Jessica R. Alexander, Reference Librarian
Today's edition of the New York Times contains a front page article, "
Inmate Count in U.S. Dwarfs Other Nations." I won't comment on the political and social positions taken in the article. But it is helpful to know about the sources for the cited statistics. The
International Center for Prison Studies at King's College London put the conclusory statistics together. Their website is interesting and has interactive maps. Their statistics are drawn in part from The United States Department of Justice
Bureau of Justice Statistics. It has a sub-department called
International Justice Statistics. These two DOJ websites are a valuable source for scholarly papers and just arguing with friends or foes!