Incarceration. In 2013, the United States had the highest incarceration rate in the world.

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May 20, 2020
Incarceration
Incarceration is perhaps one of the most commonly utilized tools by Nation-States for peace and order. This is especially true in democratic countries, where incarceration is deemed to be a countermeasure against abuses brought about by excessive freedoms in an individual’s actions. However, it must be noted that there are times when incarceration could be a tool for oppression and circumvention against the citizens’ civil liberties such as the freedom of expression, speech, and of the press, among others. This simply means that the process and other circumstances relating to the imprisonment of individuals should be guarded heavily by everyone in order to protect one’s personal freedoms. In this article, I would like to discuss some of the reasons for the high incarceration rates in the United States. Interestingly, I believe that the reason to the unrelenting high rates of incarceration in the country is brought about by systemic issues that needs to be addressed immediately.
One of the reasons for the high rates of incarceration is its resistance to change. In the article written by Thompson, entitled ‘How Prisons Change the Balance of Power in America’, she noted one of the reasons for the high incarceration rates in the US is the tug-of-war between the civil rights movement and the need for national security. Specifically, ever since the success of the Civil Rights movement in freeing the slaves and guaranteeing the equal protection of the citizens, movements too prevent abuses were initiated. One example that was cited in her article were the different legislat...