The Presumption of Innocence - Episode 64

Episode 64 Cages We Built: The Making of Mass Incarceration in America The U.S. imprisons a larger percentage of its population than any other country in the world. How did we get here? Rachel Barkow, Charles Seligson Professor of Law and Faculty Director of the Zimroth Center on the Administration of Criminal Law at New York University School of Law, returns to the podcast for an in-depth discussion on that very topic with host Matt Adams. Rachel’s second book, Justice Abandoned: How the Supreme Court Ignored the Constitution and Enabled Mass Incarceration, centers the conversation, highlighting six key Supreme Court cases. Rachel asserts that, had the justices ruled differently, their decisions would have created an American society where incarceration rates remained similar to other Western democracies. Rachel and Matt also discuss the financial, societal and practical costs of rising incarceration trends, and whether it’s possible to reverse the trajectory.