“When incarceration rates go up crime goes down.”
Not necessarily. It depends on who you are locking up. If it’s murderers, rapists, armed robbers, and the like then yeah, it probably does have an effect. Unfortunately, since our courts/prison industrial system has adopted a for profit model, it has emphasized use of jail and prison space for things like DUI’s and drug offences which generate more revenue than violent crimes.
In any case, a nation of prisons begets a nation of prisoners. If they build them, they will fill them. Perhaps with violent criminals, perhaps with troublemaking Christians.
Some states, not all, have adopted a for profit prison system. If you read the article closely you would the great majority of people in prison deserve to be there.