incarcerating
Putting behind bars
Incarcerating is putting someone in prison or jail.
The word carries a formal, institutional tone—courts incarcerate, not individuals: The state has been incarcerating more people for nonviolent offenses.
Figuratively, anything that confines severely can incarcerate: She felt incarcerated by her marriage.
Basic unit of life
- barsRods, taverns, or measures
- prisonConfinement for offenders
- jailDetention facility
- penitentiaryFacility for convicted criminals
dungeon · lockup · cage · detention center · correctional facility · holding cell · solitary · warden
Seize by law
- arraignmentCharge-reading court session
- sentencingImposing legal punishment
- convictionFirmly held belief
- custodyProtective care or control
remand · booking · indictment · trial · verdict · prosecution · defendant · charges
Penalty for an offense
- penaltyPunishment for wrongdoing
- retributionPunishment for wrongdoing
- justiceFair treatment under law
- deterrencePrevention via threatened consequences
sanction · discipline · correction · accountability · rehabilitation · reform · sentence · time served
Profitable mass incarceration system
- recidivismHabitual return to crime
- overcrowdingCapacity exceeded dangerously
- private prisonsDetention facilities run for-profit
- correctional systemInstitutional framework for incarceration
criminal justice · racial disparity · wrongful conviction · prison reform · abolition · reentry · parole board · mandatory sentencing
cell
Basic unit of life
penitentiary · dungeon · lockup · cage · detention center · correctional facility · holding cell · solitary · warden · guard
arrest
Seize by law
- arraignmentCharge-reading court session
- sentencingImposing legal punishment
- convictionFirmly held belief
custody · remand · booking · indictment · trial · verdict · prosecution · defendant · charges · bail
punishment
Penalty for an offense
- penaltyPunishment for wrongdoing
- retributionPunishment for wrongdoing
- justiceFair treatment under law
deterrence · sanction · discipline · correction · accountability · rehabilitation · reform · sentence · time served · hard labor
prison industrial complex
Profitable mass incarceration system
- recidivismHabitual return to crime
- overcrowdingCapacity exceeded dangerously
- private prisonsDetention facilities run for-profit
correctional system · criminal justice · racial disparity · wrongful conviction · prison reform · abolition · reentry · parole board · mandatory sentencing · three strikes
- containingcontaining, enclosing, encasing, wrapping, enveloping
- criminal lawcrime, felony, misdemeanor, murder, robbery
incarceratingfreeing
Releasing from confinement
liberating · releasing · emancipating · setting free · letting go
incarceratingdischarging
Releasing or letting go
releasing · paroling · acquitting · exonerating · pardoning
- mass incarcerationExcessive imprisonment at scale
- incarceration ratesMeasure of imprisoned population