Michelle alexander is a civil rights lawyer stanford law professor and the author of the new jim crow one of the most highly acclaimed studies americas criminal Justice System the reality is that thousands of people. Every year and i had states who wind up pleading guilty to crimes they may not have committed because theyre the theyre railroaded by Police Officers who give them false information or horrors confessions or because theyre afraid of facing you know harsh mandatory minimum sentences and believe that you know the best chance is to just take a plea using every joe you dont know anything about you know the prison politics in county jail you dont know anything so they put you in there with these people in this is how they force you to take deals the u. S. Justice system just like any Justice System in the world. A system where 95 percent of the cases are resolved by plea bargain you know its no longer a trial system its a plea bargain system the whole purpose of plea bargains from the perspective of a prosecutor raises his conviction rate so prosecutors typically have in the high 90 percentile conviction rates including those plea bargains. Because of course from a legal standpoint we know that nobody would ever plead guilty to something they didnt do and so we agreed that i would plead guilty and exchange for a youth already sounds we went back into trial we entered the plea and i went down for a 90 day observation at the youth already in norwalk the challenge is if youre innocent and you clean guilty you better be a good liar you go down there you talk to psychologists and they ask you to do it but you have to say yes because it has to be consistent with everything well how do you do it i mean i didnt have adequate answers for these questions so they didnt they didnt buy it in a sense you know rightly so and they sent a report that was positive and negative report back to the judge. He said i didnt realize that you thought he would be able to help you and so allow you to take back your guilty plea and go have a trial or ill send you to state prison right now so that began another period of waiting. It would be well over a year before bruce would get another trial day 24 hours a day in a cell in isolation no contact with other juveniles only counselors one hour out for recreation and while they might not be able to introduce an alternate suspect demanded his lawyer knock down every argument the prosecution could make. The pass a kid i said those could not have seen his mothers body through the back window of the house the sons reflection in the glass and the furniture would have blocked his view his defense was the crime scene pictures were taken on a much sunnier day. The prosecution claimed all the bloody footprints in the house matched bruces shoes defense says his fingerprints were not found anywhere in the crime scene there was no evidence that he wiped anything down or made any attempt to cover his tracks because bruce had nothing to hide the prosecution called Robert Hughes who claimed to be confessed in the 7000 model of county jail and the defense compared Robert Hughes to a used car salesman who wasnt to be trusted. Then one day they wrap their keys on the door and they say listen here its a verdict and my dad was there he was there just every court day he was right there in the front row and we were just you know. I contact but you cant really talk because youre not allowed to its not a visit you know youre not allowed to visit with your. But he was he was there and the jury comes in. One by one you know excruciating the slow sets down. And the judge speaks we reached a verdict yes we have in the matter of people versus bruce willis here. With the jury find the defendant. And they said guilty. And it was just. Read the bottom literally fell out of my world and said its over and. Its my life. When youve been falsely accused your only hope is for your attorney to directly challenge the veracity of the police my attorneys seem not to be willing to go that far you never read said isnt it true that youre just lying about all of this heres the investigatory work that i did that proves that youre just a liar and he never did that. And this is part of a larger problem that david sirota calls the Authority Biassed Authority Bias meaning for government an Institution Says somebody did something and they must have done it and whats strange about it is that this is a country that in one way or the american side goes this i dont trust the government can do any round on trust anything the government says and yet at another level at the very same time that thats the dominant rhetorical paradigm in our politics there is this Authority Bias where when the government accuses somebody of a crime or says somebody is a a wrongdoer reflexive leave millions and millions of americans thing. Must be true for you to go youre not there for your honor thank you very well youre not beholding would you like to be placed under arrest youre not allowed to arrest me. And so if youre innocent and you find yourself in prison its hard to have any hope at all. A year later my client robbed then another woman in knifepoint and less sentenced to 6 years for Armed Robbery but other than those his father nobody had connected my client to the murder of other inmates like Jeff Deskovic another wrongfully convicted men trying to kill his innocence. Remember reading about. In the magazine just the same night they all allow people who allege theyve been wrongfully convicted who have a plausible story to write about the hope that more public attention will come when i read about bruces case it was reaffirming to me that i