View source for Incarceration in the United States

{{Short description|none}}
{{For|the incarceration rate in particular|United States incarceration rate}}
{{See also|Comparison of United States incarceration rate with other countries}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Use American English|date = February 2019}}
[[File:US timeline graphs of number of people incarcerated in jails and prisons.png|thumb|300px|U.S. timeline graphs of number of people incarcerated in jails and prisons<ref name=Vera>Jacob Kang-Brown, Chase Montagnet, and Jasmine Heiss. [https://www.vera.org/publications/people-in-jail-and-prison-in-spring-2021 People in Jail and Prison in Spring 2021]. New York: [[Vera Institute of Justice]], 2021.</ref>]]
'''Incarceration in the United States''' is one of the primary means of punishment for [[crime in the United States]]. In 2021, over five million people were under supervision by the criminal justice system,<ref name=":12">{{Cite web |title=Correctional Populations in the United States, 2021 – Statistical Tables |url=https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/correctional-populations-united-states-2021-statistical-tables |access-date=2023-06-03 |website=Bureau of Justice Statistics |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":15">{{Cite web |last=Wang |first=Leah |title=Punishment Beyond Prisons: Incarceration and Supervision by State |url=https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/correctionalcontrol2023.html |access-date=2023-07-06 |website=Prison Policy Initiative |language=en}}</ref> with nearly two million people [[incarcerated]] in state or federal prisons and local jails. The United States has the largest known prison population in the world. It has 5% of the world's population while having 20% of the world's incarcerated persons. China, with more than four times more inhabitants, has [[List of countries by incarceration rate|fewer persons in prison]].<ref name=":20">{{Cite news |last=Robertson |first=Campbell |date=April 25, 2019 |title=Crime Is Down, Yet U.S. Incarceration Rates Are Still Among the Highest in the World |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/25/us/us-mass-incarceration-rate.html |access-date=2023-10-21 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name="WorldPrisonBrief">[http://www.prisonstudies.org/highest-to-lowest Highest to Lowest]. [[World Prison Brief]] (WPB). Use the dropdown menu to choose lists of countries by region or the whole world. Use the menu to select highest-to-lowest lists of prison population totals, prison population rates, percentage of pre-trial detainees/remand imprisoned people, percentage of imprisoned females, percentage of imprisoned foreign people, and occupancy rate. Column headings in WPB tables can be clicked to reorder columns lowest to highest, or alphabetically. For detailed information for each country click on any country name in lists. See also the [http://www.prisonstudies.org/world-prison-brief-data WPB main data page] and click on the map links and/or the sidebar links to get to the region and country desired.</ref> Prison populations grew dramatically beginning in the 1970s, but began a decline around 2009, dropping 25% by year-end 2021.<ref name=":11">{{Cite web |last=Ghandnoosh |first=Nazgol |date=February 8, 2023 |title=Ending 50 Years of Mass Incarceration: Urgent Reform Needed to Protect Future Generations |url=https://www.sentencingproject.org/policy-brief/ending-50-years-of-mass-incarceration-urgent-reform-needed-to-protect-future-generations/ |access-date=2023-06-03 |website=The Sentencing Project |language=en-US}}</ref>

Drug offenses account for the incarceration of about 1 in 5 people in U.S. prisons.<ref name=":13">{{Cite web |last=Carson |first=E. Ann |date=December 2022 |title=Prisoners in 2021 – Statistical Tables |url=https://bjs.ojp.gov/sites/g/files/xyckuh236/files/media/document/p21st.pdf |website=U.S. Department of Justice}}</ref> Violent offenses account for over 3 in 5 people (62%) in state prisons.<ref name=":13" /> Property offenses account for the incarceration of about 1 in 7&nbsp;people (14%) in state prisons.<ref name=":13" />

The United States maintains a higher incarceration rate than most developed countries.<ref name=":14">{{Cite web |last=Cullen |first=James |date=January 18, 2017 |title=The United States is (Very) Slowly Reducing Incarceration |url=https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/united-states-very-slowly-reducing-incarceration |website=Brennan Center of Justice}}</ref> According to the [[World Prison Brief]] on May 7, 2023, the United States has the sixth highest incarceration rate in the world, at 531 people per 100,000. Expenses related to prison, parole, and probation operations have an annual estimated cost of around $81&nbsp;billion. Court costs, bail bond fees, and prison phone fees amounted to another $38&nbsp;billion in costs annually.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://eji.org/news/mass-incarceration-costs-182-billion-annually|title=Mass Incarceration Costs $182 Billion Every Year|date=February 6, 2017|website=Equal Justice Initiative|language=en|access-date=July 11, 2019}}</ref>

Since reaching its peak level of imprisonment in 2009, the U.S. has averaged a rate of decarceration of 2.3% per year.<ref name=":13" /><ref name=":21">{{Cite web |title=Prisoners, 1925–81 |url=https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/prisoners-1925-81 |access-date=2023-07-07 |website=Bureau of Justice Statistics |language=en}}</ref> This figure includes the anomalous 14.1% drop in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. There is significant variation among state prison population declines. Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York have reduced their prison populations by over 50% since reaching their peak levels.<ref name=":7">{{Cite web |title=Search Publications |url=https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/list |access-date=2023-07-07 |website=Bureau of Justice Statistics |language=en}}</ref> Twenty-five states have reduced their prison populations by 25% since reaching their peaks.<ref name=":7" /> The federal prison population downsized 27% relative to its peak in 2011.<ref>{{Cite web |title=BOP: Population Statistics |url=https://www.bop.gov/about/statistics/population_statistics.jsp; |access-date=2023-07-07 |website=www.bop.gov}}</ref> There was a 2% decrease in the number of persons sentenced to more than 1 year under the jurisdiction of the Federal Bureau of Prisons from 2022 to 2023.<ref name=":24">{{Cite web |title=Prisons Report Series: Preliminary Data Release, 2023 {{!}} Bureau of Justice Statistics |url=https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/prisons-report-series-preliminary-data-release-2023 |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=bjs.ojp.gov |language=en}}</ref>

Although [[debtor's prison]]s no longer exist in the United States, residents of some U.S. states [[Debtors' prison#Modern debtors' prisons (1970–current)|can still be incarcerated for unpaid court fines and assessments]] {{as of|2016|lc=y}}.<ref name="tampa1">{{cite news | url=http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/editorials/article991963.ece | work=The Tampa Bay Times | location=United States | title=Debtors' prison – again | date=April 14, 2009 | author=Staff Writer | access-date=June 21, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100706150424/http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/editorials/article991963.ece | archive-date=July 6, 2010 | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="calpen1">{{cite news | url=http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/cacode/PEN/3/2/8/1/s1205 | work=Find Law.com | location=California Penal Code | title=CAL. PEN. CODE §&nbsp;1205 | year=2012 | first=State of | last=California}}</ref><ref name=":25">Knafo, Saki (February 12, 2014). [https://huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/12/debtors-prisons-report_n_4768320.html The U.S. Is Locking People Up For Being Poor]. ''[[The Huffington Post]].'' Retrieved February 12, 2014.</ref><ref name=":26">{{cite journal |title=Confining Social Insecurity: Neoliberalism and the Rise of the 21st Century Debtors' Prison|author= Genevieve LeBaron and Adrienne Roberts|journal= Politics & Gender|date= March 2012|volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=25–49 |doi=10.1017/S1743923X12000062|s2cid= 145437287|url= https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/confining-social-insecurity-neoliberalism-and-the-rise-of-the-21-st-century-debtors-prison(dc3a6e28-2de2-4108-8e96-ee92ffa73013).html}}</ref> The [[Vera Institute of Justice]] reported in 2015 that the majority of those incarcerated in local and county jails are there for minor violations and have been jailed for longer periods of time over the past 30 years because they are unable to pay court-imposed costs.<ref name=":27">Timothy Williams (February 11, 2015). [http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/02/11/us/jails-have-become-warehouses-for-the-poor-ill-and-addicted-a-report-says.html Jails Have Become Warehouses for the Poor, Ill and Addicted, a Report Says]. ''The New York Times.'' Retrieved February 11, 2015.</ref>

== History ==
{{Main|History of United States prison systems}}

{{Expand section|date=July 2014}}
[[File:Lines of men in prisoner's uniform are marching towards a bu Wellcome V0041213.jpg|thumb|Lines of men in prisoner's uniforms marching towards a building]]
In the 18th century, English philanthropists began to focus on the reform of convicted criminals in prison, whom they believed needed a chance to become morally pure to stop or slow crime. Since at least 1740, some of these philosophers have thought of solitary confinement as a way to create and maintain spiritually clean people in prisons. As English people immigrated to North America, so did these theories of penology.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|url=https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300042979/rise-penitentiary|title=Rise of the Penitentiary {{!}} Yale University Press|website=yalebooks.yale.edu|access-date=November 19, 2018}}</ref>

Spanish colonizers in Florida also brought their own ideas of confinement, and Spanish soldiers in St. Augustine, Florida, built the first substantial prison in North America in 1570.<ref name=":28">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M_DQTqbKcIgC|title=With Liberty for Some: 500 Years of Imprisonment in America|last=Christianson|first=Scott| author-link=Scott Christianson|date=October 19, 2000|publisher=UPNE|isbn=9781555534684|quote= "Spanish soldiers in 1570 erected the first substantial prison, at St. Augustine, Florida."}}</ref>

Some of the first structures built in English-settled America were jails, and by the 18th century, every English-speaking North American county had a jail. These jails served a variety of functions, such as a holding place for debtors, prisoners-of-war, and political prisoners, those bound in the penal transportation and slavery systems; and those accused  but not tried for crimes.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M_DQTqbKcIgC|title=With Liberty for Some: 500 Years of Imprisonment in America|last=Christianson|first=Scott| author-link=Scott Christianson|date=October 19, 2000|publisher=UPNE|isbn=9781555534684}}</ref> Sentences for those convicted of crimes were rarely longer than three months and often lasted only a day. Poor citizens were often imprisoned for longer than their richer neighbors, as bail was rarely refused.<ref name=":4" />
[[File:US incarceration timeline-clean.svg|thumb|Total incarceration in the United States by year (1920–2014)|alt=Chart depicting a steep increase in the number of incarcerated Americans from the 1980s to the 2000s]]
One of the first prisons in America was founded in 1790 by the Pennsylvanian [[Quakers]], to make a system they viewed as less cruel than dungeon prisons. They created a space where imprisoned people could read [[Religious text|scriptures]] and [[Repentance|repent]] as a means of self-improvement.<ref name="Jenness">{{Cite web|url=https://valeriejenness.com/history-of-the-united-states-prison-system/|title=United States Prison System History – Valerie Jenness|last=Jenness|first=Valerie|date=August 27, 2016|website=Valerie Jenness, UCI Professor, Criminology Department|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160911072232/https://valeriejenness.com/history-of-the-united-states-prison-system/ |language=en-US|access-date=September 11, 2016|archive-date=September 11, 2016 }}</ref> This was known among prison reformers as the Pennsylvania System, which focused on reform, rehabilitation of the prisoner, and saving prisoners' souls through religious instruction.<ref name=":29">{{cite journal |last1=Sellin |first1=Thorsten |title=The Origin of the "Pennsylvania System of Prison Discipline" |journal=The Prison Journal |date=April 1970 |volume=50 |issue=1 |pages=13–21 |doi=10.1177/003288557005000103}}</ref>

In 1841, [[Dorothea Dix]] claimed that prison conditions in the U.S. were, in her opinion, [[inhumane]]. Imprisoned people were chained naked and whipped with rods. Others, who were criminally insane, were caged, or placed in cellars or closets. She insisted on changes throughout the rest of her life. While focusing on the insane, her comments also resulted in changes for other inmates.<ref name="Dix1843">{{citation |year=1843 |author=Dix, Dorothea L |title=Memorial to the Legislature of Massachusetts 1843 |page=2 |url=https://archive.org/stream/memorialtolegisl00dixd#page/n4/mode/1up |access-date=November 12, 2010}}</ref> Late in the 1800s, Superintendent [[Zebulon Brockway]] also changed the landscape of prison life by introducing institutionalized learning programs to inmates for rehabilitation purposes at the [[Elmira Correctional Facility|Elmira Reformatory]] in New York.<ref name=":34">{{Cite journal |last1=Gehring |first1=Thom |last2=Gehering |first2=Thom |date=1982 |title=Zebulon Brockway of Elmira: 19th Century CE Hero |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41970648 |journal=Journal of Correctional Education |volume=33 |issue=1 |pages=4–7 |jstor=41970648 |issn=0740-2708}}</ref> As Monroe County Penitentiary Superintendent, Brockway implemented a points-based behavior system that identified low risk offenders and allowed them to participate in education programs which was later included industrial/trade schools, moral education, and academia (Gehring, 1982).<ref name=":34" />

Following the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] and during the [[Progressive Era|Progressive Era of America]], new concepts of the prison system, such as parole, [[indeterminate sentencing]], and [[probation]], were introduced. These concepts were encoded into legislative statutes in efforts to maintain the systems of [[racial capitalism]] that were formerly supported by unpaid [[slave labor]].<ref name=":05">{{Cite journal |last1=Middleton Manning |first1=Beth Rose |last2=Gayle |first2=Steven |date=2022 |title=Enslaved in a Free Country: Legalized Exploitation of Native Americans and African Americans in Early California and the Post-Emancipation South |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1q61869b |journal=Journal of Law and Political Economy |language=en |volume=3 |issue=2 |doi=10.5070/LP63259632|doi-access=free }}</ref> These legal frameworks became mainstream practices resulting in mass incarceration and legal discrimination of African Americans and other marginalized groups in America.<ref name=":05" /> At this time, there was an increase in crime, causing officials to handle crime in a more [[Retributive justice|retributive]] way. Many [[Sicilian Americans]] were harshly affected by this.<ref name=":30">{{Cite book|last=Dickie|first=John|title=Cosa Nostra: A History of the Sicilian Mafia.|publisher=Hodder|year=2007|isbn=978-0-340-93526-2}}</ref> However, as the crime rate declined, the prison system started to focus more on [[Rehabilitation (penology)|rehabilitation.]]
<div style="float:right; clear:right; margin-left:5px;">
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ style="border: 1px solid;" |US incarceration count, and rate per 100,000 population. Jails, state prisons, federal prisons.<ref name=US-WPB>[https://www.prisonstudies.org/country/united-states-america United States of America]. [[World Prison Brief]].</ref>
!Year
!Count
!Rate
|-
|1940
|264,834 
|201
|-
|1950
|264,620 
|176
|-
|1960
|346,015 
|193
|-
|1970
|328,020 
|161
|-
|1980
|503,586 
|220
|-
|1985
|744,208 
|311
|-
|1990
|1,148,702
|457 
|-
|1995
|1,585,586 
|592 
|-
|2000
|1,937,482
|683
|-
|2002
|2,033,022
|703
|-
|2004
|2,135,335
|725
|-
|2006
|2,258,792
|752
|-
|2008
|2,307,504
|755
|-
|2010
|2,270,142
|731
|-
|2012
|2,228,424
|707
|-
|2014
|2,217,947
|693
|-
|2016
|2,157,800
|666
|-
|2018
|2,102,400
|642
|-
|2020
|1,675,400
|505
|-
|2021
|1,767,200
|531
|}
</div>
On June 18, 1971, President [[Richard Nixon]] declared drug abuse "public enemy number one" in a message to Congress. His message also called for federal resources to be used for the "prevention of new addicts and the rehabilitation of those who are addicted." Following this, the media began using the term "[[war on drugs]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/240245|title=Richard Nixon: Special Message to the Congress on Drug Abuse Prevention and Control|access-date=December 8, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131212201341/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=3048|archive-date=December 12, 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> According to author Emily Dufton, Nixon "transformed the public image of the drug user into one of a dangerous and anarchic threat to American civilization."<ref name=":9">{{Cite web|last=Dufton|first=Emily|date=March 26, 2012|title=The War on Drugs: How President Nixon Tied Addiction to Crime|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/03/the-war-on-drugs-how-president-nixon-tied-addiction-to-crime/254319/|access-date=2020-06-28|website=The Atlantic|language=en-US}}</ref>

The [[presidency of Ronald Reagan]] saw the expansion of federal efforts to prevent drug abuse and prosecute offenders. Reagan signed the [[Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984]], which established [[mandatory minimum sentences]] and expanded penalties for marijuana possession. He also signed the [[Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Beckett |first1=Katherine |title=Making Crime Pay: Law and Order in Contemporary American Politics |date=1997 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=London |isbn=0195136268 |pages=52–53, 167 |edition= 1999 Revised }}</ref> Support for Reagan's crime legislation was [[Bipartisanship|bipartisan]]. The 1980s saw a dramatic rise in the prison population, especially among non-violent offenders and people convicted of drug offenses.<ref>Hinton, Elizabeth. "From the War on Crime to the War on Drugs". From the War on Poverty to the War on Crime: the Making of Mass Incarceration in America, by Elizabeth Hinton, Harvard University Press, 2017, pp. 307–332.</ref><ref>[https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/related_material/2014_US_Nation_Behind_Bars_0.pdf Nation Behind Bars: A Human Rights Solution]. ''[[Human Rights Watch]],'' May 2014. Retrieved May 8, 2014.</ref>

Researcher [[Valerie Jenness]] writes, "Since the 1970s, the final wave of expansion of the prison system, there has been a huge expansion of prisons that exist at the federal and state level. Now, prisons are starting to become a private industry as more and more prisons are starting to become privatized rather than being under government control."<ref name="Jenness"/>

==Incarcerated population==
{{Main|List of U.S. states by incarceration and correctional supervision rate}}
As of 2023, 59% of incarcerated people are in state prisons; 12% are in federal prisons; and 29% are in local jails.<ref name=":12" /> Of the total state and federal prison population, 8% or 96,370 people are incarcerated in private prisons. An additional 2.9&nbsp;million people are on probation, and over 800,000 people are on parole.<ref name=":12" /><ref name=":15" /> At year-end 2021, 1,000,000 people were incarcerated in state prisons; 157,000 people were incarcerated in federal prisons; and 636,000 people were incarcerated in local jails.<ref name=":12" /><ref name=":13" />

Approximately 1.8&nbsp;million people are incarcerated in state or federal prisons or local jails.<ref name=":12" /><ref name=":13" /> There are over 1 million people who are incarcerated in state prisons. There are 656,000 people incarcerated for violent offenses, 142,000 for property offenses, 132,000 for drug offenses, and 110,000 for public order offenses. The percentage breakdown of people in state prisons by offense-type is as follows: 63% of people are incarcerated for violent offenses, 13% for property offenses, 13% for drug offenses, and 11% for public order offenses.<ref name=":10">{{Cite web |last1=Sawyer |first1=Wendy |last2=Wagner |first2=Peter |title=Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2023 |url=https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2023.html |access-date=2023-07-06 |website=Prison Policy Initiative |language=en}}</ref>

The federal prison population is approximately 209,000. 148,000 of these people are incarcerated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Of these people, there are 69,000 people incarcerated for drug offenses, 61,000 for public order offenses, 11,000 for violent offenses, and 6,000 for property offenses. The percentage breakdown of people incarcerated by offense-type is as follows: 47% of people are incarcerated for drug offenses, 42% for public order offenses, 7% for violent offenses, and 4% for property offenses. A further 60,000 people are incarcerated by the U.S. Marshals Service. Of these people, there are 21,000 incarcerated for drug offenses, 14,000 for immigration offenses, 9,000 for weapons offenses, and 7,000 for violent offenses.<ref name=":10" />

Finally, 619,000 people are incarcerated in local jails. Jail incarceration accounts for a third of all incarceration. Over 80% of people incarcerated in local jails have not yet been convicted.<ref name=":10" />

The [[First Step Act]] was adopted in 2018 in an effort to shrink the incarcerated population in the [[Federal Bureau of Prisons]] system.<ref>{{Cite web |title=BOP: First Step Act Overview |url=https://www.bop.gov/inmates/fsa/overview.jsp |access-date=2025-06-30 |website=www.bop.gov}}</ref> In 2025, BOP Director William Marshall announced a renewed emphasis on the execution of those promises, including shrinking the population of non-violent offenders in the federal system.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pavlo |first=Walter |title=Exclusive Interview With Bureau Of Prisons Director William Marshall |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/walterpavlo/2025/06/30/exclusive-interview-with-bureau-of-prisons-director-william-marshall/ |access-date=2025-06-30 |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Pavlo |first=Walter |title=Federal Bureau Of Prisons To Expand Home Confinement |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/walterpavlo/2025/05/28/federal-bureau-of-prisons-to-expand-home-confinement/ |access-date=2025-06-30 |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref>

== Demographics ==

=== Race and ethnicity ===
{{See also|Race and crime in the United States|Racial inequality in the American criminal justice system}}

{| class="wikitable"
| colspan="4" |'''2021. People incarcerated in state or federal prisons by race and ethnicity.'''<ref name=":13" /><ref name=":17">{{Cite web |title=U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: United States |url=https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/RHI725222#RHI725222 |access-date=2023-07-17 |website=www.census.gov |language=en}}</ref>
|-
|'''Race, ethnicity'''
|'''% of US population'''
|'''% of''' '''incarcerated <br> population'''
|'''Incarceration rate''' <br />'''(per 100,000)'''
|-
|'''White (non-Hispanic)'''
|59
|31
|181 
|-
|'''Hispanic'''
|19
|24
|434 
|-
|'''Black'''
|14
|32
|901 
|}
Racial and ethnic disparities are a significant feature of the American prison system. These disparities accumulate across the criminal legal system. The National Academies of Sciences explains:

"Blacks are more likely than whites to be confined awaiting trial (which increases the probability that an incarcerative    sentence will be imposed), to receive incarcerative rather than community sentences, and to receive longer sentences. Racial differences found at each stage are typically modest, but their cumulative effect is significant."<ref name=":16" />

Broader socioeconomic inequality and disparities at each stage of the criminal legal process result in the disproportionate imprisonment of people of color.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.nap.edu/catalog/26705 |title=Reducing Racial Inequality in Crime and Justice: Science, Practice, and Policy |date=May 17, 2023 |publisher=National Academies Press |others=Committee on Reducing Racial Inequalities in the Criminal Justice System, Committee on Law and Justice, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine |isbn=978-0-309-69337-0 |editor-last=Western |editor-first=Bruce |location=Washington, D.C. |doi=10.17226/26705 |editor-last2=Muhammad |editor-first2=Khalil Gibran |editor-last3=Negussie |editor-first3=Yamrot |editor-last4=Backes |editor-first4=Emily}}</ref> In 2021, people of color constituted over two-thirds (69%) of the prison population.<ref name=":12" /> Nationally, one in 81 African American adults are serving time in America's state prisons. Black Americans are imprisoned at 5 times the rate of white people, and American Indians and Hispanic people are imprisoned at 4 times and 2 times the white rate, respectively.<ref name=":12" /> Black and Hispanic people make up 33% of the U.S. population but 56% of the incarcerated population.<ref name=":12" /><ref name=":17" />

Although significant gaps remain, there have been reductions in imprisonment disparities over the past decades.<ref>{{Cite web |title=National Trends – Racial Disparities |url=https://counciloncj.foleon.com/reports/racial-disparities/national-trends |access-date=2023-07-21 |website=counciloncj.foleon.com |language=en}}</ref> The extent of decarceration has varied by race and ethnicity, but all major racial and ethnic groups experienced decarceration since reaching their highest levels.<ref name=":12" /><ref name=":18">{{Cite web |title=Search Publications |url=https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/list |access-date=2023-07-21 |website=Bureau of Justice Statistics |language=en}}</ref> The Black prison population has decreased the most. Since 2002, the year it reached its peak levels, the number of Black people in prison declined from 622,700 to 378,000 (a 39% decrease).<ref name=":12" /><ref name=":18" /> Since 1998, the year the white prison population reached its peak, the number of white people in prison declined from 533,200 to 356,000 (a 25% decrease).<ref name=":12" /><ref name=":18" /> Since 2011, the year the Hispanic prison population reached its peak, the number of Hispanic people in prison declined from 347,300 to 273,800 (a 21% decrease).<ref name=":12" /><ref name=":18" /> Since 2010, the year the American Indian prison population reached its peak, the number of American Indians in prison declined from 23,800 to 18,700 (a 21% decrease).<ref name=":12" /><ref name=":18" /> Finally, since 2016, the year the Asian prison population reached its peak, the number of Asian people in prison declined from 18,000 to 14,700.<ref name=":12" /><ref name=":18" />

=== Gender ===
{{sort under}}
{| class="wikitable sortable sort-under" style="margin-left:5px; float:right;"
! colspan="4" |2010 adult incarceration rates<br />by race, ethnicity, and sex<br />per 100,000 adult US residents<ref name="cpusa2010">[http://www.bjs.gov/indexm.cfm?iid=2237&ty=pbdetail Correctional Populations in the United States, 2010]{{Dead link|date=November 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} (NCJ 236319). By Lauren E. Glaze, BJS Statistician. [[US Bureau of Justice Statistics]] (BJS), published in December 2011. See [http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/cpus10.pdf PDF]. See page 2 for explanation of the difference between number of prisoners in custody and the number under jurisdiction. See appendix table 3 for "Estimated number of inmates held in custody in state or federal prisons or in local jails per 100,000 U.S. residents, by sex, race and Hispanic/Latino origin, and age, June 30, 2010". See appendix table 2 for "Inmates held in custody in state or federal prisons or in local jails, December 31, 2000, and 2009–2010."</ref>
|-
!Race or<br />ethnicity
!Male
!Female
|-
|White || 678 || 91 
|-
|Black || 4,347 || 260 
|-
|Hispanic|| 1,775 || 133 
|}
{{See also|Incarceration of women in the United States}}
In 2013, there were 102,400 adult women in local jails in the United States, and 111,300 adult women in state and federal prisons.<ref name="cpusa2013">[http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=5177 Correctional Populations in the United States, 2013] (NCJ 248479). Published December 2014 by [[U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics]] (BJS). By Lauren E. Glaze and Danielle Kaeble, BJS Statisticians. See [http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/cpus13.pdf PDF]. See page 1 "highlights" section for the "1 in ..." numbers. See table 1 on page 2 for adult numbers. See table 5 on page 6 for male and female numbers. See appendix table 5 on page 13, for "Estimated number of persons supervised by adult correctional systems, by correctional status, 2000–2013." See appendix table 2: "Inmates held in custody in state or federal prisons or in local jails, 2000 and 2012–2013".</ref> Within the U.S., the rate of female incarceration increased fivefold in a two-decade span ending in 2001; the increase occurred because of increased prosecutions and convictions of offenses related to [[recreational drug]]s, increases in the severities of offenses, and a lack of community sanctions and treatment for women who violate laws.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Barbara H. Zaitzow|author2=Jim Thomas|title=Women in Prison: Gender and Social Control|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RyBF1WXXmckC&pg=PR7|year=2003|publisher=[[Lynne Rienner Publishers]]|isbn=978-1-58826-228-8|page=vii}}</ref> In the United States, authorities began housing women in correctional facilities separate from men in the 1870s.<ref>{{cite book|author=Cyndi Banks|title=Women in Prison: A Reference Handbook|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DpSjVQ0u9zwC&pg=PA1|year=2003|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-57607-929-4|pages=1–}}</ref> According to the ACLU, "More than half of the women in prisons and jails (56%) are incarcerated for drug or property offenses, and Black women are two times as likely to be incarcerated as white women."<ref>{{cite web |last1=American Civil Liberties Union |title=HOW INCARCERATING WOMEN FUELS OUR MASS INCARCERATION CRISIS |url=https://www.aclu.org/issues/womens-rights/women-and-criminal-justice/how-incarcerating-women-fuels-our-mass-incarceration |website=ACLU |access-date=April 22, 2022}}</ref> Black women tend to receive longer sentences and harsher punishments than white women for committing the same crimes. According to [[Angela Davis]] (2003), in many situations, white women are put in mental institutions, whereas black women are sent to prison for the same crime.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Davis |first1=Angela |title=Are Prisons Obsolete? |year=2003 |publisher=Seven Stories Press |isbn=9781583225813 }}</ref>

