America’s Incarceration Epidemic

We have a simple philosophy in America: You do the crime, you do the time. But why is the time always a life sentence? In “America’s Incarceration Epidemic,” we explore how our criminal justice system – and its fixation on locking up poor people and people of color –  perpetuates a cycle of poverty and prison time. Our panelists offer their first-hand experiences of our deeply unfair parole system and the collateral consequences — both economic and social — of having a record and what it costs them. We also sit down with California Governor Gavin Newson, whose state has the second highest number of incarcerated people in the country, to talk about the difficulties of prisoner reentry into society, why the parole system is so hard to fix, and how we can achieve meaningful prison reform.