the problem of incarceration. and the more that we expand prisons and punishment, the more unequal our society will be. jackson becomes this kind of prophetic voice in some ways at taking the ideas and energy of the second reconstruction and applying them to criminal justice and saying them around as this next horizon of how racism and inequality will continue. so in that symbolic warning for jackson offers, we can think of him as a kind of michael brown of his day. why do i say that? who was michael brown? >> he was murdered by cops. [inaudible] >> his death by police in ferguson was a flashpoint for the rise of black lives matter. and his kind of image, symbol became proof of the problem of policing. were you going to add to that? >> i couldn't hear her stores hundred iraq which case that was -- i was trying to figure out which case that was because there are so many of them. >> angela davis sort of re-articulated that warning in the reading for today. that becomes the basis for black lives matter, the major soc

talk about what mass incarceration is. i'm going to complicate some of the ways it is often talked about. we will talk about where it came from and how we ended up with the world's biggest prison system. what that has to do with this time. the 1960's and 1970's and the second reconstruction. we will think about the role that people in prison and formerly incarcerated people have played consistently as analysts and observers and critics of mass incarceration. we will start off big and work our way to the human level. the u.s. incarcerates more people than anyone else in the world. in terms of absolute numbers more than 2.2 million people in prison, but also the rate of incarceration. 5% of the worlds population and about two -- 25% of the prison population. you can see how much more that is than even other countries that have their own version of mass incarceration. 700 people per 100,000 people in the united states that are incarcerated today. that is a relatively recent phenomenon. when we look at incarceration throughout

we look at who is incarcerated. about one in a hundred americans in general. 15 african americans over the age of 18. one in nine african-american men over the age of 18. in the prime years of their lives. the prison system has always men, but theally numbers and the rates are still very staggering we look at incarcerated women as well. women are incarcerated at a dramatically higher rate than white women. that's part of the system. the size of it, the severity of it. the severity comes up in a range of ways. we're the only industrialized country is still has the death penalty. a number of states including our own have placed a moratorium on the death penalty. it persists in much of the country. also there is the other death penalty. the use of life without parole sentencing. sentencing people to spend the rest of their lives in prison is on the rise as the death penalty is on the decline. life without parole is really something distinctive in the u.s.. onlywe are one of the places in the world to sentence juveniles

, 90% of those are incarcerated at the state level. 10% incarcerated at the federal level. 90% incarcerated at the state level. when we discuss criminal justice reform and congressman bobby scott is going to be speaking in a few minutes and he talks about this all of the time, as well as congresswoman sheila jackson lee, when we discuss criminal justice reform, we must not only talk about reform at the federal level, but we must find ways to require states to reform their criminal justice system at the local level. look at their system and seek ways to reduce massive incarceration. too many of those incarcerated at the state level are in prison for drug-related offenses or crimes that don't endanger the communities. we get telephone calls and i'm sure my colleagues get calls rom those who are seeking ways to ex punk their records so those men and women can get some of those offenses, techly those offenses dealing with petty crimes and misdemeanor and drug-related offenses. it prevents young people from getting gainful employment. we also need to encourage states to look at ways to remove cr

as a whole oklahoma led the incarceration rate. certain crimes and felonies in other states etc. i spent two years in prison for 2 grams of marijuana. i'm not a pro marijuana guy. i got caught and him guilty. for two years i was shocked. i said your honor, seriously and here's what my attorney told me and i wanted to share this with you and i will let you comment. we have to stop locking up people we are mad at and lock up people we are scared of, by the crimes, people crimes against people, violent crimes, those are the folks we need to have incarcerated and stop locking up people for these petty crimes, but in the state of oklahoma -- host: will come i think we have that idea. let's hear from our guest. guest: thank you. i agree with that statement although i would say this, we need to look harder at who we are afraid of our who we think we are afraid of and we knew to remember the people in prison are people in prison and we imagine often times people say what do you do with the rapists and murderers, someone who is habitually c

