[irrlichthn]

> perhaps the US criminal justice system is just as good at investigating, arresting, and jailing those who commit "crimes"?

Having worked with statistics around this issue and compared them with many other countries, I don't think this is the case. The USA seems to have two problems: A very, unusual high crime rate (about 10 times higher than in the country where I live for example!) and by comparison, a very harsh jurisdictional system. Combined, you get the result you have.