Prison Nation

America has by far the highest incarceration rate in the world - ahead of even Russia and Iran. The South leads the way, of course. But this stat blew me away:

The report by the Justice Department agency found that 62 percent of people in jails have not been convicted, meaning many of them are awaiting trial.

More than a million people are jailed in this country without being convicted for anything? Or am I reading something wrong? I wonder what the comparable rate is in other countries.

Update: a reader tells me I am reading something wrong:

It is 62% of people in jails, not of the total incarcerated. The article states that 750,000 are in jails, so 62% of that is 465,000.  Still a very high number, of course, but not "more than a million."