States like Louisiana and Oklahoma, for instance, lock up drug offenders at rates far exceeding most others. In these facilities, where the vast majority of incarcerated people are housed, Prison Policy Initiative says those held for drug offenses are a much smaller proportion of the overall population.īut this still oversimplifies the relationship between drugs and mass incarceration.įor one, there is huge variation from state-to-state in how drug policies are enforced, according to a Pew analysis. Some have said that the “war on drugs” is responsible for America’s massive prison and jail populations.Īnd while this rings true in many federal prisons – where nearly half of all inmates are locked up for drug charges, often serving lengthy sentences – it’s a different story in state prisons and local jails. Nearly half of all inmates in federal prisons are held on drug charges, but drug offenders make up a smaller proportion of the population in state prisons and jails. The ‘war on drugs’ isn’t solely to blame for mass incarceration.
The bail bond business, as with others tied to the criminal justice system, is extremely lucrative, bringing in more than $2 billion in profit each year, according to a 2017 report by nonprofit civil rights advocacy group Color of Change and the ACLU’s Campaign for Smart Justice. Stuck in jail because they can’t afford to pay bail, inmates are unable to work or support their families, making them particularly susceptible to the spiral of debt and incarceration. But those who can’t afford it are essentially trapped – they either sit in jail until the court takes action, or work with a bail bond agent to secure their freedom (with the latter option often saddling them with debt).Īdvocates will quickly point out how this system puts the poor at a huge disadvantage. Many who are arrested and go to jail are able to get out quickly by simply posting bail. The BJS reports that in 2016, nearly two-thirds of all inmates in local jails were not convicted.
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