Comment by qingcharles

I feel like it grew from within the system (where change isn't possible) until it was picked up by those outside the system who would articulate the change.

I was mostly locked up in pre-trial detention and "inmate" has a serious connotation of conviction behind it, so it was considered especially ugly and demeaning there, where the acceptable term is "detainee."

Here are some quick reads on the issue:

https://www.themarshallproject.org/2021/04/12/i-am-not-your-...

https://www.themarshallproject.org/2021/04/12/what-words-we-...