Economics
The Prison-Industrial Complex and the Criminalization of Poverty
Quick fact
In 2022, the United States had over 1.9 million people in prisons and jails, and private prison companies like CoreCivic and GEO Group reported billions in revenue while operating with locked-in contracts that guarantee high occupancy rates.
Why this is interesting
You might think prisons exist to stop crime, but what if some of them are actually businesses that need a steady supply of prisoners? What does that mean for the criminal justice system, especially for people living in poverty?