From the ongoing research we collected ugly facts about the prison industrial complex, with a few jokes, and printed them on hundreds of orange cards for distribution to the audience as they entered. At the bottom of each card was printed: “Please read, consider and pass on. Thanks.” The term ‘ugly facts’ is from Michael Meade. “17 Reasons Why” recalls a landmark Mission marquee, but there were actually 25 ugly facts, or reasons why. Infusing the facts with absurdity was advocated by several people in the ensemble, to shift the mood from blame or indictment to either curiosity or absurdity.
DELINQUENT: 17 Reasons Why #1
Over 2 million people are locked up in the US right now
& over 6 million are under supervision within the criminal system.
(That’s more than China, Russia, India, anywhere.)
True
False
DELINQUENT: 17 Reasons Why #2
Go Directly To Jail
(This is not a game.)
True
False
DELINQUENT: 17 Reasons Why #3
68% of the people behind bars in the US are people of color.
True
False
DELINQUENT: 17 Reasons Why #4
Between 2004 & 2007 there were 13,000 claims of abuse in juvenile correction centers in the US.
True
False
DELINQUENT: 17 Reasons Why #5
Due to awesome advocacy by parents of incarcerated youth and prison activist organizations, the population of California’s youth detention facilities has dropped considerably since 2006.
True
False
DELINQUENT: 17 Reasons Why #6
Get Out Of Jail Free
(This is a game.)
True
False
DELINQUENT: 17 Reasons Why #7
A 2006 survey of California juvenile halls found:
• Teenagers in isolation cells for over 23 hours a day for months
• School is the exception rather than the rule
• Mental health care programs are virtually nonexistent
• Severe overcrowding with teenagers sleeping on floors
True
False
DELINQUENT: 17 Reasons Why #8
In the past two decades the number of people in prison in the US has risen 400%.
True
False
DELINQUENT: 17 Reasons Why #9
The prison industrial complex has failed to reduce harm in our communities.
True
False
DELINQUENT: 17 Reasons Why #10
Of the over 2 million people locked up right now only 1% are in for murder, rape, or sexual abuse of children.
True
False
DELINQUENT: 17 Reasons Why #11
Prisons are violent institutions that only perpetuate violence and prisons as a public policy solution have failed to create safe communities. Discuss.
DELINQUENT: 17 Reasons Why #12
San Francisco's black population has dropped faster than that of any other large U.S. cities. It went from 13.4 percent in 1970 to an estimated 6.5 percent in 2005.
SF juvenile hall has more black youth than white.
True
False
DELINQUENT: 17 Reasons Why #13
Nationally, African Americans make up 12.1 percent of the population. San Francisco juvenile hall has more black youth incarcerated than white.
True
False
DELINQUENT: 17 Reasons Why #14
1. 67% of US prisoners did not graduate from high school.
2. 75% of US prisoners did not graduate from high school.
3. 82% of US prisoners did not graduate from high school.
Pick one.
DELINQUENT: 17 Reasons Why #15
The need for prison beds 20 years from now is based on counting Special Ed students in 2nd grade today.
True
False
DELINQUENT: 17 Reasons Why #16
The United States has 5% of the world's population and 25% of the world's incarcerated population.
True
False
DELINQUENT: 17 Reasons Why #17
Sentenced to death as teens:
Kenny Parr, 19. Efrain Perez, 17.
Bruce Williams, 17. Edward Capatillo, 17.
Irving Davis, 19. Oswaldo S. Regaldo, 17.
Son Tran, 17. Michael Anthony Lopez, 17.
Mauro Barraza, 17. Willie Shannon, 19.
Nanon Williams, 17. Jose Medellin, 18.
True
False
DELINQUENT: 17 Reasons Why #18
Martha Stewart’s team lost a prison decorating contest entitled “Peace on Earth” while she was incarcerated at Alderson Federal Prison in West Virginia.
True
False
DELINQUENT: 17 Reasons Why #19
In 2003 55% of the federal prison population was incarcerated for drug offenses.
True
False
DELINQUENT: 17 Reasons Why #20
Latinos make up 36% of the population of California but 55% of the population of California’s juvenile detention facilities.
True
False
DELINQUENT: 17 Reasons Why #21
More women imprisoned in California have been victims of violent crimes than have been convicted of violence.
True
False
DELINQUENT: 17 Reasons Why #22
San Francisco State University has more students learning to be prison guards than high school students.
True
False
DELINQUENT: 17 Reasons Why #23
On average, states spend three times more on each person in prison than they do on each public school student.
True
False
DELINQUENT: 17 Reasons Why #24
Since 1977 the overwhelming majority of death row defendants (79%) have been executed for killing white victims, although African-Americans make up about half of all homicide victims.
True
False
DELINQUENT: 17 Reasons Why #25
Ninety-five percent of death row inmates cannot afford their own attorney. Court-appointed attorneys often lack the experience necessary for capital trials and are overworked and underpaid. In the most extreme cases, some have slept through parts of trials or have arrived under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol.
Discuss.