However, since the early 2000s, the incarceration rates for African American and [[Hispanic and Latino Americans|Hispanic American]] women have declined, while incarceration rates have increased for [[White Americans|white women]]. Between 2000 and 2017, the incarceration rate for white women increased by 44%, while at the same time declining by 55% for African American women.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Sultan |first1=Bonnie |last2=Myrent |first2=Mark |title=Women and Girls in Corrections |url=https://www.jrsa.org/pubs/factsheets/jrsa-factsheet-women-girls-in-corrections.pdf |publisher=Justice Research and Statistics Association (JRSA) |access-date=October 8, 2023 |archive-date=August 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230827191109/https://www.jrsa.org/pubs/factsheets/jrsa-factsheet-women-girls-in-corrections.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> The Sentencing Project reports that by 2021, incarceration rates had declined by 70% for African American women, while rising by 7% for white women.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Budd |first1=Kristen |title=Incarcerated Women and Girls |url=https://www.sentencingproject.org/fact-sheet/incarcerated-women-and-girls/ |website=The Sentencing Project |date=April 3, 2023}}</ref> In 2017, the [[Washington Post]] reported that [[White American|white]] women's incarceration rate was growing faster than ever before, as the rate for black women declined.<ref name="Humphreys 2017 x017">{{cite news |last=Humphreys |first=Keith |title=White women are going to prison at a higher rate than ever before |newspaper=Washington Post |date=January 24, 2017 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/01/24/white-women-are-going-to-prison-at-a-higher-rate-than-ever-before/ |access-date=2023-08-27}}</ref> The incarceration rate of African American males is also falling sharply, even faster that white men's incarceration rate, contrary to the popular opinion that black males are increasingly incarcerated.<ref name="Lane 2023 y855">{{cite news |last=Lane |first=Charles |title=New data show a dire forecast about incarceration rates didn't come true |newspaper=Washington Post |date=July 12, 2023 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/07/12/good-news-black-incarceration-rate-declines/ |access-date=2023-08-27}}</ref>

In 2011, it was reported that 85 to 90% of women incarcerated were victims of sexual and domestic violence, which is significantly higher than the national average of 22.3% of women in the United States.<ref name="Gross">Gross, Kali Nicole. "African American women, mass incarceration, and the politics of protection." ''The Journal of American History'' 102.1 (2015): 25–33.</ref> Women who face sexual or domestic violence are more likely to commit crimes themselves and become incarcerated.<ref name="potter">Potter, Hillary. ''Battle cries: Black women and intimate partner abuse''. NYU Press, 2008.</ref> The history of black women experiencing higher rates of abuse than white women provides one of many explanations for why African American women have faced higher rates of incarceration than white women.<ref name="Vera" />

In 2013, there were 628,900 adult males in local jails in the United States, and 1,463,500 adult males in state and federal prisons.<ref name="cpusa2013" /> In a study of sentencing in the United States in 1984, David B. Mustard found that males received 12 percent longer prison terms than females after "controlling for the offense level, criminal history, district, and offense type," and noted that "females receive even shorter sentences relative to men than whites relative to blacks."<ref>{{cite journal| last = Mustard | first = David B.| title = Racial, ethnic, and gender disparities in sentencing: Evidence from the U.S. Federal Courts.|journal = The Journal of Law, Economics & Policy|volume = 285}}</ref> A later study by Sonja B. Starr found sentences for men to be up to 60% higher when controlling for more variables.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper = The Huffington Post|title = Men Sentenced to Longer Prison Terms for Same Crimes, Study Says| url = https://huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/11/men-women-prison-sentence-length-gender-gap_n_1874742.html}}</ref> Several explanations for this disparity have been offered, including that women have more to lose from incarceration, and that men are the targets of discrimination in sentencing.<ref>{{cite journal|last = Stacey| first = Ann Martin | title = Gender and the Social Costs of Sentencing: An Analysis of Sentences Imposed on Male and Female Offenders in Three U.S. District Courts|journal = Berkeley Journal of Criminal Law| year = 2006 | doi = 10.15779/Z38F32G |url = https://lawcat.berkeley.edu/record/1120434 }}</ref>

=== Youth ===
{{Main|Youth incarceration in the United States}}

{{sort under}}
{| class="wikitable sortable sort-under" style="text-align:right; margin-left: 5px; float:right;"
! colspan="4" style="background:white;" | Juveniles in residential<br />placement, 1997–2015. US<ref name="cjrp">Sickmund, M., Sladky, T.J., Kang, W., & Puzzanchera, C.. "[http://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/ezacjrp/ Easy Access to the Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement]". [[Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention]]. Click "National Crosstabs" at the top, and then choose the census years. Click "Show table" to get the total number of juvenile inmates for those years. Or go '''[http://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/ezacjrp/asp/display.asp here]''' for all the years. And [[c:File:Total juvenile detention chart for the U.S..gif|here]].</ref>
|-<!--https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Total_juvenile_detention_chart_for_the_U.S..gif-->
! Year
! Male
! Female
! Total
|-
! 1997
| 90,771
| 14,284
| 105,055
|-
! 1999
| 92,985 
| 14,508 
| 107,493 
|-
! 2001
| 89,115 
| 15,104 
| 104,219 
|-
! 2003
| 81,975 
| 14,556 
| 96,531 
|-
! 2006
| 78,998 
| 13,723 
| 92,721 
|-
! 2007
| 75,017 
| 11,797 
| 86,814
|-
! 2010
| 61,359 
| 9,434 
| 70,793
|-
! 2011
| 53,079 
| 8,344 
| 61,423
|-
! 2013
| 46,421
| 7,727
| 54,148
|-
! 2015
| 40,750
| 7,293
| 48,043
|}

Through the [[juvenile court]]s and the adult [[criminal justice]] system, the United States incarcerates more of its youth than any other country in the world, a reflection of the larger trends in incarceration practices in the United States. This has been a source of controversy for a number of reasons, including the overcrowding and violence in youth detention facilities, the prosecution of youths as adults and the long term consequences of incarceration on the individual's chances for success in adulthood. In 2014, the [[United Nations Human Rights Committee]] criticized the United States for about ten judicial abuses, including the mistreatment of juvenile inmates.<ref>Ed Pilkington (March 13, 2014). [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/13/us-un-human-rights-abuses-nsa-drones US criticised by UN for human rights failings on NSA, guns and drones]. ''[[The Guardian]].'' Retrieved April 5, 2014.</ref> A UN report published in 2015 criticized the U.S. for being the only nation in the world to sentence juveniles to [[Life imprisonment in the United States|life imprisonment]] without parole.<ref>Natasja Sheriff (March 9, 2015). [http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/3/9/un-expert-slams-us-as-only-nation-to-sentence-kids-to-life-without-parole.html UN expert slams US as only nation to imprison kids for life without parole]. ''[[Al Jazeera America]].'' Retrieved March 13, 2015.</ref>

According to federal data from 2011, around 40% of the nation's juvenile inmates are housed in [[Private prison|private facilities]].<ref>Chris Kirkham (October 22, 2013). [http://projects.huffingtonpost.com/prisoners-of-profit?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009 Prisoners of Profit: Private Prison Empire Rises Despite Startling Record Of Juvenile Abuse]. ''[[The Huffington Post]].'' Retrieved October 22, 2013.</ref>

The incarceration of youths has been linked to the effects of family and neighborhood influences. One study found that the "behaviors of family members and neighborhood peers appear to substantially affect the behavior and outcomes of disadvantaged youths".<ref>Case, Anne C., and Lawrence F. Katz. ''The company you keep: The effects of family and neighborhood on disadvantaged youths''. No. w3705. National Bureau of Economic Research, 1991.</ref>

Nearly 53,000 youth were incarcerated in 2015.<ref name=":8">{{Cite web |last=Sawyer |first=Wendy |date=February 27, 2018 |title=Youth Confinement: The Whole Pie |url=https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/youth2018.html |access-date=March 22, 2019 |website=www.prisonpolicy.org |language=en}}</ref> 4,656 of those were held in adult facilities, while the rest were in juvenile facilities. Of those in juvenile facilities, 69% are 16 or older, while over 500 are 12 or younger.<ref name=":8" /> As arrest and crime rates are [[Race and crime in the United States#Crime statistics|not equal across demographic groups]], neither is prison population. The [[Prison Policy Initiative]] broke down those numbers, finding that, relative to their share of the U.S. population, "black and American Indian youth are over represented in juvenile facilities while white youth are under represented.",<ref name=":8" /> Black youth comprise 14% of the national youth population, but "43% of boys and 34% of girls in juvenile facilities are Black.  And even excluding youth held in Indian country facilities, American Indians make up 3% of girls and 1.5% of boys in juvenile facilities, despite comprising less than 1% of all youth nationally.".<ref name=":8" />

=== Students ===
{{Main|School-to-prison pipeline}}

The term "school-to-prison pipeline", also known as the "schoolhouse-to-jailhouse track", is a concept that was named in the 1980s.<ref name="autogenerated1">{{Cite web |last=Heitzeg |first=Nancy |title=Education Or Incarceration: Zero Tolerance Policies And The School To Prison Pipeline |url=https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ870076.pdf}}</ref> The school-to-prison pipeline is the idea that a school's harsh punishments—which typically push students out of the classroom—lead to the criminalization of students' misbehaviors and result in increasing a student's probability of entering the prison system.<ref>Sarah Biehl, The School-to-Prison Pipeline, 28 OHIO LAWYER, Jan.–Feb. 2014,</ref> Although the school-to-prison pipeline is aggravated by a combination of ingredients, [[Zero tolerance (schools)|zero-tolerance policies]] are viewed as main contributors.<ref>David M. Pedersen, ''Zero-Tolerance Policies'', ''in'' SCHOOL VIOLENCE: FROM DISCIPLINE TO DUE PROCESS 48 (James C. Hanks ed., 2004); ''see also'' CATHERINE Y. KIM, DANIEL J. LOSEN & DAMON T. HEWITT, THE SCHOOL-TO-PRISON PIPELINE: STRUCTURING LEGAL REFORM 79 (2010)</ref> Additionally, the "School to Prison Pipeline disproportionately impacts the poor, students with disabilities, and youth of color, especially African Americans, who are suspended and expelled at the highest rates, despite comparable rates of infraction."<ref name="autogenerated1" />

In 1994, the Gun-Free Schools Act was passed. It required that students have at least a year long suspension from school if they brought a weapon to school. Many states then adopted the Zero-tolerance policy which lead to an increase in suspensions, mainly for Black and Hispanic kids.

At the same time these policies were growing, school districts adopted their own version of the "broken windows theory". The broken windows theory emphasizes the importance of cracking down on small offenses in order to make residents feel safer and discourage more serious crime. For schools, this meant more suspensions for small offenses like talking back to teachers, skipping class, or being disobedient or disruptive. This led to schools having police officers in schools, which in turn led to students being arrested and handled more harshly.

Zero-tolerance policies are regulations that mandate specific consequences in response to outlined student misbehavior, typically without any consideration for the unique circumstances surrounding a given incident.<ref>Ralph M. Gerstein & Lois A. Gerstein ''Education Law: An Essential Guide for Attorneys, Teachers, Administrators, Parents and Students 195'' (2nd ed. 2007).</ref> Zero-tolerance policies both implicitly and explicitly usher the student into the prison track. Implicitly, when a student is extracted from the classroom, the more likely that student is to drop out of school as a result of being in class less. As a dropout, that child is then ill-prepared to obtain a job and become a fruitful citizen.<ref>U.S. Dep't of Educ. Office for Civil Rights, ''[http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/school-discipline/index.html School Climate and Discipline]'', http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/school-discipline/index.html</ref> Explicitly, schools sometimes do not funnel their pupils to the prison systems inadvertently; rather, they send them directly.<ref>Catherine Y. Kim, ''Policing School Discipline'', 77 BROOK. L. REV. 861, 901–02 (2012); Moll & Simmons, ''supra'' note 22, at 7; Advancement Project, ''Clayton County, GA'', http://safequalityschools.org/pages/clayton-county-ga [https://perma.cc/8CKX-URDD] (last visited February 1, 2017).</ref> Once in juvenile court, even sympathetic judges are not likely to evaluate whether the school's punishment was warranted or fair. For these reasons, it is argued that zero-tolerance policies lead to an exponential increase in the juvenile prison populations.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Heitzeg |first=Nancy A. |year=2009 |title=Education Or Incarceration: Zero Tolerance Policies And The School To Prison Pipeline |url=http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ870076.pdf}}</ref>

The national [[Suspension (punishment)|suspension]] rate doubled from 3.7% to 7.4% from 1973 to 2010.<ref>Koon, Danfeng Soto-Vigil. "Exclusionary School Discipline: An Issue Brief and the Review of Literature." ''The Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute on Law and Social Policy ''. University of California, Berkeley School of Law, n.d. Web. Apr. 2013.</ref> The claim that Zero Tolerance Policies affect students of color at a disproportionate rate is supported in the Code of Maryland Regulations study, that found black students were suspended at more than double the rate of white students.<ref>{{Cite web |author1=O'Conner, R. |author2=Porowski, A. |author3=Passa |year=2014 |title=Disproportionality in school discipline: An assessment of trends in Maryland, 2009–12 |url=http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED544770.pdf}}</ref> This data is further backed by Moriah Balingit, who states that when compared to white students, black students are suspended and expelled at greater rates according to the Civil Rights Data Collection, that has records with specific information for the 2015–2016 school year of about 96,000 schools.<ref name="Balingit">{{Cite news |last=Balingit |first=Moriah |title=Racial disparities in school discipline are growing, federal data show |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/racial-disparities-in-school-discipline-are-growing-federal-data-shows/2018/04/24/67b5d2b8-47e4-11e8-827e-190efaf1f1ee_story.html?noredirect=on |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190902040530/https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/racial-disparities-in-school-discipline-are-growing-federal-data-shows/2018/04/24/67b5d2b8-47e4-11e8-827e-190efaf1f1ee_story.html?noredirect=on |archive-date=September 2, 2019 |newspaper=Washington Post}}</ref>  In addition, further data shows that although black students only accounted for 15% of the student population, they represented a 31% of the arrests.<ref name="Balingit" /> Hispanic children share this in common with their black counterparts, as they too are more susceptible to harsher discipline like suspension and expulsion.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Balingit |first=Moriah |title=Racial disparities in school discipline are growing, federal data show |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/racial-disparities-in-school-discipline-are-growing-federal-data-shows/2018/04/24/67b5d2b8-47e4-11e8-827e-190efaf1f1ee_story.html?noredirect=on |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190902040530/https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/racial-disparities-in-school-discipline-are-growing-federal-data-shows/2018/04/24/67b5d2b8-47e4-11e8-827e-190efaf1f1ee_story.html?noredirect=on |archive-date=September 2, 2019 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref> This trend can be seen throughout numerous studies of this type of material and particularly in the south.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mallet |first=Christopher A. |year=2016 |title=The School-to-Prison Pipeline: Disproportionate Impact on Vulnerable Children and Adolescents |url=https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.naswoh.org/resource/resmgr/Day_2/ChrisM.pdf |website=National Association of Social Workers, Ohio Chapter}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite web |last=Smith & Harper |year=2015 |title=Disproportionate impact of K-12 school suspension and expulsion on black students in southern states |url=https://www.gse.upenn.edu/equity/sites/gse.upenn.edu.equity/files/publications/Smith_Harper_Report.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171021170658/https://www.gse.upenn.edu/equity/sites/gse.upenn.edu.equity/files/publications/Smith_Harper_Report.pdf |archive-date=October 21, 2017 |access-date=July 12, 2018}}</ref> Furthermore, between 1985 and 1989, there was an increase in referrals of minority youth to juvenile court, petitioned cases, adjudicated delinquency cases, and delinquency cases placed outside the home.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Feld |first=Barry C. |year=1999 |title=Bad Kids: Race and the Transformation of the Juvenile Court}}</ref>  During this time period, the number of African American youth detained increased by 9% and the number of Hispanic youths detained increased by 4%, yet the proportion of White youth declined by 13%.<ref name=":6" />  Documentation of this phenomenon can be seen as early as 1975 with the book ''School Suspensions: Are they helping children?''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Edelman & Smith |title=School Suspensions: Are they helping children? |publisher=Washington Research Project |year=1975}}</ref> Additionally, as punitive action leads to dropout rates, so does imprisonment.  Data shows in the year 2000, one in three black male students ages 20–40 who did not complete high school were incarcerated.<ref name="Desmond & Emirbayer 2016">{{Cite book |last=Desmond & Emirbayer |title=Race in America |publisher=W.W. Norton & Company |year=2016 |location=New York}}</ref> Moreover, about 70% of those in state prison have not finished high school.<ref name="Desmond & Emirbayer 2016" /> Lastly, if one is a black male living post-Civil Rights Movement with no high school diploma, there is a 60% chance that they will be incarcerated in their lifetime.<ref name="Desmond & Emirbayer 2016" />

=== Elderly ===
The percentage of prisoners in federal and state prisons aged 55 and older increased by 33% from 2000 to 2005 while the prison population grew by 8%. The [[Southern Legislative Conference]] found that in 16 southern states, the elderly prisoner population increased on average by 145% between 1997 and 2007. The growth in the elderly population brought along higher health care costs, most notably seen in the 10% average increase in state prison budgets from 2005 to 2006.

The SLC expects the percentage of [[elderly prisoners]] relative to the overall prison population to continue to rise. Ronald Aday, a professor of aging studies at [[Middle Tennessee State University]] and author of ''Aging Prisoners: Crisis in American Corrections'', concurs. One out of six prisoners in California is serving a [[life sentence]]. Aday predicts that by 2020 16% percent of those serving life sentences will be elderly.<ref name="aa">{{cite news |date=September 30, 2007 |title=Aging inmates clogging nation's prisons |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-09-29-aging-inmates_N.htm?csp=34 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111025084423/http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-09-29-aging-inmates_N.htm?csp=34 |archive-date=2011-10-25 |access-date=2025-05-13 |work=[[USA Today]] |agency=Associated Press}}</ref><ref name="ab">{{cite book|title=Aging Prisoners: Crisis in American Corrections|author= Aday, Ronald H.|publisher=Praeger|year=2003|isbn=978-0-275-97123-6}}</ref>

State governments pay all of their inmates' housing costs which significantly increase as prisoners age. Inmates are unable to apply for [[Medicare (United States)|Medicare]] and [[Medicaid]]. Most Departments of Correction report spending more than 10 percent of the annual budget on elderly care.<ref name="aa" /><ref name="ab" />

The [[American Civil Liberties Union]] published a report in 2012 which asserts that the elderly prison population has climbed 1300% since the 1980s, with 125,000 inmates aged 55 or older now incarcerated.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/13/elderly-inmate-population-soars_n_1594793.html|title=Elderly Inmate Population Soared 1,300 Percent Since 1980s: Report|agency=The Huffington Post|date=June 13, 2012}}</ref>

=== LGBT people ===
{{Further|LGBT people in prison}}
[[LGBT]] (lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender) youth are disproportionately more likely than the general population to come into contact with the [[criminal justice]] system. According to the [[National Center for Transgender Equality]], 16 percent of transgender adults have been in prison and/or jail, compared to 2.7 percent of all adults.<ref name="Marksamer & Tobin">{{cite book|last1=Marksamer|first1=Jody|last2=Tobin|first2=Harper|title=Standing With LGBT Prisoners: An Advocate's Guide to Ending Abuse and Combating Imprisonment|date=2013|publisher=National Center for Transgender Equality|location=Washington, DC|pages=1–88|url=http://transequality.org/sites/default/files/docs/resources/JailPrisons_Resource_FINAL.pdf|access-date=February 14, 2015|ref=9}}</ref> It has also been found that 13–15 percent of youth in detention identify as LGBT, whereas an estimated 4–8 percent of the general youth population identify as such.<ref name="Tobin">{{cite news|last1=Tobin|first1=Harper|title=Putting Prisons on the LGBT Agenda|url=https://huffingtonpost.com/harper-jean-tobin/putting-prisons-on-the-lg_b_5065219.html|access-date=February 14, 2015|work=The Huffington Post|date=April 1, 2014|ref=10}}</ref>

According to Yarbrough (2021), higher rates of poverty, [[homelessness]], and [[Offender profiling|profiling]] of transgender people by law enforcement are the cause of the higher rate of imprisonment experienced by transgender and [[gender non-conforming]] people.<ref name="Yarbrough 2021">{{cite journal | last=Yarbrough | first=Dilara | title=The carceral production of transgender poverty: How racialized gender policing deprives transgender women of housing and safety | journal=Punishment & Society | publisher=SAGE Publications | volume=25 | issue=1 | date=May 24, 2021 | issn=1462-4745 | doi=10.1177/14624745211017818 | pages=141–161| doi-access=free }}</ref> LGBT youth not only experience these same challenges, but many also live in homes unwelcoming to their identities.<ref name="Sylvia R Law Project">{{cite book |last1=Bassichis |first1=Daniel |url=http://srlp.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/WarinHere042007.pdf |title="It's War In Here": A Report on the Treatment of Transgender and Intersex People in New York State Men's Prisons |date=2007 |publisher=Sylvia Rivera Law Project |pages=1–50 |ref=11 |access-date=February 14, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181001193133/https://srlp.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/WarinHere042007.pdf |archive-date=2018-10-01 |url-status=dead}}</ref> This often results in LGBT youth running away and/or engaging in criminal activities, such as the drug trade, sex work, and/or theft, which places them at higher risk for arrest. Because of discriminatory practices and limited access to resources, transgender adults are also more likely to engage in criminal activities to be able to pay for housing, health care, and other basic needs.<ref name="Sylvia R Law Project" />

[[LGBT people in prison|LGBT people in jail and prison]] are particularly vulnerable to mistreatment by other inmates and staff. This mistreatment includes [[solitary confinement]] (which may be described as "protective custody"), physical and sexual violence, verbal abuse, and denial of medical care and other services.<ref name="Marksamer & Tobin" /><ref name="American Friends">{{cite news|last1=Whitlock|first1=Kay|title=Corrupting Justice: A Primer for LGBT Communities on Racism, Violence, Human Degradation & the Prison Industrial Complex|url=http://www.prisonpolicy.org/scans/corrupting-justice.pdf|access-date=February 14, 2015|agency=American Friends Service Committee|publisher=American Friends Service Committee|date=December 15, 2005|ref=12}}</ref> According to the National Inmate Survey, in 2011–12, 40 percent of transgender inmates reported sexual victimization compared to 4 percent of all inmates.<ref name="Beck et al">{{cite book |last1=Beck |first1=Allan |url=http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=4654 |title=Sexual Victimization in Prisons and Jails Reported by Inmates, 2011–12 |last2=Berzofsky |first2=Marcus |last3=Caspar |first3=Rachel |last4=Krebs |first4=Christopher |date=May 2013 |publisher=National Criminal Justice Reference Service |ref=13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180213194214/http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=4654 |archive-date=2018-02-13 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Mentally disabled ===
{{Main|Mentally ill people in United States jails and prisons}}

In the United States, the percentage of inmates with [[mental illness]] has been steadily increasing, with rates more than quadrupling from 1998 to 2006.<ref name="Horowitz">{{Cite news|last1=Horowitz|first1=Alana|title=Mental Illness Soars In Prisons, Jails While Inmates Suffer|url=https://huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/04/mental-illness-prisons-jails-inmates_n_2610062.html|newspaper=Huffington Post|access-date=February 15, 2015|ref=1|date=February 4, 2013}}</ref> Many have attributed this trend to the [[deinstitutionalization]] of mentally ill persons beginning in the 1960s, when mental hospitals across the country began closing their doors.<ref name="NIC">{{cite web|title=Mentally Ill Persons in Corrections|url=http://nicic.gov/mentalillness|website=nicic.gov|publisher=National Institute of Corrections|access-date=February 15, 2015|ref=2|archive-date=February 17, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150217160734/http://nicic.gov/mentalillness|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Geller">{{cite news|last1=Geller|first1=Adam|title=U.S. Jails Struggle With Role As Makeshift Asylums|url=https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/us-jails-struggle-with-role-as-makeshift-asylums/|access-date=October 18, 2018|work=The Seattle Times|date=July 15, 2014|ref=3}}</ref> However, other researchers indicate that "there is no evidence for the basic criminalization premise that decreased psychiatric services explain the disproportionate risk of incarceration for individuals with mental illness".<ref name="Skeem">{{cite journal|last1=Skeem|first1=Jennifer|last2=Manchak|first2=Sarah|last3=Peterson|first3=Jillian|title=Correctional Policy for Offenders with Mental Illness: Creating a New Paradigm for Recidivism Reduction|journal=Law and Human Behavior|date=April 2011|volume=35|issue=2|pages=110–126|doi=10.1007/s10979-010-9223-7|pmid=20390443|s2cid=13116080|ref=4}}</ref>

According to the [[Bureau of Justice Statistics]], over half of all prisoners in 2005 had experienced mental illness as identified by "a recent history or symptoms of a mental health problem"; of this population, jail inmates experienced the highest rates of symptoms of mental illness at 60 percent, followed by 49 percent of state prisoners and 40 percent of federal prisoners.<ref name="James & Glaze">{{cite book|last1=James|first1=Doris|last2=Glaze|first2=Lauren|title=Mental Health Problems of Prison and Jail Inmates|date=December 14, 2006|publisher=U.S. Department of Justice: Office of Justice Programs: Bureau of Justice Statistics|pages=1–12|url=http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/mhppji.pdf|access-date=February 16, 2015|ref=5}}</ref> Not only do people with recent histories of mental illness end up incarcerated, but many who have no history of mental illness end up developing symptoms while in prison. In 2006, the Bureau of Justice Statistics found that a quarter of state prisoners had a history of mental illness, whereas 3 in 10 state prisoners had developed symptoms of mental illness since becoming incarcerated with no recent history of mental illness.<ref name="James & Glaze" />

According to [[Human Rights Watch]], one of the contributing factors to the disproportionate rates of mental illness in prisons and jails is the increased use of [[solitary confinement]], for which "socially and psychologically meaningful contact is reduced to the absolute minimum, to a point that is insufficient for most detainees to remain mentally well functioning".<ref name="Human Rights Watch">{{cite book|title=Mental Illness, Human Rights, and US Prisons: Human Rights Watch Statement for the Record Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law|date=September 22, 2009|publisher=Human Rights Watch|pages=1–14|url=https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/related_material/Human%20Rights%20Watch%20Statement%20for%20the%20Record_9_22_09.pdf|access-date=February 20, 2015|ref=6}} See p. 10.</ref> Another factor to be considered is that most inmates do not get the mental health services that they need while incarcerated. Due to limited funding, prisons are not able to provide a full range of mental health services and thus are typically limited to inconsistent administration of [[psychotropic medication]], or no psychiatric services at all.<ref name="Geller" /><ref name="Human Rights Watch" /> Human Rights Watch also claims that corrections officers routinely use excessive violence against mentally ill inmates for nonthreatening behaviors related to [[schizophrenia]] or [[bipolar disorder]]. These reports found that some inmates had been shocked, shackled and pepper sprayed.<ref>Marisa Taylor (May 12, 2015). [http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/5/12/mentally-ill-inmates-often-physically-abused.html Report: Mentally ill inmates are routinely abused by corrections officers]. ''[[Al Jazeera America]].'' Retrieved May 17, 2015.</ref>

