“Five myths about incarceration”

The title of this post is the headline of this new piece in the Washington Postauthored by Marc Mauer and David Cole.  The piece merits a full read, but here I will spotlight the author’s set-up and statement of their “five myths.”

No country on Earth imprisons more people per capita than the United States.  But for America, mass incarceration has proved a losing proposition.  The Supreme Court recently found California’s overcrowded prisons unconstitutional, and state legislators want to cut the vast amounts of public money spent on prison warehousing.

Why are so many Americans in prison, and which ones can be safely released?  Let’s address some common misunderstandings about our incarceration problem.

1. Crime has fallen because incarceration has risen.…

2. The prison population is rising because more people are being sentenced to prison.…

3. Helping prisoners rejoin society will substantially reduce the prison population.….

4. There’s a link between race and crime.…

5. Racial disparities in incarceration reflect police and judges’ racial prejudice.

I am very interested in any and all reader reactions to these “five myths.”  In particular, I would like to hear any comments/arguments contending that one or more of these myths are not really myths, and I would also would like to hear any comments/arguments contending that there are other more important myths about incarceration that did not make Mauer and Cole’s list.