FRONTLINE: Locked Up in America: Solitary Nation and Prison State
Two films examine incarceration in the United States.
For decades, the United States has been fixated on incarceration, building prisons and locking up more and more people. But at what cost, and has it really made a difference? FRONTLINE goes to the epicenter of the raging debate about incarceration in America, focusing on the controversial practice of solitary confinement and on new efforts to reduce the prison population, as officials are rethinking what to do with criminals. Award-winning director and producer Dan Edge gives viewers these raw and unforgettable firsthand accounts from prisoners, prison staff, and people whose lives are forever altered by this troubled system.
Solitary Nation presents a visceral portrait of life in a solitary-confinement unit in Maine's maximum-security prison, told through the inmates living in isolation, the officers watching over them, and the new warden who is desperately trying to reform the system.
Prison State takes an intimate look at the cycle of mass incarceration in America and a statewide effort to reverse the trend, following four residents of a housing project in Louisville, Ky., as they cycle in and out of the state's jails and prisons.
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