Mental illness rarely stands alone when analyzing the risk factors associated with incarceration and [[recidivism]] rates.<ref name="James & Glaze" /><ref name="Peterson et al APA">{{cite journal|last1=Peterson|first1=Jillian|last2=Skeem|first2=Jennifer|last3=Kennealy|first3=Patrick|last4=Bray|first4=Beth|last5=Zvonkovic|first5=Andrea|date=2014|title=How Often and How Consistently do Symptoms Directly Precede Criminal Behavior Among Offenders With Mental Illness?|url=http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/lhb-0000075.pdf|journal=Law and Human Behavior|volume=38|issue=5|pages=439–449|doi=10.1037/lhb0000075|pmid=24730388|access-date=February 20, 2015|ref=7}}</ref> The American Psychological Association recommends a holistic approach to reducing recidivism rates among offenders by providing "cognitive–behavioral treatment focused on criminal cognition" or "services that target variable risk factors for high-risk offenders" due to the numerous intersecting risk factors experienced by mentally ill and non-mentally ill offenders alike.<ref name="Peterson et al APA" />

To prevent the recidivism of individuals with mental illness, a variety of programs are in place that are based on criminal justice or mental health intervention models. Programs modeled after criminal justice strategies include [[diversion program]]s, [[mental health courts]], specialty mental health [[probation]] or parole, and jail aftercare/prison re-entry. Programs modeled after mental health interventions include forensic [[assertive community treatment]] and forensic intensive [[case management (mental health)|case management]]. It has been argued that the wide diversity of these program interventions points to a lack of clarity on which specific program components are most effective in reducing recidivism rates among [[individuals]] with mental illness. Inmates who have a mental illness tend to stay for longer days in jail compared to inmates who don't have a mental illness. Inmates with mental illness may struggle to understand and follow prison rules. Inmates with mental illness will usually get in trouble with more facility violation rules. Suicide is the leading cause of death in many prisons. People who have a serious mental illness tend to die by suicide more often in prison.<ref>{{cite web |title=Serious Mental Illness Prevalence in Jails and Prisons - Treatment Advocacy Center |url=https://www.tac.org/reports_publications/serious-mental-illness-prevalence-in-jails-and-prisons/ |website=www.tac.org |publisher=Treatment Advocacy Center |access-date=14 May 2025 |date=1 September 2016}}</ref>

=== Immigrants and foreign nationals ===
{{main|Immigration detention in the United States}}

The United States government holds tens of thousands of immigrants in detention under the control of [[U.S. Customs and Border Protection|Customs and Border Protection]] (CBP) and [[U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement|Immigration and Customs Enforcement]] (ICE). These immigrants seek asylum into the United states and are detained prior to release into the United States or deportation and removal from the country. During 2018, 396,448 people were booked into ICE custody: 242,778 of whom were detained by CBP and 153,670 by ICE's own enforcement operations.<ref>{{Cite web|title=ERO FY18 Achievements|url=https://www.ice.gov/features/ERO-2018|access-date=2021-11-23|website=www.ice.gov|date=December 13, 2018 |language=en}}</ref>

The BOP receives all prisoner transfer treaty inmates sent from foreign countries, even if their crimes would have been, if committed in the United States, tried in state, DC, or territorial courts.<ref>"[https://www.justice.gov/criminal-oeo/transfer-state-prisoners Transfer Of State Prisoners]." [[United States Department of Justice]]. Retrieved on April 14, 2016.</ref> Non-US citizens incarcerated in federal and state prisons are eligible to be transferred to their home countries if they qualify.<ref>"[https://www.justice.gov/criminal-oeo/how-program-works How The Program Works]." [[United States Department of Justice]]. Retrieved on April 14, 2016.</ref>

=== Class and poverty===
The [[Poverty in the United States|poor in the United States]] are incarcerated at a much higher rate than their counterparts in other developed nations.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Poverty Politics and Crime Control in Europe and America|author=Bruce Western|journal=[[Contemporary Sociology]] |date= May 2011 |volume=40 |issue=3|pages=283–286 |doi=10.1177/0094306110404514d |jstor=23042281 |s2cid=17527457 }}</ref> According to a 2015 study by the [[Vera Institute of Justice]], jails in the U.S. have become "massive warehouses" of the impoverished since the 1980s.<ref>Tom Hall (February 13, 2015).[http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2015/02/13/pris-f13.html Study says US jails have become "massive warehouses" for the poor]. ''[[World Socialist Web Site]].'' Retrieved September 1, 2023.</ref>

A December 2017 report by [[Philip Alston]], the U.N. Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, asserted that the justice system throughout the U.S. is designed to keep people mired in poverty and to generate revenue to fund the justice system and other governmental programs.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ohchr.org/en/statements/2017/12/statement-visit-usa-professor-philip-alston-united-nations-special-rapporteur|title=Statement on Visit to the USA, by Professor Philip Alston, United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights|last=Alston|first=Philp|date=December 15, 2017|publisher=[[Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights|OHCHR]]|access-date=December 21, 2017|author-link=Philip Alston|quote="In many cities and counties the criminal justice system is effectively a system for keeping the poor in poverty while generating revenue to fund not only the justice system but diverse other programs.  The use of the legal system, not to promote justice, but to raise revenue, as documented so powerfully in the Department of Justice’s report on Ferguson, is pervasive around the country."}}</ref>

Sociologist [[Matthew Desmond]] of [[Princeton University]] writes that the "overwhelming majority" of prisoners and former prisoners of the U.S. prison system, which "has no equal in any other country or any other epoch," are extremely poor. And they stay poor as prison jobs pay an average wage of between 14 cents and $1.41 an hour. He notes that the carceral state also "disappears" the incarcerated poor by erasing them from poverty statistics and national surveys, "which means there are millions more poor Americans than official statistics let on."<ref>{{cite book |last=Desmond|first=Matthew |author-link=Matthew Desmond|date=2023 |title=[[Poverty, by America]]|url= |location= |publisher=Crown Publishing Group|pages=22–23 |isbn=9780593239919}}</ref>

== Features of the criminal justice system ==

=== Duration ===
{{Main|Criminal sentencing in the United States}}

Many legislatures continually have reduced discretion of judges in both the sentencing process and the determination of when the conditions of a sentence have been satisfied. [[Federal Sentencing Guidelines|Determinate sentencing]], use of [[Mandatory sentencing|mandatory minimums]], and [[Federal Sentencing Guidelines|guidelines-based sentencing]] continue to remove the human element from sentencing, such as the prerogative of the judge to consider the [[mitigating factor|mitigating or extenuating circumstances]] of a crime to determine the appropriate length of the incarceration. As the consequence of "[[three strikes laws]]", the increase in the duration of incarceration in the last decade was most pronounced in the case of life prison sentences, which increased by 83% between 1992 and 2003 while violent crimes fell in the same period.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Mauer |first1=Marc |last2=King |first2=Ryan S |last3=Young |first3=Malcolm C |date=May 2004 |title=The Meaning of "Life": Long Prison Sentences in Context |url=http://www.sentencingproject.org/doc/publications/inc_meaningoflife.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100710053406/http://www.sentencingproject.org/doc/publications/inc_meaningoflife.pdf |archive-date=July 10, 2010 |access-date=January 11, 2010 |publisher=The Sentencing Project |page=3}}</ref>

=== Violent and nonviolent crime ===
{{See also|Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act}}
In 2016, there were an estimated 1.2&nbsp;million violent crimes committed in the United States.<ref name="fbiucr">{{cite web |date=September 25, 2017 |title=2016 Crime Statistics Released |url=https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2016-crime-statistics-released |access-date=November 25, 2017 |website=FBI.gov |publisher=Federal Bureau of Investigation}}</ref> Over the course of that year, U.S. law enforcement agencies made approximately 10.7&nbsp;million arrests, excluding arrests for traffic violations.<ref name="fbiucr" /> In that year, approximately 2.3&nbsp;million people were incarcerated in jail or prison.<ref>{{cite web |date=March 16, 2016 |title=Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2016 |url=https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2016.html |access-date=July 14, 2023 |website=Prison Policy Initiative }}</ref>

[[File:Felony Sentences in State Courts.pdf|thumb|''Felony Sentences in State Courts'', study by the [[United States Department of Justice]] ]]

As of September 30, 2009, in federal prisons, 7.9% of sentenced people were incarcerated for violent crimes,<ref name="prisonersin2009">{{cite web |last1=West |first1=Heather |last2=Sabol |first2=William |date=December 2010 |title=Prisoners in 2009 |url=http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/p09.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111027075245/http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/p09.pdf |archive-date=October 27, 2011 |access-date=December 25, 2010 |publisher=Bureau of Justice Statistics}}</ref> while at year end 2008 of sentenced people in state prisons, 52.4% had been jailed for violent crimes.<ref name="prisonersin2009" /> In 2002 (latest available data by type of offense), 21.6% of convicted inmates in jails were in prison for violent crimes. Among unconvicted inmates in jails in 2002, 34% had a violent offense as the most serious charge. 41% percent of convicted and unconvicted jail inmates in 2002 had a current or prior violent offense; 46% were nonviolent recidivists.<ref name="jailinmates2002">[http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=1118 Profile of Jail Inmates, 2002] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111208012926/http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=1118|date=December 8, 2011}}. By Doris J. James. July 18, 2004. NCJ 201932. [[U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics]]. See Table 3 of the [http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/pji02.pdf PDF file] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111005100253/http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/pji02.pdf|date=October 5, 2011}} for the percent of inmates in for violent offenses.</ref>

From 2000 to 2008, the state prison population increased by 159,200 imprisoned people, and violent offenders accounted for 60% of this increase. The number of [[drug offender]]s in state prisons declined by 12,400 over this period. Furthermore, while the number of sentenced violent offenders in state prison increased from 2000 through 2008, the expected length of stays for these offenders declined slightly during this period.<ref name="prisonersin2009" />

In 2013, ''The Week'' reported that at least 3,278 Americans were serving life sentences without parole for nonviolent crimes, including "cursing at a policeman and selling $10 worth of drugs. More than 80 percent of these life sentences are the result of mandatory sentencing laws."<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2013-11-26 |title=Congress's poor record, and more |url=https://theweek.com/articles/455520/congresss-poor-record-more |access-date=2025-05-14 |website=The Week |language=en}}</ref>

In 2016, about 200,000, under 16%, of the 1.3&nbsp;million people in state jails, were serving time for drug offenses. 700,000 were incarcerated for violent offenses.<ref name="wsj170128">{{Cite news |author1=John Pfaff |date=January 28, 2017 |title=A Better Approach to Violent Crime |newspaper=Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-better-approach-to-violent-crime-1485536313 |access-date=January 28, 2017}}</ref>

Nonviolent crime was the main driver of the increase in the incarcerated population in the United States from 1980 to 2003. Violent crime rates had been relatively constant or declining over those decades. The prison population was increased primarily by public policy changes causing more prison sentences and lengthening time served, for example through mandatory minimum sentencing, "three strikes" laws, and reductions in the availability of parole or early release.

Perhaps the single greatest force behind the growth of the prison population has been the national "[[war on drugs]]". The legislation for the "war on drugs" can be traced back to the [[Convention on Psychotropic Substances|United Nation's Convention on Psychotropic Substances in 1971]] causing regulation and classification of substances deemed to fit the criteria set by the [[World Health Organization]]. The criteria used by the World Health Organization that if the substance has the capacity to produce a state of dependence, and central nervous system stimulation or depression that results in hallucinations or disturbances in motor function or thinking or behavior or perception or mood. If the World Health Organization finds that the substance meets such criteria, the substance was placed under international control. After the substances were identified all governments with the necessary facilities should take similar action<ref>{{Cite web |date=February 21, 1971 |title=Convention on Psychotropic Substances, 1971 |url=https://www.unodc.org/pdf/convention_1971_en.pdf |access-date=December 3, 2024}}</ref> facilitating the campaign and creating a guideline for the war on drugs. Following this convention, the United States enacted The Federal Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act on May 1, 1971 outlining the findings of the United Nations and implementing policies that coincided with the request of the United Nations.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gabay |first=Michael |date=June 2013 |title=The Federal Controlled Substances Act: Schedules and Pharmacy Registration |journal=Hospital Pharmacy |volume=48 |issue=6 |pages=473–474 |doi=10.1310/hpj4806-473 |pmid=24421507 |pmc=3839489 }}</ref> The war on drugs initiative expanded during the presidency of Ronald Reagan. During Reagan's term, a bi-partisan Congress established the [[Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986]], galvanized by the death of [[Len Bias]]. According to the [[Human Rights Watch]], legislation like this led to the extreme increase in drug offense imprisonment and "increasing racial disproportions among the arrestees".<ref>{{Cite web |title=United States – Punishment and Prejudice: Racial Disparities in the War on Drugs |url=https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/2000/usa/Rcedrg00-05.htm |access-date=April 24, 2017 |website=www.hrw.org}}</ref> The number of incarcerated drug offenders has increased twelvefold since 1980. In 2000, 22 percent of those in federal and state prisons were convicted on drug charges.<ref name="hrw2003">[https://www.hrw.org/legacy/backgrounder/usa/incarceration/ "Incarcerated America"] ''Human Rights Watch'' (April 2003)</ref><ref name="crimerates">[http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/uscrime.htm United States Crime Rates 1960–2009]. Source: FBI, Uniform Crime Reports.</ref> In 2011, 55.6% of the 1,131,210 sentenced people in state prisons were being held for violent crimes (this number excludes the 200,966 imprisoned people being held due to parole violations, of which 39.6% were re-incarcerated for a subsequent violent crime).<ref name="BJS2012Trends">[http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/p12tar9112.pdf U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics: "Prisoners in 2012 Trends in Admissions and Releases, 1991–2012" by E. Ann Carson and Daniela Golinelli] Table 11: Estimated sentenced state imprisoned people on December 31, by most serious offense and type of admission, 1991, 2001, 2006, and 2011 | December 2013</ref> Also in 2011, 3.7% of the state prison population consisted of imprisoned people whose highest conviction was for drug possession (again excluding those incarcerated for parole violations of which 6.0% were re-incarcerated for a subsequent act of drug possession).<ref name="BJS2012Trends" />

=== Pre-trial detention ===
In 2020, the non-profit [[Prison Policy Initiative]] issued a report, "Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2020", that said, based on the most recent census data and information from the Bureau of Prisons, an overwhelming majority of inmates in county and municipal jails were being held pre-trial, without having been convicted of a crime. The Pre-Trial Justice Institute noted, "Six out of 10 people in U.S. jails—nearly a half million individuals on any given day—are awaiting trial. People who have not been found guilty of the charges against them account for 95% of all jail population growth between 2000–2014."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Why We Need Pretrial Reform |url=https://www.pretrial.org/get-involved/learn-more/why-we-need-pretrial-reform/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200509190247/https://www.pretrial.org/get-involved/learn-more/why-we-need-pretrial-reform/ |archive-date=May 9, 2020 |access-date=2020-05-31 |website=Pretrial Justice Institute |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2018 |title=Jail Inmates in 2016 |url=https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/ji16.pdf}}</ref>

In 2017, 482,100 inmates in federal and state prisons were held pre-trial.<ref>{{Cite web |title=United States of America {{!}} World Prison Brief |url=https://www.prisonstudies.org/country/united-states-america |access-date=2020-05-31 |website=www.prisonstudies.org}}</ref>

Advocates for [[decarceration in the United States|decarceration]] contend the large pre-trial detention population serves as a compelling reason for bail reform anchored in a presumption of innocence.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hunter |first=Lea |date=March 16, 2020 |title=What You Need To Know About Ending Cash Bail |url=https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/criminal-justice/reports/2020/03/16/481543/ending-cash-bail/ |access-date=2020-05-31 |website=Center for American Progress |language=en-US}}</ref> "We don't want people sitting in jails only because they cannot afford their financial bail," said Representative John Tilley (D) of Kentucky, a state that has eliminated commercial bail and relies on a risk assessment to determine a defendant's flight risk.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bail or Jail |url=https://www.ncsl.org/research/civil-and-criminal-justice/bail-or-jail.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170823063423/http://www.ncsl.org:80/research/civil-and-criminal-justice/bail-or-jail.aspx |archive-date=2017-08-23 |access-date=2020-05-31 |website=www.ncsl.org}}</ref>

In March 2020, the Department of Justice issued its report, noting the county and municipal jail population, totaling 738,400 inmates, had decreased by 12% over the last decade, from an estimated 258 jail inmates per 100,000 U.S. residents in 2008 to 226 per 100,000 in 2018. For the first time since 1990, the 2018 jail incarceration rate for African Americans fell below 600 per 100,000, while the juvenile jail population dropped 56%, from 7,700 to 3,400.<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 31, 2020 |title=Jail Incarceration Rate Decreased |url=https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/press/ji18pr.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210425104103/https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/press/ji18pr.pdf |archive-date=2021-04-25 |access-date=2025-05-14 |website=Bureau of Justice Statistics}}</ref>

In 2018, sixty-eight percent of jail inmates were behind bars on felony charges, about two-thirds of the total jail population was awaiting court action or held for other reasons.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Watkins |date=March 31, 2020 |title=Jail Incarceration Rate Decreased by 12 Percent |url=https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/press/ji18pr.pdf |website=DOJ}}</ref>

=== Prison education ===
{{Main|Prison education}}
{{See also|List of online educational resources|List of educational software}}
[[Prison education]] encompasses any type of educational program offered within a prison, including literacy programs, high school or [[GED]] equivalent programs, [[vocational education]], and tertiary education. In the early 1800s, tutors began to enter prisons and the idea of punishment began to shift towards rehabilitation. By the early 1990s, there were over 350 prison education programs nationwide.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Altschuler |first=David Skorton and Glenn |title=College Behind Bars: How Educating Prisoners Pays Off |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/collegeprose/2013/03/25/college-behind-bars-how-educating-prisoners-pays-off/ |access-date=2023-05-19 |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref> In 1994, Bill Clinton signed the [[Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act#Elimination of inmate education|Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act]] into law, which barred incarcerated people from receiving Pell Grants. This caused the number of educational programs to quickly decline due to a lack of federal funding.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Strait |first1=Abigail |last2=Eaton |first2=Susan |date=2016 |title=Post-Secondary Education for People in Prison |url=https://heller.brandeis.edu/sillerman/pdfs/opportunity-briefs/post-secondary-education-people-in-prison.pdf |journal=Social Justice Funders Opportunity Brief |volume=1 |via=The Sillerman Center for the Advancement of Philanthropy}}</ref>

The Civil Rights Act of 1960 prompted the collection of employment data and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act required collection of data for school funding.<ref name=":110">{{Cite journal |last1=Pettit |first1=Becky |last2=Sykes |first2=Bryan L. |date=2015 |title=Civil Rights Legislation and Legalized Exclusion: Mass Incarceration and the Masking of Inequality |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43654408 |journal=Sociological Forum |volume=30 |issue=S1 |pages=589–611 |doi=10.1111/socf.12179 |jstor=43654408 |issn=0884-8971}}</ref> However, the true depth of inequality in education was not known despite several significant education policies being enacted because inmates were excluded from federal surveys.<ref name=":110" /> Studies in the 1990s by psychologists, social justice advocates, scholars, and researchers showed that inmate exclusion grossly inflates education attainment rates as the prison population grows and the [[Pell Grant]] ban severely impacted the reintegration of formerly incarcerated people to reintegrate back into society.<ref name=":110" /><ref name=":23">{{Cite journal |last=Custer |first=Bradley D. |date=31 January 2021 |title=The History of Denying Federal Financial Aid to System-Impacted Students |url=https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1344311 |journal=Journal of Student Financial Aid |language=en |volume=50 |issue=1 |doi=10.55504/0884-9153.1710 |issn=0884-9153}}</ref> This resulted in the restoral of federal [[Pell Grant]] funding for Prison Education Programs (PEP) and legislation like California bill SB416 that protects incarcerated students from predatory lending.<ref name=":23" />

Prison education has proven to lower recidivism rates and increase employment for graduates upon release. A 2013 study conducted by the [[RAND Corporation]] found that correctional education led to a significant reduction in recidivism rates, and those who participated in [[prison education]] programs showed "43% lower odds of recidivating than inmates who did not."<ref name=":32">{{Cite book |last1=Davis |first1=Lois M. |url=https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR266.html |title=Evaluating the Effectiveness of Correctional Education: A Meta-Analysis of Programs That Provide Education to Incarcerated Adults |last2=Bozick |first2=Robert |last3=Steele |first3=Jennifer L. |last4=Saunders |first4=Jessica |last5=Miles |first5=Jeremy N. V. |date=August 22, 2013 |isbn=9780833081087 |language=en |doi=10.7249/rr266 |s2cid=148650060}}</ref> That same study showed that individuals who received vocational education and training saw a 28% increase in employment following incarceration, and those who participated in strictly academic educational programs saw an 8% increase in employment.<ref name=":32" />

=== Recidivism ===
{{Main|Recidivism in the United States}}
A 2002 study survey, showed that among nearly 275,000 prisoners released in 1994, 67.5% were rearrested within 3&nbsp;years, and 51.8% were back in prison.<ref name="Langan">{{cite web |last1=Langan |first1=Patrick A. |last2=Levin |first2=David J. |date=June 2, 2002 |title=Recidivism of Prisoners Released in 1994 |url=http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/rpr94.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111214044810/http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/rpr94.pdf |archive-date=December 14, 2011 |access-date=January 11, 2010 |publisher=Bureau of Justice Statistics}}</ref> However, the study found no evidence that spending more time in prison raises the [[recidivism]] rate, and found that those serving the longest time, 61&nbsp;months or more, had a slightly lower re-arrest rate (54.2%) than every other category of prisoners. This is most likely explained by the older average age of those released with the longest sentences, and the study shows a strong negative correlation between recidivism and age upon release. According to the [[Bureau of Justice Statistics]], a study was conducted that tracked 404,638 prisoners in 30 states after their release from prison in 2005. From the examination it was found that within three years after their release 67.8% of the released prisoners were rearrested; within five years, 76.6% of the released prisoners were rearrested, and of the prisoners that were rearrested 56.7% of them were rearrested by the end of their first year of release.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Durose |first=Matthew |date=April 2014 |title=Recidivism of Prisoners Released in 30 States in 2005: Patterns from 2005 to 2010 |url=https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/rprts05p0510.pdf |journal=Bureau of Justice Statistics}}</ref>

=== Comparison with other countries ===
[[File:World map of prison population rates from World Prison Brief.svg|thumb|350px|A map of incarceration rates by country<ref name="WorldPrisonBrief" />]]
{{Main|Comparison of United States incarceration rate with other countries}}
{{See also|List of countries by incarceration rate}}

With around 100 prisoners per 100,000, the United States had an average prison and jail population until 1980. Afterwards it drifted apart considerably.<ref name="Handbook" /> The United States has the highest prison and jail population (2,121,600 in adult facilities in 2016) as well as the highest incarceration rate in the world (655 per 100,000 population in 2016).<ref name="WorldPrisonBrief" /><ref name="europe_over_time">[https://rsf.uni-greifswald.de/fileadmin/uni-greifswald/fakultaet/rsf/lehrstuehle/ls-harrendorf/Seiten_aus_BewHi_2-16_Inhalt.pdf Gefangenenraten im internationalen und nationalen Vergleich (Prison rates international comparison)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180714164318/https://rsf.uni-greifswald.de/fileadmin/uni-greifswald/fakultaet/rsf/lehrstuehle/ls-harrendorf/Seiten_aus_BewHi_2-16_Inhalt.pdf|date=July 14, 2018}}, University Greifswald, FRIEDER DÜNKEL • BERND GENG • STEFAN HARRENDORF, Bewährungshilfe – Soziales • Strafrecht • Kriminalpolitik, Jg. 63, 2016, Heft 2, S. 178–200, 2016.</ref><ref name="nyt2008apr22">[http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n417/a04.html American Exception. Inmate Count in US Dwarfs Other Nations']. ''[[New York Times]].'' April 22, 2008. Page 1, Section A, Front Page.</ref> According to the World Prison Population List (11th edition) there were around 10.35&nbsp;million people in penal institutions worldwide in 2015.<ref name="WPPL11">Walmsley, Roy (February 2, 2016). [http://www.prisonstudies.org/sites/default/files/resources/downloads/world_prison_population_list_11th_edition_0.pdf World Prison Population List (11th edition)] (PDF). From the [http://www.prisonstudies.org/research-publications?shs_term_node_tid_depth=27 Research & Publications] page of the [[World Prison Brief]] website. From page 1 of the PDF: "The information is the latest available at the end of October 2015." And from page 2: "This report shows that more than 10.35 million people are held in penal institutions throughout the world, either as pre-trial detainees/remand prisoners or having been convicted and sentenced."</ref> The U.S. had 2,173,800 prisoners in adult facilities in 2015.<ref name="cpusa2015">[https://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=5870 Correctional Populations in the United States, 2015]. By Danielle Kaeble and Lauren Glaze, ''BJS Statisticians.'' Dec. 2016. [[Bureau of Justice Statistics]]. See [https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/cpus15.pdf PDF]. Page 2 says: "At yearend 2015, an estimated 2,173,800 persons were either under the jurisdiction of state or federal prisons or in the custody of local jails in the United States".</ref> That means the U.S. held 21.0% of the world's prisoners in 2015, even though the U.S. represented only around 4.4 percent of the world's population in 2015.<ref name="population">[https://www.census.gov/popclock Population Clock]. [[U.S. Census Bureau]]. 321,032,786 people in the US on June 30, 2015.</ref><ref>[http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/publications/world-population-prospects-2015-revision.html The World Population Prospects: 2015 Revision]. July 29, 2015, article. From [[United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs]]. 7.3&nbsp;billion people in 2015.</ref>

Comparing other English-speaking developed countries, whereas the incarceration rate of the U.S. is 655 per 100,000 population of all ages,<ref name="WorldPrisonBrief" /> the incarceration rate of Canada is 114 per 100,000 (as of 2015),<ref name="Canada">[http://www.prisonstudies.org/country/canada Canada]. [[World Prison Brief]].</ref> [[England and Wales]] is 146 per 100,000 (as of 2016),<ref name="EnglandWales">[http://www.prisonstudies.org/country/united-kingdom-england-wales United Kingdom: England & Wales]. [[World Prison Brief]].</ref> Australia is 160 per 100,000 (as of 2016)<ref name="Australia">[http://www.prisonstudies.org/country/australia Australia]. [[World Prison Brief]].</ref> and Ireland is 82 per 100,000 (as of Aug 2022).<ref name="Ireland">[https://www.iprt.ie/prison-facts-2 Ireland] [[Irish Penal Reform Trust]].</ref> Comparing other developed countries, the rate of Spain is 133 per 100,000 (as of 2016),<ref name="Spain">[http://www.prisonstudies.org/country/spain Spain]. [[World Prison Brief]].</ref> [[Greece]] is 89 per 100,000 (as of 2016),<ref name="Greece">[http://www.prisonstudies.org/country/greece Greece]. [[World Prison Brief]].</ref> [[Norway]] is 73 per 100,000 (as of 2016),<ref name="Norway">[http://www.prisonstudies.org/country/norway Norway]. [[World Prison Brief]].</ref> [[Netherlands]] is 69 per 100,000 (as of 2014),<ref name="Netherlands">[http://www.prisonstudies.org/country/netherlands Netherlands]. [[World Prison Brief]].</ref> and Japan is 48 per 100,000 (as of 2014).<ref name="Japan">[http://www.prisonstudies.org/country/japan Japan]. [[World Prison Brief]].</ref>

According to a 2021 report by the [[Prison Policy Initiative]], every state has a higher incarceration rate than "virtually any independent democracy on earth."<ref name="PPI2021">{{cite web |last1=Widra |first1=Emily |last2=Herring |first2=Tiana |date=2021 |title=States of Incarceration: The Global Context 2021 |url=https://www.prisonpolicy.org/global/2021.html |access-date=February 14, 2023 |website= |publisher=Prison Policy Initiative |quote=}}</ref> Louisiana has the highest incarceration rate at 1,094.<ref name="PPI2021" /> In 2012, ''[[The Times-Picayune]]'' described the state as the prison capital of the world.<ref name="Times-Picayune" />

A 2008 ''[[New York Times]]'' article,<ref name="nyt2008apr22" /> said that "it is the length of sentences that truly distinguishes American prison policy. Indeed, the mere number of sentences imposed here would not place the United States at the top of the incarceration lists. If lists were compiled based on annual admissions to prison per capita, several European countries would outpace the United States. But American prison stays are much longer, so the total incarceration rate is higher."

