Can people from different political backgrounds come together to work for prison reform? On today's Your Call, we'll have a conversation about various efforts to reform the prison system in the US. Today, 2.3 million prisoners are in US jails, costing more than $44 billion. In California, more money is spent on prisons than education. What will it take to reform the system? How are groups with different political backgrounds joining forces? It's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.
Guests:
Robert Perkinson, assistant professor of American Studies at the University of Hawaii, and the author of Texas Tough: The Rise of Amerca's Prison Empire
Tim Cavanaugh, managing editor of Reason.com, the website for Reason Magazine
Craig DeRoche, director of external affairs for Prison Fellowship
Resources:
Julia Reynolds, Monterey Herald: Conservatives eye criminal justice spending
Tim Cavanaugh, Reason.com: The Golden State's Iron Bars: How California prison guards became the country's most powerful union
Veronique de Rugy, Reason.com: The Facts about American Prisons: Separating economic myths from economic truths
Michael King, The Austin Chronicle: Author traces Texas prison system from its roots in plantation slavery, an interview with historian Robert Perkinson