in fact, incarceration can have the opposite effect, which is that longer spells of incarceration, andn this case the study finds each additional year of incarceration can lead to an average increase in future offending of 4% to 7 percentage points. as i said, there isn't a single agreed upon cause in the reduction in crime but demographic changes and improving economic conditions an changes in policing tactics are three of the theories that people have. the impact of mass incarceration is not spread evenly across the population. although blacks and hispanics represent approximately 30% of the population, they comprise over 50% of the incarcerated population. the incarcerate for blacks dwarfed the rate of other groups, 3.5 times larger than that for whites. and a large body of researchers tried to look carefully at the causal role that race plays in this and finds that for similar offenses, blacks and hispanics are more likely to be stopped and searched, arrested, convicted and sentenced to harsh erpenalities. for example, even controlling for arrest defendant characteristics, prosecut

that incentivize mass incarceration. and one of the most common examples of this, so police departments are -- they measure success through the number of arrests. prosecutors measure success through the number of convictions and how many people they are sending away to prison and for how long they're sending them. one of the examples in terms of the federal level is a 1994 crime bill. which we've all been hearing about on the campaign trail. one of the parts that we might not have heard as much about is the part that gave states $12.5 billion to construct additional prisons if they passed laws that increased prison terms. so in response, over 28 states actually changed their laws and applied for funding. and then between 1994 and 2008, the prison population doubled. so to truly end mass incarceration, these types of incentives have to be changed. and here's where the federal government can play a very large role. of course states and localities need to also change their laws but just like in the 1990s when the federal go

and what does mass incarceration deal with? they deal with human beings. they deal with men and women they deal with family, deal with mothers who have children. and previously, if you were on any man over drugs or you possessed drugs, nonviolent, you were incarcerated. you were on crack or cocaine, you were incar cars rated. but i commend the chairman of the subcommittee on crime, jim sensenbrenner, for his work, as i said, and chairman goodlatte and ranking member conyers because we now have from the judiciary committee a legislative initiative that does not have mandatory minimums. in fact, it deals with a passionate and compassionate approach and it deals with the issue of addiction and recovery. the bill that i was a sponsor of earlier, predecessor to this one, the comprehensive adick and recovery act. i would be happy to see the committee pass that bill but i'm pleased that we have been able to work together to produce an alternative bill that will help address issues related to opioid abuse. again, i emphasize, no mandatory minimums. but a way of ad

on behalf of the men that are incarcerated, i want to apologize for that. thank you for sharing that with us. >> my reaction was sincere appreciation. that he could be that sensitive or that charitable and take in an odd sort of way, some ownership or some responsibility for the maladaptive actions that this other person did. my son evan was about love. he wrote this campaign speech that was a class assignment, one of his last class assignments. one of the things he said in the campaign speech is, i will tell those who bring harm to others to go to church. >>> next on "lockup: raw" -- >> i think the greatest fear that the public should have is that some of these people are going home. >> a freed convict commits murder on the outside and then again back on the inside. >> i held him in a choke hold and my friend started hitting him, beating him up. >>> we've heard the warnings from prison staff. >> they're going to come back to our communities. they're going to go back and live next to you or him or me. i want to make sure i've done everything i can so that w

how we think about that in relation to what now is called mass incarceration. we're going to do three big things today. talk about what mass incarceration is. i'm going to complicate some of the ways it is often talked

. >> most of the 1,300 men and women incarcerated here are only accuse of crimes and are awaiting trial and the resolution of their cases. but if any of them break the rules here, they will end up in the disciplinary segregation unit, sometimes referred to as the hole. >> this is the hole. we have people for fighting, for stealing. >> inmates here lose all their privileges, including visitation and must spend 23 hours a day in the single-person well with one hour to use the shower a day or call on phones. but even in such a tightly controlled area, violence can still erupt. >> two inmates for fighting. >> somebody got clocked. >> hard to tell you all what happened. i can't believe this, man. trying to stay out of trouble because i was about to be out of lockdown. >> the inmates involved are giovanni harris and dillon thompson. they were both in the day room during the one hour they are allowed outside of their cells. >> we have 16 on bottom and 16 on top. we have eight hours in the shift. doing the math it doesn't add up. we have to double up if we are going to get everybody out. >> har

