Yale Law Professor James Forman won the Pulitzer Prize in 2018 for his courageous and remarkably insightful book, Locking Up Our Own, in which he reflected on his experience as a public defender in Washington, DC in the 1990s. Many of James’ clients were young Black men getting arrested and often locked up for drug offenses and other drug-related crimes. He saw himself engaged in the unfinished work of the civil rights movement and needed to understand why so many Black citizens and even political leaders viewed the drug war as essential to the survival of their community.



We talked in depth about the simultaneous over- and under-policing of crime, and the ways in which mass incarceration results from small, distinct steps taken mostly at the local level. It’s a testament to the nuance he brings to his book that it was cited by both Clarence Thomas and Sonia Sotomayor in a recent Supreme Court case.




Listen to this episode and let me know what you think. Our number is 1-833-779-2460. Our email is psychoactive@protozoa.com. Or tweet at me, @ethannadelmann.

 Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Yale Law Professor James Forman won the Pulitzer Prize in 2018 for his courageous and remarkably insightful book, Locking Up Our Own, in which he reflected on his experience as a public defender in Washington, DC in the 1990s. Many of James’ clients were young Black men getting arrested and often locked up for drug offenses and other drug-related crimes. He saw himself engaged in the unfinished work of the civil rights movement and needed to understand why so many Black citizens and even political leaders viewed the drug war as essential to the survival of their community. We talked in depth about the simultaneous over- and under-policing of crime, and the ways in which mass incarceration results from small, distinct steps taken mostly at the local level. It’s a testament to the nuance he brings to his book that it was cited by both Clarence Thomas and Sonia Sotomayor in a recent Supreme Court case. Listen to this episode and let me know what you think. Our number is 1-833-779-2460. Our email is <a href="mailto:psychoactive@protozoa.com">psychoactive@protozoa.com</a>. Or tweet at me, @ethannadelmann. Learn more about your ad-choices at <a href="https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com">https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com</a>

Drugs, drugs, drugs. Almost everyone uses them. Almost everyone has an opinion about them. Drug policy pioneer Ethan Nadelmann gets to the bottom of our strange relationship to drugs by talking with those who love them, hate them, and study them.
We’d love to hear your stories and ideas. Send us a note at psychoactive@protozoa.com or leave a voicemail at 1-833-PSYCHO-0 (1-833-779-2460).

PSYCHOACTIVE

James Forman Jr. on The Drug War in a Black Community

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/c28c0076-fbd9-4f4e-a21f-ae2f005b5a54/transcript