On November 12, 2025, the Sentencing Project released its latest report chronicling America’s decades long addiction to Mass Incarceration. Since 1972, the United States has spent 53 years entrenched in this failed experiment. Despite historic declines in crime, this nation continues to lock up more people (over 1.8 million) than any country—democratic or authoritarian—in the world. China is second.
Between 1972 and 2009, the U.S. prison population exploded by nearly 700%, even as crime rates began a long decline after peaking in 1991. While modest progress was made between 2009 and 2021—achieving a 25% reduction in imprisonment—the trend has reversed. From 2021 to 2023, the prison population grew by 4%.
Today, crime rates are at historic lows. Violent crime is 53% lower and property crime is 66% lower than their 1991 peaks. Homicide rates have dropped to pre-pandemic levels. Yet, policymakers in many states are doubling down on punitive measures, expanding “truth in sentencing” laws and building billion-dollar mega-prisons.
If the U.S. were to continue reducing imprisonment at the recent pace of downsizing—just 1.7% annually—it would take 105 years (or until 2130) to return to 1972 levels. Mass Incarceration started in 1972 when the nation incarcerated 93 people per 100,000. For 53 years, the nation has not come close to that 1972 rate. For example, in 2023, the nation incarcerated 360 people per 100,000.
At Flowers Keller, the third goal of our Mission is to “Change the System.” Ending Mass Incarceration is a key part of that change. The Sentencing Project warns that reliance on incarceration is ineffective, costly, and cruel. At Flowers Keller, we offer root-cause solutions to societal problems—not cages.