The Problem of Mass Incarceration

Notes

1. Kory Grow, “Meek Mill’s Legal Troubles: A History,” Rolling Stone Magazine, March 2018, https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/meek-mills-legal-troubles-a-history-117981/.
2. Associated Press, “76ers, Nets, Patriots partner with Meek Mill, Jay-Z for justice reform,” ESPN (Bristol, CT), January 24, 2019, https://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/25833345/meek-mill-jay-z-76ers-nets-patriots-fight-justice-reform.
3. “Overview of Strawberry Mansion, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Neighborhood),” Statistical Analysis, https://statisticalatlas.com/neighborhood/Pennsylvania/Philadelphia/Strawberry-Mansion/Overview.
4. Prison Policy Initiative, “Pennsylvania Profile,” Prison Policy Initiative, December 2018, https://www.prisonpolicy.org/profiles/PA.html.
5. Emily Wildra, “How America’s Major Urban Centers Compare on Incarceration Rates,” Prison Policy Initiative, https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2019/03/28/urban-incarceration/.
6. Sabrina Jones and Marc Mauer, Race to Incarcerate: A Graphic Retelling (New York: The New Press, 2013), 7.
7. “Eastern State Penitentiary Timeline,” Eastern State Penitentiary, https://www.easternstate.org/research/history-eastern-state/timeline.
8. Kristen B. Crossney, “Redlining,” The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia, https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/archive/redlining/.
9. Eric C. Schneider, “Crime,” The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia, (Philadelphia, PA), https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/archive/crime/.
10. Property Service Inc., Philadelphia Racial Map, photographed by Alexander de Arana (June 1943; Philadelphia: Property Service Inc.), Map
11. Alex Elkins, “Columbia Avenue Riot,” The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia, (Philadelphia, PA), https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/archive/columbia-avenue-riot/.
12. James Q. Wilson, Thinking About Crime (New York: Basic Books, 2013) 131.
13. Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness (New York: The New Press, 2012), 42.
14. Jones and Mauer, Race to Incarcerate: A Graphic Retelling, 27.
15. Alexander, The New Jim Crow, 41.
16. Alexander, 41.
17. Elkins, “Columbia Avenue Riot,” The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia.
18. Elkins.
19. Elkins.
20. Jake Blumgart, “The Brutal Legacy of Frank Rizzo, the Most Notorious Cop in Philadelphia History,” Vice (New York, NY), October 22, 2015, https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/kwxp3m/remembering-frank-rizzo-the-most-notorious-cop-in-philadelphia-history-1022.
21. Elkins, “Columbia Avenue Riot,” The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia.
22. “Members of the Black Panther Party, Stripped, Handcuffed, and Arrested After Philadelphia Police Raided the Panther Headquarters, August, 1970” ExplorePAHistory, http://explorepahistory.com/displayimage.php?imgId=1-2-1710.
23. Michael Bixler, “Remembering Philly’s 1967 School Walkout & the Attack on Teen Activism,” Hidden City Philadelphia (Philadelphia, PA), March 13, 2018, https://hiddencityphila.org/2018/03/remembering-phillys-1967-school-walkout-the-attack-on-teenage-activism/.
24. Tom Cardella, “Rizzo Remembered,” South Philly Review (Philadelphia, PA), October 6, 2016, https://southphillyreview.com/2016/10/06/rizzo-remembered/.
25. Jones and Mauer, Race to Incarcerate, 32-34.
26. John H. Kramer and Jeffery T. Ulmer, Sentencing Guidelines: Lessons from Pennsylvania (Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers, Inc., 2009), 14.
27. Kramer and Ulmer, 15.
28. Kramer and Ulmer, 17.
29. Kramer and Ulmer, 34.
30. Wilson, Thinking About Crime, 131.
31. Alexander, The New Jim Crow, 51.
32. Jones and Mauer, Race to Incarcerate, 44.
33. Alexander, The New Jim Crow, 52.
34. Jones and Mauer, Race to Incarcerate, 44.
35. Schneider, “Crime,” The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia.
36. “Crime Reported by Philadelphia Police Dept, Pennsylvania,” Uniform Crime Reporting Statistics, (US Department of Justice: Washington D.C.), https://www.ucrdatatool.gov/Search/Crime/Local/RunCrimeJurisbyJuris.cfm.
