The reason why is even worse. In the US slavery is outlawed EXCEPT as punishment.
Yep, you read that correctly. The US prison population is so high because it's a path to legal slavery. In the year 2021... The time for prison reform is way past overdue.
As someone who’s been to prison, I can suggest two ways to reduce the US prison population:
1.) Reduce penalties for drug possession. In most states possessing any amount of drugs is an automatic felony. So $10 worth of cocaine, or even trace amounts of something like hash or field-picked psilocybin mushrooms can send you to prison.
2.) Amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to bar divulging of convictions in which the sentence has been completed 7 years prior (active sex offender registration would still remain relevant). Progressives rant about private prisons and slave labor but ultimately the “collateral consequences” of forced unemployment/underemployment and lack of landlords who are willing to rent to ex-cons is what really drives up the incarceration rate. My home state of Texas, strangely enough, has a law like this. However I have seen it argued that Texas’ law is preempted by the FCRA, rendering it unenforceable.
ElysiumSprouts on March 14th, 2021 at 14:35 UTC »
The reason why is even worse. In the US slavery is outlawed EXCEPT as punishment.
Yep, you read that correctly. The US prison population is so high because it's a path to legal slavery. In the year 2021... The time for prison reform is way past overdue.
man-who-says-balls on March 14th, 2021 at 16:57 UTC »
As someone who’s been to prison, I can suggest two ways to reduce the US prison population:
1.) Reduce penalties for drug possession. In most states possessing any amount of drugs is an automatic felony. So $10 worth of cocaine, or even trace amounts of something like hash or field-picked psilocybin mushrooms can send you to prison.
2.) Amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to bar divulging of convictions in which the sentence has been completed 7 years prior (active sex offender registration would still remain relevant). Progressives rant about private prisons and slave labor but ultimately the “collateral consequences” of forced unemployment/underemployment and lack of landlords who are willing to rent to ex-cons is what really drives up the incarceration rate. My home state of Texas, strangely enough, has a law like this. However I have seen it argued that Texas’ law is preempted by the FCRA, rendering it unenforceable.
kciuq1 on March 14th, 2021 at 17:09 UTC »
Thanks Nixon and Reagan!