california nso many ways, led the country into the morass of mass incarceration. and suddenly, 70% of voters said, "okay, now let's let thousands of lifers out over the next few years." so you had institutions from the court to prisons to re-entry homes to the three strikes clinic. and thousands of individuals who were incarcerated under three strikes, and their families saying, "now what?" but nobody really knew what to expect. >> stewart: what were some of the unintended consequences of that sort of very sudden change in the law? what did you observe? >> you know, it's interesting. most of the time when you get released from prison you're on parole, and that can be a good thing and a very, very bad thing. a lot of people get trapped up in the system because of parole violations, and the parole system isn't always helpful. aracters gets a job. of our he's thrilled to have a job, but his parole officer is make him meet in the middle of the day, so it threatens his employment. that said, with parole, there tends to be access to some services. for this particular po

but serbia incarcerates a much smaller portion of its citizens. one out of nearly every 700 versus one out of every 130 in the united states. >> at the moment, a total of 1,200 inmates are being held here which is 2 1/2 times more than the prison's actual capacity. >> while some parts of cz have been modernized, much of the prison shows signs of age of one especially haunting section is completely abandoned behind locked doors. the execution chamber. >> we went down probably three, four stories underground to an area best described kind of like a scene out of "aliens." >> they literally have puddles of the water on the ground and they have boards that are slightly elevated. and you kind of do a balancing act to cross these boards down this old corridor. and then you just come upon an open room with a wall. >> translator: we are currently in a room where executions used to be carried out. prisoners on death row stood by the wall. the firing squad stood here. >> translator: it had a squad of ten executioners. some of whom had loaded weapons while ot

and was incarcerated for second-degree murder. here is this beautiful model of looking, recent doctor graduate and she falls in love or as we say grow some of with me while i'm still struggling to get out of prison and we ended up establishing a wonderful amazing friendship that has endured to this day. we just celebrated connecting with each other 10 years ago. >> host: congratulations. >> guest: today she is the mother of my child and hands down one of my best friends and actually she is my best friend in the world. super courageous woman. very smart, cares about real issues and works externally hard to change the world. i'm proud to have her as the mother of my child and as my best friend and someone who i love dearly. >> host: i love that phrase, he said it wasn't so much falling in love, but growing in love. >> guest: yeah, i mean, she taught me how to love in a different way, you know. so, she was that missing piece of the puzzle for me getting out, which was someone that could help me on package some of the hardness of pris

and that i was incarcerated for second-degree murder.ere there is a beautiful, model looking recent doctor graduate and she falls in love or as we say gross in love with me while i am still struggling to get out of prison. we ended up establishing a wonderful, amazing friendship that endures to this day. we just celebrated connecting with each other ten years ago. today she is the mother of my child, and hands-down one of my best friends. she actually is my best friend in the world. she is a super courageous woman, very smart, cares about and works extremely hard to change the world and i'm just proud to have her as a mother of my child and my best friends and somebody who i love dearly. >> host: i love that phrase, it was not so much falling in love but growing in love. >> guest: yes. i mean she taught me how to love in a different way. so she was that missing piece of the puzzle which was someone who can help me on package some of the hardness of prison life and she was a safe place to land. >> host: so eventually, 19 years later, you

you really need to offer alternatives to incarceration because addiction is serious. but so is addiction to cigarettes and alcohol and unhealthy food. most of us take in some form or fashion. >> host: absolutely. we think about the most harmful drug has got to be alcohol. it causes more deaths, difference functional families, crimes and all other hard drugs combined, but i will never forget your description of ghosts. tell us about that in the crack house. >> guest: so, part of the addiction -- part of the crack addiction is in hallucinating and paranoia and then the deep, deep craving for the drug. so often times when i was being in a crack house after the person smoked the crack and it's all gone, they would begin to look around on the floor for anything that resembled crack, and they would just pick up anything, white, whether it was lint, and see if it was something they could consume. highly, highly addictive drug. and hence you have the devastating impact that it's had on a lot of communities where people who are at one tomorrow teachers, lawyers, doctors, facto

