Thread by @CarcinLoring

Yeah, Growly (infamous fandom SO) got arrested again, and tbf he probably deserves it, but it was destined to happen, and it's critical to understand why...

The US CJS (Criminal Justice System) has built an artificial crime-cycle that profits at the expense of your safety.
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https://twitter.com/phoenixtheblade/status/1151092691888947200

Let's look at what makes this possible, starting with Joe Biden's "Crime Bill".

A.k.a the "Violent Crime Control Act and Law Enforcement Act". Passed into law in 1994, the act set strict mandatory minimum sentences and harshly redefined felony law.

americanprogress.org/issues/crimina…
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Adding onto the mass incarceration started with 1971's War On Drugs, which saw a 400% incarceration increase in the 40 years since, the "Crime Bill" created easy (oft unfair) standards for arrest and difficult to impossible standards for rehabilitation/release.
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As you can imagine, arresting 400% more people and releasing few quickly lead to a prison population problem.

But hey, capitalism is eager and ready to deal with that problem! (...for profit)

Along came private prisons who offered to take that population off states' hands.
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Private prisons like CCA (Corrections Corporation of America) and GEO Group, promised to provide structured rehabilitation for felons and ease taxpayer costs.

Problem?

This model actually increases recidivism, doesn't deliver, and costs taxpayers MORE!
insidesources.com/private-prison…
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Don't believe it? Well just look at private prisons' promise to investors: aclu.org/banking-bondag…

The private prison model gradually and intentionally redesigned the CJS to make easy arrests and neglect/promote criminal behavior rather than correct it.

Why?

Easy money.
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Today, 7.5 million people in the US exist in some kind of legal custody with 2.3m actually locked up.

That leaves the other 5.2m on parole/probation/supervision that essentially turns people into bank bonds for the CJS/Private Prison System.
prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie201…
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How does the system cash in on these parolees-turned-bank-bonds?

Simple. Parole is made mandatory, and the rules of supervision are stacked against the felon, making not only proper rehab impossible, it makes living a healthy, lawful, structured life equally impossible.
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When you look at the typical parole rules, they may seem fairly reasonable: nolo.com/legal-encyclop…

But what they don't say it that the offender has to pay ALL of the expenses for everything from supervision to mandatory therapy, which often has not cost regulation.
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Couple this with the fact that most felons are unable to find work thanks to employment background checks and you can see the problem.

For someone like Growly, the expenses of supervision can stack to $10k/year.

And when the offender can't pay, it becomes a pending violation.
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Since a pending violation can be tried as a new felony, it gives the system cause to throw people back in prison to easily fill the private prison quota.

And many parolees/probationers will turn to crime just to pay these fees when they have no choice.


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So, you're left with a Criminal Justice System that does nothing to rehab criminal behavior and actually encourages the same for profit.

Does this make you safer?

Definitely not. But the system cares more about the money.

...because it's been allowed to.
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But there's hope.

As more and more people speak up, states are beginning to take steps to remedy this problem with manufactured cyclical crime. In 2017, New York, Illinois, and Indiana implemented a ban on private prisons: muckrock.com/news/archives/…
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But that's just one half of the problem. The other is the whole CJS-re-entry-for-profit model using mandatory minimums.

However, there's hope there, too.

In 2017, at the request of voters, 6 states eased their policies on mandatory minimum sentences: famm.org/wp-content/upl…
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Long story short, if we want to fix things and make everyone safer...

If we want people like Growly to not be a danger...

If we want to spend less money on a system that DOES IT'S JOB...

...it's possible; we just have to speak up and encourage rehabilitation over punishment.