was on the right path because even though he had been exonerated he was still looking for how he had given up you cant give up no matter how long it takes. And it could take a long time one of the biggest factors in why the us has the largest prison population in the world is the length of our prison sentences. Babbage sentence for burglary in canada and in england is around 6 months in the us its around a year and a half. In other developed countries a drug offense might land you a year a year and a half in jail in the us its 5 to 10 years or more if youre a black man in america your sentence will be 20 percent longer and if youre a white man for the exact same crime i met a woman that had a 1st offense nothing more than. Alice worth of crack cocaine and was sentenced to jail in 1979 and didnt come until 2014 and she said to me i dont know how to use the phone. I dont know how to send a text. I dont know i have an email. People particularly black people were defined as the enemy in the war on drugs they were defined that way politically but also through media imagery crack cocaine epidemic is taking a new and dangerous turn white people brown people black people all use drugs and sell drugs at the same rate but if we look at whos serving time in americas prisons the Law Enforcement apparatus is deployed disproportionately against people of color look at them in the war on drugs also bears a major responsibility for racial bias in our prison system is africanamericans are rested for drug offenses at 10 times the rate of whites and serve longest sentences although people of color make up only 30 percent of the laces the make up 60 percent of the prison by the most conservative estimates if we keep going the way were one in 4 a black man born today will go to jail at some point in their lifetime. 5. 3000000 americans of the rights of vote based on a felony conviction and that impacts man of color more than anyone else just has to change. You know with any. Damage and although white people may not have been the original target they may not have been the inspiration for the war. Many people particularly poor working class white folks have found themselves. As a u. S. Army veteran who served in the gulf war. 3 weeks. So that he wasnt given to me for free if you want to call that trafficking trafficker. Personally use we were just fried play frisbee and listen to rock n roll drug affairs are never major reason for americas overflowing prison population the u. S. Locks up more people for drugs than any other country on the planet there are over half a 1000000 americans locked up for drugs on any given day the ball was one of them he was facing a lot of time facing 10 year mandatory minimum but they offered him a deal for not forcing the government to go through the time expense of a trial all he had to do was plead guilty and after some painful consideration. And after all those years in prison one thing bothered paul the most you know here we are this modern society were we are melting pot and getting along for the most part and then in prison you know its completely opposite you know shes going there if you were a racist or you went in there require you to be one soon as you get in every single jail or prison or every one ive ever been to its all divided by race and everything segregated and there you have the white you have my skin phone you have the black phone you know asian phone things become more extreme in which each to you when this is like breaking norms not necessarily in a good way. The. Right isnt as you strain is like a reality it. Kind of financial survival job today was all about Money Laundering 1st to visit this industry different. Oh good this is a good start well we have our 3 banks all set up here maybe something in europe something in america something overseas in the Cayman Islands or do we do all these banks are complicit in the kleptocracy we just have to look at all and say hey im ready to do some serious Money Laundering ok lets see how we did well weve got a nice luxury watch for max and for stacy oh beautiful jewelry and how about. Again for a match you know what Money Laundering is highly illegal so if you watch kaiser of course. Imagine picking up a future textbook on the early years of the 21st century what are the chapters called Gun Violence School shootings homelessness 1st it was my job it was my fear with bill it was my savings i have nothing i have nothing that is now i dont try aloof or resources i look for jobs i look for everything i can to make this pass. In the aisle of doing is. The road to the American Dream paved with good refugees and this very idealized image of our America Needs americans look past the deaths that happen every single day this is a modern history of the usa america on r. T. It seems the racism that helped spark the explosion of americas prison system still burns like a raging fire with its walls shamefully him from the public eye. It was a very strict code of pentagon erase this is what we do. Even the Prison Guards promote this. Some people theorize that its a way for the guards to keep control over us because if we all got along then who would really be running the prison. Us or the guards one guard for every 100 guys Prison Society is further divided from race into gangs so it helps to either be in one or be from the right neighborhood or ride to prison the guy that was next to me was just a regular dove lone beach he played basketball and padi high school he was a regular dooley on a flat top you know me you know he was going to prison for he had took a deal for i believe it was like a spousal abuse images grow it was a terrorist threat