JPI is On the Air!

By Tony Mastria

We have landed in the pod-o-sphere! JPI is excited to announce the creation of its brand new podcast, available now on iTunes and Podbean. Listen, download, and subscribe to stay informed on the latest and best news in justice reform.

Tune in to our inaugural episode to hear the first in our Incarceration Generation series. In honor of Incarceration Generation's first anniversary, we will be interviewing the authors who made this compilation possible, including researchers, advocates, community members, and other individuals in the justice field.

In this episode, we talk with Alex Friedmann, managing editor of Prison Legal News, to discuss private prisons and the role they play in the American justice system.



Prison Legal News is "a 64-page monthly magazine that reports on criminal justice issues and prison and jail-related civil litigation, with an emphasis on prisoners' rights," based in Lake Worth, Florida. Friedmann's chapter delves into the origins of the modern private prison industry, its widespread incursion into the justice system, and its implications for policymakers and average citizens. As Friedmann notes,

"The private prison industry relies on high incarceration rates in order to generate profit; thus, sentencing reform and other criminal justice policies that reduce the level of mass incarceration in the United States pose a threat to the industry's business model and bottom line."

Friedman echoes these concerns in his conversation with JPI, highlighting the disastrous political and human toll the industry has exacted on society and tearing down some of the myths that pervade the public discourse on private prisons, including their alleged cost savings and enhanced efficiency.

After tuning in, why not read Friedmann's chapter from Incarceration Generation for yourself? For a limited time, you can read it for free on Scribd.  If you'd like to own a copy of Incarceration Generation, make your contribution to JPI here.

Tony is JPI's Digital Media Associate.