The US prison-industrial complex is really disgusting and before anyone brings it up: private prisons aren't why. Those are still the minority of prison populat

The US prison-industrial complex is really disgusting and before anyone brings it up: private prisons aren't why. Those are still the minority of prison populations (but yes they're still bad). Price gouging (ie commisary, cost of phone calls, charging for video vists in prison, copays to see a doctor, institutionalized rape as a form of punishment and control and yes, solitary confinement). Prosecturos, legislators and juries seek extended prison sentences as a form of vengeance and being able to appear "tough on crime" yet the outcomes are very racially-based. You can see this in the lengths of sentences for similar circumstances that only vary on race, the likelihood of the death penalty and the fact that cases that are ultimately exonerated (eg by DNA evidence) are heavily slanted towards minorities (meaning they were wrongfully convicted to begin with). Our current president was one of the key architects of the 1994 crime bill (signed into law by Bill Clinton) that was a massive contributor to mass incarceration for low-level drug possession crimes in particular. And when people do get out we give them a scarlet letter for life in the form of the "are you a felon?" question that should be illegal. We throw people in prison who were out on probation or parole for merely being charged with a felony (note: CHARGED not CONVICTED). It's really depressing how comfortable so many Americans are with this level of cruelty.