Incarceration Rates

I think this is one of USA Today's classier charts, although that's not saying much. I'm glad that they used the image of a prison instead of, say, groupings of people in orange jump suits, to show which states have the highest and lowest incarceration rates. The chart shows valuable information that we, as citizens, need to know but rarely do.

But I do believe that they should not use a childish image in this chart. Incarceration is a serious matter, and they shouldn't have lightened it up with a colorful picture of the prison. It makes it into something it's not. Every year more of our tax dollars go towards the upkeep of prisons in comparison to schools. The way things are set up, inmates get treated better than school kids do.