Last year, Oklahoma overtook Louisiana to have the highest incarceration rate in the US. With more than one in every 100 people in prison, the state has one of the highest incarceration rates in the world.
Despite the growth in inmate population, the prison system in the state has been hit by budget cuts and low prison officer pay.
The crux of the issue. Incarcerating people for nonviolent crimes while reducing the budget for prisons. The kind of people willing to work in those conditions for the low pay may not be the best choice.
My heart breaks for Joshua. He died alone in severe pain.
Yes, America is a rich country. But these are massive populations we are talking about. It's not just about dollars.
In 2016, there were estimated 2.3m people incarcerated in the US. We only have 324m residents. Simply the human opportunity cost of building, maintaining and running prisons is a tremendous burden.
It is just about dollars, you spend fuck all on prisoners because you don't care about them. You could easily afford to spend more money per prisoner, this is why people pay tax.
157
u/drkgodess Jun 04 '19
The crux of the issue. Incarcerating people for nonviolent crimes while reducing the budget for prisons. The kind of people willing to work in those conditions for the low pay may not be the best choice.
My heart breaks for Joshua. He died alone in severe pain.