in the United States a terrorist threat covers and the statement contains the threat of violence against another person in this case reggie is talking about an argument a man was having with his girlfriend where he threatened her he was going to beat her or whatever it was it was a terrorist threat it was no physical violence or anything but he took a deal for 18 months and he was only supposed to like take a deal for 18 months youre going to need 5 or 10 or whatever so he failed. The 1st night we got the ax who from South Central from South Central where you from explains when one of your homeboys over here said theyre going to direct you where youre supposed to go this guy he didnt have any what he was just from long beach no he just was a regular do no end that night. And im listening to was going on and on every 1st i thought they were played because thats what he started off was this is the whole gamut they everything is that is is. A way to lead to something knows just what id say you dont let anybody touch you in jail and he didnt know is he to understand that youre not supposed to rouse was somebody maceo because this is what theyre doing theyre trying to see if they can get youre going to position in this it right there moment both and im listening to him they get them and when you dont come help does do. Me and they did in that night in the say oh they were a team. According to the department of justice nearly one in 10 prisoners suffer sexual abuse while in american jails and prisons. So lets keep that in mind the next time a talk show host a Government Official or anybody makes a joke about prison rape the fact that we find these jokes acceptable shows just how far weve gone to normalizing rape as a just punishment for any offense as long as we keep imagining that people in prison are subhuman and theyre predatory and cordial and nothing like you and me why would we lose any sleep about what their lives are like whats happening to them there are now over 5000 jails and prisons in the United States more than we have colleges and universities in many parts of america are simply this out there are more people who are living in Prisons College campuses and they molds i dollar business has occurred. Brace yourself this is going to sound too barbaric to be real like Medieval Times a Science Fiction horror film or a french historical use of the 13th amendment of the constitution outlawed slavery but it still allows for forced labor if you are and president today there are roughly 1000000. 00 american prisoners working for corporations and Government Industries there is no minimum wage so you could make as little as a few cents an hour bruce worked in the kitchen for years then in clerical jobs making a maximum of 0. 32 an hour. It sounds like another time work on brothers movie but its happening right now there are no benefits no organizing and no strikes this is big business for state and for profit prisons to sell inmate labor to fortune 500 like chevron bank of america 18 n. T. And the u. S. Military nearly half the population in prison make military uniforms body armor helmets and provide labor as subcontractors for fortune 500. 00. They make Office Furniture man call centers take Hotel Reservations or can slaughter houses for manufacture textiles shoes and clothing for pennies prison labor is part of why some state and private prisons old a multibillion dollar profit. Not only are prisoners used to make products prisoners themselves are sold as products since the 1980 s. The prison population is boom now 150 private prisons are paid billions by state governments to house prisoners private prisons do so well some of their biggest investors are banks like Wells Fargo Bank of america many private prisons demand 90 or even 100 percent occupancy meaning the taxpayer foots the bill for every bed even the empty. For profit prisons are incentivized to incarcerate more people and for longer periods of time to shoulder quotas and to make sure that happens they spend millions tough on crime. Today nearly 10 percent of americas prisoners are held in private prisons they also spend millions influencing immigration detain immigrants are held in private prisons for indefinite periods of time often years exposed to brutal conditions because theyre not americans the government gives. No right to even the most basic legal representation or medical care 3 housing facilities were set on fire and apparently all started over inmate frustration over the quality of medical care perhaps needless to say being treated like cattle and used as forced labor for pennies an hour is not that popular on the inside but thats not the worst of it the socks if youre using the underwear that is you is used you got to buy things like shaving and food and sweat socks underwear t. Shirts the canteen or commissary is more expensive than any Convenience Store on the outside its definitely advisable to have money so that you can get started if you dont have 50. 00 to 100. 00 coming into your books or your account every month then youre going to need to hustle. This is philip he was convicted of robbery is crooked is is we are out here course crooked inside there too whether its drugs whether its alcohol youve got people that they dont drink but they manufacture prune a wall d. Is saying quit in the in the in the boiler room they found a still friends that i knew had actually gotten so far as to likes the copper tubing tremendous tree is over and so we had copper tubing it will make a motion and say quit. Mainly they drag it to the hospital. So drove through our business recreation officer is like a networking college for criminals of the month jordy of the guys in prison are there trying to learn how to do crime better and this is just out of school for criminals to learn more criminals and thats not an exaggeration 2011 study from Ohio University showed that after spending time in prison those continuing to engage in crime see their criminal earns increase on an average by a 1000. 