IIRC, the main culprit of the awful incarceration rates were mandatory minimum sentencing / sentencing policies that were introduced in the 80s. I guess it was

IIRC, the main culprit of the awful incarceration rates were mandatory minimum sentencing / sentencing policies that were introduced in the 80s. I guess it was a result of the "tough on crime" attitude that came after the 70s, and came just in time for the drug epidemics, and war on drugs.