People are imprisoned largely because their communities are criminalized, not for crimes

Evidence

Radical criminologists have long pointed out that the category “lawbreakers” is far greater than the category of individuals who are deemed criminals since, many point out, almost all of us have broken the law at one time or another. Even President Bill Clinton admitted that he had smoked marijuana at one time, insisting, though, that he did not inhale. However, acknowledged disparities in the intensity of police surveillance—as indicated by the present-day currency of the term “racial profiling” which ought to cover far more territory than “driving while black or brown”—account in part for racial and class-based disparities in arrest and imprisonment rates. Thus, if we are willing to take seriously the consequences of a racist and class-biased justice system, we will reach the conclusion that enormous numbers of people are in prison simply because they are, for example, black, Chicano, Vietnamese, Native American or poor, regardless of their ethnic background. They are sent to prison, not so much because of the crimes they may have indeed committed, but largely because their communities have been criminalized. Thus, programs for decriminalization will not only have to address specific activities that have been criminalized—such as drug use and sex work—but also criminalized populations and communities. — Davis, Angela Y, Are Prisons Obsolete, 296

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Invisible compartmentalization, not invisibility itself, makes crimes permissible; The Criminal Tribes Acts labeled whole hereditary groups as criminal.; The prison industrial complex term contests crime as the root cause of imprisonment — Davis, Angela Y, Are Prisons Obsolete, 225 (+8 more)

Broader Connections

• Criminalized communities, not individual acts, determine who ends up imprisoned #corroborates (0.90)
• Racism and profit, not crime, drive prison expansion #corroborates (0.80)
• Almost everyone breaks laws, so ‘criminal’ names a class not an act #expands (0.70)
• Prison is an ordinary life dimension in poor communities of color #expands (0.65)
• Prison expansion undermines democracy and normalizes incarceration for people of color #expands (0.55) — Davis, Angela Y, Are Prisons Obsolete, 274