1
Faltering Freedom in the
American Justice System:
Mass Incarceration Crisis
John Ipek CAS 138T
Freedom for the Few
Despite being a proponent of
democracy and freedom, the United States
has the highest rate of incarceration
worldwide.1 This is including many
countries with double and sometimes triple
the rate of crime, compared to most
developed nations the difference is several
magnitudes. How is it that a large portion of
the country can have their freedoms taken
away when crime is at an all time low?2 The
reason stems from a variety of mistakes in
prison policy and a slow bureaucratic
process immune to change. Being part of a
democratic society, it is frustrating to see
money being wasted and communities being
destroyed for the benefit of few big players
in a prison industrial complex. It is easy to
ignore issues plaguing those who are
deemed criminals, they seem to be a lost
cause. But do their mistakes indicate an
immediate expulsion from civil society?
There is a great deal of virtue in speaking
for those who do not have a voice, 6.1
1
"Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2018 | Prison Policy Initiative."
Accessed April 9, 2019.
https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2018.html​.
2
"Pssst: Crime May Be Near an All-Time Low - Bloomberg."
Accessed April 9, 2019.
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2018-02-12/pssst-crime-
may-be-near-an-all-time-low​.
million felons cannot vote to enact reform
based on their experiences.3
Everyday Effects & Erosion of
Society
The prison industrial complex has
been growing exponentially in the last two
decades, with private for profit prison
populations increasing by 47 percent.4 Such
an increase is marked with no direct benefit
to society, coinciding with 4.5 times the
amount spent in 1975 with no increased
levels of safety.5 Aside from an economic
detriment which is measurable, one should
take a moment to realize the humanity of
those stripped of their lives. Families are
broken, children lose parents and parents
lose children. The social impact cannot be
mapped by onlookers, homes and
relationships are destroyed by punishing
those making mistakes. How can one
already making mistakes be expected to stop
when they lose any human connections they
once had? Each day that goes by, individuals
who for all intents and purposes were just
like anyone else in society, spend entire
years with no sense of freedom. Those put in
prison are consistently returning at alarming
rates, 68 percent return after just three years
while 83 percent do after nine years.6 The
3
"Number of People by State Who Cannot Vote Due to a Felony ...."
Accessed April 9, 2019.
https://felonvoting.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000287
4
"Capitalizing on Mass Incarceration: U.S. Growth in Private Prisons
...." 2 Aug. 2018,
https://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/capitalizing-on-mass-i
ncarceration-u-s-growth-in-private-prisons/​. Accessed 10 Apr. 2019.
5
"Study Finds Increased Incarceration Has Marginal-to-Zero Impact
on ...." 7 Aug. 2017,
https://eji.org/news/study-finds-increased-incarceration-does-not-redu
ce-crime​. Accessed 10 Apr. 2019​.
6
​"2018 Update on Prisoner Recidivism - Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)."
23 May. 2018, ​https://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=6266​.
Accessed 10 Apr. 2019.

