For one, the conviction rates for the exact same crime wildly differ based on your race. If you are black, latino, or indigenous you are more likely to be convicted of the same crime than a white or asian person. Not to mention that your chances of getting stopped or arrested to begin with are dramatically higher if you’re black or latino.

The more pertinent point, though, is prison conditions. Did you know that it’s very common for prisons to either provide very little or no menstruation products? Did you know that some prisons will sell them in the commissionary at crazy high upcharged prices while inmates make pennies on the dollar? Does that sound like a choice to you?

Here’s something that’s allegedly a choice: food. Prison food (with very few exceptions) is borderline inedible. There are a lot of states who have incentives to cut costs in prisons wherever possible, and they will buy the cheapest, lowest quality food possible. This food is often prepared in unsanitary conditions by workers who are not trained in food safety because they are also inmates. Oftentimes it is extremely difficult to stomach and people will get food poisoning. I personally know somebody who was in prison for a while and worked in the kitchen and there were multiple times that spoiled, rotten food was cooked and served, and there was even a time where a rat got into the food and the kitchen staff just cooked the rat along with everything else and served it anyway. This person would often just not eat as a result. The prison commissionaries sell junk food like chips and cookies for a crazy upcharged price. Anything is better than what you get served in prison.

One last thing: is the bail system “fair and just”? Is it fair that if you have money and pay you don’t have to go to jail, while somebody who does not have money has no other choice? What about other fees that they charge you? Court debt is a thing. What about the laws themselves? Being homeless is illegal in many parts of the US. You will get arrested for sleeping under a bridge or in your car.

Highly recommend reading the book the Warehouse by James Kilgore and Vic Liu if you want to learn more about how the American prison system works. It’s an incredibly disturbing read, but it’s the reality we live in.