The number of incarcerated individuals in U.S. jails and prisons jumped 500% in the three decades following the implementation of tougher sentencing laws associated with the war on drugs and the "tough on crime" movement.<ref name="Handbook" /> The U.S. incarceration rate peaked in 2008 when about 1 in 100 US adults was behind bars.<ref name="nytimes2008feb">[[Liptak, Adam]] (February 28, 2008). [https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/28/us/28cnd-prison.html 1 in 100 U.S. Adults Behind Bars, New Study Says]. ''[[New York Times]]''.</ref> This incarceration rate exceeded the average incarceration levels in the [[Soviet Union]] during the existence of the [[Gulag]] system, when the [[Demography of the Soviet Union|Soviet Union's population]] reached 168 million, and 1.2 to 1.5&nbsp;million people were in the [[Gulag]] prison camps and colonies (i.e. about 0.8 imprisoned per 100 USSR residents, according to numbers from [[Anne Applebaum]] and [[Steven Rosefielde]]).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rosefielde |first1=Steven |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L4s1H9v2yOwC&q=gulag+population&pg=PA95 |title=The Russian economy: from Lenin to Putin. By Steven Rosefielde |year=2007 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=978-1-4051-1337-3}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Applebaum |first1=Anne |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8fIfmxAs_T0C&q=gulag+total+population&pg=PA446 |title=Gulag: a history. By Anne Applebaum |year=2003 |publisher=Doubleday |isbn=978-0-7679-0056-0}}</ref> In ''[[The New Yorker]]'' article ''The Caging of America'' (2012), [[Adam Gopnik]] writes: "Over all, there are now more people under 'correctional supervision' in America—more than six million—than were in the [[Gulag]] Archipelago under [[Stalin]] at its height."<ref name="Gopnik">Gopnik, Adam (January 30, 2012). [https://newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2012/01/30/120130crat_atlarge_gopnik?currentPage=all The Caging of America]. ''[[The New Yorker]].''</ref>

==Operational==
[[File:U.S. federal prisoner distribution since 1950.png|thumb|U.S. federal prisoner distribution since 1950]]
[[File:Prisons in the United States.png|thumb|Prisons in the United States]]
=== Prison systems ===
{{See also|Lists of United States state prisons}}
The American prison system is one of significant heterogeneity. In fact, it would be misleading to suggest that the U.S. has one "criminal justice system." Instead, there are thousands of systems across federal, state, local, tribal levels. In 2023, there were a reported "1,566 state prisons, 98 federal prisons, 3,116 local jails, 1,323 juvenile correctional facilities, 181 immigrant detention facilities, and 80 Indian country jails, as well as military prisons, civil commitment centers, state psychiatric hospitals, and prisons in the U.S. territories."<ref name=":10" />

Despite the country's disparate systems of confinement, the U.S. prison system may be generally identified with four main institutions: state prisons, federal prisons, local jails, and juvenile correctional facilities.<ref name=":16">{{Cite book |url=http://www.nap.edu/catalog/18613 |title=The Growth of Incarceration in the United States: Exploring Causes and Consequences |date=April 24, 2014 |publisher=National Academies Press |isbn=978-0-309-29801-8 |location=Washington, D.C. |doi=10.17226/18613 |bibcode=2014nap..book18613N }}</ref> State prisons are run by state departments of correction, holding sentenced people serving time for felony offenses, usually longer than a year.<ref name=":16" /> Federal prisons are run by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons and hold people who have been convicted of federal crimes and pretrial detainees.<ref name=":16" /> Local jails are county or municipal facilities that incarcerate defendants prior to trial, and also hold those serving short sentences, typically under a year.<ref name=":16" /> Juvenile correctional facilities are operated by local authorities or the state and serve as longer-term placements for youth who have been adjudicated as delinquent and ordered by a judge to be confined.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Foundation |first=The Annie E. Casey |date=November 14, 2020 |title=Juvenile Detention Explained |url=https://www.aecf.org/blog/what-is-juvenile-detention |access-date=2023-07-06 |website=The Annie E. Casey Foundation |language=en}}</ref>

===Security levels===
{{More citations needed section|date=November 2012}}
In some, but not all, states' department of corrections, inmates reside in different facilities that vary by security level, especially in security measures, administration of inmates, type of housing, and weapons and tactics used by [[corrections officer]]s. The federal government's [[Bureau of Prisons]] uses a numbered scale from one to five to represent the security level. Level five is the most secure, while level one is the least. State prison systems operate similar systems. California, for example, classifies its facilities from Reception Center through Levels I to V (minimum to maximum security) to specialized high security units (all considered Level V) including [[Security Housing Unit]] (SHU)—California's version of [[supermax]]—and related units.<ref>{{cite web |title=Improving California's Prison Inmate Classification System |url=https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4023 |website=lao.ca.gov |publisher=California Legislative Analyst's Office |access-date=4 July 2024 |date=2 May 2019}}</ref> Jails operated by county and local governments are typically smaller than prisons and less able to manage security issues raised by overcrowding. Due to the variety of prisoners incarcerated in jails, from defendants awaiting trial, to people serving short sentences for minor crimes, to people with significant histories of escape attempts or violence, jails often have multiple levels of security within a single facility, as compared to prisons which often have specialized facilities for each security level.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Griffin III |editor1-first=O. Hayden |editor2-last=Woodward |editor2-first=Vanessa H. |title=Routledge handbook of corrections in the United States |date=2018 |publisher=Routledge |location=New York London |isbn=9781317291213 |pages=105–107}}</ref>

'''[[Supermax prison]]''' facilities provide the highest level of prison security. These units hold those considered the most dangerous inmates, as well as inmates that have been deemed too high-profile or too great a national security risk for a normal prison. These include inmates who have committed assaults, murders, or other serious violations in less secure facilities, and inmates known to be or accused of being [[prison gang]] members. Most states have either a supermax section of a prison facility or an entire prison facility designated as a supermax. The [[United States Federal Bureau of Prisons]] operates a federal supermax, [[ADX Florence|A.D.X. Florence]], located in [[Florence, Colorado|Florence]], Colorado, also known as the "[[Alcatraz]] of the [[Rocky Mountains|Rockies]]" and widely considered to possibly be the most secure prison in the United States. A.D.X. Florence has a standard supermax section where assaultive, violent, and gang-related inmates are kept under normal supermax conditions of 23-hour confinement and abridged amenities. A.D.X. Florence is considered to be of a security level above that of all other prisons in the United States, at least in the "ideological" ultramax part of it, which features permanent, 24-hour [[solitary confinement]] with rare human contacts or opportunity to earn better conditions through good behavior.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Field |first1=Ray |last2=Sanchez |first2=Alexandra |title=What's life like in Supermax prison? |url=https://www.cnn.com/2015/06/25/us/dzhokhar-tsarnaev-supermax-prison/index.html |access-date=4 July 2024 |work=CNN |date=25 June 2015 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Hager |first1=Eli |title=My Life in the Supermax |url=https://www.themarshallproject.org/2016/01/08/my-life-in-the-supermax |publisher=The Marshall Project |access-date=4 July 2024 |language=en |date=8 January 2016}}</ref>

In a '''maximum security''' prison or area (called '''high security''' in the federal system), all prisoners have individual cells<ref name="What Do Security Levels Means?">{{cite web|url=https://www.angelfire.com/journal/injustice/Security.html|title=What Do Security Levels Means|publisher=Injustice Security|language=en|access-date=August 28, 2016}}</ref> with sliding doors controlled from a secure remote control station. Prisoners are allowed out of their cells one out of twenty four hours (one hour and 30&nbsp;minutes for prisoners in California). When out of their cells, prisoners remain in the cell block or an exterior cage. Movement out of the cell block or "pod" is tightly restricted using restraints and escorts by correctional officers.<ref name="Maximum-Security Prisons">[https://www.sweetstudy.com/note-bank/southern-new-hampshire-university/cj-210-the-united-states-correctional-system/cj210module4notes-docx Maximum-Security Prisons] Retrieved 15 May 2024</ref>
[[File:US Incarceration Rates in 2016.svg|thumb|Incarceration Rate by State, 2016; excludes jail inmates.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/correctional-populations-united-states-2016|title=Correctional Populations in the United States, 2016|website=Bureau of Justice Statistics}}</ref>]]

Under '''close security''', prisoners usually have one- or two-person cells operated from a remote control station. Each cell has its own toilet and sink. Inmates may leave their cells for work assignments or correctional programs and otherwise may be allowed in a common area in the cellblock or an exercise yard. The fences are generally double fences with watchtowers housing armed guards, plus often a third, lethal-current electric fence in the middle.<ref>[https://www.sweetstudy.com/note-bank/southern-new-hampshire-university/cj-210-the-united-states-correctional-system/cj210module4notes-docx Medium-Security Prisons] Retrieved 15 May 2024</ref>

Prisoners that fall into the '''medium security''' group may sleep in cells, but share them two and two, and use bunk beds<ref name="What Do Security Levels Means?"/> with lockers to store their possessions. Depending upon the facility, each cell may have showers, toilets and sinks. Cells are locked at night with one or more correctional officers supervising. There is less supervision over the internal movements of prisoners. The perimeter is generally double fenced and regularly patrolled.<ref name="Maximum-Security Prisons"/>

Prisoners in '''minimum security''' facilities are considered to pose little physical risk to the public and are mainly non-violent "[[white collar crime|white collar criminals]]". Minimum security prisoners live in less-secure dormitories,<ref name="What Do Security Levels Means?"/> which are regularly patrolled by correctional officers. As in medium security facilities, they have communal showers, toilets, and sinks. A minimum-security facility generally has a single fence that is watched, but not patrolled, by armed guards. At facilities in very remote and rural areas, there may be no fence at all. Prisoners may often work on community projects, such as roadside litter cleanup with the state department of transportation or wilderness conservation. Many minimum security facilities are small camps located in or near military bases, larger prisons (outside the security perimeter) or other government institutions to provide a convenient supply of convict labor to the institution. Many states allow persons in minimum-security facilities access to the Internet.<ref>[https://www.sweetstudy.com/note-bank/southern-new-hampshire-university/cj-210-the-united-states-correctional-system/cj210module4notes-docx Minimum Security Prisons] Retrieved 15 May 2024</ref>

===Correspondence===
Inmates who maintain contact with family and friends in the outside world are less likely to be convicted of further crimes and usually have an easier reintegration period back into society.<ref>diZerega, M., & Agudelo, S. V. (2011). Piloting a tool for reentry: A promising approach to engaging family members. New York, NY: Vera Institute of Justice.</ref> Inmates benefit from corresponding with friends and family members, especially when in-person visits are infrequent.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Christian |first1=Johnna |last2=Mellow |first2=Jeff |last3=Thomas |first3=Shenique |title=Social and economic implications of family connections to prisoners |journal=Journal of Criminal Justice |date=July 2006 |volume=34 |issue=4 |pages=443–452 |doi=10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2006.05.010}}</ref> However, guidelines exist as to what constitutes acceptable mail, and these policies are strictly enforced.

Mail sent to inmates in violation of prison policies can result in sanctions such as loss of [[Good conduct time|imprisonment time reduced for good behavior]]. Most [[Department of Corrections]] websites provide detailed information regarding mail policies. These rules can even vary within a single prison depending on which part of the prison an inmate is housed. For example, [[death row]] and [[Supermax|maximum security]] inmates are usually under stricter mail guidelines for security reasons.

There have been several notable challenges to prison corresponding services. The [[Missouri Department of Corrections]] (DOC) stated that effective June 1, 2007, inmates would be prohibited from using [[pen pal]] websites, citing concerns that inmates were using them to solicit money and defraud the public.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20121105064844/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-1232308661.html DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS TO BAN INMATES FROM SOLICITING PEN PALS ON WEBSITES] – Missouri Department of Corrections, press release May 13, 2007. "''During our review, we have identified numerous offenders who, through misleading web postings and photos, have solicited thousands of dollars from individuals and have devised other creative and purposeful intents to defraud the public''"</ref> Service providers such as [[WriteAPrisoner.com]], together with the [[ACLU]], planned to challenge the ban in Federal Court.{{update inline|date=December 2019}} Similar bans on an inmate's rights or a website's right to post such information has been ruled unconstitutional in other courts, citing First Amendment freedoms.<ref>{{cite magazine |date=December 17, 2002 |title=Arizona Inmates Back on the Net |url=https://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2002/12/56880 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140305073423/http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2002/12/56880 |archive-date=2014-03-05 |access-date=January 26, 2008 |magazine=[[Wired News]]}}</ref> Some faith-based initiatives promote the positive effects of correspondence on inmates, and some have made efforts to help ex-offenders reintegrate into society through job placement assistance.<ref>{{cite news |last=Moore |first=Neal |date=March 28, 2011 |title=Employment Upon Release |url=http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-579221 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160630001946/http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-579221 |archive-date=2016-06-30 |access-date=2025-05-16 |work=CNN |publisher=}}</ref> Inmates' ability to mail letters to other inmates has been limited by the courts.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sol.lp.findlaw.com/2000/shaw.html|title=Prisoners' Rights – Legal Correspondence|work=[[FindLaw]]|access-date=January 26, 2008|archive-date=December 15, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071215065659/http://sol.lp.findlaw.com/2000/shaw.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Conditions===
{{further|Incarceration of women in the United States#Pregnancy and prenatal care in U.S. prisons|l1=Pregnancy and prenatal care in American women's prisons|Prisoner abuse in the United States|Prison rape in the United States}}
[[File:Prison crowded.jpg|thumb|400px|right|Living facilities in [[Mule Creek State Prison]] (2006)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/News/background_info.html|title=California Prison Reform and Rehabilitation|publisher=California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation|access-date=May 9, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110218124749/http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/News/background_info.html|archive-date=February 18, 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>]]

The non-governmental organization [[Human Rights Watch]] claims that prisoners and detainees face "abusive, degrading and dangerous" conditions within local, state and federal facilities, including those operated by for-profit contractors.<ref>[https://www.hrw.org/united-states/us-program/prison-and-detention-conditions Prison and Detention Conditions]. Human Rights Watch, retrieved May 22, 2015.</ref> The organization also raised concerns with [[Prison rape in the United States|prisoner rape]] and [[prison health care|medical care for inmates]].<ref>{{cite web|date=February 27, 2005|url=http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/02/28/usdom10223.htm |title=Inhumane Prison Conditions Still Threaten Life, Health of Alabama Inmates Living with HIV/AIDS, According to Court Filings |publisher=Human Rights Watch|access-date=June 13, 2006}}</ref> In a survey of 1,788 male inmates in [[Midwestern United States|Midwestern]] prisons by ''Prison Journal'', about 21% responded they had been [[prison rape|coerced or pressured into sexual activity]] during their incarceration, and 7% that they had been raped in their current facility.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Sexual Coercion Rates in Seven Midwestern Prisons for Men|author=[[Cindy Struckman-Johnson]] & David Struckman-Johnson|journal=The Prison Journal|volume=80|issue=4|date=December 2000|pages=379–390|url=http://www.spr.org/pdf/struckman.pdf|doi=10.1177/0032885500080004004|s2cid=145791880|access-date=September 3, 2006|archive-date=February 17, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120217180113/http://www.spr.org/pdf/struckman.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In August 2003, a ''[[Harper's Magazine|Harper's]]'' article by [[Wil S. Hylton]] estimated that "somewhere between 20 and 40% of American prisoners are, at this very moment, infected with [[hepatitis C]]".<ref name="harpers">{{cite magazine |last=Hylton |first=Wil S. |date=July 2003 |title=Sick on the Inside |url=http://harpers.org/archive/2003/08/0079713 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130601185121/http://harpers.org:80/archive/2003/08/sick-on-the-inside |archive-date=2013-06-01 |access-date=February 29, 2012 |magazine=[[Harper's Magazine]]}}</ref> Prisons may [[outsourcing|outsource]] medical care to private companies such as Correctional Medical Services (now [[Corizon]]) that, according to Hylton's research, try to minimize the amount of care given to prisoners to maximize profits.<ref name="harpers" /><ref name="Liliana Segura">Liliana Segura (October 1, 2013).[http://www.thenation.com/prison-profiteers# With 2.3 Million People Incarcerated in the US, Prisons Are Big Business]. ''[[The Nation]].'' Retrieved October 9, 2013.</ref> After the privatization of healthcare in Arizona's prisons, medical spending fell by 30 million dollars and staffing was greatly reduced. Some 50 prisoners died in custody in the first 8 months of 2013, compared to 37 for the preceding two years combined.<ref>Abigail Leonard & Adam May (May 28, 2014). [http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/america-tonight/articles/2014/5/27/whistleblower-arizonainmatesaredyingfrominadequatehealthcare.html Whistleblower: Arizona inmates are dying from inadequate health care]. ''[[Al Jazeera America]].'' Retrieved July 22, 2014.</ref>

The poor quality of food provided to inmates has become an issue, as over the last decade corrections officials looking to cut costs have been outsourcing food services to corporations such as [[Aramark]], A'Viands Food & Services Management, and ABL Management.<ref>David M. Reutter, Gary Hunter & Brandon Sample. [https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2010/apr/15/appalling-prison-and-jail-food-leaves-prisoners-hungry-for-justice/ Appalling Prison and Jail Food Leaves Prisoners Hungry for Justice]. ''[[Prison Legal News]].'' Retrieved January 4, 2013.</ref> A prison riot in Kentucky has been blamed on the low quality of food [[Aramark]] provided to inmates, which was tainted with worms and human feces.<ref>{{cite news |last=Marx|first=Rebecca |date=2009 |title=Prison Riot Caused by Prison Food|url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2009/11/09/prison-riot-caused-by-prison-food/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190611143132/https://www.villagevoice.com/2009/11/09/prison-riot-caused-by-prison-food/|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 11, 2019|work=[[The Village Voice]] |location= |access-date=July 17, 2023}}</ref> A 2017 study from the [[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]] found that because of lapses in food safety, prison inmates are 6.4 times more likely to contract a food-related illness than the general population.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Fassler |first1=Joe |last2=Brown |first2=Claire |date=December 27, 2017|title=Prison Food Is Making U.S. Inmates Disproportionately Sick|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2017/12/prison-food-sickness-america/549179/|work=[[The Atlantic]] |access-date=December 29, 2017 }}</ref>

Also identified as an issue within the prison system is gang violence, because many gang members retain their gang identity and affiliations when imprisoned. Segregation of identified gang members from the general population of inmates, with different [[Gangs in the United States|gangs]] being housed in separate units often results in the imprisonment of these gang members with their friends and criminal cohorts. Some feel this has the effect of turning prisons into "institutions of higher criminal learning".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dc.state.fl.us/pub/gangs/|title=Gang and Security Threat Group Awareness|publisher=Florida Department of Corrections|access-date=June 13, 2006|archive-date=June 19, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060619183135/http://www.dc.state.fl.us/pub/gangs/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Many prisons in the United States are overcrowded. For example, California's 33 prisons have a total capacity of 100,000, but they hold 170,000 inmates.<ref>{{cite news |last=Thompson |first=Don |date=April 5, 2008 |title=Prison Attacks Calling Attention to Overcrowding |url=http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20080405/news_1n5prisons.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120302082715/http://www.signonsandiego.com:80/uniontrib/20080405/news_1n5prisons.html |archive-date=2012-03-02 |access-date=2025-05-19 |agency=Associated Press}}</ref> Many prisons in California and around the country are forced to turn old gymnasiums and classrooms into huge bunkhouses for inmates. They do this by placing hundreds of bunk beds next to one another, in these gyms, without any type of barriers to keep inmates separated. In California, the inadequate security engendered by this situation, coupled with insufficient staffing levels, have led to increased violence and a prison health system that causes one death a week. This situation has led the courts to order California to release 27% of the current prison population, citing the [[Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Eighth Amendment]]'s prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment.<ref>{{cite news|page=A10|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/05/us/05calif.html?pagewanted=print|title=California Prisons Must Cut Inmate Population|newspaper=New York Times|first=Solomon|last=Moore|date=August 5, 2009|access-date=August 6, 2009}}</ref> The three-judge court considering requests by the ''[[Plata v. Schwarzenegger]]'' and ''[[Coleman v. Schwarzenegger]]'' courts found California's prisons have become criminogenic as a result of [[Prison overcrowding in the United States|prison overcrowding]].<ref name="pop_reduction_order">[http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/general/2009/08/04/Opinion%20&%20Order%20FINAL.pdf Order for population reduction plan], pg. 9, three-judge court convened by the Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit hearing ''Plata v. Schwarzenegger'' and ''Coleman v. Schwarzenegger''<!-- On page 8, lines 8-12 of the order, that's what they call it. The three-judge court is required under 18 U.S.C. §&nbsp;3626 but is not named. --></ref>

In 2005, the [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]] case of ''[[Cutter v. Wilkinson]]'' established that prisons that received federal funds could not deny prisoners accommodations necessary for religious practices.

According to a [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] ruling issued on May 23, 2011, California – which has the highest overcrowding rate of any prison system in the country – must alleviate overcrowding in the state's prisons, reducing the prisoner population by 30,000 over the next two years.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/25/us/25prison.html?pagewanted=all|title=In a California Prison, Bunk Beds Replace Pickup Games | work=The New York Times | first=Jennifer|last=Medina|date=May 24, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/law/july-dec11/prisons_07-15.html|title=Calif. Faces Tough Choices on Overcrowded Prisons|website=[[PBS]]|access-date=September 1, 2017|archive-date=January 21, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140121092547/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/law/july-dec11/prisons_07-15.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=Justices, 5-4, Tell California to Cut Prisoner Population|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/24/us/24scotus.html?_r=0|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date= February 15, 2016|date=May 23, 2011|last1=Liptak|first1=Adam}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=RBGG and Co-Counsel Win Affirmance at Supreme Court of the United States|url=http://rbgg.com/rbg-and-co-counsel-win-affirmance-at-supreme-court-of-the-united-states/|website=Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld LLP|access-date=February 15, 2016|date=May 23, 2011|location= San Francisco, CA }}</ref>{{update inline|date=February 2022}}

[[File:Inmates Orleans Parish Prison.jpg|thumb|300px|Inmates in an [[Orleans Parish Prison]] yard]]
[[Solitary confinement#United States|Solitary confinement is widely used in U.S. prisons]], yet it is underreported by most states, while some do not report it at all. Isolation of prisoners has been condemned by the UN in 2011 as a form of torture.<ref name="UN2011"/> At over 80,000 at any given time, the U.S. has more prisoners confined in isolation than any other country in the world. In Louisiana, with 843 prisoners per 100,000 citizens, there have been prisoners, such as the [[Angola Three]], held for as long as forty years in isolation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://solitarywatch.com/2012/02/01/how-many-prisoners-are-in-solitary-confinement-in-the-united-states|title=How Many Prisoners Are in Solitary Confinement in the United States?|date=February 2012}}</ref><ref name="UN2011">{{cite web|url=https://news.un.org/en/story/2011/10/392012|title=Solitary confinement should be banned in most cases|author=UN News|date=October 18, 2011}}</ref> A June 2023 study by [[Solitary Watch]] found that over 120,000 people on any given day are in solitary confinement in the United States.<ref>{{cite news |last=Young |first=Jeremy |date=June 27, 2023 |title=Solitary confinement is still widespread in US prisons and jails|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/6/27/solitary-confinement-is-still-widespread-in-us-prisons-and-jails|work=[[Al Jazeera English|Al Jazeera]] |location= |access-date=July 5, 2023}}</ref>

In 1999, the [[Supreme Court of Norway]] refused to extradite American [[hashish]]-smuggler Henry Hendricksen, as they declared that US prisons do not meet their minimum humanitarian standards.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/199.html|title=Norway Grants Refuge to US Smuggler|author=Dana Larson|work=Cannabis Culture|date=December 8, 1999|access-date=April 3, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130502082501/http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/199.html|archive-date=May 2, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2011, some 885 people died while being held in local jails (not in prisons after being convicted of a crime and sentenced) throughout the United States.<ref>Cara Tabachnick (December 27, 2013). [https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/27/deaths-in-jails-885-inmates There's an alarming number of deaths in US jails]. ''[[The Guardian]].'' Retrieved December 28, 2013.</ref> According to federal statistics, roughly 4,400 inmates die in U.S. prisons and jails annually, excluding executions.<ref>{{cite news |last=Berman |first=Mark |date=July 23, 2015 |title=How often do prisoners die behind bars?|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2015/07/23/how-often-do-prisoners-die-behind-bars/|newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=February 24, 2018 }}</ref>

As of September 2013, condoms for prisoners are only available in the U.S. State of Vermont (on September 17, 2013, the California Senate approved a bill for condom distribution inside the state's prisons, but the bill was not yet law at the time of approval)<ref>{{cite web |last=Richmond |first=Holly |date=September 18, 2013 |title=Everybody wants condom vending machines |url=http://grist.org/list/everybody-wants-condom-vending-machines/?sub_email=sundaybottle%40hotmail.com |access-date=September 19, 2013 |work=Grist Magazine |publisher=Grist Magazine, Inc}}</ref> and in county jails in San Francisco.<ref>{{cite web |last=Lavender |first=George |date=January 21, 2015 |title=California Prisons Aim To Keep Sex Between Inmates Safe, If Illegal |url=https://www.npr.org/2015/01/21/378678167/california-prisons-aim-to-keep-sex-between-inmates-safe-if-illegal |access-date=June 17, 2017 |work=Around the Nation |publisher=NPR}}</ref>

In September 2016, a group of corrections officers at [[Holman Correctional Facility]] have gone on strike over safety concerns and overcrowding. Prisoners refer to the facility as a "slaughterhouse" as stabbings are a routine occurrence.<ref>[http://www.democracynow.org/2016/9/28/alabama_guards_stage_work_strike_months Alabama Guards Stage Work Strike Months After Prisoner Uprising at Overcrowded Holman Facility]. ''[[Democracy Now!]]'' September 28, 2016.</ref>

During the [[COVID-19|coronavirus disease 2019]] (COVID-19) [[COVID-19 pandemic in the United States|pandemic in the U.S.]], the [[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]] (CDC) requested health data from 54 state and territorial health department jurisdictions. 32 (86%) of 37 jurisdictions that responded reported at least one confirmed COVID-19 case among inmates or staff members. As of April 21, 2020, there were 4,893 cases and 88 deaths among inmates and 2,778 cases and 15 deaths among staff members.<ref name="CDC-cases">{{cite journal |url=https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6919e1.htm?s_cid=mm6919e1_w |title=COVID-19 in Correctional and Detention Facilities — United States, February–April 2020 |author1=Wallace M | author2=Hagan L | author3=Curran KG|display-authors=etal |date=May 15, 2020 |journal=MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report |volume=69 |issue=19 |pages=587–590 |publisher=[[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]] |access-date=May 25, 2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200521070754/https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6919e1.htm?s_cid=mm6919e1_w |archive-date=May 21, 2020 |quote=Among 37 jurisdictions reporting, 32 (86%) reported at least one confirmed COVID-19 case among incarcerated or detained persons or staff members, across 420 correctional and detention facilities. As of April 21, 2020, 4,893 cases and 88 deaths among incarcerated and detained persons and 2,778 cases and 15 deaths among staff members have been reported. |doi=10.15585/mmwr.mm6919e1|pmid=32407300 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

====Conditions for women====
{{Copy edit|date=September 2025|section}}
The conditions for women, especially Black women, are often poor. Many prisons are known to do less to help Black women get out of the prison system. Because prisons are male dominated, a larger portion of the resources are allocated towards them. Another major issue that women face in prisons is sexual assault, which often comes from guards. Although this is a major issue for women, these types of assaults do not usually get the attention that they need, and the victims are often left not being taken care of.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gross |first1=Kali |title=African American Women, Mass Incarceration, and the Politics of Protection |journal=The Journal of American History |date=June 1, 2015 |volume=102 |pages=25–33 |doi=10.1093/jahist/jav226 |url=https://academic.oup.com/jah/article/102/1/25/686630 |access-date=April 22, 2022|doi-access=free }}</ref>

