I thought it would be useful to consolidate a conversation that's going on in the class facebook group. The material is interesting, important, and relates to our discussions in this class. Hopefully it will allow all of us to procrastinate from finishing torts or con law reading. I may go back and do more editing / summarizing of the links below if there's any interest or this sparks a discussion. Of course I welcome any interested person to do likewise.

Several links have been posted recently, including:

The NY Times: Judge Lynch and the cruelty of mandatory minimum sentencing. "A Judge's Struggle To Avoid Imposing A Penalty He Hated" by Benjamin Weiser, 1/13/2004.

A New Yorker article on mass incarceration. "The Caging of America" by Adam Glopnik, 1/30/2012.

An n+1 article on mass incarceration that advocates the abolition of prisons. "Raise the Crime Rate" by Christopher Glazek, 1/26/2012.

-- ShakedSivan - 19 Feb 2012