TV Night For America, Prison Nation

By Jeralyn, Section Media
Posted on Tue Oct 18, 2011 at 02:02:07 PM EST
Tags: private prisons, immigration detention (all tags)

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There are two important TV programs to watch tonight.

9 p.m. (ET): CNBC will air "Billions Behind Bars: Inside America's Prison Industry." The program examines the multi-billion dollar industry of private prisons. The Justice Policy Institute (JPI) was consulted by CNBC producers throughout the making of the documentary following its release this summer of Gaming the System: How the Political Strategies of Private Prison Companies Promote Ineffective Incarceration Policies, which explored the political strategies private prison companies employ to influence policy.

9 pm ET: PBS: Lost in Detention, FRONTLINE and the Investigative Reporting Workshop examine the Obama administration’s controversial get-tough immigration policy. [More...]

The Frontline program also examines Secure Communities and explains why three Governors have backed out:

“More than 30 percent of those deported from the United States, under the program, have never been convicted of any crime, much less a serious one,” [Il. Gov.] Quinn and Illinois State Police Director Hiram Grau wrote in a May letter [PDF] to Marc Rapp, the acting assistant director of Secure Communities.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's letter is here. Mass. Governor Devel Patrick was the third Governor to object.

Also on the Frontline program: How latino voters are likely to react to President Obama's re-election bid.

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