Understanding Mass Incarceration

July 13, 2015
This important polemic from Kilgore (We Are All Zimbabweans Now) presents a grim picture of the U.S. criminal justice system. It may come as no surprise that prisons and jails are rife with abuses of power and funds, lack of resources, and corruption. That African-Americans, Latinos, and transgender people are disproportionately imprisoned is well known. What transforms these social injustices into what Kilgore presents as a national disgrace is the unprecedented growth in the incarcerated population over the past 40 years: “To return to incarceration levels of the 1970s would require a decrease in prison and jail populations of about 1.5 million.” With stunning statistics and heartbreaking stories, the book reveals how the system prevents individuals and their families from moving beyond incarceration: former prisoners are saddled with overwhelming debt from court fines and fees; a bank employee is fired after a background check uncovered a shoplifting conviction from four decades before; guards abused boys imprisoned in a private juvenile facility. Finally, the book recommends that we reconsider how our penal system treats such matters as immigration, drug use, mental illness, disability, and gender identification. The author makes a powerful call to reverse a cycle in which more people serve longer sentences with fewer opportunities to return to society.

July 1, 2015
A handbook for making sense of America's approach to crime and incarceration and its effect on communities across the country. The discussion regarding prison sentencing and the prison industrial complex is not a new one. Social justice activist Kilgore (We Are All Zimbabweans Now, 2011, etc.), a former Symbionese Liberation Army member who spent time in prison for a 1975 bank robbery, refers to the late 1980s as "the most extensive campaign of prison building and incarceration in modern history." It was another decade before the term "prison industrial complex" gained wider currency, serving as a catchall solution not only for what was perceived as sharply rising crime statistics, but also as a panacea to deal with a wide range of other "social ills." Many-though perhaps not enough-Americans are familiar with media-presented statistics that point toward an overwhelming tendency for our justice system to target and prosecute crimes committed by black people. The reality, Kilgore shows, is more nuanced. There is truth to that tendency, to be sure, but there has also been a cultural shift toward a bias against other minority groups, including transgendered and gender-nonconforming people. Where prisons used to at least put an effort toward rehabilitation through education, job training, and therapy, many prisons have moved toward simply warehousing prisoners. Kilgore digs into the reasons, which are more complex than any one cause (racism, greed, "tough on crime" politicians). The author also explores alternatives and their benefits, striking a careful balance among ideologies related to crime and punishment. In the introduction, the author states that it was his goal to explore the incarceration situation in a way that is both comprehensive and accessible. On both counts, he has succeeded. Useful for anyone with a horse in the race regarding law enforcement-in other words, most American citizens.

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