500 billion gargantuan costs of imprisonment Washington University St Louis Study source.wustl.edu/2016/09/cost-incarceration-u-s-1-trillion/ not very cheaply Cost of incarceration in the U.S. more than $1 trillion annual cost of incarceration totals more than $1 trillion Cost of Incarceration in the U.S. More Than $1 Trillion true cost of incarceration to society exceeds $1 trillion source.wustl.edu/2016/09/cost-incarceration-u-s-1-trillion/ one trillion dollars annually