The US currently has the highest percentage of its population in jail or prison than any other civilized country in the world. This is primarily due to unfair mandatory minimum sentencing laws forcing judges to give a one-size-fits-all sentence to anyone convicted of certain crimes, especially non-violent, low-level drug offenders. Another significant cause is the removal of parole eligibility for any offender of any kind on the federal level.
These mandatory minimum laws should be abolished, or at the very least, reduced to fit the gravity of the crime. Parole should also be re-instated at the federal level, so that our prisons are no longer cluttered with non-violent offenders.