the response to crack cocaine -- massive incar ration incarceration. the fact that crack cocaine was blankets police in certain neighborhoods, front end loaders in poor neighborhoods and i just -- i hope that what this more humane, more medical-oriented response to drug addiction represents as america learning how to deal with drug addiction. because i think a more cynical person -- not me -- might say that because crack crearn was eople that were -- cocaine was people that were african-americans, a prison response was warranted and tolerable and because opioid is more broad, it affects the majority community as well, that a more reasoned response is warranted. you know, thinking about people like kemba smith who got 24 years in prison when she was a student at hampton institute. she never touched one gram of crack cocaine. had a boyfriend who was a drug dealer. he housed some drugs in her house. she got convicted. end up getting 24 years in prison. thank goodness president clinton gave her a communtation, but ruined her life. we now have about 2.4 mil

has over 200,000 incarcerated veterans.loyment and substance abuse contribute to these high numbers. ron's program helps them address tough issues in an environment of trust. it's called veterans healing veterans from the inside out. >> we were with juan, and he said, are they going to talk to any of the veterans? and i was just like, what do you mean veterans? like, it just didn't occur to me that, of course, everybody's in here. so i said, who should we talk to? and you were the first name that came up. how many veterans are here in san quentin and what is their experience? >> there's like 362 main line. that's gp in blue on-the-yard veterans and we have 51 on death row. yeah, it's a large veterans population here. in the capacity of my job as the veterans liaison, for me, it's a way to help reduce the number of veterans coming to prison and the number of suicides. >> so, in a way, you're sort of continuing your service to the country through your service here in san quentin? >> yes. >> yes. and how long have you been inc

has been identified as a 20 year-old peter bertie as reported the index gained that was of the incarcerated rapper. the results of the autopsy are pending he was taught stabbed or shot hoops but sound with his feet high cemented the fourth khomeini himself into the water. considering the terrific nature of the crime i will show exclusive pictures. i have two more do they are disturbing. and one day later rigo the agenda if -- the identity of the corpse of a criminal history. according to officials he had been arrested 31 times to include identity theft. as a former gang member said this is heartbreaking because the pattern and use of with cortines is exactly the pattern he is trying to break something some happen. >> it did to be incarcerated >> is that's enough to the dead end to his life but he did elaborate it is a bath when he first heard this story was retaliation. >>. >> he also said that it is important to note it washed up the gains of are everywhere. >> it is shocking the story of the body. >> he has been missing since february. is shocking absolutely. >> they are tried to make it

. >> my name is jesus garcia, i have been incarcerated for nearly 12 1/2 years.arcerated for first degree murder and i have life plus 26 years to serve. >> when we met jesus garcia at the penitentiary of new mexico he had recently been involved in the bloody assault of two officers. >> leading up to that day there had been incidents where they messed with me. that was the third time. i said, that was it. that's enough. i broke my tv, made a couple shanks and assaulted them. assaulted one of them. i got him, and then another officer came to his rescue and obviously trying to defend myself, i assaulted him, too. >> they were slashed around the head, neck, came very close to the jugular on one of the officers. >> i remember running into the pod. there was an inmate between both of them and they were both being stabbed. >> aaron bell rushed to aid his fellow officers moments after the assault began. >> i hit the inmate, tried to get him by his arm, and i slipped. and i didn't realize what i slipped on was all blood. >> it took a couple of minutes before we got other

we know many incarcerated are functionally illiterate. a study in huntsville found that 80% of prison inmates are functionally illiterate, 48% dyslexic. the prevalence of dyslexia is 20% -- 48% in the incarcerated population. if appropriate science-based strategy to teach and treat dyslexia are instituted, the effects on our future prison population could be profound. last year -- let me say, with all this there has been progress. last year senator mikulski and i sponsored a resolution which passed that calls on congress, schools, state and local education agencies to recognize the implications of dyslexia that must be addressed. it also designated october 2015 is a national dyslexia awareness month. we will introduce this this year. lamar smith's research excellence and advancement of dyslexia at whether reback ensures the national science foundation is dedicated for research. the pass congress was signed into law. the average student succeed at create the focus comprehensive center providing evidence-based resources for identifying stud

