I googled and could not find any AMA report concerning comparative health effects of the prison system and illegal drugs. Do you have the name of this study?

This book appears to be a lot of nonsense to me, full of unproven assumptions, not the least of which is that-- whatever the dreams of children-- these convicted criminals are desirous or capable of providing decent homes for their offspring.

Already the number of children in this nation living with one or more grandparents at any time is estimated to be between three and eight million. According to the coordinator of the Healthy Grandparents Program, such children are at a high risk for many disorders; their possible cognitive deficiencies are results of prenatal drug abuse or neglect early in life. Their parents are generally unfit-- drug-using, neglectful and/or abusive. Some of these are children whose parents are incarcerated, some have other unstable backgrounds.

Their parents made most of the problems these kids have. I fail to see why uniting convicts and kids would be a boon to society or to their unfortunate children.

So when a drug-dealing man beats his woman to death he shouldn't be sent to prison because that would leave their kids parentless. I get it. Prison would isolate him from the community he comes from; it doesn't matter that the same community regularly begs for a crackdown by law enforcement to rid themselves of criminals like this guy. I get it. People in his community live in a virtual prison already because of the crime going on around them-- the elderly suffocate during the summer because they dare not open their windows a crack, kids cannot play outside because of the stray bullets, the crime rate prevents economic development. I get it. Books like this are written to find a new victim class (children of convicts) and exalt their perceived needs above all others. I get it. The historical reality of slavery is diminished by the author to nothing more than an analogy of sending daddy the felon up the river rather than selling him down it. I get it.

What claptrap! Criminals prey on society, not vice versa, and their own children are among their victims. Yes, help the children-- but not by springing their parents.

I haven't read Ms. Bernstein's book so I don't know if these two rather relevant aspects are covered. The massive profits generated by the privatization of the prison system and the denial of voting rights to convicted felons. More inmates equals more profits equals less democratic voters. It is pure, unadulterated evil and it is sheer genius because voters fall for the "tough on crime" smokescreen every time.