Incarceration And Poverty

In the United States, the criminal justice system has become an industry that profits off of criminalizing the poor; a practice that perpetuates and worsens the cycle of poverty rather than promote justice as it is meant to do. With the highest Gini rate of inequality compared to all western countries and a record of income inequality last seen a year before The Great Depression, it is apparent that the United States is facing a critical problem with poverty. However, rather than fortify the economic safety net with higher taxes and increased spending to social welfare programs, the U.S. has turned to mass incarceration not only as a method of funding government programs, but also as a way to temporarily solve its severe problem with poverty. …show more content…
Tax cuts under the Reagan administration introduced revenue gaps nationwide and budget cuts proved to be insufficient in filling the gap. As a result, “exorbitant fines and fees” for low level crimes “[were] designed to make up for revenue shortfalls,” meanwhile white collar criminals comparatively receive “slaps on the wrist for financial crimes” and owe a cumulation of “$450 billion in back taxes, fines and fees.” In the early 80’s the “broken windows” law enforcement policy emerged. The “broken windows” policy was founded on the idea that “mass arrests for minor offenses promote community order and civic tranquility, ” preventing more serious crimes. Under the guise of promoting public peace, this policy disproportionately targeted poor people (especially those of color), leading to mass incarceration of the poor which contributed to the rigid cycle of poverty since a majority of the poor arrested could not afford to pay …show more content…
Today, the criminal justice system continues to function as a profitable machine of institutional racism, ableism, sexism and classism. Due to funding shortages for public housing, law enforcement is increasingly being used to drive the homeless off of city streets and into jails for low level offenses. An increase in budget cuts to addiction and mental health services has resulted in prisons becoming “de facto mental hospitals, [...] with a special impact on minorities and low-income people.” Even women and children are being affected by this increase in criminalization. In communities with underfunded police departments there has been a rise in “chronic nuisance” ordinances which has the ability to evict women and victims of domestic abuse from their homes, for “calling 911 too often to seek protection from domestic abuse.” With stricter punitive measures and the introduction of policing in schools, children, especially in poor communities of color, are also being affected by the increase in criminalization. Increasingly children are being “arrested and send to juvenile and even adult courts for behavior that not long ago was handled with a