37. James Forman Jr., Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2017), 158.
38. Tommie Hill, "Bennett Mulls Extra Funding for Philadelphia's Drug War,” Philadelphia Tribune (1912-2001),Oct 20, 1989, https://search.proquest.com/docview/532996385?accountid=15172.
39. Alexander, The New Jim Crow, 77.
40. Alex Q. Arbuckle, “May 13, 1985: The Bombing of MOVE,” Mashable (New York, NY). https://mashable.com/2016/01/10/1985-move-bombing/.
41. Temple University, Police Officers Sift Through Rubble, photographed by Rick Bowmer (Philadelphia: Temple University), Photograph, https://digital.library.temple.edu/digital/collection/p15037coll3/id/63936/rec/2.
42. Jones and Mauer, Race to Incarcerate, 50.
43. Kramer and Ulmer, Sentencing Guidelines, 42-43.
44. Kramer and Ulmer, 42-43.
45. Forman, Locking Up Our Own, 145.
46. Cynthia A. Kempinen, “A Multi-Method Study of Mandatory Minimum Sentences in Pennsylvania,” Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing (Volume 9), April 2010. http://pcs.la.psu.edu/publications-and-research/research-bulletin/2010-april.-a-multi-method-study-of-mandatory-minimum-sentences-in-pennsylvania/view.
47. Jones and Mauer, Race to Incarcerate, 47.
48. Jones and Mauer, 60.
49. Jones and Mauer, 56.
50. Jones and Mauer, 60.
51. Alexander, The New Jim Crow, 130.
52. Forman, Locking Up Our Own, 203.
53. “After Seven Years, Report Shows Philadelphia Police Continue to Illegally Stop and Frisk Pedestrians,” American Civil Liberties Union: Pennsylvania, November 2018, https://www.aclupa.org/news/2018/11/20/after-seven-years-report-shows-philadelphia-police-continue.
54. Emily Bazelon, Charged: The New Movement to Transform American Prosecution and End Mass Incarceration (New York: Random House, 2019), 133.
55. Joshua Aiken, “Pennsylvania’s Prison and Jail Incarceration Rates,” Era of Mass Expansion: Why State Officials Should Fight Jail Growth, 2017, https://www.prisonpolicy.org/graphs/PA_Prison_Jail_Rate_1978-2015.html.
56. Bazelon, Charged, 86.
57. John Pfaff, Locked In: The True Causes of Mass Incarceration—and How to Achieve Real Reform (New York: Basic Books, 2017), 129-130.
58. Kramer and Ulmer, Sentencing Guidelines, 149.
59. Kramer and Ulmer, 146.
60. Pfaff, Locked In, 129.
61. Kramer and Ulmer, Sentencing Guidelines, 145.
62. Pfaff, Locked In, 129-130.
63. The Philadelphia Inquirer, October 29, 1997, https://search.proquest.com/pagelevelimagepdf/1856640650/pagelevelImagePDF/$N/1?accountid=15172&t:lb=t.
64. Nate House, “D.A. Says Her Office Deserves More Cash to Hire Employees,” The Philadelphia Tribune, February 26, 1999, https://search.proquest.com/docview/533315057/pageviewPDF/E8490DD7A9FA4A17PQ/5?accountid=15172.
65. Bazelon, Charged, 86.
66. Pfaff, Locked In, 134-139.
67. Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele, “D.A. Churns Out Indictments…But Many Are Weak,” The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, PA), February 20, 1973.
68. Friends of Arlen Specter, “Specter and Gola. For District Attorney and City Controller,” The Philadelphia Inquirer Public Ledger (1934-1969) (Philadelphia, PA), November 3, 1969.
69. Tina Rosenberg, “The Deadliest D.A.,” The New York Times (New York City, NY), July 16, 1995, https://www.nytimes.com/1995/07/16/magazine/the-deadliest-da.html.
70. Forman, Locking Up Our Own, 221.
71. “Donald Trump: We Have to Bring Back Law and Order,” CNN, September 26, 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Drry6tO0ALI.
