Since nearly all are returned to the community, this creates a vector for greatly increased disease transmission. Author Andrew Skolnick notes that approximately five in every 1000 Americans are behind bars on any given day, the highest incarceration rate of any nation in the world. Skolnick suggests an end to mandatory minimums , a reorientation towards more humane, health oriented policies, and consideration of decriminalization of illicit drugs. He cites a number of recent policy statements from major national health and correctional organizations. I hope the Clinton administration will develop a more reasonable, more humane, and certainly much cheaper approach to this problem.
Prisons are terrible institutions.
Prisons deform everyone who spends time in that environment, whether they are inmates, guards, or medical professionals. The medical model provides much greater benefit and much less cost to society than incarceration.