Mr. Gerritt will outline the exponential growth of mass incarceration since the 1980s, and what drove it. It will focus not only on the economic costs of mass incarceration, but also its devastating social impacts on poor communities and communities of color. He will explain why the problem was practically ignored in the late 1980s when he started his career in journalism, and why it has become a high profile issue in the last 10 years. He will include plenty of time for responding to questions.

Mr. Gerritt is the Editorial Page Editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette since January of 2022. For 15 years earlier, he was an award-winning columnist, editorial writer, reporter, and assistant city editor at the Detroit Free Press, USA Today, the Toledo Blade, the Green Bay Press-Gazette, and others. His 75 (!) national and state journalism awards include the 2020 Pulitzer Prize in Editorial Writing for exposing needless deaths in Texas jails. He has reported from Cuba, the West Bank, Israel, Tanzania, and Brazil. Last year, he spent six weeks in Ukraine, reporting on refugees.