; Whereas, as recently as the early 1970s, the United States had an incarceration rate on par with most other Western democracies, and while their crime rates today are at nearly identical levels, America’s incarceration rate is five times higher; Whereas the United States of America, a Nation purported to be founded on the principles of liberty and justice for all, has become the most incarcerated country in the world; Whereas throughout the United States— (1) nearly 5 million people are arrested and jailed every year; (2) almost 2.2 million people are incarcerated, including 176,824 people in Federal jails and prisons; (3) collectively, 1,273,605 people are locked in State prisons and another 745,200 people are detained in a local jail on any given night; (4) 500,000 immigrants are incarcerated in immigrant jails and prisons annually, marking a 75-percent increase in immigration detention over the last decade; (5) 4.5 million people are under some form of community supervision, including probation and parole; (6) despite making up 5 percent of the world’s population, the United States has more than 20 percent of the world’s prison population; (7) incarcerated people remain incarcerated for longer periods of time, and the number of people serving life sentences has quadrupled since 1984, even as crime has fallen, and— (A) one out of every seven people in prison is currently serving a life sentence, of which almost one-quarter are sentenced to life without parole; (B) the average sentence length for individuals convicted of a Federal offense carrying a mandatory minimum penalty is 110 months of imprisonment; (C) more than two-thirds of people incarcerated in Federal prisons serving life sentences have been convicted of nonviolent crimes, including 30 percent convicted for a drug crime; and (D) there are tens of thousands of people over the age of 50 who remain locked up though they are elderly, sick, and pose little to no public safety risk