Lives and Communities Imagine a country where 2.2 million of its citizens are locked behind bars. A place where your likelihood of imprisonment has more to do with the color of your skin and your bank account than with anything you've actually done wrong. Where entire neighborhoods are torn apart by a system that seems to care more about punishment than people. Well, you don't have to imagine it – this is America today. Our country's obsession with throwing people in jail has created a vicious cycle of poverty, crime, and incarceration that traps millions and rips communities apart. The United States has less than 5% of the world's population, but we're home to over 25% of its prisoners. Every year, we waste $80 billion on prisons that could be spent on education, healthcare, and jobs that could actually make things better. The damage this system does is mind-boggling. Right now, nearly 1 in 2 adults in America – that's 113 million people – have a loved one who's currently or formerly incarcerated. Millions of kids grow up with a parent behind bars, set up for a childhood of poverty and trauma. And the racism is stark – people of color are arrested, prosecuted, and locked up for longer at every step of the way. The "tough on crime" policies that got us here were based on the racist idea that Black and brown people are inherently criminal, and that poison still runs through our justice system today. But the human cost is just half the story. Mass incarceration has also been a disaster for our economy. Locking people up unnecessarily costs us $87 billion in GDP every year. Over 4.5 million Americans can't vote because of a past conviction, denied a basic right. When people get out of prison, they face a ton of legal barriers to getting a job, a place to live, an education, or any kind of help. It's almost impossible for them to get back on their feet and take care of their families, so they're stuck in poverty and instability for life. The good news is that more and more people are realizing our approach to criminal justice has been a total failure. Changing our drug laws, rolling back extreme sentencing, and finding alternatives to prison are no longer radical ideas – they're mainstream now. The FIRST STEP Act, which passed with support from both parties in 2018, was a big step in the right direction. But we've only just started the kind of huge changes we need to make. Reimagining Public Safety For way too long, we've thought that the number of people we lock up equals public safety. But prisons don't solve the problems that plague our communities – they make things worse. When people are locked up, they often go through trauma that makes mental illness, addiction, and violence more likely. Then when they get out, they're usually just dropped back in their old neighborhood without any support, so it's no wonder they end up back in prison. Real public safety means addressing the roots of crime – poverty, no opportunities, untreated addiction and illness, broken schools and families. It means putting money into community programs that offer job training, education, counseling, and healthcare. It means changing how police and courts work so they focus on stopping crime before it happens, on healing, and on justice that repairs harm instead of just punishing. Ending mass incarceration and building a fair society won't be easy. We'll have to face the deep racism and classism that have driven our justice policies. We'll have to really think about what we value and prioritize as a country. But the other option is a future of prisons always getting bigger, police always getting more militarized, and divisions in our society always getting deeper. We've got a rare chance right now to break with the failed policies of the past and create something new. By fighting for change in our own communities, educating our friends and leaders, and demanding a system that focuses on rehabilitation not revenge, we can build a justice system that really keeps us safe, respects everyone's dignity, and gives everyone a shot at opportunity. So what will we do with this moment? Will we give in to the same fears and biases that brought us mass incarceration? Or will we find the guts to reimagine public safety, invest in our communities, and build a country where every person's worth is seen? The choice is ours. Let's choose a future of justice, compassion, and freedom. Let's break the cycle of mass incarceration and build a society where everyone can truly thrive.