Broken On All Sides: Race, Mass Incarceration & New Visions for Criminal Justice in the U.S.

More African Americans are under 'correctional' control today than were enslaved in 1850. Prison populations have exploded by 500% since the end of the civil rights movement. Why?
The project began as a way to explore overcrowding of Philadelphia's jail system. It has come to focus on mass incarceration across the U.S. and the intersection of race, poverty, and criminal justice.
The documentary centers around Michelle Alexander's theory in her groundbreaking book, 'The New Jim Crow:' through the rise of the drug war and tough on crime policies that were reactions to the black activism of the 1960s and 70s, because discretion within the system allows for targeting people of color at disproportionately high rates, mass incarceration emerged as America's new caste system. The movie dissects the War on Drugs and 'tough on crime' movement, illustrates how the emerging Occupy movement offers hope for change, and explores possible reforms and solutions to ending mass incarceration.
Discrimination against African Americans that was defeated by the Civil Rights Movement is today alive and perfectly legal when applied to “criminals.” The problem is that through conscious and unconscious choices, with the blessing of politicians and the Supreme Court, black people have been targeted at significantly higher rates for arrest and prosecution.
Through interviews with people caught up in or involved with the system, this documentary will aim to answer questions and provoke questions on an issue walled-off from the public’s scrutiny. Walk out understanding the most important civil rights issue of our time.

Length of Film: 68 minutes

Web Address:http://www.brokenonallsides.com