The True Cost Of Mass Incarceration

The United States incarcerates people at a scale that should stop anyone in their tracks and we put real numbers to it right up front. We talk about how nearly two million people sit in state prisons, federal prisons, and local jails, and how “correctional control” stretches even further through probation and parole. If you’ve ever wondered why the US holds such a huge share of the world’s prisoners, we walk through the policies and pressures that make the system so massive and so expensive for communities.

From there, we get honest about racial disparities in the criminal legal system and why the burden falls so unevenly. We also dig into pretrial detention and the bail system, where legally innocent people can sit in jail simply because they can’t afford to pay to go home. That reality doesn’t just affect court dates, it affects jobs, housing, parenting, and the choices people feel forced to make.

Then it gets personal. We share what jail feels like from the inside, how it messes with your mind, and how incarceration hits families through long drives, tough visitation, and constant stress. We also talk survival basics, avoiding bad influences, and building a path forward with skills, education, and smart decisions before one mistake costs you years. If you found this valuable, subscribe, share it with someone who needs it, and leave a review, what part of the system do you think needs to change first?

We break down how incarceration in the United States gets so big, from prison and jail populations to probation and parole that keep people under correctional control. We also share real stories from our own lives about what confinement does to your mind, your family, and your future.
• the scale of mass incarceration across prisons and local jails
• probation and parole as a wider net of control
• racial disparities that shape who gets locked up
• pretrial detention, bail, and why legally innocent people sit in jail
• the churn of jail admissions and the instability it causes
• family mental health, visitation barriers, and long-term stress
• recidivism and reentry struggles after release
• practical survival lessons from jail and why staying out matters
• choosing better friends, building skills, and using the internet to move forward

if you guys want some merchandise, click the link below.
If you want more information on uh incarceration and you know being locked up, I'm going to put a link below as well.
Um go ahead, get yourself something, learn more, and um yeah.

https://www.sentencingproject.org/reports/mass-incarceration-trends/

Transcript

Welcome And The Scale

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, and good night. Wherever you are and however you are watching or listening, welcome to Fruit Blender's podcast. On today's podcast episode, our main subject and topic is incarceration in the US. Again, incarceration in the US. The United States holds nearly two million people in state and federal prisons and local jails, accounting for the highest incarceration rate globally. While the US comprises roughly 5% of the global population, it holds around 20% of the world's prisoners. Driven by historically severe sentencing policies and racial disparities. Scale and scoop. I mean think about this. The system is where they hold people. On any given day, over 1.8 million people are confined. Confined. Of these, about 59% are in state prisons, 12% in federal prisons, and 29% in local jails, which largely house people awaiting trial. Correction control. In other words, correctional control. An estimated three point one million adults are on probation, and another six hundred thousand and eighty are on parole. Financial cost. It affects the community and tax dollars. Between that is the demographics and the disparities. Demographics and the disparities.

Race And Unequal Sentencing

SPEAKER_00 3:07

Okay, let's talk about race when it comes to the system. Significant racial inequities persist throughout the system. Black and Latino individuals are incarcerated more than any other race. With black Americans incarcerated at roughly five times the rate of white Americans. And this affects us in our lifetime likelihood. An estimated one in 20 people will serve time in prison during their lifetime. But the risk is heavily skewed. Roughly 9% of men compared to 1.1% of women will be incarcerated. Okay? They will be incarcerated. And that comes with the offenses. Such as drug offenses account for around 13% of the state prison population. Though they represent a much larger share, nearly 50% of the federal prison system.

Bail, Jails, And Pretrial Limbo

SPEAKER_00 4:40

This will impact us locally, pretrial, detention, etc. Jails. More than half of the individuals held in local jails are legally innocent awaiting trial, many of whom are locked up simply because they cannot afford to post bail. In state churn, local jails process over seven million admissions and releases each year due to high turnovers. And that's why the jails are full sometimes. And they can't keep you there. But if you don't have any bail or you can't post bond or bail, they will hold you in there until you're able to get out.

