Which US state has the biggest prison population?

CaliforniaCalifornia, thanks in part to three strikes and overzealous prosecutions. And ridiculous drug laws and a Parole Board who allows release of only a tiny fraction of the people before it. And that's including terminally ill inmates whose cost of care skyrockets. It's a political nightmare with no polititian wanting to fix it because they don't want to be viewed as 'soft on crime'.

It actually depends on how you look at it. Yes, California and Texas have the largest prison populations, but that's because they have the largest state populations. If you take into consideration the amount of people imprisoned per capita, states like Alaska, Delaware, Louisiana, Mississippi and Oklahoma actually have the biggest prison populations. It's good to remember that in every state, less than 1% of their population is incarcerated (as of 2004).