Pros And Cons Of Mass Incarceration

Mass incarceration is an expensive, for-profit system that abuses and disenfranchises economically disadvantaged Americans through the war on drugs. The war on drugs introduced policies like COPS (Community Oriented Policing Services) and the Byrne Grant program, which Bill Clinton, the 42nd president of the United States, believes reduced the crime rate by fifteen percent. Alexander refutes this claim, referencing a 2005 Government Accountability Office report that concluded, "the program may have contributed to a 1 percent reduction in crime—at a cost of $8 billion" (Alexander, pg.240). These programs that contributed to mass incarceration had little impact on crime rates, and cost billions of tax dollars. The ineffectiveness of these

A Prison Policy Initiative report found that a $2-5 copay is expensive for "incarcerated people who typically earn 14 to 63 cents per hour" (Prison Policy Institute). This is very expensive for prisoners and causes them to avoid getting care until their problems become dire. In the United States, the prison system is a for-profit system that encourages convictions. The host of The Confluence, Kevin Gavin, reports a case where in exchange for 2.8 million dollars, "children as young as eight were sent to juvenile detention facilities for offenses such as jaywalking, truancy or smoking on school grounds" (Gavin). This is extremely dangerous because any private prison can offer a judge money for convictions. This causes more arrests and wrongful convictions. When one goes to prison, the hope is that they will see the error in their ways and become better, but in the system of for-profit prisons, rehabilitation is not the goal. The goal is to get as many prisoners as possible, even if it means people going to jail for crimes that should not be crimes, as evident in the 2005 annual report for the Corrections

For instance, any changes with respect to drugs and controlled substances or illegal immigration could affect the number of persons arrested, convicted and sentenced" (Alexander, pg 219).

Over-policing and harsh sentencing that destroys the lives of many Americans, along with the criminalization of drug addiction and asylum-seeking, contribute to the substantial number of incarcerated Americans and directly benefit the private prison industry. The private prison industry is not interested in rehabilitation because the goal is to make money. Prisoners becoming better does not make private prisons money. Private prisons are not the only ones that would lose profits to criminal justice reforms. Phone, weapon, and private healthcare companies contracted by the government "have a stake in the expansion—not the elimination—of the system of mass incarceration" (Alexander, pg. 219). The more people who are incarcerated, the more money these companies will make from