Take Action

Prison Industrial Complex is when state and federal government turns the managing of some of its prisons over to private corporations. These corporations then run the prisons for profit. The leadership of these corporations is also involved in a great deal of political lobbying, to influence the passing of legislation that favors conditions for the profitability of these private prisons. This has affected the prison environment and the entire criminal justice system in a number of ways.

There are more African Americans under correctional control—in prison or jail, on probation or parole—than were enslaved in 1850, a decade before the Civil War began. – Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow

8 Facts About The U.S. "Criminal Justice System" (Prison-Industrial Complex) A System Of Mass Incarceration.

1. The U.S. has the highest incarceration rate in the world.

2. The use of solitary confinement is internationally recognized as torture but it is a standard practice in America.

3. The U.S. is the only developed country besides Japan that murders prisoners with a death penalty.

4. Over 95% of convictions in America come from guilty plea-deals which means that the vast majority of people convicted of crimes never had a trial.

5. U.S. jails are the nation’s largest provider of mental health care.

6. Around 1,000,000 prisoners are now forced to work for corporations. for less than a dollar an hour.

7. Private for-profit prisons run by major corporations are used to warehouse a growing number of American prisoners. This is problem because these corporations have a perverse financial incentive to keep more people in prison for longer periods of time and make a concerted effort to ensure that they keep coming back.

8. America’s war on drugs is really just the criminalization of addiction and poverty. Since this country is either unwilling or unable to offer any real and lasting solutions to these problems we simply warehouse this part of our population in jails and prisons, which is one reason why recidivism rates can exceed 75%

Psalm 69:33 - For the Lord hears the needy and does not despise his own people who are prisoners.