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as I explain here, most of the high-quality evidence refutes the claim that prison is criminogenic.

https://www.city-journal.org/article/build-more-prisons

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I don’t think prison is criminogenic. The most criminogenic thing that results from the current setup of the US justice system is the scarlet letter status of a felony conviction. I’m of the opinion that felonies committed before age 22 should be somehow retroactively reduced to misdemeanor status five years or so after their commission.

I personally know someone who received a felony conviction for a crime committed at age 17, and although he is a totally different person now, it will most likely follow him forever. The effects of this status are the only thing that I could imagine pushing him to recidivism.

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Thank you. I hadn't been aware of the instrumental-variable-based research that you cite in that article.

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