72. I use the term “movement” because the progressive candidates that have run and have been elected as district attorneys have campaigned on similar platforms that often include: measures to end cash bail, the decriminalization of marijuana, the expansion of the use of diversionary programs; and, the prosecution of fewer juveniles as adults. While these candidates have not always directly worked together, many of them have met with each other and have even publicly supported each other’s campaigns. Furthermore, local and national media groups have often published stories where they tend to group them together due to their legal affinities.  Although these candidates have not formed an official coalition, I believe their campaigns, elections, and depiction in the media nationwide resembles a shift in how voters have understood the criminal justice system.
73. James Forman, “Justice Springs Eternal,” The New York Times (New York City, NY), March 25, 2017), https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/25/opinion/sunday/justice-springs-eternal.html.
74. Taylor Pendergrass and Janos Marton, “How Progressive Prosecutors Can Transform the Criminal Justice System,” The Boston Globe (Boston, MA), July 15, 2019), https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2019/07/15/how-progressive-prosecutors-can-transform-criminal-justice-system/ecA7BqJNfN5T2JAxJTvzLK/story.html?outputType=amp&event=event25&__twitter_impression=true.
75. Daniel A. Medina, “The Progressive Prosecutors Blazing a New Path for the US Justice System,” The Guardian (New York City, NY), July 23, 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jul/23/us-justice-system-progressive-prosecutors-mass-incarceration-death-penalty?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Gmail.
76. Bazelon, Charged, 162.
77. Jake Blumgart, “The Brutal Legacy of Frank Rizzo, the Most Notorious Cop in Philadelphia History,” Vice (New York, NY), October 22, 2015, https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/kwxp3m/remembering-frank-rizzo-the-most-notorious-cop-in-philadelphia-history-1022.
78. Maura Ewing, “Philadelphia’s New Top Prosecutor Is Rolling Out Wild, Unprecedented Criminal Justice Reforms,” Slate, March 2018, https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/03/phillys-new-top-prosecutor-is-rolling-out-wild-unprecedented-criminal-justice-reforms.html.
79. “Endorsements,” Larry Krasner for Philadelphia District Attorney, https://krasnerforda.com/endorsements.
80. Ben Wofford, “The ACLU’s Radical Plan to Fight Jeff Sessions,” Politico Magazine, May 2017, https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/05/16/the-aclus-radical-plan-to-fight-jeff-sessions-215139.
81. Holly Otterbein, “In the Trump Era, Voter Turnout Skyrockets in Philly’s District Attorney Race,” Philadelphia Magazine (Philadelphia, PA) November 8, 2017, https://www.phillymag.com/news/2017/11/08/philadelphia-da-election-turnout/.
82. “2017 General Election Officials Results,” Office of the Philadelphia City Commissioners, https://www.philadelphiavotes.com/en/resources-a-data/ballot-box-app/additional-election-results-data.
83. Paul Butler, “Why the Fraternal Order of Police Must Go,” The Marshall Project, October 11, 2017, https://www.themarshallproject.org/2017/10/11/why-the-fraternal-order-of-police-must-go.
84. Butler.
85. Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #5 (Philadelphia, PA), https://fop5.org/.
86. Max Marin, “New Philly Police Union Contract Falls Short on Disciplinary Reform,” City & State Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA), August 15, 2017, https://www.cityandstatepa.com/content/new-philly-police-union-contract-falls-short-disciplinary-reform.
87. Kimbriell Kelly, Wesley Lowery, and Steven Rich, “Fired/Rehired: Police Chiefs Are Often Forced to Put Officers Fired for Misconduct Back on the Streets,” The Washington Post (Washington D.C.) August 3, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/investigations/police-fired-rehired/?utm_term=.b1eb11eff8c6.
88. “Police Union Contract Review,” CheckthePolice, https://www.checkthepolice.org/#review.
89. Abraham Gutman, “The Two Big Reasons the Police Union Wants Larry Krasner to Lose,” Philadelphia Magazine (Philadelphia, PA), November 3, 2018, https://www.phillymag.com/news/2017/11/03/krasner-mcnesby-police-union/.
