"If the effectiveness of a justice system is seen in terms of rate of incarceration, then the society that takes that view does not sound particularly as though it believes in freedom as a fundamental value, but rather prefers values like retribution and security through deferment to authority."There are certain behaviors that the society has to be protected from, right? After all, freedom doesn't mean much if i.e. you can be attacked, killed or have your properly stolen without consequences. Incarceration might not be a particular effective method, but how else do you propose such cases should be dealt with?
it becomes patently ridiculous to try and justify it by claiming people in the US are that much less moral than other people
Not saying that people in the US are "less moral", as this could create the wrong impression, still US do appear to have significantly higher rates in homicides and violent crimes. I.e.
"In 2004, there were 5.5 homicides for every 100,000 persons, roughly three times as high as Canada (1.9) and six times as high as Germany (0.9)"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_the_United_States#Inte...
"I know you don't subscribe to these stances and say that they are just other possible explanations
The reason that I am looking for other possible explanations is that I don't feel the massively higher number of incarceration that you are mentioning is reflected by a similarly massive difference in the laws, culture and practices of the US compared to other developed countries. I mean, simply put, what are the things that in the US would get you in jail and they wouldn't in, let's say, the UK? Somehow I don't feel they are that many to justify a massive difference in incarceration numbers.