6 ms·

Why America's prisons are shrinking and racial gaps are closing

9 points by marojejian 19d ago

marojejian 19d ago
Forget the why, I wasn't aware the gap was closing... Someone with more, info feel free to refute this. I can't defeat the paywall, but these posts have some more detail: https://news.wisc.edu/incarceration-rates-are-declining-a-new-study-explores-some-of-the-reasons-why/ https://news.wisc.edu/incarceration-rates-are-declining-a-ne... https://scienmag.com/u-s-prison-population-declines-as-racial-disparities-narrow/ https://scienmag.com/u-s-prison-population-declines-as-racia...
- toomuchtodo 19d ago
  With more prison space than prisoners, correctional facilities are shutting down - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48818747 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48818747 - July 2026 > The trend reflects an end to an important chapter of the story of mass incarceration, an era in which drug laws became more punitive, the war on crime mushroomed and the number of people sentenced to time behind bars surged. States poured billions of dollars into new prisons. > Now, the closures reflect a broader shift. Many states have revised sentencing laws and expanded education and job-training programs that help reduce the chances that people return to prison, JC Hendrickson, senior policy strategist for the Brennan Center’s Justice Program, told Straight Arrow. > “States have similarly seen prison populations drop,” he said. https://usafacts.org/answers/how-many-people-are-in-prisons-in-the-us/country/united-states/ https://usafacts.org/answers/how-many-people-are-in-prisons-...
k310 18d ago
While poorly disguised concentration camps are increasing. Until a stop is put to them.
- pfannkuchen 18d ago
  Isn’t this comparison actually quite offensive? It equates Jews who were perfectly allowed to be in Germany until the N’s gained power and unilaterally eliminated their status for no legitimate reason, with people who are knowingly breaking perfectly good and long standing democratically created laws. No Jew snuck into Germany, right? No Jew had the option of peaceably going back to their country of origin and refused, right? And before you say that you aren’t referring to the German camps, you know very well that this is where the power of the term “concentration camp” comes from, and that power is why you invoked it.
  - k310 18d ago
    Politics aside, Nobody, not even a coddled white collar criminal, deserves the documented torture, deprivation and horrible medical conditions leading to many deaths, of this paramilitary army, not operating under military rules of conduct, but seemingly impromptu and concealed rules and activities. Terribly wrong, and concentration camps meet the operational definition, if not the "academic" one. Torture, suffering and death don't really care who and how. They are universally wrong. People are people. Some get country club accommodations, even after conviction. Some get brutality "on ice".
    - pfannkuchen 18d ago
      Okay can you please justify your assertions? Where are people being tortured? ICE is pulling off fingernails and shoving glass up urethras? ICE is chopping off hands and pouring scalding water on people? What are you calling torture? How many deaths are you talking about? What horrible medical conditions are you talking about? How long are these people waiting for a flight? Are they trying to avoid being flown home while this is happening, or is there a gigantic backlog? What makes them paramilitary? Are they firebombing immigrant houses? Are they assassinating immigrant leaders? Like if you guys wanted to get these people out but you just want it to be more civil or whatever, then yeah I’m listening, but you don’t! You want them to stay! That makes your hysteria seem motivated, because you aren’t ranting about how they should stay, you are ranting about implementation details, which as far as I can tell isn’t your core concern!
      - hardbass 17d ago
        They are killing legal citizens, let alone immigrants. And happily loading up people to shithole prisons in unrelated countries like El Salvador. If you believe blackbagged in El Salvador is a pleasant experience, then as experiment I think I should kidnap you and force you there for a few months since its clearly not torture.
  - JumpCrisscross 18d ago
    > It equates Jews who were perfectly allowed to be in Germany until the N’s gained power The refugees who were illegally deported had a right to be in America until they’d had due process. It’s absolutely valid to compare the two cases. Particularly given our Japanese internment in the 1940s, while abhorrent, did not reach the levels of violence of today’s concentration camps.

9 points by marojejian 19d ago

Forget the why, I wasn't aware the gap was closing... Someone with more, info feel free to refute this. I can't defeat the paywall, but these posts have some more detail: https://news.wisc.edu/incarceration-rates-are-declining-a-new-study-explores-some-of-the-reasons-why/ https://news.wisc.edu/incarceration-rates-are-declining-a-ne... https://scienmag.com/u-s-prison-population-declines-as-racial-disparities-narrow/ https://scienmag.com/u-s-prison-population-declines-as-racia...

toomuchtodo 19d ago
With more prison space than prisoners, correctional facilities are shutting down - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48818747 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48818747 - July 2026 > The trend reflects an end to an important chapter of the story of mass incarceration, an era in which drug laws became more punitive, the war on crime mushroomed and the number of people sentenced to time behind bars surged. States poured billions of dollars into new prisons. > Now, the closures reflect a broader shift. Many states have revised sentencing laws and expanded education and job-training programs that help reduce the chances that people return to prison, JC Hendrickson, senior policy strategist for the Brennan Center’s Justice Program, told Straight Arrow. > “States have similarly seen prison populations drop,” he said. https://usafacts.org/answers/how-many-people-are-in-prisons-in-the-us/country/united-states/ https://usafacts.org/answers/how-many-people-are-in-prisons-...

k310 18d ago

While poorly disguised concentration camps are increasing. Until a stop is put to them.

pfannkuchen 18d ago
Isn’t this comparison actually quite offensive? It equates Jews who were perfectly allowed to be in Germany until the N’s gained power and unilaterally eliminated their status for no legitimate reason, with people who are knowingly breaking perfectly good and long standing democratically created laws. No Jew snuck into Germany, right? No Jew had the option of peaceably going back to their country of origin and refused, right? And before you say that you aren’t referring to the German camps, you know very well that this is where the power of the term “concentration camp” comes from, and that power is why you invoked it.
- k310 18d ago
  Politics aside, Nobody, not even a coddled white collar criminal, deserves the documented torture, deprivation and horrible medical conditions leading to many deaths, of this paramilitary army, not operating under military rules of conduct, but seemingly impromptu and concealed rules and activities. Terribly wrong, and concentration camps meet the operational definition, if not the "academic" one. Torture, suffering and death don't really care who and how. They are universally wrong. People are people. Some get country club accommodations, even after conviction. Some get brutality "on ice".
  - pfannkuchen 18d ago
    Okay can you please justify your assertions? Where are people being tortured? ICE is pulling off fingernails and shoving glass up urethras? ICE is chopping off hands and pouring scalding water on people? What are you calling torture? How many deaths are you talking about? What horrible medical conditions are you talking about? How long are these people waiting for a flight? Are they trying to avoid being flown home while this is happening, or is there a gigantic backlog? What makes them paramilitary? Are they firebombing immigrant houses? Are they assassinating immigrant leaders? Like if you guys wanted to get these people out but you just want it to be more civil or whatever, then yeah I’m listening, but you don’t! You want them to stay! That makes your hysteria seem motivated, because you aren’t ranting about how they should stay, you are ranting about implementation details, which as far as I can tell isn’t your core concern!
    - hardbass 17d ago
      They are killing legal citizens, let alone immigrants. And happily loading up people to shithole prisons in unrelated countries like El Salvador. If you believe blackbagged in El Salvador is a pleasant experience, then as experiment I think I should kidnap you and force you there for a few months since its clearly not torture.
- JumpCrisscross 18d ago
  > It equates Jews who were perfectly allowed to be in Germany until the N’s gained power The refugees who were illegally deported had a right to be in America until they’d had due process. It’s absolutely valid to compare the two cases. Particularly given our Japanese internment in the 1940s, while abhorrent, did not reach the levels of violence of today’s concentration camps.