Race, drugs and the changing face of the prison population

The World

A new report from The Sentencing Project reveals a changing demographic of prisoners who are incarcerated for drug charges. The report shows that for the first time in 25 years, since the start of the so-called War on Drugs, incarceration rates for black men has dropped. The report shows that over a six-year period, the rate of black men in jail on drug-related charges dropped 21% while the imprisonment for white men spiked by 42%. Is this racial disparity a sign of the changing prison demographic? To guide us through what these numbers mean, The Takeaway is joined by David Fathi, director of Human Rights Watch in the U.S.

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