So Stoll, a professor of public policy and urban planning at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, joined Steven Raphael, a professor of public policy at UC Berkeley, and they threw a net over the elephant and began to ask questions that led to several books, beginning with “Do Prisons Make Us Safer?” in 2009, and more recently, “Why Are So Many Americans in Prison?” in 2013.
Stoll and Raphael found that the prison population had increased dramatically. In the ’70s, most industrialized countries incarcerated about 100 people per 100,000, or about 0.01 percent of the general population. In the United States, that was true until the 1980s, but by 2007 the percentage had quintupled.
Their findings suggested that the surge was almost entirely
Stoll and Raphael found that the prison population had increased dramatically. In the ’70s, most industrialized countries incarcerated about 100 people per 100,000, or about 0.01 percent of the general population. In the United States, that was true until the 1980s, but by 2007 the percentage had quintupled.
Their findings suggested that the surge was almost entirely