MASS INCARCERATION IN THE UNITED STATES

In the United States, about 2.2 million individuals are currently held in federal, state, and local prisons and jails. Including parole, as of 2016, about 6.6 million people are under supervision by the U.S. corrections system – about 1 in every 38 adults in the United States.1 However, this population is on the decline, indicating room for progress and hope; the number of people under correctional supervision declined from 2007 to 2016.2

The prison system presents a high financial cost for the country. In 2015, according to the Vera Institute of Justice’s initiative, The Price of Prisons, at least 45 states together spent a total of about $43 billion on prisons.3 According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 56 percent of federal inmates, 67 percent of inmates in state prisons, and 69 percent of inmates in local jails, did not finish high school.4  Furthermore, individuals involved in the criminal justice system come from predominantly lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Financial factors of over-imprisonment are twofold: mass incarceration generates profit for private prison owners,6 but it costs American taxpayers billions of dollars.7

When mass incarceration is examined through the lens of race and gender, the scenario is stark. According to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, approximately 94 percent of the prison population is comprised of men,8 and the largest offense for those prisoners are drug-related crimes (about 47 percent).9 Black males across all ages are imprisoned 2.5 times more than Hispanic males and six times more than white males.10 From a historical perspective, American imprisonment has increased five-fold since the 1970s, and incarceration among African-Americans is higher than it was before the Civil Rights movement.11

The social impact of incarceration, although more difficult to calculate, can be dramatic, including the ripple effect on families and communities. Two million children are without parents, and countless families without loved ones.12 As former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder stated, “People sometimes make bad choices. As a result, they end up in prison or jail, but we can’t permit incarceration of a parent to punish an entire family.”13 According to the Pew Charitable Trusts, as of 2010, 54 percent of inmates have children, which translates to 2.7 million youth whose parents are imprisoned.14 Children with a parent behind bars are more likely to have behavioral and mental health issues,15 and this adolescent population is more likely to be suspended or expelled than their peers.16 Additionally, family income lowers by about 22 percent once a parent is locked up, and even when the parent returns home, the income remains lower than it was before he or she left.17

SPOTLIGHT ON WISCONSIN & MILWAUKEE 53206

Mass incarceration numbers are grim in the state of Wisconsin, where the prison population has more than tripled since 1990, fueled by increased government funding for drug enforcement (rather than treatment) and prison construction, three-strike rules, mandatory minimum sentence laws, truth-in-sentencing replacing judicial discretion in setting punishments, concentrated policing in minority communities, and state incarceration for minor probation and supervision violations.18 African American males are particularly impacted; the 2010 U.S. Census reveals Wisconsin as the state with the highest black male incarceration rate in the nation.19 In Milwaukee County, more than half of African-American men in their 30s have served time in state prison.20

According to the U.S. Census, about 13 percent of AfricanAmerican men of working age (ages 18-64)21 in Wisconsin are behind bars in state prisons and local jails. This rate of mass incarceration is the highest for African-American men in the country and nearly double the national average of 6.7 percent (or 1 in 15) for African-American men in the country.22 One-third of the African-American men incarcerated from Milwaukee county since 1990 showed only non-violent offenses.23

The cumulative effects of the high levels of incarceration of African-American males are on stark display in one particular Milwaukee zip code, 53206; here, 4,008 males (including 3,837 African-Americans) were either presently or previously incarcerated in adult state correctional institutions. By 2012, nearly every residential block in the 53206 neighborhood had multiple numbers of ex-offenders with prison records.24

MILWAUKEE 53206:THE DOCUMENTARY

MILWAUKEE 53206, a one-hour documentary film, profiles the story of one community dealing with the daily implications of incarceration – in the zip code with the highest incarceration rate in America. Moving past statistics and numbers, the one-hour documentary was shaped and distributed to tell the story in a new way, and to engage faith-based communities in conversations at the intersection of incarceration, community, empathy and race. Through the intimate stories of three 53206 residents, the film portrays the high toll excessive jail sentencing takes on individuals and families that make up the community.25 MILWAUKEE 53206 is presented by Transform Films Inc., a documentary production company that tells stories of hope, compassion and the quest for a more just world. Transform Films’ titles include Newtown, After Fire, and Serving Life. The director and producer of the documentary, Keith McQuirter, is an award-winning producer and director with credits in TV documentary, new media and commercials. He co-produced the first season of the five-part Peabody-Award-winning and Primetime-Emmy-nominated docu-series, Brick City, which aired on the Sundance Channel.26

Development of MILWAUKEE 53206 began early in 2014. The team at Odyssey reached out to its network of faith leaders to understand their pressing community themes. They learned that mass incarceration was a primary concern facing communities and faith leaders. However, the challenge was finding a way to depict this complex and multi-faceted issue in a way that would be consistent with Odyssey’s mission of engaging “people of faith and goodwill to nurture justice, compassion and hope,” and with Transform Films’ storytelling approach of telling intimate personal stories to illuminate greater issues of social relevance.

