..Slavery is being practiced by the system under the color of law…. Slavery 400 years ago, slavery today; it’s the same thing, but with a new name. They’re making millions and millions of dollars enslaving blacks, poor whites, and others–people who don’t even know they’re being railroaded.–Political Prisoner Ruchell Magee [1]

Despite a chilling official silence, 1995 was a bombshell in the “war on crime.” In this one year alone, 150 new prisons were built in the United States and 171 existing prisons were expanded. This was the year the crime bill was passed, mandating that 100,000 additional police officers be added to the already enormous law enforcement establishment. In California, this was the first year that the state budget allocated more money for prisons than higher education. Most astonishingly, with one short day of media attention, 1995 was the year that Alabama’s governor Fob James, and other state officials, made the callous and horrifying decision to reinstate the nationally abolished chain gang.