Think Tank discusses mass incarceration in Arizona

Over the last 40 years, prison populations across the nation have skyrocketed.

But compared to this national trend, Arizona has been an outlier, according to a recent report from Fwd.US, a Silicon Valley-funded think tank.

The report’s summary found that:

Despite overwhelming evidence that states can safely reduce crime and incarceration through commonsense reforms, Arizona continues to be a national outlier with high imprisonment rates and rising corrections spending.

This is no small matter. Arizona’s imprisonment crisis removes thousands of people from the economy and costs taxpayers more than $1 billion each year, preventing the state from investing in other critical priorities.

The costs of mass incarceration are so staggering that they have brought together not only the expected activists from the political left, but such right-wing stalwarts as the Koch Brothers and their foundation Americans for Prosperity.

Our guests are Felicity Rose, the director of research and policy, for criminal justice reform for Fwd.US and Bethany Lambrecht, a local community activist.

The Think Tank airs on KTAR News 92.3 FM on Sunday at 1-2 p.m. and repeats at 9-10 p.m.

Podcasts are available after each show is broadcast.