Families, Trauma, And Recidivism

SPEAKER_00 5:34

This causes re-entry. Mass incarceration carries heavy social impacts. Nearly one in 28 children in the US currently has a parent behind bars, which is a major driver of family distress and poverty. This causes a lot of rates, and it is notably high. It's very high. Within three years of release, roughly two out of three individuals are rearrested, and over half are reincarcerated. That's just in the US. Like back then, when my brother did time, five years in the pen. That played a huge role on my family's mental health, especially my mom, my mother, my father. That played a huge That put a huge impact on family. Five years in the pen. It was not easy. Visiting him from here all the way to Gunnins in prison. Way out there, hours driving. Visitations were harder. Writing letters, everything was really very, very difficult, I tell you. So if you think jail and prison is cool, it's not cool. You're damaging your family's mental health. Because it plays a mental health, it puts impact on everyone's mental health. No matter what age you are, if you got somebody who's incarcerated, it plays a huge mental role in your life. And jail or prison is not cool, man. Like, you gotta wake up on their time. You go to the they tell you when to eat, when to sleep, when to poop, when to shit, when to shower, when to brush your teeth, etc. And I get it, like they'll let you guys out for wreck time or whatnot, but it's not even like the way you would expect it to be because you're incarcerated. So the next time you think about doing something bad or horrible to somebody, or trying to get a get back on someone, remember you're damaging yourself and your families as well. You're putting everyone's livelihood in danger, like that's just it. So think twice before you act upon the harsh conditions you're about to put everyone in. Remember that it plays a huge role in everyone's mental health.

What Jail Feels Like Inside

SPEAKER_00 8:35

Well, let's go back and take a look at this because I've seen things in jail, I've had people around me go to jail, I've been incarcerated before. I've experienced that myself. And with my experience, it was a little different. I'd be real with you guys. When I was incarcerated in jail, it was just for minor charges, right? You know how the system is. Once you get caught doing something, you gotta pay. Alright? And by paying, they're gonna take you in. Whether it's um any type of violent crime you did, or it just depends. Misdemeanor charges, you know, all these silly things, DUIs, um, these little things that will impact you bigger in life. It's it's best to avoid going to jail or being incarcerated, just in general. Avoid jail and prison system. And if you're young, avoid DT, avoid the juvenile system, avoid it at all cost. Because there's people out there in jail who did minor things, misdemeanors, etc. No bell, can post bond. They're just sitting there doing time. And the judge won't let you see you on pretrial, not that early. I mean, if you're lucky, yeah. They're sitting in there just for misdemeanors and minor charges. Well, there's people in jail who are doing who commit bigger crimes than the misdemeanor charges and little charges, but they get to go out early. They get to post bill, they're they're done, they're out. And there's time, and there's people who are actually there who are violent and who deserve to be in jail. And I wouldn't even get into that type of details, but yes, you know what I'm talking about. These pedos, these P files, these PDFs, they deserve to be in jail, locked up forever. I don't care. But with my experience being incarcerated, it was a little different. I mean, once you enter the system, once you go behind those closed doors, once you are in your cell, things will start to hit you. You'll be nervous, scared, lost, cold, hungry, don't know anybody in there, you don't want to know anybody in there because you don't know what kind of paperwork people got. Unless you meet some good individuals who are like actually about this shit. Besides that, there's a lot of weirdos out in there. That's facts. Killers, murderers, grapers, all these grapes in there. There's scary people in jail. But with my experience, even though I had those minor charges, misdemeanors, etc. I was still able to like move around in jail. My incarceration was a little different. I'm not bragging about it. I don't want to brag about it. I didn't like jail at all. I was I lost time with my family, friends, close ones. You know, especially the ones I cared about. My family, I lost a lot of time with them. But in my experience, it's really smart to like not talk to anybody in jail. Do your thing, focus on you, just focus on getting out of there as quick as you can because you don't want to get too comfortable. And the jail system, many individuals are actually just blacks and Latinos. Just colored folks in there, because you know how the system is, and we all know that too. And I don't want to get deep into that, but like um, that's what we're here for, right? There's also gonna be a race card out there in jail. That's that's why it's not best to talk to anybody in there. And when I was in there, I had to figure out a way to move. I didn't talk to anybody, I just dated myself. And I'm studying everybody, I'm studying how they move, how they do things. I'm studying watching movements. So,

