Prison Pipeline on 03/11/13

Carlos Chavez interviews one of Chicago Reporter’s investigative journalists, Angela Caputo on her recent article, called “Cell Blocks.” They talk about her recent article on the topic of Chicago’s highest incarcerated West side community.

Caputo tapped into Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court’s database paired with a Geographic Information Systems file created by the Chicago Department of Innovation and Technology to research convicted felony cases and prison sentences per census block in the city of Chicago. Her results exposed some fascinating facts that may have many of us scratching our heads about the heavy handed philosophy behind that last few decades of mass incarceration and the war on drugs.