point of punishment is to curb unwanted
behaviour, in this case it works for only 17
percent who go through the prison system.
Each day that goes by, the country fails
every eight out of ten people punished for a
crime. Each day families are irreparably
ruined and as a result even those not
incarcerated suffer.
The Problems and Purpose for
Change
In order to revitalize the current
process of the justice system’s prison
system, the issues found in its foundation
need to be addressed. Many are unaware of
the abuse and exploitation of those
imprisoned, again because those in the
system are ignored by society. Many
incarcerated are not even convicted, they are
just poor. The cash bail bond industry is
lucrative and preys on those financially
insecure, while those with enough money
easily avoid incarceration while they are
waiting judgement. Inside the prisons are
numerous points of exploitation from the
commissary to the forced labour of
prisoners. All of these resulting in abysmal
effectiveness for curbing crime, leading one
to look into methods which actually work. It
is difficult to compare any homogenous
country to the United States, but there are
clearly systems which are much more
effective in other environments. These range
from rehabilitation of drug users and
programs helping those vulnerable to crime.
2
Figure17
Bailing out the Rich
The exploitation of those battling the
criminal justice system start before anyone
is even found guilty of a crime, as seen in
figure one. Almost half a million Americans
are jailed before they are charged with a
crime, many because they cannot afford the
bail set; on top of restricting freedom,
pre-trial incarceration cost taxpayers 14
billion dollars yearly.8 Some of these people
are held for months and even years, and are
more likely to take a plea deal due to being
worn down, and in this time losing their jobs
and homes.9 Not only is the practice
immoral, it contributes to the growing
problems a defendant has to face. Someone
7
“Flow Chart of Bail Bonds.” Prison Policy, 10 May 2016,
www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/incomejails.html​.
Accessed 10 Apr. 2019.
8
"Poor Stay In Jail While Rich Go Free: Rethinking Cash Bail In
Wisconsin." 21 Jan. 2019,
https://www.wpr.org/poor-stay-jail-while-rich-go-free-rethinking-cash-b
ail-wisconsin​. Accessed 10 Apr. 2019.
9
"​We Can't End Mass Incarceration Without Ending Money Bail ...."
11 Dec. 2017,
https://www.aclu.org/blog/smart-justice/we-cant-end-mass-incarcerati
on-without-ending-money-bail​. Accessed 10 Apr. 2019.

who cannot afford even a thousand dollars
(which may be over 60 percent of America
who were reported to lack even 1000 dollars
of savings)10 will not be able to sit in jail for
weeks without earning money. Even if the
person is found clear of any wrongdoing,
they do not receive any restitution for the
time and money lost in prison. This opens
the person into desperation which may cause
them to actually commit crimes to survive,
completely counterintuitive to the purpose
of a justice system.
The proponents of keeping cash bails
are not so surprisingly bail-bonds companies
which profit off the poor and desperate. A
common retort is that by removing cash bail,
dangerous criminals will commit more
crimes and skip trial. But wait, if they are so
dangerous and risky, why can they not pose
a threat to society just by paying money?
The backwards thinking is amplified by
those in congress who are lobbied by these
companies, many grasping on
fear-mongering to keep bails protecting the
poor from passing.11
Exploitation by Nickel & Diming
An overlooked aspect of many
prison sentences are the costs associated
with living in confinement. Many think it is
a free pass to live at the expense of
taxpayers, but those behind bars are subject
to a “tax” created by prison systems and
other for profit industries operating under
the guise of services to the inmates. An
10
"55 million Americans have no emergency savings - CNBC.com." 6
Jul. 2018,
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/02/about-55-million-americans-have-n
o-emergency-savings.html​. Accessed 10 Apr. 2019.
11
ibid
3
example of this would be phone calls, the
only way a person can get in contact with
loved ones and manage their life (all debts
and dues continue for those imprisoned).
The cost of a single phone call is exorbitant,
a 15 minute call costs 12.95 combined with
surcharges for depositing money to even pay
the fee itself.12 There is no competition for
who gets these contracts, the highest bidder
gains exclusive rights to conduct a
monopoly on those vulnerable individuals in
confinement.13
The fees are draining on any family
maintaining contact with their loved ones,
leading many to cut contact altogether.
Those in prison are already having trouble
following the rules of society, maintaining
contact with people willing to help them can
mean the difference between rehabilitation
and recidivism. Those making the profits do
not care about that they are putting a strain
on society as a hole, even though everyone
is affected by those who are not
reacclimated with society. Another avenue
of profit is from prison commissaries, which
are vital to supplement the inadequate food
supplied. In some cases the food prisoners
receive are cut in order for sheriffs to pocket
the excess.14 Similar to phone calls, the act
of merely depositing money to then spend
on inflated prices cost from 35 to 45 percent
of the total deposit, added onto the total fees
is another 15 imposed by the courts.15
12
"Regulating the prison phone industry | Prison Policy Initiative."
https://www.prisonpolicy.org/phones/​. Accessed 11 Apr. 2019.
13
ibid
14
"Alabama Sheriffs Filled Their Wallets by Starving Prisoners." 10
Jan. 2018,
https://www.thedailybeast.com/alabama-sheriffs-filled-their-wallets-by
-starving-prisoners​. Accessed 11 Apr. 2019.
15
"Prison bankers cash in on captive customers – Center for Public
Integrity." 30 Sep. 2014,