Staying Safe And Finding A Hustle

SPEAKER_00 13:38

with my experience, I learned how to hustle in jail. I ain't gonna lie. I learned how to get around, move around a little bit. Don't to that, don't talk to that person, don't talk to this person, and on top of that, I don't game bang at all. I'm not trying to put a flag up, die behind a flag, etc. I am not about that lifestyle. I hung out with certain people. I just knew who to who to click with and who to not click with. In jail, it's a race card. You go the whites gonna be with the whites, blacks gonna be with the blacks, Latino's gonna be with the Browns gonna be with the Browns. Like, it's a different type of card. You gotta play it safe. Unless you're cool with these individuals and y'all like have a little agreement, like let's say one one uh one homie is good at like drawing or painting or like getting shit in, and then one's good at getting shit out, like there's a lot of talented people. Let's not discredit jail or prison, but most of the world's talent is people who are locked up and incarcerated. But those who deserve to go to jail and be in prison, they deserve it. You know, the weirdos like I talked about. But besides that, there's a lot of talented individuals in jail, like literally. So my hustle in jail was like drawing. I was good at drawing and painting, and I was able to like talk to the COs and get this and that for me. I would ask for paper. Yo, I need this and that. Hey, I need I need pencils. Hey, I need this, I need that. Like, they were actually cool because I was able to like develop uh uh community like skills, my skills and my communication, I used it to my benefits, to benefit myself. And on top of that, I had to sell these like cellmates who were like really chill, like on everything. They were cool as fuck. And like um we got along. Like we got along, everybody chopped it up, we all got to know each other, etc. And then we had a we had a one of one of our bunkees was um, he he ran a store in jail. He was running a store in jail, but everybody else, but everybody else in our in our pod was hustlers. Like one was good at hair, like cutting hair, and I was good at drying. The other homie was good at tattoos, and then the homie, the bigger homie ran the store. It's like we all brought every a lot of things to the plate on it to the table. That's how we were able to like stick with each other and just other other members cannot come into our pod or our cell and take this and take that. They'd have to ask permission or they would have to get the you know the okay to come to our to our cell because we had a lot of things going on, our pod. But yeah, jail, prison is not for everybody, and I would not recommend it at all. So if you're thinking about doing something right now, like right now, or you've done something before, think about it twice. Thank God I don't I don't like I don't gotta do time like that. I didn't have to do time like that, but when I was in there, I had to figure a way to move around. And that's

