It’s not even legal through some obscure loophole either the; amendment that banned slavery had an explicit exception for prisons and prisoners. Also, it means there is no reason for them to try to reform criminals. It’s in their best interests for the convicts that leave their care to quickly get arrested to come right back again. Trying to give them education and opportunities costs money and that’s money that can be spent on kickbacks and bribes to get their facilities full. There was one judge who immediately sent any juvenile defendant before him to the same facility. The facility that was sending him kick backs. Now as you mentioned the whole disgusting life destroying thing has been supercharged thanks to the crackdown.

No authoritarian government cares to listens to protestors. Yet they all fear them. The point isn’t to make the government comply but to show everyone how many people are on your side. The more people show up the easier it is to motivate people to resist.