US has largest imprisoned population

The United States has the highest percentage of its population in prison in the world, ahead even of countries like China and North Korea that are notorious for locking away political dissenters.

All in all, close to 1.6 million people – that’s 1 in 200 Americans – are currently serving time in a federal or local prison.

One consequence of a federal system in the US is that the process of justice is not the same across the country.

Different states have criminal codes that are inclined to be harsher or more lenient towards certain offenses or circumstances, not to mention the regional biases the people who make up police forces and courts may have. So which states are most likely to put a convicted offender in prison?