In my experience, people who have been incarcerated rarely have difficulty identifying the
parallels between these systems of social control. Once they are released, they are often
denied the right to vote, excluded from juries, and relegated to a racially segregated and
subordinated existence. Through a web of laws, regulations, and informal rules, all of which
are powerfully reinforced by social stigma, they are confined to the margins of mainstream
society and denied access to the mainstream economy. They are legally denied the ability to
obtain employment, housing, and public benefits—much as African Americans were once
forced into a segregated, second-class citizenship in the Jim Crow era.