Mass Incarceration?

At General Convention this year, a resolution passed: A183 Recommended Book Study of the Triennium: “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness” by Michelle Alexander

You can read about it here.

There is a lively debate going on about this but there is no denying that mass incarceration exists.

From a conservative standpoint:

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/415557/republicans-rethinking-tough-crime-michael-tanner

I am glad to see the author acknowledges the need to end the status quo even if he misses on some issues; yes, racism is real.  For profit prisons exacerbate the problem.  And choice is not all that its cracked up to be...

Looking at it through the lens of race and family:

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/10/the-black-family-in-the-age-of-mass-incarceration/403246/

We will in 2016, begin our discussions at our parish on mass incarceration.

In the mean time, to just think about a piece of the larger issue of mass incarceration, here is John Oliver of HBO on public defenders (NSFW - language!):

A lively debate is happening here with some good back and forth:

http://www.theatlantic.com/notes/all/2015/09/debating-mass-incarceration/405694/