00 a year jodie luhan is the executive director of the prison. Diversity project there are thousands and thousands of people in the system all they want is the opportunity to get a good education and to be hired by somebody where they can have a job where they have a meaningful work and a livable wage in the late eightys early ninetys there were python 315 programs in the prison system nationwide i took my dads advice been saying for a long time look for some computer training is there any computer training in there because he knows you know i finally when i got to san quentin i said do you have any any computer training so it was great because i mean those who know the least obey the best you know and theres this rebellious kind of spirit in their stand still a big quantified self wall right now so theres this rebellious is you know i could exercise my brain they can stop you from doing that so we really got this cried about our education particularly enough for your program in class and it was an honor to be able to fight the system as you might say by educating each other and then see me graduate that 8 years later my dad was really proud of me and our relationship has blossomed just became so deep and so so meaningful and dad was everything to me. And it was just 2 weeks after i graduated that he died. Moved to this. Day and sure. They will miss. Him here soon. Again. Room. When i signed this crime bill we together are taking a big step toward bringing the laws of our land back into line with the values of our people in 1904. Congress passed the Violent Crime control and Law Enforcement act which among many other things barred people in prison from receiving most of those programs folded almost overnight to be realistic everyone should have a College Education or its already been open too much. But if they have skills such as welding while theyre on the shore its to. Go through the wall in program or make it 3040. 00 an hour out there on the streets and theyre writing letters back to the instructor over here those are. These guys new jobs so there wont be a problem still going to turn into the dough you know during the drugs and that type of thing so thats what are the true critical reason number one why people are ending up in prison is for a lack of really quality Educational Opportunity the American Public in general has been so profoundly brainwashed into thinking that what were doing with our prison system is somehow normal or rational or. Just. I find that overwhelming and exhausting i mean because im the more you spend time in. Inside and the more content you have of people whove been directly affected the more deprived. Appearance over 20 percent out of every inmates are physically attacked every 6. Out of the violence you see in prison is not an expression of the character of the people in prison its people reacting to the situation and this is something so few people understand if you took a 1000 people off the street and put them. Here huge number of them would end up committing violence because of the situation that theyve been placed on 5 years into as an older inmate whose nickname was the devil wanted ready to take the blame for a knife the guards had found in the yard but reggie refused later would say. That the double was going to kill him or he had to kill the double. Could have been about the situation any other way and no matter how many. This was the only thing that could have happened you dont see it. Because i never been in the 1st place. You turned me into. This whole time and you turned me into a murderer because i had to after that they put in solitary confinement and he went from a life sentence without possibility of parole to facing the Death Penalty. So he gets put on trial for the in the Death Penalty case and his lawyer starts looking into his original case and gives me a call and says you know i think this guys innocent before he went to prison for the 1st book. And the 2nd reason besides the prison was this miracle to happen to be a book. About the Homicide Division the author of the book had documented right along with the detective. This homicide investigators 1st night that she was on the job that they. Every night she investigated the murder she would ultimately arrest reggie for and were flipping through the book and reading it and theres all the stuff and of those never disclosed to the defense its all documented that all indicates pretty clearly. That it would still take the Innocence Project 10 years to get reggie out of prison. No look forward to talking to you all that technology should work for people. Must obey the orders given by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the 1st launch. We should be very careful about official intelligence and the point obesity is too great to trust our government shia. Militants linked to on various shots and with Artificial Intelligence will summon the demon. 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As a drug giant pfizer prepares to roll out its vaccine in britain and seeks prevail in the us its chief executive admits it might not stop those who take it from spreading the virus. And the moscow slams what it calls it fabricated accusations against journalists of the 2 russia affiliated News Agencies charged with violating e. U. Sanctions