Jeff Jacoby

In the following viewpoint Jeff Jacoby contends that America’s prison system is largely responsible for the drop in crime that the United States has been experiencing since 1993. Jacoby acknowledges that America has much higher incarceration rates than other countries, but he also points out that while crime rates in the United States have been dropping, they have been rising in many other countries. Jacoby also maintains that the high cost of keeping over 2 million people in prison is balanced by the benefits accrued from low crime rates. Jacoby is a columnist for the Boston Globe.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. By how much did the violent crime rate drop from 1993 to 2002, according to Jacoby?
2. What figures does the author provide to support his claim that...