https://archive.attn.com/stories/2419/racism-in-american-criminal-justice-system https://www.sentencingproject.org/criminal-justice-facts/ https://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/incarcerated-women-and-girls/ https://www.pbs.org/video/2365235229/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/04/28/how-for-profit-prisons-have-become-the-biggest-lobby-no-one-is-talking-about/ https://drugwarfacts.org/chapter/drug_prison#sthash.xOeAlKmz.dpbs https://www.npr.org/2015/11/02/454051704/supreme-court-weighs-1987-conviction-by-all-white-jury https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/10/21/gun-homicides-steady-after-decline-in-90s-suicide-rate-edges-up/ https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/07/15/the-demographics-and-politics-of-gun-owning-households/ https://www.cnn.com/2014/01/13/us/california-homeless-beating-verdict/ The United States has the highest incarceration rates in the industrialized world. We incarcerate a larger percentage of our population than almost any other country. Think about it; are we really likely to have a higher percentage of criminals in our country than any other country in the world? Statistically that would be very unlikely. So what is it about our society that keeps putting so many people in prison? Several things have been happening over the past thirty years. We’ve seen a rise in for-profit prisons (that means they are making a profit on putting people in prison), a “war on drugs” (which puts more people in prison than any other crime), an increase in the incarceration of people, especially people of color, stiffer sentences for people convicted of all crimes, especially people of color, and a recession. Use your critical think skills to discuss the connection between all of these variables. Do you think there is a connection? If so how are they connected and why? Justify your answers and use references where appropriate.
