Incarcerated in America

03/19/2008 at 10:00 a.m.

First, a conversation on the week's news in Canada with correspondent Vaughn Palmer, political correspondent for the Vancouver Sun. Then, for the first time in U.S. history, more than one out of every 100 adults is in jail or prison. That's according to a new report from the Pew Center on the States which documents America's rank as the world's No. 1 incarcerator. Does locking more people up make us all safer? What are the societal impacts of having so many people in the justice system? Who exactly is going to prison, and what is it like there? Today on Weekday we'll talk incarceration.

Guests:
Vaughn Palmer, political correspondent for the Vancouver Sun.
Silja Talvi is an investigative journalist based in Seattle. Her latest book is Women Behind Bars.
Paul Wright is the editor of Prison Legal News and a former Washington State prisoner.