The U.S. has 5% of the world's population but one quarter of the world's prisoners.  1 in every 100 adult Americans is locked up. We incarcerate more people than China. (source: New York Times)

Debtors' prisons make an American comeback.

The Criminalization of Bad Mothers.

The militarization of the U.S. police.

While funding for public schools is drastically cut, police departments are receiving large grants to stockpile high-tech combat gear. Des Moines, Iowa, now has two $180,000 bomb robots.  Fargo, North Dakota and its county received $8 million, even though it's one of the safest areas in the country. This despite the fact that the crime rate has been dropping since the 1990s. (source: ProPublica and The Center for Investigative Reporting)

Nonviolent protestors exercising their First Amendment rights are confronted by military vehicles, pepper spray, tear gas, sonic weapons and rubber bullets. (source: The Guardian)

source: Think Progress

Somehow I don't think this is what the Founding Fathers had in mind.