Heather Ann Thompson, ‘Why Mass Incarceration Matters: Rethinking Crisis, Decline, and Transformation in Postwar American History’

What historical phenomenon did Thompson compare to deindustrialization and white flight?

“It was a historical phenomenon that—like deindustrialisation and white flight—itself caused crisis and collapse in America’s inner cities”

What happened to U.S. incarceration rates between 1970 and 2010?

Between 1970 and 2010 more people were incarcerated in the United States than were imprisoned in any other country

By 2006, how many Americans were under correctional supervision?

More than 7.3 million Americans; 1 in every 31 U.S. residents

How does the number of Americans imprisoned in the 1990s compare to Vietnam War deaths?

10 times more Americans were imprisoned in the 1990s than were killed during the Vietnam War

What was the imprisonment rate disparity between African American and white men?

African American men were imprisoned at 6.5 times the rate of white males

How did one scholar describe the death of inner-city America?

“The future once happened here”

What major New York legislation escalated the carceral state's power starting in 1973?

The Rockefeller Drug Laws, passed on 8th May 1973

When were the Rockefeller Drug Laws passed?

on 8th May 1973

What event triggered harsh drug laws in New York in the early 1970s?

The Attica Prison Rebellion in the fall of 1971

What was the ‘650 lifer law’ passed in Michigan in 1978?

Life sentence for possession or intent to deliver 650 grams or more of cocaine

When were the ‘650 lifer law’ passed in Michigan?

1978

What law heavily policed urban schools starting in 1974?

The Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974

How large was the NYC school police force eventually?

The 10th largest police force in the country

What 1996 act imposed lifetime bans on welfare for drug offenders?

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996

What was the impact of incarceration on employment and income?

Employment options reduced by up to 59%; annual income reduced by 28%

How did mass incarceration affect the labor movement?

“When private and public employers managed to secure, and then began regularly to exploit, an unfree labor force, the American labor movement was undermined”

What was Warren Burger's vision for prisons in 1985?

Prisons as “factories with fences”

Who envisioned prisons as “factories with fences”?

Warren Burger

How did prison labor compete with free labor?

It undercut wages and cost free-world jobs ie Lockhart Technologies in Austin, Texas, for example, found themselves unemployed in the mid-1990s because their company figured out that it was more cost-effective to reopen in a private prison thirty miles away

What did historian Lawrence Friedman say about criminal justice history?

“The history of criminal justice is a history of power”

Who claimed “The history of criminal justice is a history of power”?

historian Lawrence Friedman

What is Heather Thompson’s view on the real trigger for the rise of mass incarceration?

It was to undermine African American voting power, not rising crime rates

What did the 1974 Supreme Court decision Richardson v. Ramirez establish?

Convicted felons could be barred from voting beyond their sentence

Which law meant convicted felons could be barred from voting beyond their sentence?

1974 Supreme Court decision Richardson v. Ramirez

By 2000, how many African Americans had lost voting rights due to felon disfranchisement?

1.8 million African Americans

What percentage of Americans had a criminal record by 2006?

More than 25% (47 million Americans)

According to Thompson, what law's victory was undercut by the rise of the carceral state?

“Ultimately, the rise of the carceral state had undercut one of the most important victories of the American civil rights movement, the Voting Rights Act of 1965”

How many Senate races were affected by disfranchisement policies from 1970 to 1998 according to Uggen and Manza?

7 U.S. Senate race

By the early 2000s, how many states had laws that took away prisoners’ voting rights?

48