Author
What year was Michelle Alexander Born?
1967
Define Mass Incarceration.
The large scale imprisonment of people.
What is the main argument Michelle Alexander makes in Chapter 3?
She argues that the criminal justice system appears colorblind, but the War on Drugs is enforced in a way that heavily targets Black and Latino communities, and is enforced through police discretion, stereotypes, and court rulings that make it difficult to prove racial-bias.
Which state is Michelle Alexander from?
Illinois (Stelle)
Define Racial Disparities.
Differences in outcomes between racial groups.
How does Alexander argue that proving racial discrimination in court is almost impossible?
It requires establishing intention which is extremely hard to get effective evidence to prove.
Where did Michelle Alexander go to school?
Vanderbilt University, Stanford Law School
Define Prosecutorial Discretion.
The power prosecutors have to decide who to charge and how severely.
How does police discretion affect who gets stopped, searched, arrested, and charged?
Police discretion gives unchecked authority to police officers to use their own judgement even if that judgement is impacted by conscious or unconscious racial biases that can lead to unfair treatment.
What was Michelle Alexander's career before writing her book?
She was a Civil Rights activist and attorney before becoming an author.
Define Selective Enforcement.
When laws are enforced more heavily against certain groups than others.
According to Alexander, why is it important that people of all races use and sell drugs at similar rates?
Because it shows a pattern where different racial groups are prosecuted differently even though they commit the same rate of crimes.
What major racial-profiling-awareness campaign did Michelle Alexander launch as director of the Racial Justice Project for the ACLU of Northern California?
The "Driving While Black or Brown Campaign".
Define Implicit Bias.
Unconscious stereotypes or attitudes that affect decisions and behavior.
What is something that can improve Alexander's primary argument in the book?
Answers vary.