Over 2 million Americans are in jails today, about half for non-violent crimes, and the U.S. has the highest incarceration rate in the world. Furthermore, many studies show that mass incarceration may in fact increase crime and has devastating effects on the poor. "Our carceral state is eroding communities; it is undermining our economy; it's creating unemployment problems; it's creating a profit incentive for crimes to be committed; and it's distorting our democracy," said Temple historian Heather Ann Thompson.