I think one of the biggest barriers to your argument, is that prison is more than just a punishment for breaking the social contract and the law. It is suppose

I think one of the biggest barriers to your argument, is that prison is more than just a punishment for breaking the social contract and the law. It is supposed to reform behavior so that they don't just reoffend once released. Unfortunately, ex convicts have very limited employment opportunity and do face prejudice. If someone commits a crime, has served their sentence, then they should have the ability to reenter society and earn a living wage without their past mistakes constant haunting them. If they can't find a job and constantly face discrimination for their past that's just pushing them away and toward the prospect of reoffending. While a lot of people have different stances on drugs or guns, the issue is that what's legal changes over time. Our classification of certain substance or weapons has not been effective, has overall just increased the incarceration rate, and once these people get mistreated because of an old policy or hell even a modern yet useless one, they are more likely to feel like they have less to lose. Well I'm already in jain for X or Y which means its so hard for me to get a job....and so if they decide to turn back to doing those things because they don't see a viable method of reintegration into society and the workforce they might just accept the fact that they can't get rid of they past or escape it and might engage in more risk behavior.