has over 200,000 incarcerated veterans.like ptsd, unemployment, and substance abuse contribute to these high numbers. ron's program helps them address tough issues in an environment of trust. it's called veterans healing veterans from the inside out. >> we were with juan and he said, are they going to talk to any of the veterans? and i was like, what do you mean, the veterans? it just didn't occur to me that of course everyone's in here. you were the first name that came up. how many veterans are here in san quentin and what is their experience? >> like 362 main line, gp, in blue, on the yard veterans and 51 on death row. yeah, it's a large veterans' population here. and the capacity of my job is the veterans' liaison. for me it's a way to reduce the number of veterans coming to prison and reduce the number of suicides. >> so in a way you're continuing your service to the country through your service here in san quentin? >> yes. >> how long have you been incarcerated? >> i came to prison in 1997 >> so the marine corps right

a beautiful feeling to come outside, especially when you're incarcerated. you get is to go to court and that's it. you get on the bus. besides that, you get to look out the window. and that's it. >> everybody, place your i.d. cards on your outermost garments. put them up on your chest, please, gentlemen. keep the noise down. we're going to take it inside. we're going to clear the deck and take it downstairs again. one at a time. >> eric prefers to hang out in the dorm, close to his belongings. >> i never really leave my bed because you really can't trust everybody that is here. my letters to my house, my pictures, my girlfriend. i don't have any pictures of my family at the moment but hopefully i will get some. that's about it. every day, i wake up saying i hate this. but, i got to stay here. so until i do my time, i'll be here. and hopefully i'll see this through. >> scott randolph spends his free time writing poetry. >> this one's called "hold this." hold this, grip these words as if your embrace alone will help me save my life. so that i might live to gi

. >> most of the 1,300 men and women incarcerated here are only charged with crimes and awaiting trialnd the resolution of their cases. but all are subjected to random shakedown, designed to keep drugs out of jail. >> everybody up lest go. >> every day we do a search. a shakedown on a floor every day. >> everybody have a seat. >> we'll pull the inmates out of their cell, set them in the middle of the day space. the dog will go through the cells and search the cells finding any contraband we cannot find. >> i feel in some way he's shaking out my panties right now and going through my dirty clothes. >> i'm far too boring to have anything they would want to take. unless they want a copy of orange is the new black. >> pat down the inmates and send them back to their cell. >> today the search doesn't turn up any drugs or serious contraband. >> take them out of here and then all the cells will be open and they can do their daily routine. >> our rooms get trashed but, you know, what can we do about that? we're in jail. >> while frequent cell searches go a long way to keeping drugs away from t

. >> what's it like for you, working in the same jail where your son is incarcerated? >> i don't think about it. i do my job, i go home. any parent of a drug addict, you sleep so much better when they're in jail. is that horrible? but you do. they're not out there dying, overdosing, committing crimes. >> it's got to be embarrassing for her, you know, to come to work and oh, yeah, i seen your son over in the other unit. it's shameful for me and i would imagine more so for her seeing how she's the innocent in this. she didn't do anything for me to be here. >> sometimes you got to go through the hard stuff to get to where the good stuff is, i guess. >> jail policy does not allow officer youngman to work in cory's housing unit. but most of the staff who do work there are aware of the relationship. >> she's in a sad situation because her son is locked up here and i know she's embarrassed that he is here. but everybody supports her and nobody says anything to her about him because everybody knows what the situation is, so it's one of those unspoken things. >> do you ever pla