Based on Angela Davis' "Are Prisons Obsolete?", the prison industrial complex and mass incarceration is shaped by gender. There are significant differences in the treatment of imprisoned men and women. Women endure physical, mental, and emotional trauma as they are forced to endure sexual abuse and a lack of resources for their intimate needs. In prison, women are dehumanized and treated like objects in a way that has become normal. Like many other socio-political issues, women seem to be left out of the conversation when it comes to prison reform. Again, not many people consider the experiences that women have endured in their time of imprisonment. Women were degraded to an extreme extent, and sexual abuse was often brought on by the guards and officers who are supposed to watch over them. They are sexualized, and often sent to prison for a longer duration than men.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}

The petty crimes of women are also not met with the same intensity of murder charges for men. According to Davis, "masculine criminality has always been deemed more "normal" than feminine criminality."<ref name=":31" /> When a woman commits a crime, it is not as common and so it is practically considered psychotic. Because of this, "deviant women have been constructed as insane."<ref name=":31" /> Women are treated as if their crimes are more irrational because of their gender, and their sentencing can be harsher as a result. Women are even more inclined to be imprisoned in psychiatric hospitals than men, and prescribed psychiatric treatment.<ref name=":31">Davis, A. Y. (2011). How Gender Structures the Prison System. In Are prisons obsolete? (pp. 60–67). essay, Seven Stories Press.</ref>

===Privatization===
{{Main|Private prison#Private prisons in the United States|l1=Private prisons in the United States}}
{{See also|Prison–industrial complex}}

Prior to the 1980s, private prisons did not exist in the U.S. During the 1980s, as a result of the [[war on drugs]] by the [[Reagan Administration]], the number of people incarcerated rose. This created a demand for more prison space. The result was the development of [[privatization]] and the for-profit prison industry.<ref>Khalek, Rania. [http://www.salon.com/2011/12/01/how_private_prisons_game_the_system/ How private prisons game the system]. Salon.com. December 1, 2011.</ref><ref name="Harcourt">[[Bernard Harcourt|Harcourt, Bernard]] (2012). ''[http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674066168 The Illusion of Free Markets: Punishment and the Myth of Natural Order].'' [[Harvard University Press]]. {{ISBN|0674066162}} pp. [https://archive.org/details/illusio_har_2011_00_4464/page/235 235] & [https://archive.org/details/illusio_har_2011_00_4464/page/236 236]</ref><ref>Selman, Donna and Paul Leighton (2010). ''Punishment for Sale: Private Prisons, Big Business, and the Incarceration Binge.'' Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. {{ISBN|1442201738}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=5lBraTDtiSgC&pg=PR11 p. xi]</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Smith and Hattery|title=African American Families}}</ref>

A 1998 study was performed using three comparable [[Louisiana]] medium security prisons, two of which were privately run by different corporations and one of which was publicly run. The data from this study suggested that the privately run prisons operated more cost-effectively without sacrificing the safety of inmates and staff. The study concluded that both privately run prisons had a lower cost per inmate, a lower rate of critical incidents, a safer environment for employees and inmates, and a higher proportional rate of inmates who completed basic education, literacy, and vocational training courses. However, the publicly run prison outperformed the privately run prisons in areas such as experiencing fewer escape attempts, controlling substance abuse through testing, offering a wider range of educational and vocational courses, and providing a broader range of treatment, recreation, social services, and rehabilitative services.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Archambeault|first=William G.|author2=Donald R. Deis Jr.|title=Cost Effectiveness Comparisons of Private Versus Public Prisons in Louisiana: A Comprehensive Analysis of Allen, Avoyelles, and Winn Correction Centers|journal=Journal of the Oklahoma Criminal Justice Research Consortium|year=1997–1998|volume=4}}</ref>

According to [[Marie Gottschalk]], a professor of political science at the University of Pennsylvania, studies that claim private prisons are cheaper to run than public prisons fail to "take into account the fundamental differences between private and public facilities," and that the prison industry "engages in a lot of cherry-picking and cost-shifting to maintain the illusion that the private sector does it better for less."<ref>Marie Gottschalk. ''[http://press.princeton.edu/titles/10731.html Caught: The Prison State and the Lockdown of American Politics].'' Princeton University Press, 2014. [https://books.google.com/books?id=wW6YDwAAQBAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&lpg=PR1&pg=PA70#v=onepage&q&f=false 70]</ref> The [[American Civil Liberties Union]]  reported in 2013 that numerous studies indicate private jails are actually filthier, more violent, less accountable, and possibly more costly than their public counterparts. The ACLU stated that the for-profit prison industry is "a major contributor to bloated state budgets and mass incarceration&nbsp;– not a part of any viable solution to these urgent problems."<ref name="Shapiro">{{cite web|last=Shapiro|first=David|title=Banking on Bondage: Private Prisons and Mass Incarceration|url=https://www.aclu.org/files/assets/bankingonbondage_20111102.pdf|publisher=[[American Civil Liberties Union]]|access-date=March 31, 2013}}</ref> The primary reason Louisiana is the prison capital of the world is because of the for-profit prison industry.<ref name ="Times-Picayune"/> According to ''[[The Times-Picayune]]'', "a majority of Louisiana inmates are housed in for-profit facilities, which must be supplied with a constant influx of human beings or a $182&nbsp;million industry will go bankrupt."<ref name="Times-Picayune">{{cite news|last=Chang|first=Cindy|title=Louisiana is the world's prison capital|url=http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2012/05/louisiana_is_the_worlds_prison.html|newspaper=[[The Times-Picayune]]|date=May 29, 2012|access-date=April 4, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150303130905/http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2012/05/louisiana_is_the_worlds_prison.html|archive-date=March 3, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In [[Mississippi]], a 2013 ''[[Bloomberg News|Bloomberg report]]'' stated that assault rates in private facilities were three times higher on average than in their public counterparts. In 2012, the for-profit [[Walnut Grove Correctional Facility|Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility]] was the most violent prison in the state with 27 assaults per 100 offenders.<ref name="NewkirkSelway">Margaret Newkirk & William Selway (July 12, 2013). [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-12/gangs-ruled-prison-as-for-profit-model-put-blood-on-floor.html "Gangs Ruled Prison as For-Profit Model Put Blood on Floor."] [[Bloomberg News|Bloomberg]]. Retrieved July 16, 2013.</ref> A federal lawsuit filed by the ACLU and the [[Southern Poverty Law Center]] on behalf of prisoners at the privately run [[East Mississippi Correctional Facility]] in 2013 claims the conditions there are "hyper-violent", "barbaric" and "chaotic", with gangs routinely beating and exploiting mentally ill inmates who are denied medical care by prison staff.<ref>Jerry Mitchell (September 25, 2014). [http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2014/09/25/east-mississippi-prison-called-barbaric/16242399/ East Mississippi prison called 'barbaric']. ''[[The Clarion-Ledger]].'' Retrieved December 1, 2014. See also: [https://www.aclu.org/prisoners-rights/tour-east-mississippi-correctional-facility A Tour of East Mississippi Correctional Facility] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141207062657/https://www.aclu.org/prisoners-rights/tour-east-mississippi-correctional-facility |date=December 7, 2014 }}. ACLU.</ref><ref>Timothy Williams (November 6, 2014). [https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/07/us/christopher-epps-former-chief-of-prisons-in-mississippi-is-arraigned.html?_r=0 Christopher Epps, Former Chief of Prisons in Mississippi, Is Arraigned]. ''[[The New York Times]].'' Received December 2, 2014.</ref> A May 2012 riot in the Corrections Corporation of America-run [[Adams County Correctional Facility]], also in Mississippi, left one corrections officer dead and dozens injured. Similar riots have occurred in privatized facilities in Idaho, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Florida, California and Texas.<ref>Stroud, Matt (February 24, 2014). [https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/02/private-prison-racket-103893/ The Private Prison Racket]. ''[[Politico]].'' Retrieved February 25, 2014.</ref><ref>Kirkham, Chris (September 27, 2012). [https://huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/27/private-prisons-immigration_n_1917636.html Private Prisons: Immigration Convictions In Record Numbers Fueling Corporate Profits]. ''[[The Huffington Post]].'' Retrieved February 25, 2014.</ref><ref>Renee Lewis (February 23, 2015). [http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/2/23/Texas-prison-riot.html Inmates riot at for-profit Texas immigrant detention facility]. ''Al Jazeera America.'' Retrieved February 24, 2015.</ref>

[[File:TutwilerMSPrison.JPG|thumb|400px|[[Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility]] in Mississippi, operated by [[Corrections Corporation of America]] (CCA)]]

Sociologist John L. Campbell of [[Dartmouth College]] claims that private prisons in the U.S. have become "a lucrative business".<ref name="Campbell">{{cite journal |title=Neoliberalism's penal and debtor states |author=John L. Campbell |journal=[[Theoretical Criminology]] |date=2010 |volume=14 |issue=1|pages=59–73 |doi=10.1177/1362480609352783|s2cid=145694058 }}</ref> Between 1990 and 2000, the number of private facilities grew from five to 100, operated by nearly 20 private firms. Over the same time period the stock price of the industry leader, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), which rebranded as [[CoreCivic]] in 2016 amid increased scrutiny of the private prison industry,<ref>{{cite news |last= Boucher|first=Dave|date=October 28, 2016|title=CCA changes name to CoreCivic amid ongoing scrutiny|url=http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2016/10/28/cca-changes-name-amid-ongoing-scrutiny/92883274/|work=[[The Tennessean]]|access-date= October 26, 2017}}</ref> climbed from $8 a share to $30.<ref name ="Campbell"/> According to journalist [[Matt Taibbi]], major investors in the prison industry include [[Wells Fargo]], [[Bank of America]], [[Fidelity Investments]], [[General Electric]] and [[The Vanguard Group]].<ref>[[Matt Taibbi]] (2014). ''[[The Divide: American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap]].'' [[Spiegel & Grau]]. {{ISBN|081299342X}} pp. 214–216.</ref> The aforementioned ''Bloomberg report'' also notes that in the past decade the number of inmates in for-profit prisons throughout the U.S. rose 44 percent.<ref name ="NewkirkSelway"/>

Controversy has surrounded the privatization of prisons with the exposure of the genesis of the landmark [[Arizona SB 1070]] law. This law was written by Arizona State Congressman [[Russell Pearce]] and the CCA at a meeting of the [[American Legislative Exchange Council]] (ALEC) in the Grand Hyatt in Washington, D.C.<ref>{{cite web |last=Sullivan |first=Laura |date=October 28, 2010 |title=Prison Economics Help Drive Ariz. Immigration Law |url=https://www.npr.org/2010/10/28/130833741/prison-economics-help-drive-ariz-immigration-law |access-date=August 17, 2012 |publisher=NPR}}</ref><ref>Sullivan, Laura (2010). [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130891396 Shaping State Laws With Little Scrutiny]. ''[[National Public Radio]].''</ref> Both CCA and [[GEO Group]], the two largest operators of private facilities, have been contributors to ALEC, which lobbies for policies that would increase incarceration, such as [[Three-strikes law|three-strike laws]] and "truth-in-sentencing" legislation.<ref>Elk, Mike and Sloan, Bob (2011). [http://www.thenation.com/article/162478/hidden-history-alec-and-prison-labor The Hidden History of ALEC and Prison Labor]. ''[[The Nation]]''.</ref><ref>[http://www.sentencingproject.org/Admin/Documents/publications/inc_prisonprivatization.pdf Prison Privatization and the Use of Incarceration] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070714063407/http://www.sentencingproject.org/Admin/Documents/publications/inc_prisonprivatization.pdf |date=July 14, 2007 }}. The Sentencing Project, September 2004.</ref><ref name="Rutherford"/><ref>Pat Beall (November 22, 2013). [http://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news/news/big-business-group-behind-push-that-filled-florida/nbYTc/ Big business, legislators pushed for stiff sentences]. ''[[The Palm Beach Post]].'' Retrieved November 10, 2014.</ref><ref name="governing2003">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.governing.com/topics/politics/What-Makes-Alec-Smart.html|title=What Makes Alec Smart?|date=October 2003|magazine=[[Governing (magazine)|Governing]]|first=Alan|last=Greenblatt}}</ref> In fact, in the early 1990s, when CCA was co-chair of ALEC, it co-sponsored (with the [[National Rifle Association]]) the so-called "truth-in-sentencing" and "three-strikes-you're-out" laws.<ref>Beau Hodai, "Corporate Con Game. How the private prison industry helped shape Arizona's anti-immigrant law", [[In These Times (publication)|In These Times]], June 20, 2010, http://inthesetimes.com/article/6084/corporate_con_game, retrieved July 25, 2015.</ref> Truth-in-sentencing called for all violent offenders to serve 85 percent of their sentences before being eligible for release; three strikes called for mandatory life imprisonment for a third felony conviction. Some prison officers unions in publicly run facilities such as [[California Correctional Peace Officers Association]] have, in the past, also supported measures such as three-strike laws. Such laws increased the prison population.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Toughest Beat – Oxford Scholarship|doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195384055.001.0001|year = 2011|last1 = Page|first1 = Joshua|isbn=9780195384055}}</ref><ref>[https://huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/09/california-prison-guards_n_3894490.html California Prison Guards Union Pushes For Prison Expansion]. The Huffington Post. September 9, 2013.</ref>

In addition to CCA and GEO Group, companies operating in the private prison business include [[Management and Training Corporation]], and [[Community Education Centers]]. [[The GEO Group]] was formerly known as the Wackenhut Corrections division. It includes the former [[Correctional Services Corporation]] and [[Cornell Companies]], which were purchased by GEO in 2005 and 2010. Such companies often sign contracts with states obliging them to fill prison beds or reimburse them for those that go unused.<ref>Chris Kirkham (September 19, 2013). [https://huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/19/private-prison-quotas_n_3953483.html Prison Quotas Push Lawmakers To Fill Beds, Derail Reform]. ''[[The Huffington Post]].'' Retrieved September 20, 2013.</ref>

Private companies which provide services to prisons combine in the [[American Correctional Association]], a [[501(c) organization|501(c)3]] which advocates legislation favorable to the industry. Such private companies comprise what has been termed the [[prison–industrial complex]].<ref name ="Harcourt"/><ref>Eric Schlosser (December 1998). [https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1998/12/the-prison-industrial-complex/304669/ The Prison-Industrial Complex]. ''[[The Atlantic]].'' Retrieved December 31, 2013.</ref><ref>Ray Downs (May 17, 2013). [https://www.vice.com/en/article/whos-getting-rich-off-the-prison-industrial-complex/ Who's Getting Rich Off the Prison-Industrial Complex?] ''[[Vice (magazine)|Vice]].'' Retrieved December 31, 2013.</ref><ref>Selman, Donna and Paul Leighton (2010). ''Punishment for Sale: Private Prisons, Big Business, and the Incarceration Binge.'' Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. {{ISBN|1442201738}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=5lBraTDtiSgC&pg=PA78 p. 78]</ref> An example of this phenomenon would be the [[Kids for cash scandal]], in which two judges in [[Luzerne County, Pennsylvania]], [[Mark Ciavarella]] and [[Michael Conahan]], were receiving judicial [[kickbacks]] for sending youths, convicted of minor crimes,<ref>{{YouTube|X5EnKviqktg|Prison Payback}}. [[Russia Today]] on YouTube</ref> to a privatized, for-profit juvenile facility run by the Mid Atlantic Youth Service Corporation.<ref name="Rutherford">{{cite news|url=https://www.rutherford.org/publications_resources/john_whiteheads_commentary/jailing_americans_for_profit_the_rise_of_the_prison_industrial_complex|title=Jailing Americans for Profit: The Rise of the Prison Industrial Complex|last=Whitehead|first=John|date=April 10, 2012|publisher=[[The Rutherford Institute]]|access-date=April 2, 2013}}</ref>

The industry is aware of what reduced crime rates could mean to their bottom line. This from the CCA's SEC report in 2010:

{{blockquote|Our growth … depends on a number of factors we cannot control, including crime rates …[R]eductions in crime rates … could lead to reductions in arrests, convictions and sentences requiring incarceration at correctional facilities.<ref name="Shapiro"/>}}

Marie Gottschalk claims that while private prison companies and other economic interests were not the primary drivers of mass incarceration originally, they do much to sustain it today.<ref>Marie Gottschalk (March 5, 2015). [https://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/03/mass-incarceration-war-on-drugs/ It's Not Just the Drug War]. ''[[Jacobin (magazine)|Jacobin]].'' Retrieved March 5, 2015.</ref> The private prison industry has successfully lobbied for changes that increase the profit of their employers. They have opposed measures that would bring reduced sentencing or shorter prison terms.<ref>Detention Watch Network, "The Influence of the Private Prison Industry in Immigration Detention", 2012, http://www.detentionwatchnetwork.org/privateprisons, retrieved July 25, 2015.</ref><ref>[[DiversityInc]], "The Prison Industrial Complex: Biased, Predatory and Growing", October 8, 2010, http://www.diversityinc.com/diversity-management/the-prison-industrial-complex-biased-predatory-and-growing/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150607073706/http://www.diversityinc.com/diversity-management/the-prison-industrial-complex-biased-predatory-and-growing/|date=June 7, 2015}}, retrieved July 25, 2015.</ref> The private prison industry has been accused of being at least partly responsible for America's high rates of incarceration.<ref>David Harris-Gershon, "America's Corrupt Justice System: Federal Private Prison Populations Grew by 784% in 10 Year Span", [[Alternet]], crossposted on [[Tikkun Daily]], May 23, 2013, http://www.alternet.org/speakeasy/tikkundaily/americas-corrupt-justice-system-federal-private-prison-populations-grew-784-10 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150720050207/http://www.alternet.org/speakeasy/tikkundaily/americas-corrupt-justice-system-federal-private-prison-populations-grew-784-10 |date=July 20, 2015 }}, retrieved July 25, 2015.</ref>

According to The Corrections Yearbook, 2000, the average annual starting salary for public corrections officers was $23,002, compared to
$17,628 for private prison guards. The poor pay is a likely factor in the high turnover rate in private prisons, at 52.2 percent compared to 16 percent in public facilities.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Camp|first1=Camille|last2=Camp|first2=George|title=Corrections Yearbook 2000: Private Prisons|journal=National Criminal Justice Reference Service|date=2000|url=https://www.ncjrs.gov/App/Publications/abstract.aspx?ID=189196|access-date=June 14, 2015}}</ref>

In September 2015, Senator [[Bernie Sanders]] introduced the "Justice Is Not for Sale" Act,<ref>[http://www.sanders.senate.gov/download/summary-of-justice-is-not-for-sale-?inline=file Justice Is Not For Sale Act]. Sanders.senate.gov</ref> which would prohibit the United States government at federal, state and local levels from contracting with private firms to provide and/or operate detention facilities within two years.<ref>[http://www.salon.com/2015/09/17/bernie_sanders_declares_war_on_the_prison_industrial_complex_with_major_new_bill/ Bernie Sanders declares war on the prison-industrial complex with major new bill]. Salon. September 17, 2015.</ref>

An August 2016 report by the U.S. Department of Justice asserts that privately operated federal facilities are less safe, less secure and more punitive than other federal prisons.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/aug/12/private-federal-prisons-more-dangerous-justice-department Private federal prisons more dangerous, damning DoJ investigation reveals]. ''The Guardian.'' August 12, 2016.</ref> Shortly after this report was published, the DoJ announced it will stop using private prisons.<ref>[https://time.com/4457597/private-prisons-justice-department/ Justice Department Will Stop the Use of Private Prisons]. ''Time.'' August 18, 2016.</ref> On February 23, the DOJ under Attorney General [[Jeff Sessions]] overturned the ban on using private prisons. According to Sessions, "the (Obama administration) memorandum changed long-standing policy and practice, and impaired the bureau's ability to meet the future needs of the federal correctional system. Therefore, I direct the bureau to return to its previous approach."<ref>[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-prisons-idUSKBN1622NN U.S. reverses Obama-era move to phase out private prisons]. Reuters. February 23, 2017</ref> The private prison industry has been booming under the Trump Administration.<ref>{{cite news |last1=  Watkins |first1=Eli|last2= Tatum|first2=Sophie|date=August 18, 2017 |title=Private prison industry sees boon under Trump administration|url=http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/18/politics/private-prison-department-of-justice/index.html|work=CNN |access-date=August 22, 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Washington|first=John|date=December 14, 2017|title=Under Trump, the Private-Prison Boom Shows No Sign of Slowing|url=https://www.thenation.com/article/under-trump-the-private-prison-boom-shows-no-sign-of-slowing/|work=[[The Nation]]|access-date=December 18, 2017|archive-date=December 17, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171217223014/https://www.thenation.com/article/under-trump-the-private-prison-boom-shows-no-sign-of-slowing/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last= Lartey|first=Jamiles |date=December 28, 2017|title=Private prison investors set for giant windfall from Trump tax bill|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/dec/28/private-prisons-investors-trump-tax-bill|work=The Guardian |access-date=December 29, 2017}}</ref>

Additionally, both CCA and GEO Group have been expanding into the immigrant detention market. Although the combined revenues of CCA and GEO Group were about $4&nbsp;billion in 2017 from private prison contracts, their number one customer was [[U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement|ICE]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-detention/11-toothpaste-immigrants-pay-big-for-basics-at-private-ice-lock-ups-idUSKCN1PC0DJ|title=$11 toothpaste: Immigrants pay big for basics at private ICE lock-ups|work=www.reuters.com|first1=Michelle|last1=Conlin|first2=Kristina|last2=Cooke|date=January 18, 2019|access-date=January 18, 2019}}</ref>

===Labor===
{{See also|Penal labor in the United States}}
About 18% of eligible prisoners held in federal prisons are employed by [[UNICOR]] and are paid less than $1.25 an hour.<ref>Nathan James. [https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL32380.pdf Federal Prison Industries]. CRS Report for Congress. Updated July 13, 2007.</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=McCollum|first=William|title=Federal Prison Industries, Inc: Hearing Before the Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. House of Representatives|publisher=DIANE Publishing|year=1996|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yypS_JuZ0XMC&q=%22Federal+Prison+Industries,+Inc.%22|isbn=978-0-7567-0060-7|page=7}}</ref><ref>Nate C. Hindman (August 15, 2012). [https://huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/15/unicor-prison-labor_n_1778765.html Unicor Under Fire For Dominating Small Competitors With Cheap Prison Labor]. ''[[The Huffington Post]].'' Retrieved May 9, 2014.</ref> Prisons have gradually become a source of low-wage labor for corporations seeking to outsource work to inmates.<ref name ="Campbell"/> Corporations that use prison labor include [[Walmart]], [[Eddie Bauer]], [[Victoria's Secret]], [[Microsoft]], [[Starbucks]], [[McDonald's]], [[Nintendo]], [[Chevron Corporation]], [[Bank of America]], [[Koch Industries]], [[Boeing]] and [[Costco Wholesale]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=2009-02-12 |title=Your Valentine, Made in Prison |url=http://www.thenation.com/article/your-valentine-made-prison |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191211202328/https://www.thenation.com/article/your-valentine-made-prison/ |archive-date=December 11, 2019 |access-date=2025-05-20 |work=The Nation |language=en-US |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>Simon McCormack (December 10, 2012). [https://huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/10/prison-labor_n_2272036.html Prison Labor Booms As Unemployment Remains High; Companies Reap Benefits]. ''[[The Huffington Post]].'' Retrieved April 15, 2015.</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Hedges |first=Chris |date=2015-04-05 |title=Boycott, Divest and Sanction Corporations That Feed on Prisons |url=https://www.truthdig.com/articles/boycott-divest-and-sanction-corporations-that-feed-on-prisons/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170204202412/http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/boycott_divest_and_sanction_corporations_that_feed_on_prisons_20150405 |archive-date=February 4, 2017 |access-date=2025-05-20 |work=Truthdig |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>Marie Gottschalk. ''[https://press.princeton.edu/titles/10731.html Caught: The Prison State and the Lockdown of American Politics].'' Princeton University Press, 2014. [https://books.google.com/books?id=CzDFCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA61 p. 61]</ref>

Initially, laws passed during the era of the [[New Deal]] prohibited the use of prison labor with the exception of state institutions. However, lobbying by corporations eventually allowed them to use prison labor by 1979, and by 1995 businesses won exemptions from minimum wage laws.<ref>{{cite book |last= Anderson|first=Elizabeth|author-link=Elizabeth S. Anderson|date=2023 |title=Hijacked: How Neoliberalism Turned the Work Ethic against Workers and How Workers Can Take It Back|url= |location= |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|pages=270–271 |isbn= 978-1009275439}}</ref>

It is estimated that one in nine state government employees works in corrections.<ref name=nytimes2008feb/> As the overall U.S. prison population declined in 2010, states are closing prisons. For instance, Virginia has removed 11 prisons since 2009. Like other small towns, Boydton in Virginia has to contend with unemployment woes resulting from the closure of the [[Mecklenburg Correctional Center]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Jouvenal |first=Justin |date=January 28, 2012 |title=Town struggles to survive close of prison |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/town-struggles-to-survive-close-of-prison/2012/01/20/gIQAsq6bYQ_story.html |newspaper=Washington Post}}</ref>

In 2010, Prisoners in Georgia engaged in the [[2010 Georgia prison strike]] to garner more rights.