Figure216
Figure two shows the flow of 120 dollars
when sent to a prisoner in Virginia, the end
result being a meesely 44.44 dollars which
can be spent on the overpriced commissary
provided to the inmates. As a result of the
financial hardships one faces when sending
loved ones money, it is difficult for those
with lower income to stay in connection
with those incarcerated. It is well
documented that those who remain
connected with loved ones are much less
likely to commit crimes and return to the
system a second time.17
https://publicintegrity.org/business/prison-bankers-cash-in-on-captive-
customers/​. Accessed 11 Apr. 2019.
16
Wagner, Daniel. “Payment Flow.” Public Integrity,
www.publicintegrity.org/business/prison-bankers-cash-in-on-captive-c
ustomers/​ Accessed 11 Apr. 2019.
17
"Lowering Recidivism through Family Communication | Prison
Legal ...." 15 Apr. 2014,
https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2014/apr/15/lowering-recidivis
m-through-family-communication/​. Accessed 11 Apr. 2019.
4
Modern Day Slavery in Prisons
Another misconception for those
incarcerated is that they are able to spend
their days doing nothing and just working
out while gambling, an image seen in many
films. However many are faced with a form
of servitude outlawed centuries, forced
labour under the supervision of prison
guards. Especially considering a majority of
those serving time are African-American,
the practice of forcing 800 thousand
prisoners to forced labour for as little as four
cents an hour is a direct act of tarnishing the
13th Amendment.18 How did such a
backwards concept come into fruition?
Similarly to the bail bonds industry, large
corporations spent 22 million dollars
18
"Opinion | Serving Time Should Not Mean 'Prison Slavery' - The
New ...." 30 Aug. 2018,
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/30/opinion/national-prison-strike-sl
avery-.html​. Accessed 11 Apr. 2019.
 5

lobbying congress to pass the Prison experience and have motivation to

Industries Act.19 From a completely reintegrate into society?
economic standpoint, the corporations using
slave labour are able to keep costs so low
that their margins can adjust to keep out
competitors. Combined with
anti-competitive models, the impact on those
doing the same jobs outside prison is
disastrous. Those working for 100 times the
cost of prisoners, become obsolete and lose
employment. This creates a vacuum of
money that is directed toward the
corporations pocketing the new profits and
putting more money into lobbying to keep
slave labour legal.
Those employing prisoners not only
are exempt from giving minimum wage, but
even health standards required everywhere
else.20 There are some that argue the work is
part of punishment and ends up benefiting
Profiting off of a National Crisis22
society as a whole thanks to the increased
production and letting the prisoners gain There is no denying that the mass
“work experience” for when they are incarceration of the country qualifies as a
released. This has proven entirely false, crisis, leading to many managing it in
those released are exponentially less likely different ways. A majority of the
to be hired regardless of the work they aforementioned tactics are employed by
performed, along with no social or economic private prisons, which serve for the sole
benefit passed onto the areas housing purpose of profit. Many argue that private
prisons.21 Along with the statistical corporations are able to be more efficient
disadvantages, those who are abused in such and in the end save money for taxpayers.
a way are broken down as humans. They are But instead of just saving money, they
stripped of their worth by working operate on bare minimum standards
relentlessly for pennies, how can someone allowing for the shareholders to cash in on
already beaten down come out of such an the savings. Not only do private prisons pay
guards on average 5,000 dollars less than
government prisons, they also contain much
19
"The Prison Industrial Complex: A Growth Industry in a ... - SAGE
Journals."
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.4179/NLF.213.0000006​.
Accessed 11 Apr. 2019.
ibid​.
20 22
“Private Prisons.” Nhprisonwatch,
ibid​.
21
www.nhprisonwatch.org/about-money/​.

