On the Mass Incarceration Crisis

T H E M A S S I N C A R C E R A T I O N C R I S I S

2.2 million Americans are currently incarcerated.

The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world, with almost 2.2 million people in prison, and 10.6 million jail admissions per year.

Mass incarceration in the United States is acutely harmful to communities of color.

Black Americans make up 40% of the incarcerated population, despite representing only 13% of US residents.

1 in 7

Americans have an immediate family member incarcerated for more than a year.

1 in 2

Americans have had a family member incarcerated for at least one night.

Mass incarceration is rooted in public policy, yet there is a network of thousands of privately owned companies that profit from the U.S. detention system – known as the Prison Industrial complex.

This network encompasses a wide range of sectors and actors:
Overt contributors may supply goods and services or operate private prisons.
Others may not even realize that prison labor is in their supply chains.

FreeCap’s Criminal Justice Report highlights companies who have shown a commitment to reducing discrimination against justice-involved indvididuals, while also minimizing their involvement in the prison industrial complex.