. >> the love brothers were initially incarcerated together at another iowa prison.ut once again, brad followed michael, and the result was more violence. >> the last fight that we got into, this guy told on my brother for smoking weed. mike told me, he said, here, i'm going to go beat him up. he's like i want you to shoot jiggers, watch out for us. i said all right. so i was standing outside the cell and mike goes in there, and i just -- i don't know what made me do it but i look in the window and it was only supposed to be one dude in there but there was two guys and they was trying to get on mike and i was like no, that ain't going to happen. so i ran in there, and i grabbed the other dude, and beat him up pretty bad. and then they shipped me out and then that was it. yeah, that sucked. >> brad was transferred to anamosa. only to find a long lost relative was already doing his own time there. >> my father was in here for messing with kids. and you know, i ain't cool with that. and he tried talking to me but i told him, you know i ain't got no respect for you for w

he was incarcerated on a separate charge and declined to speak with us. she acknowledges she was not a good role model. >> he got in trouble on aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in a road rage shooting. this goes back to me. i would carry my guns. they would see that. my 19-year-old picked up on it. i'll never forget he was talking to his friends. he was like 12. something he had seen me do one day. he said you should seen my mom. she pulled this chick out of car and started beating her up. he said it was like it was so cool. it's like did i really do that? those were a lot of eye openers with me. >> she had a chance to do better with her 11-year-old son. she was participating in a program run by the jail called match. >> it was developed in the hopes of stop being the cycle of inter generational incarceration. the more they learn about themselves the more they learn how to let go of things. the greater they become at parenting. >> bexar county's at 31 years old is one of the longest in the nation. graduates have about a 15% lower arrest rate than t

has over 200,000 incarcerated veterans.ent, and substance abuse and ptsd can accelerate these issues. it's called veterans healing veterans from the inside out. >> i was like, what do you mean, veterans? it didn't occur to me, that of course everyone's in here. how many veterans are here and what is their experience? >> like 362 mainland on the yard. but it's a large veteran's population and for me it's a way to help reduce the number of veterans coming to prison and the number of suicide. >> so, in a way you're continuing your serve thoos country through your service here in san quentin. >> i came to prison in 1997. >> 1997. >> so, i was in the marine corps from 1987 to 1997. conspiracy to commit murder and attempted murder. >> talk about how that guy goes in the newspaper as a hero to someone who ends up incarcerated. >> we're all given the opportunity to defend this country at one time. clearly by the fact that we came to prison, we did something we shouldn't have so, we violated that trust. and talk about why you feel l

the man was incarcerated.'s just part of it. >> and though it was tough, though it was hard, though there were probably tragedies that he left behind him, when he came to know you as lord and savior, lord, we know that things changed. this is one of the aspects that i consider brings about a sense of human dignity to life of incarceration. we ask that you comfort the family with your words and comfort them, god, knowing that you the resurrection and the life. we pray all these things and thanks in jesus name, amen. death is death, no matter who you are and in this case, i think it was freedom. >> announcer: next, on "lockup extended stay." >> hey, how you doing? >> sherman moore sees his daughter for the first time in more than a year. >> you probably didn't think i was coming? >> yi knew. they told me. sheez arer i hear you. to everyone with this pain that makes ordinary tasks extraordinarily painful, i hear you. make sure your doctor hears you too! i hear you because i was there when my dad suffered with dia

the behavior that got them incarcerated, we shouldn't accept that same behavior while they're incarceratedh us. >> changing the way things had been done for decades wasn't going to be easy, but it was going to happen. that was the mandate. the first step came in leveling the playing field. >> you hear the saying, power is in numbers. and that's really true. you put 150, 200 class x murderers in a room together and that's a lot of power. you take that number down and knock it down to 50 and you put a couple extra officers there, and it really kind of balances things out. >> today, anywhere you look within stateville there are rarely more than 50 prisoners together. oftentimes there are fewer. unlike many other prisons around the country where hundreds of prisoners congregate, at stateville, whether it's in the prison yards, dining hall or any other location, the number of inmates is always limited. these same limitations also apply anytime prisoners are moved from one area of the prison to another. >> in the past we used to move 200, 300 inmates at a time. now it's no more than 50 inmates a

i was incarcerated for armed robbery. i was in for five years. >> and where were you incarcerated? >> i was incarcerated in several joints throughout indiana, you know. >> the biggest problem is they tend to look down a lot. and i tell them, you know, whatever you did, whatever crime you committed, you've done your time for that. so i want you to lift your head up. you have nothing to be ashamed of because you've done your time and that's why we do this because it's very important that they know that. >> at isp, self-improvement is also available to those whose release dates are decades away. >> i tell my mother all the time, don't think of me as being in prison. i'm in here trying to better myself. she's really worried about me because i am a sex offender and it's really hard on sex offenders in prison, in this environment. i have a class "a" felony child molestation. we had sex one time, she came up pregnant and had a baby. when we found out she was pregnant, i turned myself in. i'm 35. i'll be 56 if i do the whole bit.

