Awesome post. The massive expansion of the incarcerated population has occurred primarily by throwing nonviolent offenders behind bars, so I appreciate your point about victimless crimes. Likewise the defunding of prison job skills programs (and rehabilitation programs more generally), has made prisons and jails into overcrowded warehouses. The outcomes for inmates who have access to skills training and other social programs is clear in the social science research-- they fare significantly better upon re-entry-- but despite this, these practices were on the decline for decades.

Despite the horrific and dire situation of mass incarceration, stories like these are very inspirational. How were they able to raise the money?