Incarceration
Incarceration has a negligible effect on crime rates, destroys disadvantaged neighborhoods, and decimates families and communities.
Despite this, the US has the largest prison population in the world, both numerically and proportionally, that is driven by a number of factors unrelated to actual violent crime levels.
Read this list of 25 creative alternatives to prison to learn about the many other, more effective options out there.
Solitary Confinement
More than 80,000 people in the US are subject to solitary confinement every day, making them alone the 17th largest prison population in the world.
Solitary confinement is considered torture and is used in discriminatory and political ways. Read about its use and effects here. Many are protesting its use, including Rhode Island activists.
Read about the experience of solitary confinement from those who have experienced it in Hell is a Very Small Place: Voices from Solitary Confinement or one political prisoner’s story.
