I was sent this article to read. There are so many misconceptions in the general public about the effect the explosive prison population has had on our communities. Arizona is now 12X what it used to be .Incarceration has increased 60% but the population has only increased 33%. All this with lowered felony cases. What is causing it?
This is one state. Numbers would be different elsewhere, but the problem is the same. The business of prison needs to change. It is strangling us.
When you have a state that has more inmates than college students what does that do to the economy? Those who are released often have a hard time getting a job so how can they afford to go to a college that probably would turn them down because they have a felony record. If we want to make America a greater place to live we need to change the way we do business and the prison system would be a great place to start. Click on the link to read the article and support what I do by subscribing to ITFO News monthly newsletter that pops up on the opening screen.
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https://www.fwd.us/news/arizona-imprisonment-crisis-part-1/
Arizona’s Imprisonment Crisis:
The High Price of Prison Growth

Public safety and criminal justice policy is at a crossroads in Arizona. Despite overwhelming evidence that states can safely reduce crime and incarceration through commonsense reforms, Arizona continues to be a national outlier with high imprisonment rates and rising corrections spending.
This is no small matter. Arizona’s imprisonment crisis removes thousands of people from the economy and costs taxpayers more than $1 billion each year — preventing the state from investing in other critical priorities like education, social services for families, and child safety. Despite this steep price, the system does not make Arizona safer. Simply put, the state’s high imprisonment rate is hurting Arizona’s economy, communities, and families.
This report, created using individual-level data on people admitted to Arizona prisons, will be released in three parts throughout the fall of 2018. This first part focuses on the causes of Arizona’s prison population growth and the consequences for Arizona’s economy. The second part reveals how Arizona’s imprisonment crisis affects some communities more than others, and the third part examines the dire consequences for Arizona’s women and families. Experts on corrections data cleaned and analyzed Arizona’s prison data in accordance with national standards. See our methodology for a description of our process and definitions.
I work at a prison and I couldn’t agree more…. mass incarceration is no joke! Thank you for sharing. If you’d like to check out my perspective from working at a Prison I’d love for you to check out my blog!
https://prisonlyfe.blog/
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I definitely will. I just returned home after 6 weeks. I will be in touch soon.
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