Locking people away for long periods of time seems like a tough but effective way to deal with crime but multiple studies have shown that states with draconian sentences have the same amount of crime as states with more lenient laws. Imprisoning just one person costs tens of thousands of dollars per year and there’s other costs. When parents are taken away from their children families are strained and communities are weakened. When the prison sentence is done, people traumatized by imprisonment are released into communities where they face discrimination in housing and employment. In her book Talking About Abolition Sonali Kolhatkar looks at alternatives to the current system of policing and imprisonment.