We incarcerate more people in this country than any other country in the world, a shift that started over 30 years ago with punitive sentencing policies that disproportionately targeted non-violent, mostly black, drug offenders caught in President Reagan's war on drugs.
Now, decades later, we're dealing with the fallout. The costs of incarceration are high. Sure, the economic cost is astronomical, about $52 billion dollars in 2011, but the human cost is staggering.
When the incarcerated are released, we make it so hard for them to find a place to live, drive a car, get a job, and vote, high percentages end up back in jail, sometimes simply because they couldn't get a job in the allotted time given by the parole board.
Nobody believes people shouldn't pay a price for breaking the law - but at what point does the punishment end?
We continue this conversation on Thursday, March 5, at the Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford with journalist Nell Bernstein, author of "Burning Down the House: The End of Juvenile Prison."
GUESTS:
- Marc Mauer - Executive Director of The Sentencing Project
- Rev. Marilyn Kendrix - Associate Pastor for Faith Formation for The Church of the Redeemer in New Haven
- John Santa - former CEO of Santa Energy and Chairman of the Malta Justice Initiative
- Kennard Ray - Regional Policy Director at Rock United and ex-offender
- Cyndi - ex -offender and recovering addict