In September 2016, [[2016 U.S. prison strike|large, coordinated prison strikes took place in 11 states]], with inmates claiming they are subjected to poor sanitary conditions and jobs that amount to forced labor and [[Slavery in the 21st century#Prison labor|modern-day slavery]].<ref name="prisonstrike"/><ref>{{Cite web |last=Speri |first=Alice |date=2016-09-16 |title=The Largest Prison Strike in U.S. History Enters Its Second Week |url=https://theintercept.com/2016/09/16/the-largest-prison-strike-in-u-s-history-enters-its-second-week/ |access-date=2025-05-07 |website=The Intercept |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>[http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=17280 Work Stoppage Prison Strike Continues in 11 US States] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160922183012/http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=17280 |date=September 22, 2016 }}. [[The Real News]]. September 20, 2016.</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Kelkar |first=Kamala |date=December 18, 2016 |title=From media cutoffs to lockdown, tracing the fallout from the U.S. prison strike |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/prison-strike-lockdown-fallout |newspaper=[[PBS Newshour]]}}</ref> Organizers, which include the [[Industrial Workers of the World]] labor union, asserted that it was the largest prison strike in U.S. history.<ref name="prisonstrike">{{Cite news |last=Kutsch |first=Tom |date=2016-09-09 |title=Inmates strike in prisons nationwide over 'slave labor' working conditions |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/sep/09/us-nationwide-prison-strike-alabama-south-carolina-texas |access-date=2025-05-07 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

Starting August 21, 2018, [[2018 U.S. prison strike|another prison strike]], sponsored by Jailhouse Lawyers Speak and the [[Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee]], took place in 17 states from coast to coast to protest what inmates regard as unfair treatment by the criminal justice system. In particular, inmates objected to being excluded from the [[Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|13th amendment]] which forces them to work for pennies a day, a condition they assert is tantamount to modern-day slavery. The strike was the result of a call to action after a deadly riot occurred at [[Lee Correctional Institution]] in April of that year, which was sparked by neglect and inhumane living conditions.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Tarr |first1=Duncan |last2=Onderchanin |first2=Stephanie |date=August 21, 2018 |title=How the National Prisoner Strike Is Working to Help Incarcerated People in the United States|url=https://www.teenvogue.com/story/how-the-national-prison-strike-is-working-to-help-incarcerated-people-in-the-united-states|work=Teen Vogue |access-date=August 23, 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Neufeld |first=Jennie |date=August 22, 2018 |title=A mass incarceration expert says the 2018 prison strike could be "one of the largest the country has ever seen"|url=https://www.vox.com/2018/8/21/17721874/national-prison-strike-2018-13th-amendment-attica|work=Vox |access-date=August 23, 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Pilkington |first=Ed |date= August 23, 2018|title=Major prison strike spreads across US and Canada as inmates refuse food|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/aug/23/prison-strike-us-canada-forced-labor-protest-activism|work=The Guardian |access-date=August 23, 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Corley |first=Cheryl |date=August 21, 2018|title=U.S. Inmates Plan Nationwide Prison Strike To Protest Labor Conditions|url=https://www.npr.org/2018/08/21/640630606/u-s-inmates-plan-nationwide-prison-strike-to-protest-labor-conditions|work=[[NPR]] |access-date=August 23, 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1= Bozelko |first1=Chandra|last2= Lo|first2=Ryan|date=August 25, 2018 |title=As prison strikes heat up, former inmates talk about horrible state of labor and incarceration|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/policing/spotlight/2018/08/25/nationwide-prison-strikes-labor-inmates-policing-usa/1085896002/|work=[[USA Today]] |access-date=August 30, 2018 }}</ref>
 
According to a 2022 report by the [[ACLU]], prison labor produces $11&nbsp;billion worth of goods and services annually, with inmates often being forced to work dangerous jobs with no labor protections and little training, and are compensated with pennies per hour or sometimes nothing at all.<ref>{{cite news |last=Anguiano|first=Dani |date=June 15, 2022 |title=US prison workers produce $11bn worth of goods and services a year for pittance|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jun/15/us-prison-workers-low-wages-exploited|work=The Guardian |location= |access-date=June 20, 2022}}</ref>

In 2023, a nation-wide movement had called to close the 'slavery loophole' in the 13th Amendment, allowing an exception for punishment of crime. According to constitutional scholars, the [[Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|13th amendment]] had been violated as most US states forced inmates to work for no or marginal compensation.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sainato |first=Michael |date=2022-09-27 |title='Slavery by any name is wrong': the push to end forced labor in prisons |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/sep/27/slavery-loophole-unpaid-labor-in-prisons |access-date=2025-05-07 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

An analysis of the [[International Trade Union Confederation]]'s report indicates that the United States has not effectively adhered to the labor conventions it has ratified,<ref name="breakingac">{{cite web | title=Unveiling the System: Forced Labor in U.S. Prisons and the Push for Reform | website=Breaking AC | date=2025-06-17 | url=https://breakingac.com/news/2025/jun/17/unveiling-the-system-forced-labor-in-us-prisons-and-the-push-for-reform/ | access-date=2025-06-30}}</ref> thereby failing to realize its commitments to the protection of workers' rights.<ref name="n832">{{cite web | title=ITUC's New Report Spotlights Prison Slavery in the United States | website=FinancialContent | date=2025-08-29 | url=https://markets.financialcontent.com/stocks/article/abnewswire-2025-8-29-itucs-new-report-spotlights-prison-slavery-in-the-united-states | access-date=2025-09-02}}</ref><ref name="l271">{{cite web | last=Binns-Zager | first=Aria | title=Incarcerated workers in Minnesota rally for labor rights | website=Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder | date=2025-05-11 | url=https://spokesman-recorder.com/2025/05/10/minnesota-prison-labor-reform/ | access-date=2025-09-02}}</ref>

===Cost===
[[File:US criminal justice cost timeline.gif|thumb|right|410px|[[U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics]]. Not adjusted for inflation. To view the inflation-adjusted data, see [[:File:U.S. criminal justice cost timeline, inflation-adjusted expenditures in 2007 constant dollars.gif|chart.]]<ref name=bjscosts/><ref name=bjscosts2/>]]
[[File:Federal prison year cost.png|thumb|410px|Federal prison yearly cost]]

Judicial, police, and corrections costs totaled $212&nbsp;billion in 2011 according to the U.S. Census Bureau.<ref name="wsj2014aug18">{{Cite news |last1=Fields |first1=Gary |last2=Emshwiller |first2=John R. |date=2014-08-19 |title=As Arrest Records Rise, Americans Find Consequences Can Last a Lifetime |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/as-arrest-records-rise-americans-find-consequences-can-last-a-lifetime-1408415402 |access-date=2025-05-07 |work=Wall Street Journal |language=en-US |issn=0099-9660}}</ref> In 2007, around $74&nbsp;billion was spent on corrections according to the [[U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics]].<ref name="bjscosts">[https://web.archive.org/web/20120101181331/http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/glance/tables/exptyptab.cfm Direct expenditures by justice function, 1982–2007 (billions of dollars)]. Inflation adjusted to 2007 dollars. [[U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics]] (BJS). Retrieved January 1, 2012, by the [[Internet Archive]]. See [https://web.archive.org/web/20120101082347/http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/glance/exptyp.cfm BJS timeline graph based on the data].</ref><ref name="bjscosts2">[http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=2192 Justice Expenditures and Employment, FY 1982–2007 – Statistical Tables] (NCJ 236218). Published December 2011. [[U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics]] (BJS). By Tracey Kyckelhahn, PhD, BJS statistician. See table 2 of the [http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/jee8207st.pdf PDF]. "Total justice expenditures, by justice function, FY 1982–2007 (real dollars)". A total of around $74&nbsp;billion for corrections in 2007.</ref> Despite federal statistics including statements made by former Attorney General Eric Holder, according to research on corrections expenditure published in the ▲Church white paper "On Security", Federal Prisons and Detention FY15 Requested Budget was just $8.5&nbsp;billion.<ref name="▲Church2014/12">[https://church-publishing.com/wmedia/2014/12/White-Paper-on-Security-Fact-Sheet.pdf White Paper on Security Fact Sheet]. December 1, 2014. Retrieved October 16, 2020. ''[[▲Church Publishing]].''</ref> Federal Bureau of Prisons' spending was $6.9&nbsp;billion counting 20,911 correctional officers of 43,297 positions.<ref name="2013/12/21/bop">[https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/jmd/legacy/2013/12/21/bop.pdf Federal Prison System Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) FY 2015 Budget Request At A Glance]. December 21, 2013. Retrieved September 2014. ''[[The United States Department of Justice]].''</ref> Total U.S. States' and Federal Prisons and Detention including county jail subsidies was only $56.9&nbsp;billion. Adding local jails' spending, $64.9&nbsp;billion was spent on corrections in nominal 2014 dollars.<ref name="On Security">[https://church-publishing.com/non-fiction/white-paper-on-security white paper On Security: 50 States' Departments of Corrections insert]. February 2, 2015. Retrieved October 16, 2014. ''[[▲Church Publishing]].''</ref>

In 2014, among facilities operated by the [[Federal Bureau of Prisons]], the average cost of incarceration for federal inmates in fiscal year 2014 was $30,619.85. The average annual cost to confine an inmate in a residential re-entry center was $28,999.25.<ref name="fedcost2015mar9">[https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2015/03/09/2015-05437/annual-determination-of-average-cost-of-incarceration Annual Determination of Average Cost of Incarceration]. A notice by the [[Federal Bureau of Prisons|Prisons Bureau]] on March 9, 2015, in the ''[[Federal Register]].''</ref>

State prisons averaged $31,286 per inmate in 2010 according to a [[Vera Institute of Justice]] study. It ranged from $14,603 in Kentucky to $60,076 in New York.<ref name="vera2012feb29">[http://www.vera.org/pubs/special/price-prisons-what-incarceration-costs-taxpayers The Price of Prisons: What Incarceration Costs Taxpayers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140813205811/http://www.vera.org/pubs/special/price-prisons-what-incarceration-costs-taxpayers |date=August 13, 2014 }}. February 29, 2012, the [[Vera Institute of Justice]]. By Christian Henrichson and Ruth Delaney. "Total taxpayer cost per inmate. Among the 40 states surveyed, representing more than 1.2 million inmates (of 1.4 million total people incarcerated in all 50 state prison systems), the total per-inmate cost averaged $31,286 and ranged from $14,603 in Kentucky to $60,076 in New York (see Figure 4)."</ref>

In California in 2008, it cost the state an average of $47,102 a year to incarcerate an inmate in a state prison. From 2001 to 2009, the average annual cost increased by about $19,500.<ref>[http://www.lao.ca.gov/laoapp/laomenus/sections/crim_justice/6_cj_inmatecost.aspx California Criminal Justice FAQ: How much does it cost to incarcerate an inmate?] [[California Legislative Analyst's Office]].</ref>

Housing the approximately 500,000 people in jail in the U.S. awaiting trial who cannot afford bail costs $9&nbsp;billion a year.<ref name="npr2010jan22b">{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122725819|title=Inmates Who Can't Make Bail Face Stark Options|first=Laura|last=Sullivan|date=January 22, 2010|work=[[National Public Radio]]}}</ref> Most jail inmates are petty, nonviolent offenders. In the early 1990s, most nonviolent defendants were released on their own [[recognizance]] (trusted to show up at trial). Now most are given bail, and most pay a [[bail bondsman]] to afford it.<ref name="npr2010jan21">[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122725771 Bail Burden Keeps U.S. Jails Stuffed With Inmates]. By Laura Sullivan. January 21, 2010. [[National Public Radio]].</ref> 62% of local jail inmates are awaiting trial.<ref name="jailinmates2009">[http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=2195 Jail Inmates at Midyear 2009 – Statistical Tables] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111107010452/http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=2195 |date=November 7, 2011 }}. By Minton D. Todd. June 3, 2010. NCJ 230122. [[U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics]]. See Table 7 of the [http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/jim09st.pdf PDF file] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111214045836/http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/jim09st.pdf |date=December 14, 2011 }} for percent unconvicted.</ref> This rate varies from state to state. As of 2019, Illinois has the highest rate with 89% of inmates in local jails unconvicted.<ref>[https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/census-jails-2005-2019-statistical-tables#additional-details-0 Census of Jails, 2005–2019 – Statistical Tables]. ''U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics''. October 2021.</ref>

{{blockquote|Bondsmen have lobbied to cut back local pretrial programs from Texas to California, pushed for legislation in four states limiting pretrial's resources, and lobbied Congress so that they won't have to pay the bond if the defendant commits a new crime. Behind them, the bondsmen have powerful special interest group and millions of dollars. Pretrial release agencies have a smattering of public employees and the remnants of their once-thriving programs.|[[National Public Radio]], January 22, 2010.<ref name=npr2010jan22 />}}

To ease jail overcrowding over 10 counties every year consider building new jails. As an example [[Lubbock County, Texas]] has decided to build a $110&nbsp;million megajail to ease jail overcrowding. Jail costs an average of $60 a day nationally.<ref name=npr2010jan21 /><ref name="npr2010jan20">[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122336311 Jails Stuffed To Capacity In Many U.S. Counties]. January 20, 2010. [[National Public Radio]]. Chart using 2008 jail statistics showing "50 U.S. counties with the largest numbers of inmates."</ref> In [[Broward County, Florida]] supervised pretrial release costs about $7 a day per person while jail costs $115 a day. The jail system costs a quarter of every county tax dollar in Broward County and is the single largest expense to the county taxpayer.<ref name="npr2010jan22">[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122725849 Bondsman Lobby Targets Pretrial Release Programs]. By Laura Sullivan. January 22, 2010. [[National Public Radio]].</ref>

The National Association of State Budget Officers reports: "In fiscal 2009, corrections spending represented 3.4 percent of total state spending and 7.2 percent of general fund spending." They also report: "Some states exclude certain items when reporting corrections expenditures. Twenty-one states wholly or partially excluded juvenile delinquency counseling from their corrections figures and fifteen states wholly or partially excluded spending on juvenile institutions. Seventeen states wholly or partially excluded spending on drug abuse rehabilitation centers and forty-one states wholly or partially excluded spending on institutions for the criminally insane. Twenty-two states wholly or partially excluded aid to local governments for jails. For details, see Table 36."<ref name="nasbo2009">{{cite web|url=http://nasbo.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=w7RqO74llEw%3d&tabid=79|title=Fiscal Year 2009 State Expenditure Report|publisher=National Association of State Budget Officers|access-date=October 10, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110823001828/http://nasbo.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=w7RqO74llEw%3D&tabid=79|archive-date=August 23, 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>

{{As of|2007}}, the cost of medical care for inmates was growing by 10 percent annually.<ref name="pewcenterstudy">[http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/reports/2008/02/28/one-in-100-behind-bars-in-america-2008 One in 100: Behind Bars in America 2008]. February 28, 2008. [[Pew Charitable Trusts|The Pew Center on the States]].</ref><ref name=nytimes2008feb/>

According to a 2016 study by researchers at [[Washington University in St. Louis]], the true cost of incarceration exceeds $1&nbsp;trillion, with half of that falling on the families, children and communities of those incarcerated.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ferner |first=Matt |date=2016-09-13 |title=The Full Cost Of Incarceration In The U.S. Is Over $1 Trillion, Study Finds |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mass-incarceration-cost_n_57d82d99e4b09d7a687fde21 |access-date=2025-05-07 |website=HuffPost |language=en}}</ref>

According to a 2016 analysis of federal data by the U.S. Education Department, state and local spending on incarceration has grown three times as much as spending on public education since 1980.<ref>Emma Brown and Danielle Douglas-Gabriel (July 7, 2016). [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/education/wp/2016/07/07/since-1980-spending-on-prisons-has-grown-three-times-faster-than-spending-on-public-education/ Since 1980, spending on prisons has grown three times as much as spending on public education]. ''[[The Washington Post]].'' Retrieved July 12, 2016.</ref>

== Effects ==
{{See also|Collateral consequences of criminal charges}}
[[File:Property Crime Rates in the United States.svg|thumb|300px|Property crime rates in the United States per 100,000 population beginning in 1960 (source: [[Bureau of Justice Statistics]])]]
[[File:Violent crime rates by gender 1973-2003.png|thumb|300px|Violent crime rates by gender 1973–2003<ref>{{cite web |title=Violent crime rate per 1,000 persons age 12 and up. |url=http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/glance/tables/vsxtab.cfm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121012123950/http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/glance/tables/vsxtab.cfm |archive-date=2012-10-12 |access-date=2025-05-23 |website=Bureau of Justice Statistics}}</ref>]]

===Crime===
Three articles written in the early 2000s claim that increasing incarceration has a negative effect on crime, but [[Diminishing returns|this effect becomes smaller as the incarceration rate increases]].<ref>{{Cite journal |title=The Crime-Control Effect of Incarceration: Does Scale Matter? |last1=Liedka |first1=Raymond V. |last2=Piehl |first2=Anne Morrison |date=May 1, 2006 |journal=[[Criminology & Public Policy]]|doi=10.1111/j.1745-9133.2006.00376.x |last3=Useem |first3=Bert |volume=5|issue=2|pages=245–276}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=DeFina |first1=Robert H. |last2=Avanites |first2=Thomas M. |title=The Weak Effect of Imprisonment on Crime: 1971-1998 |journal=Social Science Quarterly |date=2002 |volume=83 |issue=3 |pages=635–653 |doi=10.1111/1540-6237.00106}}</ref> Higher rates of prison admissions increase crime rates, whereas moderate rates of prison admissions decrease crime. The rate of prisoner releases in a given year in a community is also positively related to that community's crime rate the following year.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Clear |first1=Todd R. |last2=Rose |first2=Dina R. |last3=Waring |first3=Elin |last4=Scully |first4=Kristen |date=March 1, 2003 |title=Coercive mobility and crime: A preliminary examination of concentrated incarceration and social disorganization |journal=Justice Quarterly |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=33–64 |doi=10.1080/07418820300095451 |s2cid=145522279 |issn=0741-8825}}</ref>

A 2010 study of [[panel data]] from 1978 to 2003 indicated that the crime-reducing effects of increasing incarceration are totally offset by the crime-increasing effects of [[prisoner re-entry]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=DeFina |first1=Robert |last2=Hannon |first2=Lance |date=November 1, 2010 |title=For incapacitation, there is no time like the present: The lagged effects of prisoner reentry on property and violent crime rates |journal=Social Science Research |volume=39 |issue=6 |pages=1004–1014 |doi=10.1016/j.ssresearch.2010.08.001}}</ref>

According to a 2015 study by the [[Brennan Center for Justice]], falling crime rates cannot be ascribed to mass incarceration.<ref>Laughland, Oliver. (February 12, 2015). [https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/feb/12/mass-incarceration-does-not-explain-fall-us-crime-rate-study Mass incarceration does not explain dramatic fall in US crime, study finds]. ''[[The Guardian]].'' Retrieved February 14, 2015. "Researchers at the Brennan Center for Justice placed crime statistics from all 50 states over the past four decades against 13 other potential explainers of crime reduction, including decreases in alcohol consumption, growth in income and data-driven policing techniques. The conclusion was that the sharp increase in prison numbers has had a negligible effect on the downward trend in crime, with mass incarceration responsible for around 6% of property crime reduction in the 1990s and less than a single percentage point in the 2000s."</ref>

===Society===

Within three years of being released, 67% of ex-prisoners are re-arrested, and 52% are re-incarcerated, according to a study based on 1994 data.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vera.org/publications/confronting-confinement |title=Confronting Confinement |author=John J. Gibbons and Nicholas de B. Katzenbach |date = June 2006|publisher=Vera Institute of Justice}}</ref><ref name="Langan"/>  Former inmate Wenona Thompson argues "I realized that I became part of a cycle, a system, that looked forward to seeing me there. And I was aware that&nbsp;... I would be one of those people who fill up their prisons".<ref name="Lyons">{{cite AV media|last=Lyons|first=John|title=War on the Family: Mothers in Prison and the Children They Leave Behind|medium=DVD|publisher=Peace Productions}}</ref>

In 1995, the government allocated $5.1&nbsp;billion for new prison space. Every $100&nbsp;million spent in construction costs $53&nbsp;million per year in finance and operational costs over the next three decades.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Alexander |first=Elizabeth |title=A Troubling Response To Overcrowded Prisons |journal=Civil Rights Journal |date=Fall 1998}}</ref> The government spends nearly $60&nbsp;billion a year for prisons, and in 2005, it cost an average of $23,876 a year to house a prisoner.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.denverpost.com/ci_8400051 |work=[[The Denver Post]] |first=N.C. |last=Aizenman |title=The high cost of incarceration |date=February 29, 2008}}</ref> It takes about $30,000 per year per person to provide [[drug rehabilitation]] treatment to inmates. By contrast, the cost of drug rehabilitation treatment outside of a prison costs about $8,000 per year per person.<ref name="Lyons"/>

In 2016, over 6 million Americans had [[Felony disenfranchisement in the United States|lost their right to vote]] for conviction of a felony.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.sentencingproject.org/issues/felony-disenfranchisement/ | title = 6 Million Lost Voters: State-Level Estimates of Felony Disenfranchisement, 2016 | author1 = Uggen, Christopher | author2 = Ryan Larson | author3 = Sarah Shannon | publisher = The Sentencing Project | date = October 6, 2016 | access-date = February 22, 2020 | archive-date = February 21, 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200221025007/https://www.sentencingproject.org/issues/felony-disenfranchisement/ | url-status = dead }}</ref> In addition, people who have been recently released from prison are ineligible for welfare in most states. They are not eligible for [[subsidized housing in the United States|subsidized housing]] and must wait two years for eligibility for [[Section 8 (housing)|Section 8]]. It can be difficult for people to find employment, as employers often check a potential employee's [[criminal record]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Goldberg |first=Ben |date=2016-11-17 |title=Majority of employers background check employees … Here's why |url=https://www.careerbuilder.com/advice/majority-of-employers-background-check-employees |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221203095617/https://www.careerbuilder.com/advice/majority-of-employers-background-check-employees |archive-date=2022-12-03 |access-date=2025-05-23 |website=Career Builder}}</ref> Formerly incarcerated individuals may experience [[Employment discrimination#Criminal records|employment discrimination]], and frequently have smaller social networks. This contributes to their struggle finding employment upon release into the community.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Beckett |first1=Katherine |last2=Goldberg |first2=Allison |date=January 1, 2022 |title=The Effects of Imprisonment in a Time of Mass Incarceration |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/721018 |journal=Crime and Justice |language=en |volume=51 |pages=349–398 |doi=10.1086/721018 |issn=0192-3234|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

In ''[[The New Jim Crow]]'' in 2011, legal scholar and advocate [[Michelle Alexander]] contended that the U.S. incarceration system worked to bar Black men from voting. She wrote "there are more African Americans under correctional control&nbsp;– in prison or jail, on probation or parole – than were enslaved in 1850, a decade before the Civil War began".<ref>{{Cite journal |url=http://prospect.org/cs/articles?article=the_new_jim_crow |first=Michelle|last=Alexander |title=How mass incarceration turns people of color into permanent second-class citizens |journal=The American Prospect |date=December 6, 2010 |access-date=November 9, 2014 |archive-date=October 1, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111001165128/http://prospect.org/cs/articles?article=the_new_jim_crow |url-status=dead }}</ref> Alexander's work has drawn increased attention in the years since.

Yale Law Professor, and opponent of mass incarceration [[James Forman Jr.]] has countered that 1) African Americans, as represented by such cities as the District of Columbia, have generally supported [[Law and order (politics)|tough on crime policies]]. 2) There appears to be a connection between drugs and violent crimes, the discussion of which, he says, New Jim Crow theorists have avoided. 3) New theorists have overlooked class as a factor in incarceration. Black people with advanced degrees have fewer convictions, and Black people without advanced education have more.<ref>{{Cite web |author=O'Hear |first=Michael |date=June 29, 2012 |title=The "New Jim Crow" Reconsidered |url=http://www.lifesentencesblog.com/?p=5017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190305042435/http://www.lifesentencesblog.com/?p=5017 |archive-date=2019-03-05 |access-date=May 23, 2025 |website=Life Sentences Blog}}</ref>

=== Family ===

Incarceration of an individual does not have a singular effect: it affects those in the individual's tight-knit circle as well. For every mother that is incarcerated in the United States there are about another ten people (children, grandparents, community, etc.) that are directly affected.<ref>
{{Cite book|title= Children of the Prison Boom: Mass Incarceration and the Future of American Inequality|last1=Wakefield|first1=Sara|last2=Wildeman|first2=Christopher|location=New York|publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=War on the family : mothers in prison and the families they leave behind|last=Renny.|first=Golden|isbn=9781135939700|location=New York|oclc=861692996|date=October 18, 2013|url=https://archive.org/details/waronfamilymothe0000gold}}</ref> &nbsp;Moreover, more than 2.7 million children in the United States have an incarcerated parent.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Cochran|first1=Joshua C.|last2=Siennick|first2=Sonja E.|last3=Mears|first3=Daniel P.|date=April 2018|title=Social Exclusion and Parental Incarceration Impacts on Adolescents' Networks and School Engagement|journal=Journal of Marriage and the Family|volume=80|issue=2|pages=478–498|doi=10.1111/jomf.12464|issn=0022-2445|pmc=5880045|pmid=29622839}}</ref> That translates to one out of every 27 children in the United States having an incarcerated parent.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.childstats.gov/americaschildren/tables/pop1.asp|title=POP1 Child population: Number of children (in millions) ages 0–17 in the United States by age, 1950–2017 and projected 2018–2050|website=www.childstats.gov|access-date=October 21, 2018}}</ref> Approximately 80 percent of women who go to jail each year are mothers.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Sawyer |first1=Wendy |title=Bailing moms out for Mother's Day |url=https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2017/05/08/mothers-day/ |website=Prison Policy Initiative |access-date=April 5, 2019 |date=May 8, 2017}}</ref>&nbsp;This ripple effect on the individual's family amplifies the debilitating effect that entails arresting individuals. Given the general vulnerability and naivete of children, it is important to understand how such a traumatic event adversely affects children. The effects of a parent's incarceration on their children have been found as early as three years old.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last1=Geller|first1=Amanda|last2=Garfinkel|first2=Irwin|last3=Cooper|first3=Carey E.|last4=Mincy|first4=Ronald B.|date=December 1, 2009|title=Parental Incarceration and Child Wellbeing: Implications for Urban Families|journal=Social Science Quarterly|volume=90|issue=5|pages=1186–1202|doi=10.1111/j.1540-6237.2009.00653.x|issn=0038-4941|pmc=2835345|pmid=20228880}}</ref> Local and state governments in the United States have recognized these harmful effects and have attempted to address them through public policy solutions.

