The tough on crime period of the 1980s led to the passage of a flurry of laws that made many nonviolent crimes punishable by prison sentences. Over the next 20 years, the incarceration rate increased exponentially, and the number of people in the prison system has swelled to more than 2 million in the United States. California led the way for incarceration, with one of the largest prison populations in the country. [read the full story here]