Franco 1

Denisse Franco
Professor Cordes
ENG 123 BE
18 September 2016
Mass Incarceration: Annotated Bibliography
1.Alexander, Michelle. The Lockdown. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of
colorblindness. N.p.: New, 2012. 59-96. Print.
Michelle Alexander is the writer of the book The New Jim Crow. She is a professor at
Stanford Law School. Her main focus is civil rights and the criminal system. She has been
working with people from the U.S Supreme Court. Therefore, she is a reliable source due to her
experience in the criminal field. The focus of chapter two in The New Jim Crow: Mass
Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. is to see how people are prosecuted for drugs. There
is a huge difference to real life prosecution to prosecution Americans see on television. Drug
incarceration is a huge factor to why there has been an increase of people in prisons. Criminals
who are charged with possession of drugs are automatically given a sentence to go to prison. The
right to have a say whether or not their personal belonging for searched has been
diminished. Police officers are searching people without having a search warrant. Therefore,
police officers are using the war on drugs to target people. Officers are getting permission from
people they stop in public by just approaching them. Americans have no idea that they can say
no to searches, however, they are afraid to say no. Along with the idea of searches, the
government is also giving away money or prizes for people who reveal other people who have

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position of drugs. The prisoners that are charged with possession of drugs are often in prison for
a long time. Most of the criminals cannot even get a lawyer. Therefore, cases are never tried in
court. Once a person is released from prison it is hard for them to get back onto the right path.
The book is relevant to the essay because it gives the perspective that most criminals do not get a
fair chance and how police officers are increasing the amount of inmates.
2.Blades, Joan, and Grover Norquist. This Is the One Thing the Right and Left Are Working
Together On In Congress 7 May 2014: n. page. Time. Web. 18 Sept. 2016.
Even though the Republicans and the Democratic have different views over policies, they are
working together to find a common ground when dealing with prisoners. They both acknowledge
that in America, they have the highest rate of people in jail or on prole. America spends a lot of
money on prisons. Both political parties are trying to figure out if there is a way to limit the
amount of money the government spends on prisons, and find a way to deal with the people who
are going to jail for having drugs. The way the government calculates how much crime there is in
America is by estimating the total cost spent on the facilities each year. The government deals
with criminals by just locking them in prison. However, they have no strategies on how to help
the person once they are freed. They increased the sentences to minor offences because the
American government believe that if they increased the amount of years, people would stop
committing crimes. The magazine article ties close to the essay because it shows that even
though both political parties are always disagreeing with each other, they both agree with the fact
that the justice system needed to be changed. This article can be used as a backup information to
prove to the audience that mass incarceration is a huge problem in the U.S.
3.Glazer, Sarah. "Sentencing Reform." Are Mandatory Sentences Too Harsh? 24.2 (2014): n.
pag. CQ Researcher Online [CQ Press]. Web. 18 Sept. 2016.

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The CQ Press wrote an article based on the sentencing reform. Juveniles are stuck in prison for
most of their lives. In California, prisoners are getting longer sentences than the federal
prison. The government spends more money on jails than giving money to schools for education.
Almost all of the people in prison are there because for a non-violent sentence. However, some
of the states are decreasing the time that a minor has to spend in jail for a non-violent crime.
Judges cannot go back and change the sentences that they gave to prisoners. Also, some states
created a law where they are given three chances, however every little minor offense counts as a
strike. With the huge amount of prisoners, the government would like to offer more rehabilitation
classes, which doing so can decrease the amount of money wasted in prisons. Most of the people
in jail are put in jail for having drugs. When prisoners have multiple year sentences they can
create habits that can be harmful to society and themselves. The article is a reliable source
because it uses ideas statics to prove their idea. This article is not bias it gives a neutral tone.
Sentencing Reform is a great article to use because it gives a gives personal stories of victims
of criminal system and it also includes a timeline of when polices for prisons where created.
Therefore, it gives a good representation to how America got millions of inmates.
4.Gopnik, Adam. "Why Do We Lock up so Many People?" The Caging of America. The New
Yorker, 22 Jan. 2012. Web. 18 Sept. 2016.
The Caging of America explains the idea that some criminals are given longer times for the
same crime when being compared to others. More black men are in prison then white people.
The amount of people in prison has increased by a severe amount since the 80s. In addition, the
government is spending more money on prisons. People in prisons are living a hard life.
Sometime the prisoners are being raped in prison. Then, once they are in jail their families tend
to forget about them. The idea of prisons can be traced back to history, which is when slavery

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occurred. The Bill of Rights has lead been the main cause to why there have been mass
incarcerations because it mainly focuses on policies rather than how to judge a person. The law
system forces more on procedures. Possession of Marijuana comes with a long criminal
sentence, however it is a social norm to talk about it and even use it. This article is bias, but it
does have statistics as to how many people are put into prison compared to white people.
However, it gives detail of life behind bars.
5.Kaste, Martin. "Is It Possible To Let More People Out Of Prison, And Keep Crime Down?"
NPR, 16 July 2015. Web. 18 Sept. 2016.
Kaste Martins article called Is It Possible To Let More People Out Of Prison, And Keep
Crime Down?" is based on a policy that the president made and how the decision has affected the
United States. Barack Obama made decision to release a group of people who were in prison for
minor crimes. He wants to change the way the justice system works. Therefore, he is going to
visit a prison. Judges are trying to reduce the amount of time people are obligated to spend in
prison. In addition, when proposition 47 was approved thousands of prisoners were released.
However, some of the prisoners are going back to their own ways of committing crimes. In Los
Angles, as an effect of proposition 47, the crime in the city has increased. Some citizens believe
that because of the harsh punishments, people are less likely to commit a crime. There are private
and public organizations that are trying to give prisoners a second chance in life. The article
gives both sides of the argument. In addition, the writer also claims that she does not know the
solution to the problem. We have to try different methods to find which works best for our
justice system. This article is important because it gives ideas of ways America can improve the

justice system.

