Pulitzer Prize Winning Author Heather Ann Thompson Talks Mass Incarceration
“Prisons today are not what we think they are, nor is the justice system, and both need a real overhaul.”
A couple weeks ago the Pulitzer Prize winners were announced, and among them was University of Michigan history professor Heather Ann Thompson.
Thompson’s book — Blood in the Water — examines the conditions that led to the Attica Prison uprising of 1971, and the bloody massacre against the inmates that ensued.
The prisoners were protesting deplorable living conditions at Attica.
“Unfortunately, what I think the Attica story reminded me… is we have such a faith in our criminal justice system,” that is often misplaced, says Thompson. “Prisons today are not what we think they are, nor is the justice system, and both need a real overhaul.”
To hear more from the conversation with Thompson on Detroit Today, click on the audio player above.
