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You have to realize the American legal system is optimized to (1) provide employment for the legal system, (2) provide slave labor for states and corporations,

You have to realize the American legal system is optimized to (1) provide employment for the legal system, (2) provide slave labor for states and corporations, and (3) exploit the families of prisoners for profit.

jahnu 4y ago
Perhaps also, (n) assuage the fears of a certain class of voters through populist policies that have less to do with effectiveness than they do with fear and retribution.
- sonotathrowaway 4y ago
  That rhetoric furthers economic benefits though. Prisons are mostly located in rural areas, where they provide job centers to otherwise poor people. The legal system is chiefly concerned with moving people out of urban centers into rural areas, where their incarceration is paid for through state tax revenue, redistributing the money from urban to rural areas. This is the reason why prison lobbies are the strongest political opponents of drug decriminalization or legalization - reducing prison occupancy reduces profits per prisoner.
  - x86_64Ubuntu 4y ago
    I've also heard that the prison population, while sometimes non-voting, goes to the electoral advantage of these rural areas.
    - rjbwork 4y ago
      That's correct. Prison populations are included in the areas they are located for census purposes, further skewing political power towards rural areas.
    - klyrs 4y ago
      https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2019/12/31/761932806/your-body-being-used-where-prisoners-who-can-t-vote-fill-voting-districts https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2019/12/31/761932806...
foxyv 4y ago
Don't forget enforcing black codes and Jim Crow during reconstruction. A lot of those laws are still on the books. Vagrancy, loitering, anti-camping, anti-panhandling, etc... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Codes_(United_States)#:~:text=Although%20freedmen%20had%20been%20emancipated,commit%20them%20to%20involuntary%20labor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Codes_(United_States)#:~....
- sonotathrowaway 4y ago
  Those are the historical reasons prisons were necessary, but those all go towards the above goals - providing a source of slave labor. It has expanded its reach since then though. While the legal has a hard time incarcerating people who haven’t committed crimes (although it still does this, and actively builds up its pipeline for fresh bodies), it’s still able to exploit innocent people for profit. You can see this in prisons strategy of removing and banning in person visits, moving convicts far from their communities, and extorting families with predatory prices to communicate with their loved ones.
Ekaros 4y ago
Not to forget to be used as tool against political opponents.

jahnu 4y ago

Perhaps also, (n) assuage the fears of a certain class of voters through populist policies that have less to do with effectiveness than they do with fear and retribution.

sonotathrowaway 4y ago
That rhetoric furthers economic benefits though. Prisons are mostly located in rural areas, where they provide job centers to otherwise poor people. The legal system is chiefly concerned with moving people out of urban centers into rural areas, where their incarceration is paid for through state tax revenue, redistributing the money from urban to rural areas. This is the reason why prison lobbies are the strongest political opponents of drug decriminalization or legalization - reducing prison occupancy reduces profits per prisoner.
- x86_64Ubuntu 4y ago
  I've also heard that the prison population, while sometimes non-voting, goes to the electoral advantage of these rural areas.
  - rjbwork 4y ago
    That's correct. Prison populations are included in the areas they are located for census purposes, further skewing political power towards rural areas.
  - klyrs 4y ago
    https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2019/12/31/761932806/your-body-being-used-where-prisoners-who-can-t-vote-fill-voting-districts https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2019/12/31/761932806...

foxyv 4y ago

Don't forget enforcing black codes and Jim Crow during reconstruction. A lot of those laws are still on the books. Vagrancy, loitering, anti-camping, anti-panhandling, etc... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Codes_(United_States)#:~:text=Although%20freedmen%20had%20been%20emancipated,commit%20them%20to%20involuntary%20labor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Codes_(United_States)#:~....

sonotathrowaway 4y ago
Those are the historical reasons prisons were necessary, but those all go towards the above goals - providing a source of slave labor. It has expanded its reach since then though. While the legal has a hard time incarcerating people who haven’t committed crimes (although it still does this, and actively builds up its pipeline for fresh bodies), it’s still able to exploit innocent people for profit. You can see this in prisons strategy of removing and banning in person visits, moving convicts far from their communities, and extorting families with predatory prices to communicate with their loved ones.

Ekaros 4y ago

Not to forget to be used as tool against political opponents.