Consider the following: Over 1.7 million Americans live in prison, a three hundred percent increase since 1980; In some US cities, one third of all young Black men are in jail, on probation or awaiting trial; In California, spending on prisons has eclipsed allocations for higher education; Starbucks, Jansport and Microsoft all use prison labor to package their products; Corrections Corporations of America, the nation's largest private jailer, has been dubbed a 'theme stock for the 90s.' Why is criminal justice so central to American politics? Lockdown America not only documents the horrors and absurdities of militarized policing, prisons, a fortified border, and the federalization of the war on crime, it also explains the political and economic history behind the massive crackdown. Written in accessible and vivid prose, Lockdown America will propel readers toward a deeper understanding of the links between crime and politics in a period of gathering economic crisis.