Avoiding Trouble And Building A Future

SPEAKER_00 16:48

the best advice I could give you guys is if you're if you if you're in deep shit, fix it right now. And if you're about to do time, watch your back, watch your shoulders, like talk to the right people. But, anyways, um, yeah, there's people who deserve to go to jail, be in jail, in prison, and there's people who don't. There's innocents out there still sitting there waiting trial, like I said. But yeah, all I'm gonna say is um avoid jail in prison. Avoid making the most biggest mistake in your life. If somebody's getting on your nerves, if somebody owes you money, if someone, like, I get it, the the harder crimes, I get it. Like, there's people who might have hurt your loved ones and friends and close ones, but and revenge, I I know, I know. I felt that before, but it's not worth it. It's not worth it. So, um, my best advice is just to avoid jail, the jail system, prison system, stay out of trouble, keep your head up. It's better to like educate yourself and do what you want to do in the future. Follow your dream, follow your path. And not everybody has to go to college to make something happen. You can do it yourself, right in your living room. The internet is the best place to get whatever you want out of it and to use it to your extent, like uh use it to your benefit. Benefit yourself, actually. Yeah, so yeah, the internet is your best friend, YouTube. Learn that learn how to do some things, pick up a skill that you're good at. But yeah, um, my experience in jail, it was okay. I didn't like it, I didn't love it, but I had to I had to just go through it, I had to do my time. And right now I got personal friends and family members, close family members right now doing time in prison, in jail, sitting there doing time. And I can't reach out to anybody, I can't help out anybody because what the system does to you when you're like in there or you got loved one in there, what it does to you is it plays with it's a mind game, it messes up with your mind, it fucks with your mind, it really does. So, um, yeah, it's gonna mess up with your mind. I'm sorry I'm I'm cursing and all, but that's what it comes with. Like, once you are pissed off about a subject because you've been there and you know people, friends, close ones, you know what the struggle is because you gotta write a letter, you gotta wait a couple days, the phone, the phone system is a little fulge, and and like it's a mind game. Visitation, call, calling, like this time, that time, jail is not for everybody. And once you're in there, the COs control everything. Prison, the COs control everything, and then the inmates in prison, yeah, they control half of that shit, but half of the time the COs are the ones who are running shit. People don't even know that. So, mind you, jail, prison is not for you, it's not built for human. It's not built for humans, it's not built for us. We're not meant to be in confinement. Max.

Fame In Lockup And Choosing Friends

SPEAKER_00 20:24

It's wild because like I was doing time in um in Davis County up in uh up in Ogden, Weaver-ish area, and um, that's where uh Youngboy was, NBA Youngboy was locked up in there, but he was in Max, and we were on the other side. So it's like I heard some things, I heard some things about him. Um when I was when I was in, I went in there when I was in, he were no, I was there when he was there, but he was in Max. Like he can't talk to nobody, see nobody, none of that. And one of one of the bunkies was like, yo, NBA's here, da-da-da. Like upstairs, no, downstairs, etc. I'm like, bro, like that's not even important. Like, he gets his tablet, he gets his own time and all kinds of stuff. Like, he that boy got money, so whatever he does don't even matter. Because he's got money like that. He's got lawyers, he can have whatever he wants. And yeah, I was locked up in Davis County the same time as Youngboy was in there, so that's the only cool part about me hearing that, like he was in there the same time as I was, but we were like in different I was in I was like what in pop general population. He was in Mac, so it's like style and porn. But yeah. Just to avoid jail, avoid prison, avoid getting in trouble, getting to some things, dibble and dabbling in this and that, avoid it. And if your homies. If you got people around you who are not trying to like care about their freedom, don't hang with them. They're the wrong friends. They're not for you. Keep your circle small, keep it tight. Don't hang with anybody that's bad influence on you. That's all I can say. I've made my mistakes. And I've let people around me get me into trouble before, but like I told myself, never again. So if I were you guys, I'd take my advice and avoid jail or prison and keep your head up. Follow your dreams. Because being incarcerated is not even that cool. It's not cool at all. You lost your freedom, you lost your money, apartment, family. When I was in jail, I lost everything. I lost my job, I lost my car, my apartment, my condo, my like everything. My podcast. I lost a lot of shit when I got in jail. And never again. God forbid. Staffrullah. So yeah. Never again. Never again. But yeah.

Links, Merch, And Closing

SPEAKER_00 23:10

Anyways, um, if you guys want some merchandise, click the link below. If you want more information on uh incarceration and you know being locked up, I'm gonna put a link below as well. The episode. Um go ahead, get yourself something, learn more, and um yeah. Be smart about the next move you're gonna make. Good night, good morning, good afternoon, whatever day you're having, whichever side of the country you're in. I hope you enjoy this episode and thank you for your support. See you all on the next podcast episode.