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    Back to To the Point

    To the Point

    Mass Incarceration and the Milwaukee Experiment

    The US imprisons more people than China, Iran or Russia — with blacks serving more time, more often than anyone else. The death of unarmed black Americans at the hands of police officers has renewed attention to racial inequality in the criminal justice system.

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    By Warren Olney • May 11, 2015 • 33m Listen

    The US imprisons more people than China, Iran or Russia — with blacks serving more time, more often than anyone else. The death of unarmed black Americans at the hands of police officers has renewed attention to racial inequality in the criminal justice system. In Wisconsin, African Americans are 6% of the population and 37% of the prisoners -- but the DA in Milwaukee County is trying to change that. It turns out that prosecutors have more power than cops in determining who serves time and who doesn't. We hear about the role of race in the "crackdown on crime," which may become an issue in next year's presidential campaign.

    The full episode

    2 of 3
    The Prosecutor's Role in Mass Incarceration
    1. 1:20UN Security Council Considers Military Force to Stop Migrant Smuggling
    2. 8:19Mass Incarceration and the Milwaukee ExperimentYou’re reading this
    3. 42:31Seymour Hersh Dismantles US Narrative of bin Laden’s Death
    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Warren Olney

      former KCRW broadcaster

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Jenny Hamel

      KCRW

    • KCRW placeholder

      Christine Detz

      Producer, 'To the Point'

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Benjamin Gottlieb

      Reporter, Fill-in Host

    • KCRW placeholder

      Jeffrey Toobin

      New Yorker magazine / CNN

    • KCRW placeholder

      John Chisholm

      Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office

    • KCRW placeholder

      Mark Earley

      Earley Legal Group

      NewsNationalPolitics

    The full episode

    2 of 3
    The Prosecutor's Role in Mass Incarceration
    1. 1:20UN Security Council Considers Military Force to Stop Migrant Smuggling
    2. 8:19Mass Incarceration and the Milwaukee ExperimentYou’re reading this
    3. 42:31Seymour Hersh Dismantles US Narrative of bin Laden’s Death
    Back to To the Point