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Chart of the Day: Minnesotans Behind Bars

As local and national conversations occur about policing, racial disparities in the justice system, and the rights of felons to vote, today’s chart focuses on the number of incarcerated Minnesotans. Via the Prison Policy Initiative, the following chart represents the 21,000 people in Minnesota’s jail and prison facilities in 2018:

Mn Incarceration 2018

Minnesota’s incarceration rate exceeds that in any NATO founding nation save our own:

Minnesota Incarceration Rate Vs. international rates

Additional charts are available from the source, including information about growth of inmate population due to pre-trial policies, as well as incarceration rates by ethnicity.

About Julie Kosbab

Julie Kosbab is an online marketing consultant and active transportation advocate living in Anoka County, Minnesota. She was one of Minnesota's only League of American Bicyclists Certified Instructors when certified in 2005, and is no longer lonely in that calling. A past member of the National Bicycle Tour Directors Association, she has 2 children and a garage full of bicycles. Find her on Twitter as @betweenstations, or read her (seldom updated) blog at Ride Boldly!