higher rates of violence along with
inadequate healthcare.23
Studies looking into how much
savings are actually had found in Arizona
most not only did not save money, they cost
more, while also declining prisoners they
did not want due to their higher cost.24 In
some cases those prisons instigate the
proliferation of the crisis, paying judges to
sentence defendants more liberally and
spending 17.4 million dollars on lobbying
for stricter laws to keep the flow of new
prisoners.25 Clearly these corrupt industries
are negatively affecting those outside prison
as well, contrary to the argument that they
are providing more jobs, many cut the
number of guards to save money while
creating jobs which pay less than those
which are destroyed. There is no question
that the prison industrial complex is part of
the blame for the growing rate of
incarceration for Americans. A clear conflict
of interest is created when the purpose of
institutions are focussed on increasing
prisoners when the point of the justice
system is to prevent crime.
Preventing Additional Unnecessary
Convictions
Many of the previous issues found in
the prison industrial complex can be entirely
mitigated if no new convicts are admitted in
the first place. There are many ways of
reducing crime rates, primarily through
infrastructure spending on community
23
"The Problem with Private Prisons — Justice Policy Institute." 2
Feb. 2018, ​http://www.justicepolicy.org/news/12006​. Accessed 11
Apr. 2019.
24
ibid
25
ibid
6
programs and education, but that is not the
goal of fixing the current justice system. A
large amount of convictions are from
non-violent drug offenses, leading those
who are not entirely involved in regular
anti-social behavior to be locked into an
environment with much worse individuals.26
The war on drugs has become a blight on the
justice system, with the opioid epidemic
overtaking any other drug crisis one can see
that throwing people in jail for drugs does
not dissuade those who want the drugs.
Combined with those who are non-violent,
people in these situations should be helped
and taken out of their drug fueled
environment and placed somewhere more
positive, definetely not in prisons.
Another group who are not meant to
be in prison are the mentally ill. Once
mental institutions became overcrowded,
deinstitutionalization began by using mental
health drugs to flood the streets with people
unfit to live on their own.27 People who are
dangerous became docile on the drugs and
were seen as safe to be in society, however
this does not mean they were ready to live
on their own. Many mentally ill individuals
released did not have people who cared for
them, as a result they were thrown into a
world they could not operate in. Those
released would stop taking medication and
begin having violent episodes resulting in
them being arrested, resulting in over 2
million being locked up with 83 percent not
26
"The Psychological Impact of Incarceration: Implications for
Post-Prison ...." 1 Dec. 2001,
https://aspe.hhs.gov/basic-report/psychological-impact-incarceration-i
mplications-post-prison-adjustment​. Accessed 12 Apr. 2019.
27
"Deinstitutionalization of People with Mental Illness: Causes and
...."
https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/article/deinstitutionalization-peopl
e-mental-illness-causes-and-consequences/2013-10​. Accessed 12
Apr. 2019.

