Jerome Miller

Jerome Miller is the founder and executive director of the National Center for Institutions and Alternatives, an organization that develops alternatives to imprisonment and seeks solutions to prison overcrowding. In the following viewpoint, Miller contends that the prison system does not work because it unfairly incarcerates minorities and perpetuates antisocial behavior by treating them inhumanely. The public’s “vicious” mood towards crime, Miller suggests, influences politicians to devise increasingly punitive criminal justice policies for an already overburdened and violent prison system.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. What example does the author use to support his view that the criminal-justice system unfairly incarcerates African Americans for drug offenses"
2. What are Miller’s three leading causes of prison overcrowding"
3. According to Miller, how does the prison system exacerbate violent behavior"

The figures are startling...