The creative team decided to explore the effect of mass incarceration on communities and families left behind, and the research led them to the zip code that incarcerates the highest percentage of African-American men in the U.S. – 53206 in Milwaukee. With the story idea identified, the next major step was the filmmaker who could tell this story best.

Enter Keith McQuirter. For Keith, this was an issue close to his heart. In 2008, he had visited a correctional facility in New Jersey for research on a project – his first time visiting a correctional facility – which inspired him to be involved in making a film like this.27 The subject and storyteller were a perfect fit. He joined the project in January 2015 to work with the Odyssey team, visiting Milwaukee to research subjects and the story in the community. Dennis Walton, a local radio host and a native of 53206, was one of the first people Keith met; Walton proved extremely helpful in making introductions. Another early player in the process was WISDOM, a Wisconsin faith-based organization working in criminal justice reform. WISDOM led the team to Beverly Walker, ultimately the main on-screen subject in the film. Production began in early 2015. Principal photography and post-production took place throughout 2015, with additional filming in 2016. In the meantime, the Odyssey team convened several “braintrust” meetings to show the work to potential stakeholders (faith leaders and criminal justice advocates) in 2015 and 2016. The final film premiered in June 2016.

From the film’s website (www.milwaukee53206.com), the characters include:

• Beverly Walker is the dedicated wife of Baron Walker, who has been incarcerated under Wisconsin’s old law for over 21 years. They have five children and five grandchildren. Beverly and Baron grew up as neighbors on Milwaukee’s north side in ZIP code 53206. They first dated as teenagers and years later married. Beverly is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin where she studied education and early childhood education. Beverly is an advocate for prison sentencing reform, solitary confinement elimination, and old law parole issues. She works with WISDOM, a grassroots multi-faith organization working for justice.
• Beverly Walker’s husband, Baron, has been incarcerated for 21-years for two “party-to-a-crime” armed robberies; no one was physically harmed. Caught between changing parole laws in Wisconsin, he should have been released years ago. As a result, Beverly has been tirelessly advocating for his release while keeping together their family of five children and extended relatives.
• Dennis Walton is the co-director of Milwaukee’s Fatherhood Initiative who, after having his own experiences with the justice system, reformed his life and began to advocate and build community initiatives to support men, parenting and families of those who are experiencing incarceration. Dennis fights to build the 53206 community in the face of extreme challenges with over half of its young men imprisoned.
• Chad Wilson was released after spending 15 years in-and-out of the criminal justice system. While serving time, he completed the Milwaukee Fatherhood program and has committed himself to self-reform in order to create a second chance in life. Nevertheless, discriminatory hiring practices make it difficult for former prisoners to find gainful employment.28

FILM IMPACT HIGHLIGHTS

From 2016 to 2018, through a multi-year strategic impact campaign comprising grassroots community screenings with faithbased communities and secular groups, and a particular focus on Wisconsin, the film screened in 235 locations in the United States thus far, with 159 in Wisconsin alone. Public engagement and impact highlights for the film include:

• 235 screenings in 21 states across the country, including Washington, D.C., New York, Milwaukee, Atlanta, Chicago, Fort Worth and many more; 76 screenings were held in faith-based venues.
• 159 screenings in Wisconsin, including the Wisconsin Department of Corrections and the Wisconsin Public Defender’s Office, to help raise awareness and encourage community conversation about racially-based, excessive sentencing.29
• Due to the media attention in Milwaukee about the film, an attorney learned about the film and filed motions, pro bono, to secure Baron Walker’s release. An Emory University Candler School of Theology screening and letter-writing campaign to the Wisconsin Parole Commission, advocating for Baron’s release, contributed to the effort.
• On August 17, 2018, Baron Walker was released from prison, partially attributed to the ripple effect of media attention from the documentary, which contributed to legal involvement.
• 2017 Grand Jury Prize for Best Feature Documentary at Urbanworld Film Festival.
• 2018 PBS World Channel broadcast premiere, as part of the acclaimed documentary series America ReFramed.