States Quotes by Michelle Alexander

People on probation and parole are typically denied the right to vote, and in eleven states people are denied the right to…

— Michelle Alexander

Nothing has contributed more to the systematic mass incarceration of people of color in the United States than the War on Drugs

— Michelle Alexander

Most criminologists today will acknowledge that crime rates and incarceration rates in the United States have had relatively little to do with…

— Michelle Alexander

Prison guard unions have become the powerful political forces in some states, particularly California.

— Michelle Alexander

The United States imprisons a larger percentage of its black population than South Africa did at the height of apartheid. In Washington,…

— Michelle Alexander

Defenders of the status quo will often try to mislead the public by saying, "Just look at our state prisons: nearly half…

— Michelle Alexander

In fact, in some countries there are actually voting drives conducted in prison! But here in the U.S., we seem to take…

— Michelle Alexander

The system functioned relatively automatically, and the prevailing system of racial meanings, identities, and ideologies already seemed natural. Ninety percent of those…

— Michelle Alexander

Mass incarceration has become normalized in the United States. Poor folks of color are shuttled from decrepit, underfunded schools to brand new,…

— Michelle Alexander

About 70% of those released from prison return within a few years, and the majority of those who return in some states…

— Michelle Alexander

Millions of people are unable to vote due to felony convictions with the highest rates among black men. People in prison are…

— Michelle Alexander

Of course in this age of colorblindness, a time when we have supposedly moved "beyond race," we as a nation would feel…

— Michelle Alexander

All people make mistakes. All of us are sinners. All of us are criminals. All of us violate the law at some…

— Michelle Alexander

To make matters worse, federal drug forfeiture laws allow state and local law enforcement agencies to keep, for their own use, up…

— Michelle Alexander

In response to the advocacy of groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving, most states adopted tougher laws to punish drunk driving. Numerous…

— Michelle Alexander

The wave of punitiveness that washed over the United States with the rise of the drug war and the get tough movement…

— Michelle Alexander

In a growing number of states, you're actually expected to pay back the costs of your imprisonment. Paying back all these fees,…

— Michelle Alexander

The war on drugs has been the engine of mass incarceration. Drug convictions alone constituted about two-thirds of the increase in the…

— Michelle Alexander

The United States does have the highest rate of incarceration in the world dwarfing the rates of even highly repressive regimes like…

— Michelle Alexander

What defenders of the system typically fail to acknowledge is that the reason violent offenders comprise a fairly large percentage of the…

— Michelle Alexander

No other country in the world imprisons so many of its racial or ethnic minorities. The United States imprisons a larger percentage…

— Michelle Alexander

In the war on drugs, state and state law enforcement agencies have been rewarded in cash by the federal government - through…

— Michelle Alexander