1. Soc 329 - MoJo Forty years ago, the US prison population was less than 200,000. The IR was about 100 per 100,000 population (about normal for prosperous countries) (about normal for prosperous countries) Today, the US prison population is more than 1,400,000 – more than seven times larger!

2. Soc 329 - MoJo Another 700,000+ people are in jails. The US now has the highest IR on earth! 2 million + people incarcerated IR over 700 (minority IR much higher!)

3. Soc 329 - MoJo How We Got to Two Million: How did the Land of the Free become the world's leading jailer? It wasn’t crime -- political manipulation of fear of crime. political manipulation of fear of crime.

4. Soc 329 - MoJo Main Elements: War on drugsWar on drugs Harsher sentences for petty crimesHarsher sentences for petty crimes Mandatory sentencing lawsMandatory sentencing laws Three strikes lawsThree strikes laws “Get tough” policies in general“Get tough” policies in general

5. Soc 329 - MoJo Targets minorities “Revenge” for the civil rights movement?

6. Soc 329 - MoJo Cost is huge, but creates opportunities: businessesbusinesses small townssmall towns politicianspoliticians the mediathe media Others (phone, bus, etc.)Others (phone, bus, etc.)

7. Soc 329 - MoJo Incubating Disease Prisons are rife with infectious illnesses – and threaten to spread them to the public. Sex, drug sharing, and simple exposure spreads diseases in prisons and outside.

8. Soc 329 - MoJo HIVHIV Hepatitis CHepatitis C TuberculosisTuberculosis MeningitisMeningitis

9. Soc 329 - MoJo Cheap/poor medical care typical in prison why? Medical care is expensive – the “logic” why should “criminals” get medical care that poor people who are not criminals can’t afford?

10. Soc 329 - MoJo Bad Investment Gary Johnson, former Republican governor of New Mexico, on why the war on drugs is a waste of money.

11. Soc 329 - MoJo War on drugs is tremendously expensive,.... and is a failure. Money would be better spent on rehab and drug treatment, which might actually reduce crime in the long run.

12. Soc 329 - MoJo Breeding Violence Locking people up is supposed to make our streets safer, but it may be doing just the opposite.

13. Soc 329 - MoJo Stress & violence lead to post-traumatic stress disorder. Feuds continue on the outside. Isolation has even worse effects. Prisoners released with nothing -- and “help” is mostly blocked.

14. Soc 329 - MoJo Left Behind Hundreds of thousands of children have a parent behind bars. What are the social costs of their loss?

15. Soc 329 - MoJo Psychological damage – “at risk” kids. No resources for them either --- into juvenile and welfare bureaucracies. Many get in trouble because of damage.

16. Soc 329 - MoJo Liberty and Justice for Some: Jesse Jackson on the moral costs of mass incarceration. Gains of civil rights movement are being rolled back by binge and war on drugs.

17. Soc 329 - MoJo What's the alternative? Society has to respond to lawbreakers, but it doesn't always have to lock them up.

18. Soc 329 - MoJo Because of the huge cost of the binge, states are beginning to experiment with alternatives. So far the results are mixed.

19. Soc 329 - MoJo ** Browse state by state atlas

20. Next Corr, Inc. … and yet more problems with the imprisonment binge … and yet more problems with the imprisonment binge