About this item
The United States incarcerates more of its residents than any other nation. Though home to 5% of the global population, the United States has nearly 25% of the world's prisoners - a total of over 2 million people. This number continues to steadily rise - over the past 40 years, the number of people behind bars in the United States has increased by 500%.Journalist Victoria Law explains how racism was the catalyst for mass incarceration and has continued to be its driving force: from the post-Civil War laws that states passed to imprison former slaves, to the laws passed under the "War Against Drugs" campaign that disproportionately imprison Black people. She breaks down these complicated issues into four main parts:1. The rise and cause of mass incarceration2.
About the Author
Victoria Law is a freelance journalist focusing on issues of incarceration, gender and resistance. She is the author of Resistance Behind Bars: The Struggles of Incarcerated Women, the co-editor of Don't Leave Your Friends Behind: Concrete Ways to Support Families in Social Justice Movements and Communities, and co-author of Prison By Any Other Name: The Harmful Consequences of Popular Reform.