receiving adequate mental health care.28 The
shuffle merely took an overcrowding
problem and moved it elsewear, we are still
reeling from the overcrowding decades ago
pouring into prisons. These two groups
should be receiving much different attention
as opposed to creating more money for the
prison industrial complex. By moving these
individuals, the system can focus more
effectively on preventing actual criminals
from continuing a life of crime.
Looking at Improving a Broken
System29
The previous issues must be
addressed before the current justice system
can start over and address its true role of
keeping the community safe and preventing
crime. The recurring theme of America’s
current system is punishment, which has
been proven to not reduce crime.30 Similarly
28
"Jailing People with Mental Illness | NAMI: National Alliance on
Mental ...."
https://www.nami.org/Learn-More/Public-Policy/Jailing-People-with-M
ental-Illness​. Accessed 12 Apr. 2019.
29
Toro, Jessel. “Rehabilitation .” Soap Boxie,
www.soapboxie.com/government/Working-to-reduce-Crime-Punishm
ent-or-Rehabilitation​.
30
"Why Punishment Doesn't Reduce Crime | Psychology Today." 25
Apr. 2018,
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/crime-and-punishment/201
804/why-punishment-doesnt-reduce-crime​. Accessed 12 Apr. 2019.
7
the threat of punishment does not deter the
crime, but the threat of being caught does.31
This can be seen in drunk driving incidents,
the punishment for DUI has been increasing
and can have a disastrous effect on a
person’s life, but many still choose to get
behind the wheel. This is because they
consider the chance of being caught low,
enabling them to feel confident in going
through with driving impaired. The inverse
of punishing those convicted is
rehabilitating them. Many other countries
are able to sustain much lower rates of
recidivism, many in the 20 percent range.32
Many countries employ programs
that grant jobs to inmates, jobs that pay a
real wage and are outside the walls of their
prison. Small initiatives like this allow for
prisons to feel human again, and as a result
seem more human for those outside as well.
The lower rates of recidivism are at a cost
much higher than that of American prisons,
but in the long run curbs overcrowding. This
is of course counterintuitive to those
attempting to make money off the
misfortune of those imprisoned. As a result
the entire outlook on prisons needs
reinvention, where prisons are not an
investment but a public utility. There are
fragments of improving the systems
throughout America, Ohio saw a reduction
of over 22 percent in recidivism among
those who took college courses while
incarcerated.33 Clearly the idea of
31
"Five Things About Deterrence - National Institute of Justice."
https://nij.gov/five-things/pages/deterrence.aspx​. Accessed 12 Apr.
2019.
32
"Prisoner Rehabilitation Around the World - Counterpunch." 26
Feb. 2016,
https://www.counterpunch.org/2016/02/26/prisoner-rehabilitation-arou
nd-the-world/​. Accessed 12 Apr. 2019.
33
"The Economic Impact of Prison Rehabilitation Programs: Wharton
...." 17 Aug. 2017,
 8

rehabilitation is in the background of can make changes to prevent further

prisons, but the pursuit of profit has put this
goal on the backburner.
The final step is continuing to
facilitate positive behaviour on prisoners
after they are released in order to prevent a
revolving door of poor people facing the
same issues over and over again. Those who
are incarcerated have an average income
which is 41 percent lower than similar
people not incarcerated.34 This exacerbates
the race and income disparity with the
prison system, where those born into
poverty are destined to die in poverty. Many
in poverty even choose prison over starving,
showing the crippling poverty affecting one
of the richest nations in the world.35
Programs which take newly released
prisoners and walk them through
reintegration can be vital to keeping them
out of prison and poverty.
Moving Forward with Change
There is no telling how much society
has already suffered at the hands of greedy
politicians and private prisons who put their
wallets ahead of America’s well-being.
There is nothing that can be done to fix the
damage done to those families and
communities directly affected by the prison
industrial complex, but it is clear congress
degradation of America’s.
Congress can start by ending slavery
in prisons, the least they can do after caving
into lobbyists decades ago. This will not
only help the economy as a whole, those
prisoners will have more dignity and be less
likely to lose hope in ever making money
once they get out. Congress can further look
into major investigations and imposition of
new regulations into private prisons to stop
the out of control exploitation of inmates.
This will greatly reduce the financial burden
on those incarcerated and allow the money
saved to go toward starting a new and better
life on the outside. Finally the focus of
prisons must be shifted toward rehabilitating
instead of punishing. Programs which
encourage college classes, along with anti
drug and alcohol courses, can create a
drastic difference once they are released.
America turned its back on millions of its
population, but it is not too late for change
which will help society as a whole.

https://publicpolicy.wharton.upenn.edu/live/news/2059-the-economic-i
mpact-of-prison-rehabilitation/for-students/blog/news.php​. Accessed
12 Apr. 2019.
34
"The New Pipeline: Poverty to Prison | Prosperity Now." 6 Apr.
2018, ​https://prosperitynow.org/blog/new-pipeline-poverty-prison​.
Accessed 12 Apr. 2019.
35
"Why people go to jail on purpose - Business Insider." 28 Mar.
2018,
https://www.businessinsider.com/jail-getting-arrested-deliberately-201
8-3​. Accessed 12 Apr. 2019.