==== Impact on children ====
The effects of an early traumatic experience of a child can be categorized into health effects and behavioral externalizations. Many studies have searched for a correlation between witnessing a parent's arrest and a wide variety of physiological issues. For example, Lee et al. showed significant correlation between high [[cholesterol]], [[migraines]], and [[HIV/AIDS]] diagnosis to children with a parental incarceration.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Lee|first1=Rosalyn D.|last2=Fang|first2=Xiangming|last3=Luo|first3=Feijun|date=April 2013|title=The impact of parental incarceration on the physical and mental health of young adults|journal=Pediatrics|volume=131|issue=4|pages=e1188–1195|doi=10.1542/peds.2012-0627|issn=1098-4275|pmc=3608482|pmid=23509174}}</ref> &nbsp;Even while adjusting for various socioeconomic and racial factors, children with an incarcerated parent have a significantly higher chance of developing a wide variety of physical problems such as [[obesity]], [[asthma]], and developmental delays.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Turney|first=Kristin|date=September 2014|title=Stress proliferation across generations? Examining the relationship between parental incarceration and childhood health|journal=Journal of Health and Social Behavior|volume=55|issue=3|pages=302–319|doi=10.1177/0022146514544173|issn=2150-6000|pmid=25138199|s2cid=16824554}}</ref> &nbsp;The current literature acknowledges that there are a variety of poor health outcomes as a direct result of being separated from a parent by [[law enforcement]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Geller|first1=Amanda|last2=Cooper|first2=Carey E.|last3=Garfinkel|first3=Irwin|last4=Schwartz-Soicher|first4=Ofira|last5=Mincy|first5=Ronald B.|date=February 2012|title=Beyond absenteeism: father incarceration and child development|journal=Demography|volume=49|issue=1|pages=49–76|doi=10.1007/s13524-011-0081-9|issn=0070-3370|pmc=3703506|pmid=22203452}}</ref> &nbsp;It is hypothesized that the chronic stress that results directly from the uncertainty of the parent's legal status is the primary influence for the extensive list of acute and chronic conditions that could develop later in life.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Garner|first1=Andrew S.|last2=Shonkoff|first2=Jack P.|date=January 2012|title=Early childhood adversity, toxic stress, and the role of the pediatrician: translating developmental science into lifelong health|journal=Pediatrics|volume=129|issue=1|pages=e224–231|doi=10.1542/peds.2011-2662|issn=1098-4275|pmid=22201148|doi-access=free}}</ref> &nbsp;In addition to the chronic stress, the immediate instability in a child's life deprives them of certain essentials e.g. money for food and parental love that are compulsory for leading a healthy life. Though most of the adverse effects that result from parental incarceration are regardless of whether the mother or father was arrested, some differences have been discovered. For example, males whose father have been incarcerated display more behavioral issues than any other combination of parent/child.<ref name=":3" />

There has also been a substantial effort to understand how this traumatic experience manifests in the child's mental health and to identify externalizations that may be helpful for a diagnosis. The most prominent mental health outcomes in these children are [[anxiety disorders]], depression (mood), and [[post-traumatic stress disorder]](PTSD).<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Murray|first1=Joseph|last2=Murray|first2=Lynne|date=July 2010|title=Parental incarceration, attachment and child psychopathology|journal=Attachment & Human Development|volume=12|issue=4|pages=289–309|doi=10.1080/14751790903416889|issn=1469-2988|pmid=20582842|s2cid=1113521}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Poehlmann|first=Julie|date=September 2005|title=Incarcerated mothers' contact with children, perceived family relationships, and depressive symptoms|journal=Journal of Family Psychology|volume=19|issue=3|pages=350–357|doi=10.1037/0893-3200.19.3.350|issn=0893-3200|pmid=16221015}}</ref>&nbsp;These problems worsen in a typical [[positive feedback]] loop without the presence of a parental figure. Given the chronic nature of these diseases, they can be detected and observed at distinct points in a child's development, allowing for research to determine if additional health services can be used to intervene in their lives and prevent increased risk of future health challenges.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Boch |first1=Samantha |last2=Sezgin |first2=Emre |last3=Ruch |first3=Donna |last4=Kelleher |first4=Kelly |last5=Chisolm |first5=Deena |last6=Lin |first6=Simon |date=2021 |title=Unjust: the health records of youth with personal/family justice involvement in a large pediatric health system |journal=Health & Justice |language=en |volume=9 |issue=1 |page=20 |doi=10.1186/s40352-021-00147-5 |issn=2194-7899 |pmc=8327457 |pmid=34337696 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Murray et al. have been able to isolate the cause of the expression of [[Anti-social behaviour]]s specific to the parental incarceration.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Murray|first1=Joseph|last2=Farrington|first2=David P.|last3=Sekol|first3=Ivana|date=March 2012|title=Children's antisocial behavior, mental health, drug use, and educational performance after parental incarceration: a systematic review and meta-analysis|journal=Psychological Bulletin|volume=138|issue=2|pages=175–210|doi=10.1037/a0026407|issn=1939-1455|pmc=3283435|pmid=22229730}}</ref> &nbsp;In a specific case study in Boston by Sack, within two months of the father being arrested, the adolescent boy in the family developed severe aggressive and antisocial behaviors.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Sack|first=W. H.|date=May 1977|title=Children of imprisoned fathers|journal=Psychiatry|volume=40|issue=2|pages=163–174|issn=0033-2747|pmid=870921|doi=10.1080/00332747.1977.11023929}}</ref> &nbsp;This observation is not unique; Sack and other researchers have noticed an immediate and strong reaction to sudden departures from family structure norms. These behavioral externalizations are most evident at school when the child interacts with peers and adults. This behavior leads to punishment and less focus on education, which has obvious consequences for future educational and career prospects.<ref>Petsch, P., & Rochlen, A. B. (2009). Children of Incarcerated Parents: Implications for School Counselors. ''Journal of School Counseling'', ''7''(40), n40.</ref>

In addition to externalizing undesirable behaviors, children of incarcerated parents are more likely to be incarcerated compared to those without incarcerated parents.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ssc.wisc.edu/~agaulke/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/threestrikes_edited-3.pdf|title=Intergenerational Effects of Mass Incarceration|last=Dacass|first=Tennecia|date=July 25, 2017}}</ref> More formally, transmission of severe emotional strain on a parent negatively impacts the children by disrupting the home environment. Societal stigma against individuals, specifically parents, who are incarcerated is passed down to their children. The children find this stigma to be overwhelming and it negatively impacts their short- and long-term prospects.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Shaw|first=Marcus|date=December 2016|title=The racial implications of the effects of parental incarceration on intergenerational mobility|journal=Sociology Compass|volume=10|issue=12|pages=1102–1109|doi=10.1111/soc4.12440|issn=1751-9020}}</ref>

It has been reported that in 2024 the United States there were more than 5 million children children of incarcerated parents;<ref name=":20" /> 24% of Black children, 11% of Hispanic, and 4% of White.<ref name=":21" />  Financial effects on children of incarcerated parents include housing insecurity and financial strain.<ref name=":24" />  Emotional effect also includes the transference of stigma, as there is a bias towards those who have had interactions with the criminal justice system.  In addition to greater behavioral problems,<ref name=":25" /> children of incarcerated parents are more likely to have poor [[sleep hygiene]].  It has been reported that children of incarcerated parents are less likely to adhere to a bedtime schedule, and are more likely to have a shorter sleep duration.<ref name=":26" />   Children of incarcerated parents are more likely to have involvement with the criminal justice system, and "For African American and Hispanic male adolescents, having a father incarcerated was associated with significantly greater likelihood of children (i.e., sons) being arrested before 25 years of age compared to adolescents who did not have a father incarcerated."<ref name=":27" />  Children of incarcerated parents are also more likely to engage in drug use, and male children were more likely to use drugs "by a factor of 2.20 and female children were nearly 7 times (odds ratio [''OR''] = 6.89) more likely to have used illegal drugs in their lifetime compared to children who did not have an incarcerated father".<ref name=":28" />  Limited research has been conducted specific to the effects to Black children of incarcerated parents, but due to socioeconomic and cultural differences is an area for research to be expanded.<ref name=":29" />  Gatewood, Muhammad, and Turner (2025), suggest that the parameters for analyzing Black children with incarcerated parents should be adjusted. Their study indicates "a counternarrative to what adult BCOIPs view as success and elevates their experiences from their viewpoint. Their definitions of success include their relationships with others, giving back to the community, educational backgrounds, and improving their mental health."<ref name=":30" />

=== Health ===
With rising levels of mass incarceration, the prison population faces significant health issues while incarcerated. Health surveys of inmates show that the prison population faces higher rates of chronic and infectious diseases, mental illness, and substance use disorders than the general U.S. population.<ref name=":62">{{Cite journal |last1=Binswanger |first1=I. A. |last2=Krueger |first2=P. M. |last3=Steiner |first3=J. F. |date=November 1, 2009 |title=Prevalence of chronic medical conditions among jail and prison inmates in the USA compared with the general population |url=https://jech.bmj.com/content/63/11/912 |journal=Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health |language=en |volume=63 |issue=11 |pages=912–919 |doi=10.1136/jech.2009.090662 |issn=0143-005X |pmid=19648129|s2cid=206990171 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Based on analysis of the 2002-4 Survey of Inmates in Local Jails, incarcerated individuals had higher rates of hypertension, diabetes, myocardial infarction, asthma, arthritis, cervical cancer, and hepatitis.<ref name=":62" /> The prison environment exacerbates chronic health conditions since they cannot be properly addressed and due to the stress of social isolation.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Semenza |first1=Daniel C. |last2=Link |first2=Nathan W. |date=December 1, 2019 |title=How does reentry get under the skin? Cumulative reintegration barriers and health in a sample of recently incarcerated men |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953619306136 |journal=Social Science & Medicine |language=en |volume=243 |article-number=112618 |doi=10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.112618 |pmid=31665655 |s2cid=204965417 |issn=0277-9536|url-access=subscription }}</ref> In addition, low-income and POC populations are often more susceptible to poor health outcomes due to [[social determinants of health]] prior to incarceration such as poor nutrition, lower average levels of education, higher levels of community violence and drug use, and lower rates of healthcare access.<ref name=":62" />

The incarcerated population also has lower rates of health literacy. A 2016 study found that over 60% of patients had inadequate health literacy in a sample of formerly incarcerated individuals.<ref name=":02">{{Cite journal |last1=Hadden |first1=Kristie B. |last2=Puglisi |first2=Lisa |last3=Prince |first3=Latrina |last4=Aminawung |first4=Jenerius A. |last5=Shavit |first5=Shira |last6=Pflaum |first6=David |last7=Calderon |first7=Joe |last8=Wang |first8=Emily A. |last9=Zaller |first9=Nickolas |date=August 1, 2018 |title=Health Literacy Among a Formerly Incarcerated Population Using Data from the Transitions Clinic Network |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-018-0276-0 |journal=Journal of Urban Health |language=en |volume=95 |issue=4 |pages=547–555 |doi=10.1007/s11524-018-0276-0 |issn=1468-2869 |pmc=6095766 |pmid=29943227}}</ref> According to the Health Resources & Services Administration, [[health literacy]] is the ability to obtain, process, and understand health information to make appropriate health decisions.<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 31, 2017 |title=Health Literacy |url=https://www.hrsa.gov/about/organization/bureaus/ohe/health-literacy/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730103840/https://www.hrsa.gov/about/organization/bureaus/ohe/health-literacy/index.html |archive-date=2022-07-30 |access-date=2025-05-23 |website=Official web site of the U.S. Health Resources & Services Administration |language=en}}</ref> In the incarcerated population, low health literacy is linked with decreased confidence in taking medications, increased likelihood of emergency department visits, and difficulty self-managing chronic health conditions.<ref name=":02" />

===Policy solutions===
There are four main phases that can be distinguished in the process of arresting a parent: arrest, [[sentencing]], incarceration, and re-entry. Re-entry is not relevant if a parent is not arrested for other crimes. During each of these phases, solutions can be implemented that mitigate the harm placed on the children during the process. While their parents are away, children rely on other caretakers (family or friends) to satisfy their basic need. Solutions for the children of incarcerated parents have identified caretakers as a focal point for successful intervention.

====Arrest phase====
[[File:Secret Service agent trainees practice executing a search warrant.jpg|thumb|Forced home entry is a primary stressor for children in a residence.]]
One in five children witness their parent arrested by authorities, and a study interviewing 30 children reported that the children experienced [[flashbulb memories]] and [[nightmare]]s associated with the day their parent was arrested.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Children of incarcerated parents|date=1995|publisher=Lexington Books|author1=Gabel, Katherine. |author2=Johnston, Denise|isbn=978-0029110423|location=New York|oclc=31739788}}</ref> These single, adverse moments have long-reaching effects and policymakers around the country have attempted to ameliorate the situation. For example, the city of San Francisco in 2005 implemented training policies for its police officers with the goal of making them more cognizant of the familial situation before entering the home. The guidelines go a step further and stipulate that if no information is available before the arrest, that officers ask the suspect about the possibility of any children in the house.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/53721/2000256-Children-of-Incarcerated-Parents-Framework-Document.pdf|title=Children of Incarcerated Parents Framework Document|last=Peterson|first=Bryce|date=June 2015|website=Urban Institute|access-date=October 2, 2018}}</ref> San Francisco is not alone: [[New Mexico]] passed a law in 2009 advocating for child safety during parental arrest and California provides funding to agencies to train personnel how to appropriately conduct an arrest in the presence of family members.<ref>N.M. Stat. Ann. §29-7-7.3</ref> Extending past the state level, the Department of Justice has provided guidelines for police officers around the country to better accommodate for children in difficult family situations.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bja.gov/Publications/IACP-SafeguardingChildren.pdf|title=Safeguarding Children of Arrested Parents|website=Bureau of Justice Assistance|access-date=November 12, 2018}}</ref>

====Sentencing phase====

During the sentencing phase, the judge is the primary authority in determining the appropriate punishment. Consideration of the sentencing effects on the defendant's children could help with the preservation of the parent-child relationship. A law passed in [[Oklahoma]] in 2014 requires judges to inquire if convicted individuals are single custodial parents, and if so, to authorize the mobility of important resources so the child's transition to different circumstances is monitored.<ref>Okla. Stat. tit. 22, §22–20</ref> The distance that the jail or prison is from the arrested individual's home is a contributing factor to the parent-child relationship. Allowing a parent to serve their sentence closer to their residence allows for easier visitation and a healthier relationship. Recognizing this, the New York Senate passed a bill in 2015 that would ensure convicted individuals be jailed in the nearest facility.

In 1771, Baron Auckland wrote in ''Principles of Penal Law'' that:  "Imprisonment, inflicted by law as a punishment, is not according to the principles of wise legislation. It sinks useful subjects into burdens on the community, and has always a bad effect on their morals: nor can it communicate the benefit of example, being in its nature secluded from the eye of the people."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Eden, Lord Auckland |first1=William |title=Principles of Penal Law |date=1771}}</ref>

====Incarceration phase====
While serving a sentence, measures have been put in place to allow parents to exercise their duty as role models and caretakers. New York allows newborns to be with their mothers for up to one year.<ref>N.Y. Corrections Law §611</ref> Studies have shown that parental, specifically maternal, presence during a newborn's early development are crucial to both physical and cognitive development.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Winston|first1=Robert|last2=Chicot|first2=Rebecca|date=2016|title=The importance of early bonding on the long-term mental health and resilience of children|journal=London Journal of Primary Care|volume=8|issue=1|pages=12–14|doi=10.1080/17571472.2015.1133012|issn=1757-1472|pmc=5330336|pmid=28250823}}</ref> [[Ohio]] law requires nursery support for pregnant inmates in its facilities.<ref>Ohio Rev. Code Ann. §5120.65</ref> California also has a stake in the support of incarcerated parents, too, through its requirement that women in jail with children be transferred to a community facility that can provide pediatric care.<ref>Cal. Penal Code §§3410–3424</ref> These regulations are supported by the research on early child development that argue it is imperative that infants and young children are with a parental figure, preferably the mother, to ensure proper development.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://childtrauma.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Bonding_13.pdf|title=Bonding and Attachment in Maltreated Children|last=Perry|first=Bruce|date=2013|website=The ChildTrauma Academy|access-date=October 4, 2018|archive-date=October 22, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181022035133/https://childtrauma.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Bonding_13.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> This approach received support at the federal level when then-Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates instituted several family-friendly measures, for certain facilities, including: improving infrastructure for video conferencing and informing inmates on how to contact their children if they were placed in the foster care system, among other improvements.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/deputy-attorney-general-sally-q-yates-announces-family-friendly-prison-policies-strengthen|title=Deputy Attorney General Sally Q. Yates Announces Family-Friendly Prison Policies to Strengthen Inmate-Familial Bonds|date=April 26, 2016|access-date=November 12, 2018}}</ref>

====Re-entry phase====
{{Main|Prisoner reentry}}

The last phase of the incarceration process is re-entry back into the community, but more importantly, back into the family structure. Though the time away is painful for the family, it does not always welcome back the previously incarcerated individual with open arms.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Naser|first1=Rebecca L.|last2=La Vigne|first2=Nancy G.|date=March 2006|title=Family Support in the Prisoner Reentry Process|journal=Journal of Offender Rehabilitation|volume=43|issue=1|pages=93–106|doi=10.1300/j076v43n01_05|hdl=11323/9875 |s2cid=142630617|issn=1050-9674|hdl-access=free}}</ref> Not only is the transition into the family difficult, but also into society as they are faced with establishing secure housing, insurance, and a new job.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Serin|first1=Ralph C.|last2=Lloyd|first2=Caleb D.|last3=Hanby|first3=Laura J.|date=August 2010|title=Enhancing Offender Re-Entry an Integrated Model for Enhancing Offender Re-Entry|journal=European Journal of Probation|volume=2|issue=2|pages=53–75|doi=10.1177/206622031000200205|s2cid=153754025|issn=2066-2203}}</ref> &nbsp;As such, policymakers find it necessary to ease the transition of an incarcerated individual to the pre-arrest situation. Of the four outlined phases, re-entry is the least emphasized from a public policy perspective. This is not to say it is the least important, however, as there are concerns that time in a correctional facility can deteriorate the caretaking ability of some prisoners. As a result, Oklahoma has taken measurable strides by providing parents with the tools they need to re-enter their families, including classes on parenting skills.<ref>2007 Okla. Sess. Laws, Chap. 274</ref>

=== Caretakers ===
[[File:Grandmother and grandchild.jpg|thumb|159x159px|Grandmothers are a common caregiver of children with an incarcerated parent.]]
Though the effects on caregivers of these children vary based on factors such as the relationship to the prisoner and his or her support system, it is well known that it is a financial and emotional burden to take care of a child.<ref>{{Cite journal | doi=10.1111/j.1745-9125.2012.00283.x|title = The Collateral Consequences of Incarceration Revisited: A Qualitative Analysis of the Effects on Caregivers of Children of Incarcerated Parents| journal=Criminology| volume=50| issue=4| pages=913–959|year = 2012|last1 = Turanovic|first1 = Jillian J.| last2=Rodriguez| first2=Nancy| last3=Pratt| first3=Travis C.| doi-access=free}}</ref> In addition to taking care of their [[nuclear family]], caregivers are now responsible for another individual who requires attention and resources to flourish. Depending on the relationship to the caregiver, the transition to a new household may not be easy for the child. The rationale behind targeting caregivers for intervention policies is to ensure the new environment for the children is healthy and productive. The federal government funds states to provide counseling to caretaking family members to alleviate some of the associated emotional burden. A more comprehensive program from [[Washington (state)]] employs "kinship navigators" to address caretakers' needs with initiatives such as parental classes and connections to legal services.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2016/05/24/having-a-parent-behind-bars-costs-children-states|title=Having a Parent Behind Bars Costs Children, States|website=www.pewtrusts.org|date=May 24, 2016 |access-date=November 12, 2018}}</ref>

=== Employment ===
Felony records greatly influence the chances of people finding employment. Many employers seem to use criminal history as a screening mechanism without attempting to probe deeper.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Pager|first=Devah|date=March 2003|title=The Mark of a Criminal Record|url=https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/pager/files/pager_ajs.pdf|journal=American Journal of Sociology|volume=108|issue=5|pages=937–975|doi=10.1086/374403|s2cid=11568703}}</ref> They are often more interested in incarceration as a measure of employability and trustworthiness instead of its relation to any specific job.<ref name="press.uchicago.edu">{{Cite web|url=http://press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/644839.html|title=Marked: Race, Crime, and Finding Work in an Era of Mass Incarceration by Devah Pager, an excerpt|website=press.uchicago.edu|access-date=April 9, 2017}}</ref> People who have felony records have a harder time finding a job.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Western|first=Bruce|date=August 2002|title=The Impact of Incarceration on Wage Mobility and Inequality|url=http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/brucewestern/files/western_asr.pdf|journal= American Sociological Review|volume=67|issue=4|pages=526–546|doi=10.2307/3088944|jstor=3088944}}</ref> The psychological effects of incarceration can also impede an ex-felon's search for employment. Prison can cause social anxiety, distrust, and other psychological issues that negatively affect a person's reintegration into an employment setting.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://aspe.hhs.gov/reports/psychological-impact-incarceration-implications-post-prison-adjustment-0|title=The Psychological Impact of Incarceration: Implications for Post-Prison Adjustment|date=November 23, 2015|work=ASPE|access-date=April 9, 2017}}</ref>  Men who are unemployed are more likely to participate in crime<ref name=":0" /> which leads to there being a 67% chance of a person with a previous felony conviction being charged again.<ref name="press.uchicago.edu"/> In 2008, the difficulties males with a previous felony conviction in the United States had finding employment lead to approximately a 1.6% decrease in the employment rate alone. This is a loss of between $57 and $65&nbsp;billion of output to the U.S. economy.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://cepr.net/documents/publications/ex-offenders-2010-11.pdf|title=Ex-Offenders and the Labor Market|last1=Schmitt|first1=John|last2=Warner|first2=Kris|publisher=Center for Economic and Policy Research|year=2010}}</ref>

Although incarceration in general has a huge effect on employment, the effects become even more pronounced when looking at race. Devah Pager performed a study in 2003 and found that white males with no criminal record had a 34% chance of callback compared to 17% for white males with a criminal record. Black males with no criminal record were called back at a rate of 14% while the rate dropped to 5% for those with a criminal record. Black men with no criminal background have a harder time finding employment than white men who have a history of criminal activity. While having a criminal record decreases the chance of a callback for white men by 50%, it decreases the callback chances for Black men by 64%.<ref name=":1" />

While Pager's study is greatly informative, it does lack some valuable information. Pager only studied white and Black men, which leaves out women and people of other races. It also fails to account for the fact that applying for jobs has largely shifted from applying in person to applying over the Internet. A study conducted at Arizona State University in 2014 accounts for this missing information. This study was set up similarly to the Pager study, but with the addition of female job applicants, Hispanic job applicants, and online job applications.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|url=https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/p13.pdf|title=Prisoners in 2013|last=Carson|first=E. Ann|publisher=U.S. Department of Justice|year=2014|pages=36–37, 39, 50}} "'''Pages 36–37:''' White women have odds of receiving a favorable response from hiring managers that are nearly 50 percent smaller than the odds of Hispanic women with a prison record, the odds of white women with a prison record are only five percent smaller than black women’s with a prison record. '''Page 39:''' More than half—52 percent—of the positive outcomes observed during the audit benefitted the employment prospects of Hispanic women. White women received 36 percent of favorable responses. A complete breakdown of the  distribution of favorable responses is reported in Table 3." '''Page 50:''' "Black men with a prison record have the most difficulty moving 
through the hiring process—their odds of a getting a callback for an interview or offered a job are 125 percent smaller than white male ex-prisoners. The likelihood that Hispanic men with a record will get another interview or will be offered a job is 18 percent smaller than the likelihood for white men."</ref> Men and women of white, Black, and Hispanic ethnicities account for 92% of the U.S. prison population.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/p13.pdf|title=Prisoners in 2013|last=Carson|first=E. Ann|publisher=U.S. Department of Justice|year=2014}}</ref>

The Arizona State University study also found that incarceration decreased employment opportunities. The findings indicated that the presence of a criminal record reduced callbacks by approximately 50%. [[Hispanic and Latino Americans|Hispanic women]] with a prison record fared most favorably in receiving a phone call back from potential employers, while African American women had modest results, and [[White Americans|white women]] received the poorest results, having the lowest probability of receiving a phone call from a potential employer.<ref name=":2" />

For men with a criminal record, white men fared most favorably, being 125% more likely to receive a call back from an employer than black men, and 18% more likely than Hispanic men.<ref name=":2" /> Males with a prison record were less likely than males without a prison record to receive a callback. However, the effects of incarceration on male applicants applying online were nearly nonexistent. In fact, the study found that "there was no effect of race/ethnicity, prison record, or community college [education] on men's success in advancing through the [online] hiring process". The Arizona State University study also had results that contradicted Pager's study.

Effects of other types of incarceration, such as shorter stays in local county jails, can also affect employment at both the individual and macro level. At the community level, for example, jail incarceration has been found to diminish local labor markets, especially in areas with relatively high proportions of Black residents.<ref name="racialized effects">{{cite journal|title=The Racialized Consequences of Jail Incarceration on Local Labor Markets|journal=Race and Justice|pages=44–66|date=2022 |doi=10.1177/21533687221101209|last1=Thomas|first1=Christopher|volume=15 |s2cid=248899951 |access-date=June 2, 2022|url=https://www.crimrxiv.com/pub/jailandlabormarkets|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

=== Environmental ===
Mass incarceration in the United States has created numerous [[environmental justice]] concerns, including both the environmental footprint of prisons and incarcerated individuals' exposure to environmental harm.

Prisons around the United States contribute to the water contamination of surrounding bodies of water.<ref name=":03">{{Cite journal |last=Bradshaw |first=Elizabeth A. |date=September 1, 2018 |title=Tombstone Towns and Toxic Prisons: Prison Ecology and the Necessity of an Anti-prison Environmental Movement |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s10612-018-9399-6 |journal=Critical Criminology |language=en |volume=26 |issue=3 |pages=407–422 |doi=10.1007/s10612-018-9399-6 |issn=1572-9877|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Prisons also contribute high amounts of air pollution which affects individuals incarcerated within the prison, surrounding communities, and the ecosystems in the surrounding area.<ref name=":03" /> Prisons around the country violate the [[Clean Water Act]] and [[Clean Air Act (United States)|Clean Air Act]] frequently.<ref name=":03" /> The [[United States Environmental Protection Agency|Environmental Protection Agency]] is supposed to monitor prisons in the United States. However, prisons often fail to provide Environment Impact Statements to the EPA each year, making it difficult to fully understand their environmental impact.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mitchell |first=Melissa |date=2021 |title=Cruel, Unusual, and Toxic: The Environmental Implications of Mass Incarceration in the United States |url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/arijel11&div=15&id=&page= |journal=Arizona Journal of Environmental Law & Policy |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=268–285 |via=HEINONLINE}}</ref> Prisons also require a large amount of energy since they run 24 hours a day.<ref name=":19">{{Cite journal |last=Jewkes |first=Yvonne |date=2014 |title="Green" prisons: rethinking the "sustainability" of the carceral state |url=https://gh.copernicus.org/articles/69/345/2014/ |journal=Geographica Helvetica |volume=69 |issue=5 |pages=345–353 |doi=10.5194/gh-69-345-2014 |doi-access=free |via=Copernicus Publications}}</ref>

Many prisons around the United States are built on or close to superfund sites which expose incarcerated individuals to environmental toxins such as high levels of lead and copper.<ref name=":22">{{Cite journal |last=Toman |first=Elisa L |date=2023 |title=Something in the air: Toxic pollution in and around U.S. prisons |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/14624745221114826 |journal=Punishment & Society |volume=25 |issue=4 |pages=867–887 |doi=10.1177/14624745221114826 |via=Sage Journals|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Some prisons in the United States are also built next to landfills, toxic waste sites, and old mining sites.<ref name=":03" /> Since prisons are not strictly regulated, the existence of these prisons inherently validates toxins to be prevalent in the environment.<ref name=":22" /> Incarcerated individuals are forced to breathe and consume these toxins with no government protection.<ref name=":03" />

Another concern that incarcerated individuals face is not having access to adequate heating and cooling during extreme weather conditions which are only becoming more common due to climate change.<ref name=":33">{{Cite journal |title=Global Study Evaluates Heat-Related Deaths Associated with Climate Change |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/9789004322714_cclc_2021-0157-490 |access-date=2024-03-04 |website=Climate Change and Law Collection|doi=10.1163/9789004322714_cclc_2021-0157-490 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> As summers continue to get hotter, many prisons do not have air conditioning, and numerous incarcerated individuals die from extreme heat as a result.<ref name=":33" /> Although prisons are supposed to provide fans and ice to individuals during extreme heat events, they do not always follow through.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=May 22, 2023 |title=Heat-Related Prison Deaths Are Rising Due to Climate Change |url=https://time.com/6281702/prisons-heat-deaths-climate-change-air-conditioning/ |access-date=2024-03-12 |magazine=TIME |language=en}}</ref> During the winter, prisons do not have proper heating. Many incarcerated individuals complain that the Department of Corrections does not provide supplies such as blankets during cold weather, and they have to depend on donations or suffer with nothing.<ref name=":42">{{Cite web |last=Asgarian |first=Roxanna |date=December 13, 2019 |title=Why people are freezing in America's prisons |url=https://www.vox.com/identities/2019/12/13/21012730/cold-prison-incarcerated-winter |access-date=2024-03-12 |website=Vox |language=en}}</ref> Environmental justice and energy justice activists argue the lack of adequate heating and cooling in prisons is a form of "cruel and unusual punishment," which violates their [[Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Eighth Amendment.]]<ref name=":42" />

There has been a growing movement to make prisons more sustainable through numerous "green prison" programs.<ref name=":19" /> Green prisons promote sustainable living while also focusing on the incarcerated individual's rehabilitation which will hopefully lead to low recidivism rates.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Rise of Green Prison Programs {{!}} Psychology Today |url=https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/socially-relevant/201508/the-rise-green-prison-programs |access-date=2024-03-04 |website=www.psychologytoday.com |language=en-US}}</ref> This includes reducing waste and transitioning to renewable energy sources. However, there has been some pushback to the spread of green programs within prisons as environmental justice activists argue they only reinforce mass incarceration.<ref name=":19" />

==Criticism==
{{See also|Torture in the United States#Domestic police and prisons|Human rights in the United States#Prison system}}

{{Rquote|right|Mass incarceration on a scale almost unexampled in human history is a fundamental fact of our country today—perhaps ''the'' fundamental fact, as slavery was the fundamental fact of 1850.|[[Adam Gopnik]]<ref name="Gopnik"/>}}

High rates of incarceration may be due to sentence length, which is further driven by many other factors.<ref>{{Cite news|title = Economic Interest Convergence in Downsizing Imprisonment|ssrn = 2608698|publisher = Social Science Research Network|date = January 1, 2014|location = Rochester, NY|last = SpearIt}}</ref> Shorter sentences may even diminish the criminal culture by possibly reducing re-arrest rates for first-time convicts.<ref>{{cite web|title=The effect of prison on criminal behavior|url=http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/res/cor/sum/cprs199911-eng.aspx|publisher=[[Public Safety Canada]]|date=November 1999|access-date=August 28, 2009|archive-date=February 4, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090204195852/http://publicsafety.gc.ca/res/cor/sum/cprs199911-eng.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref> The U.S. Congress has ordered federal judges to make imprisonment decisions "recognizing that imprisonment is not an appropriate means of promoting correction and rehabilitation."<ref>{{uscsub|18|3582|a}}</ref>

