What is the prison industrial complex?
Currently, the US has the largest incarcerated population in the world, one far disproportionate to its total population.
With over 2M people behind bars and just about 1 in every 2 Americans that know someone who has been incarcerated for at least a night, we find ourselves in a mass incarceration crisis.
The prison industrial complex gives reason to this issue. It describes the system of companies that profit from mass incarceration. These aren't just private prisons. They are companies that have prison labor in their supply chains and underpay their workers. They are companies that hold monopolies over prison phone lines - some charging individuals $1/minute to call their loved ones.
Like in any issue, there are also companies that have become negligent. They are failing to leverage their financial and social capital to fight against mass incarceration. These are companies that overlook any applicant with a criminal record, do not address topics such as racial equity and fail to support any other organizations working to reduce recidivism rates - the list goes on.
2020 has put many topics on our country's radar. Criminal justice is just one of them. But it overlaps with so many other outcries for change. We must acknowledge that our current system was built on false premises and is devoid of justice. We hope that you will join us in dismantling it.
Like in any issue, there are also companies that have become negligent. They are failing to leverage their financial and social capital to fight against mass incarceration. These are companies that overlook any applicant with a criminal record, do not address topics such as racial equity and fail to support any other organizations working to reduce recidivism rates - the list goes on.
2020 has put many topics on our country's radar. Criminal justice is just one of them. But it overlaps with so many other outcries for change. We must acknowledge that our current system was built on false premises and is devoid of justice. We hope that you will join us in dismantling it.
"It's totally counterproductive for any sort of education to be invested in prisons - and especially embarrassing for elite institutions of higher learning to be invested in the prison industrial complex."