Proliferation by Paul Ruck

An animated mapping of the US Prison system set to original music.

Timeline
Green Dots: 1778-1900
Yellow Dots: 1901-1940
Orange Dots: 1941-1980
Red Dots: 1981-2005

Watch "Incarceration Nation"

Watch Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, discuss U.S. mass incarceration with Bill Moyers.

 

Stop and Frisk - New York

"'Stop, question and frisk' is an NYPD policy wherein police will detain and question pedestrians, and potentially search them, if they have a 'reasonable suspicion' that the pedestrian in question 'committed, is committing, or is about to commit a felony or a Penal Law misdemeanor.'" (Matthews, 2013, para. 3)

Educate yourself:

• Watch this video of Carl Dix discussing the NYPD Stop and Frisk policy.  Learn more at The Stop Mass Incarceration Network.

• Watch this video about racial profiling

• Read this article from the Huffington Post - NYPD Stop and Frisks: 15 Shocking Facts About a Controversial Program

• Visit Stop and Frisk.org

Sources

Mathias, C. (2012, May 15). NYPD stop and frisks: 15 shocking facts about a controversial program. Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/13/nypd-stop-and-frisks-15-shocking-facts_n_1513362.html?utm_hp_ref=stop-and-frisk

Matthews, D. (2013, August 13). Here’s what you need to know about stop and frisk-and why the courts shut it down. [Web log post]. Retrieved from: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog

Statistics from The Sentencing Project

* Note: Nixon declared drug abuse as "public enemy number one" in June of 1971.


Visit The Sentencing Project

Federal Bureau of Prisons Statistics

These graphs are taken directly from the Federal Bureau of Prisons website, Inmate Statistics.  They provide statistical data for age, citizenship status, ethnicity, gender, offenses, prison safety, prison security levels, race, and sentences imposed. Included below are the graphs and charts for offenses and race.

 

Graphs and charts that demonstrate the overlap of these statistical data were not found on this website.

U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons. (2014). Inmate statistics. Retrieved from: http://www.bop.gov/about/statistics/

This blog will explore the racial disparity in the criminal justice system.  Mass incarceration is an important and pertinent issue not only because the US has the highest rate of incarceration in the world, but also because incarceration, driven by a prejudiced criminal justice system, is wrought with racial inequity. The high number of racial minorities that are incarcerated can be tied to other noticeable trends, such as the war on drugs and the systems of oppression that cause the physical and social marginalization of communities of color. 

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"The United States has the highest rate of incarceration in the world, dwarfing the rates of nearly every developed country, even surpassing those in highly repressive regimes like Russia, China, and Iran...The racial dimension of mass incarceration is its most striking feature.  No other country in the world imprisons so many of its racial or ethnic minorities.  The United States imprisons a larger percentage of its black population than South Africa did at the height of apartheid.  In Washington, D.C., our nation's capitol, it is estimated that three out of four young black men (and nearly all those in the poorest neighborhoods) can expect to serve time in prison.  Similar rates of incarceration can be found in black communities across America" (Alexander, 2010, pp. 6-7).

Infographic can be found at: Combating Mass Incarceration 

Alexander, M. (2010). The new Jim Crow: Mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness. New York: New Press.