he's been incarcerated most of his life. he's definitely way up there on the food chain. >> several weeks earlier, mickey was transferred here from new york city's notorious rikers island jail. >> he had a bunch of charges assaulting other inmates, assaulting staff, and he definitely has a following. a lot of people under him that will do whatever he tells them to do. they have to do it, otherwise, they'll be in trouble. by sending him out here, it kind of strips him of his power and he's more isolated. >> records indicate and mickey concurs the two hour drive from rikers to suffolk was not without incident. >> i'm like, yo, where am i going? you're going far. i'm like, no, suit up. when i turned around, it was like fight time. we started timing. they whooped me out, tied me and took me to suffolk county. i've been a hostage ever since. this was my career. this was what i wanted to be. i wanted to wear red flag and bang for my gang since i was like this. and that's the honest to god truth. it sounds so stupid now, but i neve

we saw an increase of incarcerations in the federal system after the crime bill.t also became an example for states to follow and they also increase the number of folks they incarcerated. also look at prosecutors, the discussion they have to prosecute folks, sometimes low level folks, to get to more serious offenders. put the numbers up your we will be talking about criminal justice reform todd cox from the center of the american progress. the area code. 748-8000 four democrats. 748-8001 for republicans. 748-8002 for independents. we have a separate line. if you have experience working in or as someone who has been arrested -- some experience with the criminal justice system -- we want to hear your explains as well. (202) 748-8003 -- we want to hear your experience as well. (202) 748-8003. in an op-ed on "the hill," you is 7.5 billion dollars, seven times what it was in the early 1980's and now takes up one quarter of the department of justice's budget. guest: it is a costly cannot afford to bear. the article is something we produce with one of our coalition partn

now, a past criminal will be called person who committed a crime or individual who was incarcerated. what's going on here? >> what's next, and i really mean that. are we going to call people who raped, people who committed rape? title 18, the criminal and penal code, there's a reason why in our laws, we refer to people as criminals and felons. no need to change that and i'm really worried that of course, gone amuck, but when does it stop? we've start stopped calls it the war on terrorism. >> are we trying to not hurt the feelings of felons an criminals? do they worry about the feelings of people they were violating. >> no, to me, this is not per se because when you think about for example how we refer to people with disabilities or mental illness, you don't go around calling them names that in fact keep them in some kind of lower status in society. and we know about the ban the box moouchl. the ban the box movement because when people are labeled as convict, it impacts their ability to get work. >> what are you thoughts on this one? >> i don't have a lot of respect for convicts. i do

same as the king is incarcerated in birmingham and he writes on scraps of paper letter from birmingham jail and he really defends the movement against critics who say the movement should move slower. the movement should wait and freedom and justice and democracy. one of the best lines from birmingham jail is king arguing in the future the young men and women being incarcerated and brutalized and arrested in birmingham are going to be remembered as heroes and he says they're going to be remembered as heroes for bringing the nation back to, quote, those great wells of democracy dug deep by the founding fathers. 1963 is the year of german shepherd fire hoses in birmingham, fire hoses that were powerful enough to take the bark off of trees, john f. kennedy says he is sick from the scenes he has witnessed in birmingham of german shepherds and fire hoses and over 1,000 young children, children as young as 8 years old being incarcerated for trying to desegregate birmingham, alabama. 63 is the year that i called kennedy's finest moment, june 11th, 1963, where kennedy delivers a forceful and ro

