Population, 2. 3 Million People incarcerated. We spend over 50 billion a year on corrections and when it comes to the Racial Disparities that our system there are more africanamericans under correctional supervision today than there were slaves at the height of slavery in 1850. Host how did we get there . Guest its all really goes back to the war on drugs in many respects, which began in the late 70s and created a series of disparities in sentencing and goes back to tough on crime sentencing laws that made it easier for people to go to jail, easy or for them to stay there and easier for them to stay there for extended period of time. Host you are a native new yorker and there was a period in the 70s where new york was pretty ripe with crime. People were scared. Was there a different solution . Guest well, for when fear is a terrible peer is not something to be ruled by when we make decisions as far as government and as far as these kind of things because fear makes you act rashly and w
Live coverage of the lost Angeles Times festival of books on the campus of the university of southern california. A couple more hours of live coverage ahead. You can get our full schedule at book tv. Org and you can follow us on twitter or facebook to get the behindthescenes photos and other photos of the festival. We are now joined by Bob Streisand are who has written this book, incarceration nation a journey to justice and prison around the world. In your book you write america is the Worlds Largest largest jailer . Guest we are and it is a title we should wear shamefully. We have 5 of the worlds population, but 25 of the world prison population, 2. 3 Million People incarcerated. We spend over 50 billion a year on corrections and when it comes to the Racial Disparities that our system there are more africanamericans under correctional supervision today than there were slaves at the height of slavery in 1850. Host how did we get there . Guest its all really goes back to the war on dru