The United States’ rate of incarceration is the highest in the world. Why and how did this happen? Marc Mauer’s “Race to Incarcerate,” first published in 1999, has become an important text for understanding the growth of the US prison system and a canonical work for those active in the US criminal justice reform movement. Now Sabrina Jones, a member of the World War 3 Illustrated collective and an author of politically engaged comics, has collaborated with Mauer to adapt and update the original book into a comics narrative designed to reach new audiences.
Jones’s artwork adds to the complex story of four decades of prison expansion and its effect on generations of Americans. The new book is titled “Race to Incarcerate: A Graphic Retelling.” Marc Mauer is executive director of The Sentencing Project and will appear at Weller Book Works in Salt Lake City on May 16. Marc Mauer and Sabrina Jones join Tom Williams for the hour on Wednesday’s Access Utah.