only a frac are incarcerated behind barbed wire. >> the more you are a rebel to the law the more the streets love you. >> this is the beginning. it is a facility built back in 2004. >> you would rather be here? >> i would rather be home, i get the same treatment but in here there's more structure.>> 62 inmates, the place is half empty and there were only 30 youth there. >> it gets complicated. not an expense driven, it is offense severity. >> they agree with the critics and say the defending juveniles driven back to the families has not worked in the past and will not work today. >> there was no bridge and very neighborhoods where the young person is returning. >> you can't fix the community right? >> it is certainly a collaborative effort that will require all the resources that the city has. >> fathers and daughters, not much going out-- going down in this lifetime. >> as a part of the effort to get more supervision, they are training adult offenders to work as mentors and also tells bruce he will move female offenders into a separate unit at new beginnings to fill the 30 empty bed

he too is schizophrenic. >> being incarcerated is no way to live. only is it being kept from your freedom buturrounded with the people that are here. violence, the ignorance, the antagonist and mentality of individuals who are locked up with ken -- he can be dangerous. >> there are some areas of the jail that do have the look of a treatment center. those running this facility have recognized the mental health provision needs to be a huge part of what they do. the new warden is even a psychologist. but what they cannot change is a system that means so many people who should be treated in the community and the in a place like this. >> you have people who are sick, not criminals, they are sick. no different than if they had diabetes but they have mental illness. why is it not being treated? guess what, states or of the country, throughout the united decimated mental health programs. people scramble to find anything. where do these people and up? in the jails and prisons and it has been going on now for decades. to featuret seems that there is a recogni

has over 200,000 incarcerated veterans.sues in an environment of trust. it's called veterans healing veterans from the inside out. >> we were with juan and he said, are they going to talk to the veterans? i was like, what do you mean, veterans. it just didn't occur to me that of course rve's in here. so what should we talk to and you were the first name that came up. how many veterans are here in san quentin and what is their experience? >> like 362 main line, gp, in blue, on the yard veterans and 51 on death row. yeah, a large veteran's population here. my job, veteran's lee season, is to help reduce the number of veterans coming to prison and number of suicidees. >> so in a way you're continue continuing your service to the country through your service here in san quentin? >> yes. >> how long have you been incarcerated? >> i came it prison in 1997. >> so the marine corps right up until 1997. >> can i ask you what you're in here for. >> attempted murder p. ? >> how do you be a hero in the newspaper to a person that's incar

that's an unbelievably high rate of incarceration. >> brown: you're seeing our incarceration system as of slavery, of a history of racial injustice in the country. >> well, i think it's a continuation of using crime narrative to control social and political dynamics that can't be controlled in more legitimate ways. and we created this so-called war on drugs, and we targeted people of color, and we got everybody to buy into the fact that if we don't put these dangerous people into jails and prisons, we are none safe. and that's how we went nationwide from a prison population of about 300,000 in the 1970s to 2.3 million today. and now we have the highest rate of incarceration in the world. >> brown: and here in alabama, an extreme model of it. >> exactly. and it's rooted in this comfort level with reducing people to their worst act and acting in very extreme, harsh, punitive ways. i mean, a state that was shaped by lynching as a response to things like interracial sex, or organizing for better sharecropping conditions, to use lynching, calling these people criminals, has created a cultur

often times the cooks are incarcerated.so most that i consume roughly 90 think anybody can look forward to. >> sometimes they use food as a form of punishment? what is that about? >> with solitary confinement it is supposed to be a mixture of all the food that was on the menu but often times they used it so it could be a you forgot to put a plastic spoon in the tray. and now it is like of. food is really from all that week. and you could be upwards of seven days. no regular meals. >> does say former prosecutor and the first thing i would do is take a shower. >> the feeling to be in an environment but the smell was so strong and prevalent. with a feeling of human despair teeseven and that despair it took a toll. so you were not day model prisoner. and i did not did just well i was not responsible. with the other time insisted on the principles. out of solitary confinement. >> i cannot imagine for for a half years with a six by nine cell basically a slab of concrete and then that was it teeseven how many hours per day were yo