"For a variety of reasons, I think English jurisdictions handle both civil and criminal matters better than we do. But that's a discussion for another day."
Just FYI, the incarceration rate in the United Kingdom is 139 per 100,000, compared to our rate of 724 per 100,000. Theirs is still the highest incarceration rate in the European Union, but it is a heck of a lot lower than ours. Ours is a heck of a lot (several times) higher than it ever was prior to 1980.
TDK
... I'm probably going to sound ignorant and/or stupid here, but what happened in 1980 to change it?