Half the Answer #48: Prison Reform, Mass Incarceration, and the History of ICE

Trent and Caitlin speak with Professor John Pfaff, author of "Locked In: The True Causes of Mass Incarceration—and How to Achieve Real Reform." They talk about prisons, militarized police, and ICE in today's political climate.

Half the Answer can be heard on Spotify, on Apple, on YouTube, on Amazon, and elsewhere via its RSS feed.

Resources:

John's book https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/john-pfaff/locked-in/9780465096916/?lens=basic-books

ICE accidentally gasses everybody https://newrepublic.com/post/202443/portland-police-chief-donald-trump-protest-tear-gas-accident

Mutual aid supplies cleared https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2025/10/portlands-ice-protest-camp-was-suddenly-cleared-by-police-after-months-of-routine-removals-heres-why.html

John's Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/johnpfaff.bsky.social

John's website https://johnfpfaff.com

Ghettoside https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/100077/ghettoside-by-jill-leovy/

Study of gun-carrying young people in NYC https://www.innovatingjustice.org/resources/gun-violence-brooklyn/

Gun boats in Chicago river https://wgntv.com/news/chicago-news/ice-us-customs-and-border-patrol-boats-spotted-on-chicago-river/

Skip Intro on Copaganda https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2ac8vr2QyTdlWwd8OQIc1it6bAfMGPPC

Kavanaugh defends racial profiling https://www.scotusblog.com/2025/09/justice-brett-kavanaugh-and-racial-proxies/

Kalief Browder https://innocenceproject.org/news/remembering-kalief-browder-year-suicide-rikers-island-shutdown/

Chicago pajama guy https://www.reuters.com/world/us/were-not-violent-city-chicago-locals-take-ice-block-by-block-2025-11-02/

Migra whistle information https://migrawhistle.carrd.co/