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6.Lehrer, Eli. "Responsible Prison Reform." National Affairs 2013: n. pag. Web. 18 Sept. 2016.
The article Responsible Prison Reform by is about Eli Lehrer is about finding the solution to
decrease the prison population. Lehrer bevies that in order to improve the prison population, the
government needs to manipulate the policys or change them. Ever since the 60s and 70s, the
laws have become stricter with crimes. As the result of having more inmates, society is safer.
Also, when looking at the amount of people in jail for certain crimes, some crime rates have
decreased. However, it is expansive to put inmates in jail. One way to get rid of the high number
of crimes is to figure out the main reason why people commit crimes. For instance, someone
might commit crimes because they are poor, do not work, or have a house. People who live poor
conditions are more likely to commit crime. Imamates are having trouble talk to society and
creating relationships with humans. Since they have trouble communicating with people,
prisoners do not have jobs. On the other hand, Americans crime does not offer programs to help
inmates.
7.Madar, Chase. "A Republican Against Prisons." A Republican Against Prisons. The American
Conservative, 3 Feb. 2015. Web. 19 Sept. 2016.
In the article Republican Against Prisons the main topic is about the negative side to mass
incarceration. In America we rely on prisons. The Beennan Center had a congress to discuss the
problem with prisoners. The article is mainly an interview with republican Mark Earley. There
are more people in prison in the state than federal prisons. The Virginia senator decreased
the age to be tried as an adult. Therefore, a child of fourteen years old can be tried as an adult. In
addition, the got rid of prole and it a requirement to go to jail. The republican Mark Earley
believes that the death penalty is great however, America cannot choose a side to weather to
keep it or abolish it. The questions answered in this article are answered by Mr. Earley who

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worked for Virginia senate. However, this article or interview is bias he only focuses on his
personal opinion and the representation of the Republican party. In addition, Earley looks down
upon the democratic opinion on the issue of incarceration. Since the interview is bias it is not a
reliable source.
8."Prison Reform." Are Too Many Nonviolent Criminals Being Incarcerated? 17.13 (2007): n.
pag. CQ Researcher Online [CQ Press]. Web. 18 Sept. 2016.
CQ Press Prison Reform explains the idea that people are being put into jail for crimes that are
not violent. The amount of prisoners is so high that the California government is
trying to sell them to different locations. The prisons are at the maximum capacity. Once
prisoners are released from prison, within a short amount of time they
return back to jail. Some of the reason to why they come back to jail is because they are addicted
to drugs, not having a place to live and not following the rules on their parole sentence. The
reason the about of people in prisons has increased is because of the new drug policies. One of
the ideas to help limit the amount of people in prison for drugs is to offer more programs to stop
addiction. However, the government is buying more supplies to increase the capacity of prisons
and create temporary jail cells for prisoners with minor offences. This article uses reliable
source because it uses direct quotes from people in the government like Arnold
Schwarzenegger and law professors. However, the article is bias because the writer makes it
seem like the government does not care that the prison is overcrowding. He says that they

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portray an idea that they have enough money to catch you but they do not have enough money
to put you in a prison that is not overcrowded with people just like them.
9.Steiker, Carol S. "Mass Incarceration: Causes, Consequences, and Exit Strategies." Moritz
College of Law. The Ohio State University, 2011. 17 Sept. 2016.

The introduction of Mass Incarceration: Causes, Consequences, and Exit Strategies is written
by a professor at Harvard Law School named Carol Steiker. She assembled a group of people to
discuss the problem of mass incarceration. America has the highest number of people in prisons
in the world. The main topic of this introduction is to figure out what caused the mass
incarceration in America, how the problem affects Americans outside of jails, and ideas to solve
the problem. Her collogues also gave their interpretation to why mass incarceration occurred.
Since Carol Steiker is a professor at Harvard Law School, she is a reliable source because she
teaches beginning students criminal law. Therefore, she has a background knowledge of the
justice system that judges criminals.
10.Wyler, Grace. "The Mass Incarceration Problem in America | VICE News." Crime and
Drugs. VICE News, 26 July 2014. Web. 19 Sept. 2016.
America has the largest number of people in prison in the whole world. In the article, there is a
figure that breaks down each states number of incarcerations and compares it to other countries
incarceration. States like Texas and Virginia have a much higher rate than Israel and India.
Some states even have the same number of prisoners in prison as countries with higher
populations. The main purpose of this article is to figure out if America only on prisons for

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punishment. The question that the author contemplates with is why does America have a much
higher incarceration rate then countries that have had a history of killings and war. Since
money is scarce for states they have limited or reduced the policies for drugs. Therefore, some
states have decided to release some of the prisoners who were sentenced years for crimes that
where not violent. This article is not a credible source because the author gives their opinion.
However, the statics in the graphs and pictures can be used to show the audience that America
has the highest incarceration rate in the world.
Stuntz, William J.. The Collapse of American Criminal Justice. Cambridge, US:
Harvard University Press, 2011. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 25 September
2016.