90. Gutman.
91. “Analysis of Philadelphia Police Stop-and-Frisk Data Shows Illegal Stops Continue with Limited Progress,” ACLU Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA) January 8, 2018, https://www.aclupa.org/news/2018/01/08/analysis-philadelphia-police-stop-and-frisk-data-shows-illeg.
92. FOPLodge5, Twitter Post, August 1, 2019, 9:27 AM, https://twitter.com/FOPLodge5/status/1156964602439188481/photo/1.
93. Chris Palmer, “Amid FOP Skepticism, DA Candidate Krasner Endorsed by Black Philly Cops’ Group,” The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, PA) June 20, 2017, https://www.inquirer.com/philly/news/politics/amid-fop-skepticism-da-candidate-krasner-endorsed-by-black-philly-cops-group-20170620.html.
94. “2017 Philadelphia Workforce Diversity Profile Report,” Office of the Mayor (Philadelphia, PA) June 30, 2017, https://www.phila.gov/media/20180108095159/2017DiversityReport.pdf.
95. Malcolm Burnley and Patrick Kerkstra, “Philadelphia Police Force Still Far Whiter Than City Itself,” Philadelphia Magazine (Philadelphia, PA) April 14, 2015, https://www.phillymag.com/citified/2015/04/14/philadelphia-police-demographics/
96. Holly Otterbein, “Kenney Calls Out Philly Police Union Head Over “Divisive Words”,” Philadelphia Magazine (Philadelphia, PA) September 5, 2017, https://www.phillymag.com/news/2017/09/05/jim-kenney-john-mcnesby-fop-black-lives-matter-activists-animals/.
97. Inquirer Editorial Board, “Beth Grossman Has the Energy, Strong Background, and Skills to Be Philly’s Next DA | Endorsement,” The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, PA) October 15, 2017, https://www.inquirer.com/philly/opinion/editorials/beth-grossman-has-the-energy-strong-background-and-skills-to-be-phillys-next-da-endorsement-20171015.html.
98. Inquirer Editorial Board.
99. Inquirer Editorial Board.
100. Holly Otterbein, “Meet the D.A. Candidate Who Led Philly’s Civil Asset Forfeiture System,” Philadelphia Magazine (Philadelphia, PA) March 1, 2017.
101. “2017-2018 Media Kit,” The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, PA), http://media.philly.com/storage/MediaKit.pdf.
102. Alexander, The New Jim Crow, 52-53.
103. Katherine Beckette, Making Crime Pay: Law and Order in Contemporary American Politics (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997), 17-20.
104. Sara Sun Beale, “The News Media’s Influence on Criminal Justice Policy: How Market-Driven News Promotes Punitiveness,” William & Mary Law Review 48, no. 2 (2006): 441-461.
105. “Philadelphians Say Public Safety Is Biggest Issue Facing Their City in 2016,” PEW Research Center (Washington D.C., Washington D.C.) October 18, 2016, https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2016/10/18/philadelphians-say-public-safety-is-biggest-issue-facing-their-city-in-2016.
106. Beale, “The News Media’s Influence on Criminal Justice Policy: How Market-Driven News Promotes Punitiveness,” William & Mary Law Review, 430.
107. “2017-2018 Media Kit,” The Philadelphia Inquirer.
108. Beale, “The News Media’s Influence on Criminal Justice Policy,” William & Mary Law Review, 440.
109. Daniel Denvir, “The Philadelphia Inquirer Just Endorsed Mass Incarceration,” The Appeal October 17, 2017, https://theappeal.org/the-philadelphia-inquirer-just-endorsed-mass-incarceration/.
110. Andrea Estes and Shelley Murphy, “Stopping Injustice or Putting the Public at Risk? Suffolk DA Rachael Rollins’s Tactics Spur Pushback,” The Boston Globe (Boston, MA) July 6, 2019, https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2019/07/06/stopping-injustice-putting-public-risk-suffolk-rachael-rollins-tactics-spur-pushback/IFC6Rp4tVHiVhOf2t97bFI/story.html?event=event12,
111. 19 College Professors, “Boston Professors Criticize Globe Over Rollins,” Commonwealth Magazine (Boston, MA) July 12, 2019, https://commonwealthmagazine.org/opinion/boston-professors-criticize-globe-over-rollins/.
