The United States has the largest prison population in the world—over 2.3 million incarcerated people. California has the largest prison population of any state in the United States, currently around 148,000 individuals. Between 1980 and 2005, California built 22 state prisons and only 1state university. Since the 1970s, the rate of most serious crimes has dropped or remained stagnant, yet Californian State prisons are filled at double capacity. The state prison population grew from 20,000 in the late 70’s to as high as 180,000 in 2007. People of color, the poor, the illiterate, the mentally ill and underserved youth are the primary occupants. This phenomenal growth is due to harsh sentencing laws, like the Three Strikes Law, and tough on crime measures implemented in the 70s, 80s and 90s, as well as conspiracy provisions, a dysfunctional parole system, inadequate legal representation, and huge profits made by the multinational corporations servicing the prisons.
“Prison Nation” includes posters addressing the critical issues discussed above in keeping with SPG’s goal to demonstrate to the general public and to the art world the importance of the political poster and the importance of art to social commentary. The exhibition illustrates the graphic history of past and current prison movements, their causes, challenges and hopes. The dynamic designs cover many of the critical issues surrounding the system of mass incarceration—with a focus on California—including: racial disparity in sentencing, the War on Drugs, immigration, the death penalty, the Three Strikes law, violence against women, access to education and health care, youth incarceration, prison labor, divestment, privatization, torture, and re-entry into the community.