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Does Our Criminal Justice System Need Reform?

Joyce Russell/IPR
Iowa-Nebraska NAACP President Betty Andrews speaks at the Iowa Capitol

Black Iowans feel profiled by police, and reviews have found that Iowa’s profiling policies fall short of national standards.

On this edition of River to River, host Ben Kieffer talks with those calling for change in the way justice is implemented in Iowa, a state that holds the number one ranking in the nation for incarcerating African Americans on a per capita basis.

“The problem at this point is over incarceration; it’s not skyrocketing crime rates," says Vikrant Reddy, senior fellow at the Charles Koch Institute. "Those are actually declining."

Mass incarceration, racial disparities in the justice system, and lack of funding for drug courts are a few of the topics touched on this hour with guests: Betty Andrews of the Iowa-Nebraska NAACP, Iowa Rep. Helen Miller, Judy Bradshaw of the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy, and Iowa Sen. Rob Hogg.

Ben Kieffer is the host of IPR's River to River