Incarceration has devastating effects on individuals and families. It should not be a business.

Welcome to today's open thread. It is becoming more spring-like here, although it did sleet yesterday morning. Brrr chill.

The criminal injustice system in this country could be improved immensely with a change in application and administration. There are so many ways to break some code in this country, it is a rare day most people do not stray outside of the strictly interpreted terms of what is considered legal. Seems the poor and especially folks of color are being caught and convicted at higher rates than most others. Why is 'white collar' crime not prosecuted more vigorously?

Since poverty is now another crime, the criminal justice system (CJS) has contrived a solution by locking people in cages for various lengths of time. This is deemed as repaying ones debt to society. The opportunities to actually work out this 'debt' are scarce indeed.

A proposed solution is to provide training for those in stir. Paying people the minimum wage would be incentive for many to learn and perform various services, if opportunities are provided. In this way, the prisoners could still help provide support for their families while developing skills applicable outside the prison walls. Being treated with some dignity and support are aspects of rehabilitation, which is sorely missing.

Historically, prisoners were given useful work to do, manufacturing products and supporting the prisons themselves through industry. As laws were passed prohibiting transport of prison-made goods across state lines, most goods made in prisons today are for government use, and the practice itself has been in decline for decades, leaving offenders without any productive activities while serving their sentences.

Currently, prisons are overcrowded and underfunded. In 2008, 1 in 100 American adults were incarcerated. Estimates vary, but it can cost upwards of $30,000 per year to keep an inmate behind bars. The costs of healthcare for inmates, who often suffer mental health and addiction issues, grew at a rate of 10% per year according to a 2007 Pew study. Programs for the incarcerated are often non-existent or underfunded. Recidivism rates are through the roof, with one Bureau of Justice Statistics study finding that more than 75% of released inmates were arrested again within five years.

Perhaps it would be in society's best interest to provide opportunities to perform needed services
such as farming, road maintenance, building maintenance, land management and the like.

Some resources:

https://centerforprisonreform.org/history/

https://eddiemauro.com/issues/criminal-justice-reform/detail/the-restora...

https://www.cooperativeparty.com/criminal-justice-reform.html

As always this is an open thread, so anything off topic is cool. Please share whatever is on your mind.