112. Brian Hickey, “Two Dozen Philly Academics: Inky Coverage Undermines Criminal Justice Reform,” Philly Voice, (Philadelphia, PA), July 25, 2019, https://www.phillyvoice.com/two-dozen-philly-academics-inquirer-crime-coverage-undermines-criminal-justice-reform/amp/?__twitter_impression=true.
113. Chris Palmer, “Larry Krasner’s First Year as Philly DA: Staff Turnover, Fewer Cases, Plenty of Controversy,” The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, PA), January 6, 201, https://www.inquirer.com/news/larry-krasner-philadelphia-district-attorney-staff-reform-cases-first-year-20190106.html.
114. Ames C. Grawert and Cameron Kimble, “Crime in 2018: Final Analysis,” Brennan Center for Justice (New York City: New York University School of Law), 2019, file:///C:/Users/Alex%20de%20Arana/Downloads/2019_06_CrimeReport_FINAL_0%20(1).pdf.
115. Chris Palmer, Jeremy Roebuck, Dylan Purcell, and Julie Shaw, “Criminal Justice System at Center of Swirling Debate as Gun Violence Continues in Philly,” The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, PA), June 22, 2019, https://www.inquirer.com/news/philadelphia-larry-krasner-richard-ross-william-mcswain-shootings-murders-statistics-20190622.html.
116. Palmer, Roebuck, Purcell, and Shaw.
117. Grawert and Kimble, “Crime in 2018: Final Analysis,” Brennan Center for Justice, 2019.
118. Hickey, “Two Dozen Philly Academics,” Philly Voice, July 25, 2019.
119. Jane_Roh, Twitter Post, June 23, 2019, 12:06 PM, https://twitter.com/Jane_Roh/status/1142871590700494848/photo/1.
120. Hickey, “Two Dozen Philly Academics,” Philly Voice.
121. Chris Palmer, “How to Stem Philly’s Gun Violence? Officials Discuss Obstacles, Strategies at City Hall,” The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, PA), June 26, 2019, https://www.inquirer.com/news/philadelphia-gun-violence-city-council-hearing-richard-ross-larry-krasner-20190626.html.
122. Akela Lacy and Ryan Grim, “Pennsylvania Lawmakers Move to Strip Reformist Prosecutor Larry Krasner of Authority,” The Intercept (Philadelphia, PA), July 8, 2019, https://theintercept.com/2019/07/08/da-larry-krasner-pennsylvania-attorney-general/.
123. Lacy and Grim.
124. Akela Lacy, “Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro Will Support Repeal of Controversial Law Stripping Larry Krasner of Authority” The Intercept (Philadelphia, PA), July 12, 2019, https://theintercept.com/2019/07/12/josh-shapiro-larry-krasner-pennsylvania-repeal-hb-1614/.
125. Taylor Pendergrass and Janos Marton, “How Progressive Prosecutors Can Transform the Criminal Justice System,” The Boston Globe (Boston, MA), July 15, 2019, https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2019/07/15/how-progressive-prosecutors-can-transform-criminal-justice-system/ecA7BqJNfN5T2JAxJTvzLK/story.html.
126. Vivian Wang, “Tiffany Cabán Concedes Queens D.A. Race, Dashing Progressives’ Hopes,” The New York Times (New York City, NY), August 6, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/06/nyregion/tiffany-caban-queens-da-concedes.html.
127. Chris Palmer, “Philly DA Larry Krasner’s Office Says Meek Mill’s Judge is biased, Should Not Oversee Case,” The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, PA), May 22, 2019, https://www.inquirer.com/crime/meek-mill-genece-brinkley-larry-krasner-district-attorney-philadelphia-new-trial-20190522.html.
128. Chris Palmer, “Meek Mill’s Conviction Vacated by PA Superior Court,” The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, PA), July 24, 2019, https://www.inquirer.com/news/meek-mill-conviction-overturned-cleared-larry-krasner-philadelphia-20190724.html#loaded.
129. Grow, “Meek Mill’s Legal Troubles: A History,” Rolling Stone Magazine, https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/meek-mills-legal-troubles-a-history-117981/.
130. Grow.
131. Palmer, “Meek Mill’s Conviction Vacated by PA Superior Court,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, July 24, 2019.