Keramet Reiter calls supermax prisons "the black hole" in this nation's system of incarceration: So little is known about them, and yet inmates in those facilities endure the most extreme form of punishment short of the death penalty. Reiter has investigated the rise of supermaxes, the conditions and terms of confinement, and the impact of such confinement on prisoners and society. (Encore presentation.)

Keramet Reiter calls supermax prisons "the black hole" in this nation's system of incarceration: So little is known about them, and yet inmates in those facilities endure the most extreme form of punishment short of the death penalty. Reiter has investigated the rise of supermaxes, the conditions and terms of confinement, and the impact of such confinement on prisoners and society.

An innocent man is convicted. A guilty person isn't prosecuted. Are these miscarriages of justice? Markus Dubber argues that the US penal system, whose operation is driven by the state's police power, does not in fact seek to do justice. Also, Harriet Fraad and Rick Wolff suggest ways of addressing the current economic/psychological crises.