Critics have lambasted the United States for incarcerating a large number of non-violent and [[Victimless crime|victimless offenders]];<ref name="hrw">{{cite web|last=Fellner|first=Jamie|title=US Addiction to Incarceration Puts 2.3 Million in Prison|publisher=[[Human Rights Watch]]|date=November 30, 2006|url=http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/12/01/usdom14728.htm|access-date=June 2, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Sasha|last=Abramsky|title=Hard Time Blues: How Politics Built a Prison Nation|publisher=Thomas Dunne Books|date=January 22, 2002|isbn=978-0-312-26811-4|url=https://archive.org/details/hardtimeblues00abra}}</ref> half of all persons incarcerated under state jurisdiction are for non-violent offenses, and 20% are incarcerated for drug offenses (in state prisons; federal prison percentages are higher).<ref name="prison2009tables">[http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=2200 Prison Inmates at Midyear 2009 – Statistical Tables] (NCJ 230113). Published June 2010, by [[U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics]] (BJS). By Heather C. West, PhD, BJS Statistician. See [http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/pim09st.pdf PDF]. See tables 18 and 19. The rates are for adults. Rates per 100,000 can be converted to percentages.</ref><ref name="cjcj">{{cite web|url=http://www.cjcj.org/files/americas.pdf|date=March 1999|title=America's One-Million Nonviolent Prisoners|publisher=Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice|access-date=January 11, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101028124951/http://cjcj.org/files/americas.pdf|archive-date=October 28, 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> "Human Rights Watch believes the extraordinary rate of incarceration in the United States wreaks havoc on individuals, families and communities, and saps the strength of the nation as a whole."<ref name=hrw /> The population of inmates housed in prisons and jails in the United States exceeds 2&nbsp;million, with the per capita incarceration population higher than that officially reported by any other country.<ref name=nytimes2008feb/> [[Criminal justice]] policy in the United States has also been criticized for a number of other reasons.<ref name="Slevin">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/07/AR2006060702050.html|title=U.S. Prison Study Faults System and the Public|last=Slevin|first=Peter|date=June 8, 2006|newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> In the 2014 book ''[[The Divide: American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap]],'' journalist [[Matt Taibbi]] argues that the expanding disparity of wealth and the increasing criminalization of those in poverty have culminated in the U.S. having the largest prison population "in the history of human civilization".<ref>[http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2014/4/14/read_matt_taibbi_on_the_divide READ: Matt Taibbi on "The Divide: American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap"]. ''[[Democracy Now!]]'' April 14, 2014. Retrieved April 18, 2014.</ref> The scholars Michael Meranze and [[Marie Gottschalk]] contend that the massive "carceral state" extends far beyond prisons, and distorts democracy, degrades society, and obstructs meaningful discourse on criminal punishment.<ref>Meranze, Michael (February 4, 2015). [http://lareviewofbooks.org/review/pathology-carceral-state Pathology of the Carceral State]. ''[[Los Angeles Review of Books]].'' Retrieved February 16, 2015.</ref> More recently, scholars have argued that a system of mass incarceration necessarily interferes with a free society "characterized by industry, discovery, and creation."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Donelson |first=Raff |date=November 5, 2022 |title=The Inherent Problem with Mass Incarceration |url=https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=4269167 |journal=Oklahoma Law Review |language=en |volume=75 |issue=1 |pages=51–67 |ssrn=4269167 |via=SSRN}}</ref>

Some scholars have linked the ascent of [[Neoliberalism|neoliberal]], [[free market]] ideology in the late 1970s to mass incarceration.<ref name ="Harcourt"/><ref name ="Campbell"/><ref>Hadar Aviram (September 7, 2014). [https://ssrn.com/abstract=2492782 Are Private Prisons to Blame for Mass Incarceration and its Evils? Prison Conditions, Neoliberalism, and Public Choice]. [[University of California, Hastings College of the Law]]. Retrieved December 27, 2014.</ref><ref>[[Loïc Wacquant]]. ''[https://www.upress.umn.edu/9780816639014/prisons-of-poverty/ Prisons of Poverty] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129062741/https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/prisons-of-poverty |date=November 29, 2014 }}.'' [[University of Minnesota Press]] (2009). {{ISBN|0816639019}}.</ref><ref>[http://www.unf.edu/~djaffee/ David Jaffee] (December 29, 2014). [http://jacksonville.com/business/columnists/2014-12-29/story/guest-column-real-reason-behind-prison-explosion Guest column: Real reason behind prison explosion]. ''[[The Florida Times-Union]].'' Retrieved January 8, 2015.</ref><ref>Marie Gottschalk. ''[http://press.princeton.edu/titles/10731.html Caught: The Prison State and the Lockdown of American Politics].'' Princeton University Press, 2014. [https://books.google.com/books?id=CzDFCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA10 p. 10]</ref> Sociologist [[Loïc Wacquant]] argues that the "explosive growth" of the incarcerated poor can be seen as part of the "punitive regulation" of [[Poverty in the United States|poverty]] in the [[neoliberal]] era to mitigate societal fallout from economic deregulation, [[welfare state]] retrenchment, increasing inequality and the imposition of [[workfare]] and underpaid, [[Precarity|precarious]] employment on the marginalized urban "postindustrial proletariat". In this, he posits that the expansive prison system has become a core political institution, and that this "overgrown and intrusive penal state" is "deeply injurious to the ideals of democratic citizenship."<ref>{{cite book |last = Wacquant |first = Loïc |date = 2009 |title = Punishing the Poor: The Neoliberal Government of Social Insecurity|chapter=America as Living Laboratory of the Neoliberal Future|url =https://read.dukeupress.edu/books/book/1399/Punishing-the-PoorThe-Neoliberal-Government-of|chapter-url=https://read.dukeupress.edu/books/book/1399/chapter/167554/PrologueAmerica-as-Living-Laboratory-of-the|publisher = [[Duke University Press]] |pages = xi–xxiii, 53–54 |isbn = 978-0822344223 |author-link = Loïc Wacquant }}</ref> Academic and activist [[Angela Davis]] argues that prisons in the U.S. have "become venues of profit as well as punishment;" as mass incarceration has increased, the prison system has become more about economic factors than criminality.<ref>Frances Goldin, Debby Smith, Michael Smith (2014). ''Imagine: Living in a Socialist USA.'' [[Harper Perennial]]. {{ISBN|0062305573}} pp. 59–60.</ref> Professor of Law at Columbia University [[Bernard Harcourt]] contends that neoliberalism holds the state as incompetent when it comes to economic regulation but proficient at policing and punishing, and that this paradox has resulted in the expansion of penal confinement.<ref>Bernard Harcourt (April 30, 2012). [https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2012/apr/30/laissez-faire-with-strip-searches-liberalism Laissez-faire with strip-searches: America's two-faced liberalism]. ''The Guardian.'' Retrieved December 27, 2014.</ref> According to ''The Routledge Handbook of Poverty in the United States'', "neoliberal social and economic policy has more deeply embedded the carceral state within the lives of the poor, transforming what it means to be poor in America."<ref name="Handbook">{{Cite book|title=The Routledge Handbook of Poverty in the United States|publisher=[[Routledge]]|year=2015|isbn=978-0-41-567344-0|editor-last=Haymes|editor-first=Stephen N.|location=London and New York|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=qnHfBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA346 346], [https://books.google.com/books?id=qnHfBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA389 389]|editor2-last=de Haymes|editor2-first=María V.|editor3-last=Miller|editor3-first=Reuben J.|url=https://www.routledge.com/The-Routledge-Handbook-of-Poverty-in-the-United-States/Haymes-Vidal-de-Haymes-Miller/p/book/9780415673440}}</ref> Historian [[Gary Gerstle]] reasons that while it may seem contradictory that the notions of market freedom and the establishment of a robust market economy occurred simultaneously with the reality of mass incarceration during the neoliberal period, neoliberals and even the classical economic liberals who preceded them "had long argued for the need to ringfence free markets, limiting participation to those who could handle its rigors." Only then could they operate "freely".<ref>{{cite book |last=Gerstle|first=Gary|author-link=Gary Gerstle|date=2022 |title=The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order: America and the World in the Free Market Era|url=https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-neoliberal-order-9780197519646?cc=us&lang=en&|location= |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|page=132|isbn=978-0197519646}}</ref>

The sociologists John Clegg and Adaner Usmani assert that the high incarceration rates are partly the result of anemic social policy. As such, resolving the issue will necessitate significant redistribution coming from economic elites. They add that mass incarceration is "not a technical problem for which there are smart, straightforward, but just not-yet-realized solutions. Rather they argue, it is a political problem, the solution of which will require "confronting the entrenched power of the wealthy."<ref>{{cite journal |last1= Clegg |first1=John |last2= Usmani |first2=Adaner |date=2019 |title=The Economic Origins of Mass Incarceration |url=https://catalyst-journal.com/vol3/no3/the-economic-origins-of-mass-incarceration |journal=Catalyst |volume=3 |issue=3 |page=53}}</ref>

Another possible cause for this increase of incarceration since the 1970s could be the "[[war on drugs]]", which started around that time. More elected prosecutors were favored by voters for promising to take more harsh approaches than their opponents, such as locking up more people.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/leaders/2018/10/20/there-is-nothing-inevitable-about-americas-over-use-of-prisons|title=There is nothing inevitable about America's over-use of prisons|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=October 25, 2018}}</ref>

{{Rquote|right|Our vast network of federal and state prisons, with some 2.3&nbsp;million inmates, rivals the gulags of totalitarian states.|[[Chris Hedges]]<ref>[[Chris Hedges]]. [https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-shame-of-americas-gulag/ The Shame of America's Gulag]. ''[[Truthdig]].'' March 17, 2013.</ref>}}

Reporting at the annual meeting of the [[American Sociological Association]] (August 3, 2008), [[Becky Pettit]], associate professor of sociology from the [[University of Washington]] and Bryan Sykes, a UW post-doctoral researcher, revealed that the increase in the United States's prison population since the 1970s is having profound demographic consequences that affect 1 in 50 Americans. Drawing data from a variety of sources that looked at prison and general populations, the researchers found that the boom in prison population is hiding lowered rates of fertility and increased rates of involuntary migration to rural areas and morbidity that is marked by a greater exposure to and risk of [[Infectious diseases within American prisons|infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and HIV or AIDS]].<ref>{{cite press release|first=Joel|last=Schwarz|publisher=University of Washington|url=http://www.washington.edu/news/archive/id/43061|title=Bulging Prison System Called Massive Intervention in American Family Life|date=August 3, 2008}}</ref>

Guilty [[plea bargain]]s concluded 97% of all federal cases in 2011.<ref>{{cite news|first=Gary|last=Fields|title=Federal Guilty Pleas Soar As Bargains Trump Trials|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10000872396390443589304577637610097206808?mod=googlenews_wsj|work=[[Wall Street Journal]]|location=New York City|pages=A1|date=September 24, 2012}}</ref>

{{As of|2012|12}}, two state prison systems, Alabama and South Carolina, segregated prisoners based on their [[Diagnosis of HIV/AIDS|HIV status]]. On December 21, [[U.S. District Court Judge]] [[Myron Thompson]] ruled in a lawsuit brought by the [[American Civil Liberties Union]] (ACLU) on behalf of several inmates that Alabama's practice in doing so violated federal disabilities law. He noted the state's "outdated and unsupported assumptions about HIV and the prison system's ability to deal with HIV-positive prisoners."<ref>{{cite news|title=Federal judge blocks Alabama policy of segregating HIV inmates|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/federal-judge-blocks-alabama-policy-of-segregating-hiv-inmates/2012/12/21/a4fcf006-4b83-11e2-8758-b64a2997a921_story.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121221170848/http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/federal-judge-blocks-alabama-policy-of-segregating-hiv-inmates/2012/12/21/a4fcf006-4b83-11e2-8758-b64a2997a921_story.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 21, 2012|access-date=December 21, 2012|newspaper=Washington Post|date=December 21, 2012}}</ref>

In 2022, the [[bi-partisan]] Federal Prison Oversight Act was introduced which would require the Department of Justice's Inspector General to conduct detailed inspections of each of the Bureau of Prisons' 122 facilities and would create an independent Justice Department position to investigate complaints.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ossoff.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/22.09.28_Federal-Prison-Oversight-Act-FINAL.pdf|title=Federal Prison Oversight Act|date=2022}}</ref> This was introduced shortly after corruption and abuse was discovered at a federal prison complex in Atlanta with the hopes that it would prevent such occurrences in the future.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://reason.com/2022/09/30/bill-introduced-to-bring-independent-oversight-to-federal-prison-system/|title=Bill Introduced To Bring Independent Oversight to Federal Prison System
|date=September 30, 2022}}</ref>

===Department of Justice "Smart on Crime" Program===
On August 12, 2013, at the [[American Bar Association]]'s House of Delegates meeting, Attorney General [[Eric Holder]] announced the "Smart on Crime" program, which is "a sweeping initiative by the Justice Department that in effect renounces several decades of tough-on-crime anti-drug legislation and policies."<ref name="ABA meeting Aug 12 2013">{{cite web | url=http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/sweeping_reversal_of_the_war_on_drugs_announced_by_atty_general_holder/?sc_cid=130815AR | title=Sweeping reversal of the War on Drugs announced by Atty General Holder | publisher=American Bar Association | work=ABA's 560-member policy making House of Delegates | date=August 12, 2013 | access-date=August 16, 2013 | author=Carter, Terry | page=1}}</ref><ref name="Reforming The Criminal Justice System Aug 12 2013">{{cite web | url=http://www.abajournal.com/files/SMART_ON_CRIME.PDF | title=Smart on Crime: Reforming The Criminal Justice System | publisher=US Department of Justice | work=Remarks to American Bar Association's Annual Convention in San Francisco, CA | date=August 12, 2013 | access-date=August 16, 2013 | page=7}}</ref> Holder said the program "will encourage U.S. attorneys to charge defendants only with crimes "for which the accompanying sentences are better suited to their individual conduct, rather than excessive prison terms more appropriate for violent criminals or drug kingpins…"<ref name="ABA meeting Aug 12 2013" /><ref name="Reforming The Criminal Justice System Aug 12 2013" /> Running through Holder's statements, the increasing economic burden of over-incarceration was stressed.<ref name="ABA meeting Aug 12 2013" /><ref name="Reforming The Criminal Justice System Aug 12 2013" /> {{As of | August 2013}}, the Smart on Crime program is not a legislative initiative but an effort "limited to the DOJ's policy parameters".<ref name="ABA meeting Aug 12 2013" /><ref name="Reforming The Criminal Justice System Aug 12 2013" />

===Strip searches and cavity searches===
The procedural use of [[strip search]]es and [[cavity search]]es in the prison system has raised human rights concerns.<ref>{{cite web |title=Prison Strip Search is Sexually Abusive |url=https://www.aclu.org/prisoners-rights-womens-rights/prison-strip-search-sexually-abusive |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140206162052/https://www.aclu.org/prisoners-rights-womens-rights/prison-strip-search-sexually-abusive |archive-date=2014-02-06 |access-date=2025-05-26 |publisher=ACLU}}</ref>

== References in popular culture ==
In relation to popular culture, mass incarceration has become a popular issue in the [[Hip hop|Hip-Hop]] community. Artists like [[Tupac Shakur]], [[N.W.A|NWA]], [[LL Cool J]], and [[Kendrick Lamar]] have written songs and poems that condemn racial disparities in the criminal justice system, specifically the alleged practice of police officers targeting African Americans. By presenting the negative implications of mass incarceration in a way that is widespread throughout popular culture, [[rap music]] is more likely to impact younger generations than a book or scholarly article would. Hip hop accounts of mass incarceration are based on victim-based testimony and are effective in inspiring others to speak out against the corrupt criminal justice system.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Tibbs|first=Donald F.|date=Fall 2015|title=Hip Hop and the New Jim Crow: Rap Music's Insight on Mass Incarceration|url=http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=598ea7e1-d5c0-4aa3-b3a2-e43c9382e24a%40sessionmgr120&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#AN=115790483&db=a9h|journal=University of Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender & Class}}</ref> The soul singer [[Raphael Saadiq]]'s 2019 album, ''[[Jimmy Lee (album)|Jimmy Lee]]'', thematizes racial disparities in mass incarceration as well as other societal and family issues affecting African Americans.<ref name="Kot">{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/greg-kot/ct-ent-raphael-saadiq-review-20190823-qgn3eawnozf2vpqqjc3gnw7bga-story.html|title=Raphael Saadiq bears soulful witness to his family's anguish on 'Jimmy Lee'|work=[[Chicago Tribune]]|last=Kot|first=Greg|author-link=Greg Kot|date=August 23, 2019|access-date=October 26, 2019}}</ref>

In addition to references in popular music, mass incarceration has also played a role in modern film. For example, [[Ava DuVernay]]'s Netflix film ''[[13th (film)|13th]],'' released in 2017, criticizes mass incarceration and compares it to the history of slavery throughout the United States, beginning with the provision of the [[Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|13th Amendment]] that allows for involuntary servitude "as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted". The film equates mass incarceration with the post-Civil War Jim Crow Era.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2016/10/06/ava-duvernays-netflix-film-13th-reveals-how-mass-incarceration-is-an-extension-of-slavery/|title=Ava DuVernay's Netflix film '13th' reveals how mass incarceration is an extension of slavery|last=Butler|first=Bethonie|date=October 6, 2016|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=April 23, 2017}}</ref>

The fight against mass incarceration has also been a part of the larger discourse in the 21st century movement for Black Lives. [[Black Lives Matter|#BlackLivesMatter]], a progressive movement created by [[Alicia Garza]] after the death of [[Trayvon Martin]], was designed as an online platform to fight against anti-Black sentiments such as mass incarceration, [[Police brutality in the United States|police brutality]], and ingrained racism within modern society. According to Garza, "Black Lives Matter is an ideological and political intervention in a world where Black lives are systematically and intentionally targeted for demise.  It is an affirmation of Black folks' contributions to this society, our humanity, and our resilience in the face of deadly oppression." This movement has focused on specific racial issues faced by African Americans in the justice system including police brutality, ending capital punishment, and eliminating "the criminalization and dehumanization of Black youth across all areas of society."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.thefeministwire.com/2014/10/blacklivesmatter-2/|title=A Herstory of the #BlackLivesMatter Movement by Alicia Garza|last=Garza|first=Alicia|date=October 7, 2014|website=The Feminist Wire|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141009121354/http://thefeministwire.com/2014/10/blacklivesmatter-2/|archive-date=October 9, 2014|url-status=dead|access-date=June 6, 2017}}</ref>

==Federal prisons==
{{Further|List of U.S. federal prisons}}
The [[Federal Bureau of Prisons]], a division of the [[United States Department of Justice]], is responsible for the administration of United States federal prisons.

==State prisons==
{{Main|List of United States state correction agencies}}

Imprisonment by the state judicial systems has steadily diminished since 2006 to 2012, from 689,536 annually to 553,843 annually.<ref>{{Cite news | first=Kevin | last=Johnson | title=Toughness on Crime gradually gives way to fairness | url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/03/30/tough-crime-fairness-cost/6836605/| newspaper=USA Today | pages= 1B, 2B | date=March 31, 2014 | access-date=March 31, 2014}}</ref>

==Military prisons==
{{Main|List of U.S. military prisons}}

Across the world, the U.S. military operates several detention facilities. At year-end 2021, a total of 1,131 prisoners were held under military jurisdiction.<ref name=":13" />

==See also==
* [[Capital punishment in the United States]]
* [[Death in custody]]
* [[Decarceration in the United States]]
* [[Equal Justice Initiative]]
* [[History of United States Prison Systems]]
* [[Religion in United States prisons]]
* [[Prison gangs in the United States]]
* [[Prisoner rights in the United States]]
* [[Prisoner suicide]]
* [[Prisoner abuse]]
* [[Social groups in male and female prisons in the United States]]
* [[United States incarceration rate]]
;Administration
* [[Federal Prison Industries, Inc.]]
* [[Inmate telephone system]]

;Conditions of confinement
* [[Prison Legal News]]

;Controversies
* [[Kids for cash scandal]]

;Prison advocacy groups
* [[November Coalition]]
* [[Prison Policy Initiative]]

;Related
* [[Books to Prisoners]]
* [[Parole in the United States]]
* [[Crime in the United States]]
* [[Law enforcement in the United States]]
* [[Penal labor in the United States]]
* [[Penal populism]]
* [[Civilian noninstitutional population]]
* [[Felony disenfranchisement in the United States]]
* {{section link|Human rights in the United States|Prison system}}
* [[Race in the United States criminal justice system]]
* [[Race and the war on drugs]]
* [[Racial profiling in the United States]]

;By state
* [[Prisons in California]]
* [[Incarceration in Florida]]<!--I think the incarceration template should point to these, rather than "Department of corrections" which are the result of incarceration rather than the other way around--->

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{Sister project links}}

===Books===
* [[Michelle Alexander|Alexander, Michelle]] (2012). ''[[The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness]].'' [[The New Press]]. {{ISBN|1595586431}}
*{{cite book |author1=Todd R. Clear|author2=Natasha A. Frost|title=The Punishment Imperative: The Rise and Failure of Mass Incarceration in America|isbn=978-1479851690|year=2015|publisher=NYU Press|ref=none}}
* [[Angela Davis|Davis, Angela]] (2003). ''Are Prisons Obsolete?.'' [[Seven Stories Press]]. {{ISBN|9781583225813}}
* Enns, Peter K. (2016). ''Incarceration Nation: How the United States Became the Most Punitive Democracy in the World.'' [[Cambridge University Press]]. {{ISBN|9781316500613}}
* Gottschalk, Marie (2014). ''Caught: The Prison State and the Lockdown of American Politics.'' [[Princeton University Press]]. Book Hardcover {{ISBN|9780691164052}}, eBook {{ISBN|9781400852147}}.
* [[Bernard Harcourt|Harcourt, Bernard]] (2012). ''The Illusion of Free Markets: Punishment and the Myth of Natural Order.'' [[Harvard University Press]]. {{ISBN|0674066162}}
* Hinton, Elizabeth (2016). ''From the War on Poverty to the War on Crime: The Making of Mass Incarceration in America.'' Harvard University Press. {{ISBN|0674737237}}
*Murakawa, Naomi (2014). The First Civil Right: How Liberals Built Prison America. Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|9780199892808}}
* {{cite book |title=Locked In: The True Causes of Mass Incarceration-and How to Achieve Real Reform |year=2017 |first=John |last=Pfaff |publisher=Basic Books |isbn=978-0465096916}}
* Selman, Donna and Paul Leighton (2010). ''Punishment for Sale: Private Prisons, Big Business, and the Incarceration Binge.'' [[Rowman & Littlefield Publishers]]. {{ISBN|1442201738}}
* [[Matt Taibbi|Taibbi, Matt]] (2014). ''[[The Divide: American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap]].'' [[Spiegel & Grau]]. {{ISBN|081299342X}}
* [[Loïc Wacquant|Wacquant, Loïc]] (2009). ''Prisons of Poverty.'' [[University of Minnesota Press]]. {{ISBN|0816639019}}
* Wacquant, Loïc (2009). ''Punishing the Poor: The Neoliberal Government of Social Insecurity.'' [[Duke University Press]]. {{ISBN|082234422X}}
* [[Jackie Wang|Wang, Jackie]]. (2018). ''Carceral Capitalism.'' [[Semiotext(e)]]. {{ISBN|978-1635900026}}
* Western, Bruce (2007). ''Punishment and Inequality in America.'' [[Russell Sage Foundation]]. {{ISBN|087154895X}}
* {{Citation |last=Morris |first=M. W. |title="Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools" |url=https://thenewpress.com/books/pushout |place=New York |publisher=The New Press}}. {{ISBN|9781620973424}}

===Articles and interviews===
* [https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-prison-state-of-america/ The Prison State of America] (2014-12-28), [[Chris Hedges]], ''[[Truthdig]]''
* [https://therealnews.com/chedges1223prisoneconomy How Prisons Rip Off and Exploit the Incarcerated, Part I] (2015-01-04) and [https://therealnews.com/chedges1223prisoneconomypt2 Part II] (2015-01-07), [[Marshall "Eddie" Conway]] and [[Chris Hedges]], ''[[The Real News]]''
* [https://truthout.org/video/do-prisons-and-mass-incarceration-keep-us-safe/ Do Prisons and Mass Incarceration Keep Us Safe? Part I] (2015-01-11) and [https://truthout.org/video/part-two-do-prisons-and-mass-incarceration-keep-us-safe/ Part II] (2015-01-13), [[Marshall "Eddie" Conway]] and Maya Schenwar, author of ''Locked Down and Locked Out.''  ''[[The Real News]].'' &nbsp;  &nbsp; See also  [https://tomdispatch.com/maya-schenwar-prison-by-any-other-name/ Tomgram: Maya Schenwar, Prison by Any Other Name] (2015-01-18), ''[[Tom Engelhardt|TomDispatch]]''
* [https://truthout.org/video/carceral-conglomerate-makes-millions-from-incarcerated-their-friends-and-families/ "Carceral Conglomerate" Makes Millions From Incarcerated, Their Friends and Families] (February 2015), [[Symbionese Liberation Army|James Kilgore]] and Brian Dolinar, ''[[Truthout]]''
* [https://truthout.org/articles/prison-industries-dont-let-society-improve-or-we-lose-business-part-i/ Prison Industries: "Don't Let Society Improve or We Lose Business"]  (April 2012), [[Dina Rasor]], ''[[Truthout]]''
* [http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/6/10/report-immigrantinmatesmistreatedinprivateprisonsintexas.html Immigrants mistreated in 'inhumane' private prisons, finds report]. ''[[Al Jazeera America]].'' June 10, 2014.
* [https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2015/02/locked-up-for-being-poor/386069/ Locked Up for Being Poor: How private debt collectors contribute to a cycle of jail, unemployment, and poverty]. ''[[The Atlantic]].'' February 25, 2015.
* [http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/5/14/why-does-the-us-jail-so-many-people.html Why does the US imprison so many people?] ''[[Al Jazeera America]].'' May 14, 2015.
* [http://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/cruel-and-all-too-usual/ Cruel and All-Too-Usual]. ''The Huffington Post.'' July 1, 2015.
* [https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jul/17/prison-industrial-complex-big-business-koch-brothers Big business built the prison state. Why should we trust them to tear it down?] ''[[The Guardian]].'' July 17, 2015.
* SpearIt, Economic Interest Convergence in Downsizing Imprisonment (2014). University of Pittsburgh Law Review, Vol. 25, 2014. Available at SSRN: [https://ssrn.com/abstract=2608698 Economic Interest Convergence in Downsizing Imprisonment]
*[http://www.democracynow.org/2016/6/27/my_four_months_as_a_private "My Four Months as a Private Prison Guard": Shane Bauer Goes Undercover to Expose Conditions]. ''[[Democracy Now!]]'' June 27, 2016.
*[https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/oct/22/inside-us-prison-strike-labor-protest Inside America's biggest prison strike: 'The 13th amendment didn't end slavery']. ''The Guardian.'' October 22, 2016.
*[https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/28/us/mass-incarceration-five-key-facts/index.html 5 facts behind America's high incarceration rate] "CNN"'Drew Kann' July 10, 2018
*{{cite podcast
| url= https://www.npr.org/2019/08/14/751126384/mass-incarceration?t=1599209427100
| title= Mass Incarceration
| publisher=NPR
| date= August 15, 2019
}}

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[[Category:Imprisonment and detention in the United States| ]]
[[Category:Incarceration rates in the United States]]
[[Category:Penal system in the United States| ]]