The Prisonized System

Prior to the Nixon administration, the prisonized system was apparent. The attempt may be seen in the incarceration of California's landscape. "The first state jail in California was San Quentin, which opened in 1852," and by 1955, a total of nine prisons had been built. Then, "a massive project of prison construction was initiated by during the 1980s—during the Reagan Presidency," and by the time Angela Davis's book was released in 2003, there were "thirty-three prisons, thirty-eight camps, sixteen community correctional facilities, and five tiny prisoner mother facilities in California" (Davis 13). 

Angela Davis emphasizes the importance of understanding how it was so simple to construct a gigantic framework of mass imprisonment with the public's implicit approval. California's legislature gained permission for the jail construction by pledging to promote economic growth and job creation. The issue that arises as a result of such acceptance is the association of corporations with the punishment industry in order to make a profit by targeting damaged communities, where men, women, and children, particularly minorities and those from disadvantaged regions, become targets.