About
This guide is dedicated to topics relating to incarceration, the school-to-prison pipeline, sentencing reform, and prison abolition.
By the Numbers
These numbers from the ACLU detail some shocking statistics about the state of our carceral systems:
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5-10: The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world—a rate five to ten times higher than those of countries like Canada, France, and the United Kingdom.
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6: A Black man is six times more likely to be incarcerated in the United States than a white man is.
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1: The United States is the only democracy in the world that has no independent authority to monitor prison conditions and enforce minimal standards of health and safety.
Documentary Spotlight
Combining archival footage with testimony from activists and scholars, director Ava DuVernay's examination of the U.S. prison system looks at how the country's history of racial inequality drives the high rate of incarceration in America:
