James Forman Jr.’s “Locking Up Our Own”

Listen 48:59

Guest: James Forman, Jr.

The American criminal justice system disproportionately affects people of color, and there are conversations taking place about the possible root causes of this problem. JAMES FORMAN JR., professor at Yale Law School, argues in his new book Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America that violence, drug addiction and the war on crime seen in black communities in the last 50 years was supported by many African American mayors, judges and police chiefs in American cities. In this hour, Marty talks with Forman, a former D.C. public defender, about racial discrimination, the distribution of political power, and he shares stories of the men and women who are caught up in the criminal justice system.

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