baffling aspects of the US criminal justice system is that incarceration rates continued to rise even after crime began dropping in the 1990s. If crime was dropping, it stands to reason that there should have been fewer criminals to lock up." That isn't necessarily correct. Crime rates and prosecution aren't directly coupled. It could be that we are simply incarcerating a larger proportion of criminals. Chicago, for example, had a murder clearance rate of 26% in 2015 compared to the national average of 64%. There is clearly an opportunity (a need in my opinion) to incarcerate more murderers especially in Chicago even though the murder rate has been decreasing in recent years.