Some states have banned ex-prisoners from public employment and public housing. More and more live in the poorest areas. Returning prisoners may be more dangerous than they used to be. More ex-offenders than ever suffer mental illness. Prisoner rates of HIV infection, tuberculosis, and hepatitis C run five to 10 times the national average.
Prisoners return as disease vectors as well as crime vectors.
Not all the data is awful. Releasees average 34 years old, up from 29 years old in the '70s. Felons commit fewer crimes as they get older, so by locking up crooks longer, we may be naturally aging them out of a life of crime. The stats about violent ex-cons are also ambiguous. The best news for ex-cons may be that people are interested in them again.