Morning Reads: Why Are So Many Americans Behind Bars?

Good morning! And a happy birthday to Joe Pesci, who turns 72 today, and Carole King, 73.

Bloody –> A string of bombings killed at least 40 people in Baghdad over the weekend, according to the AP. The Islamic State took credit for the attacks. AND: In the wake of the IS burning to death of Jordanian air force pilot Moaz al-Kassasbeh, Jordan announced Sunday that “it had carried out 56 raids in three days targeting ISIL strongholds. These raids reportedly destroyed logistics centers, arms depots and fighters’ hideouts.” Al Jazeera English has details.

“A George Wallace move”–> That’s how one attorney characterized an order issued by Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore on Sunday demanding that state judges defy a federal court’s order to start granting marriage licenses to same-sex couples today. During the civil rights era, Wallace famously resisted federal orders to segregate Alabama schools. Kelsey Stein reports for AL.com. BUT: “According to reports early Monday,” the NYT’s Alan Blinder writes, “probate judges in Birmingham and Montgomery had defied Justice Moore and were issuing licenses.” Also on Monday morning, the US Supreme Court denied the Alabama attorney general’s request to delay gay weddings in the state.

Incarceration nation –> At Slate, Leon Neyfakh interviews John Pfaff, a professor at Fordham Law School, who argues that the prevailing theories explaining why so many Americans are behind bars — a combination of long sentences and an expanded drug war — fail to explain why the prison population has continued to grow even as the crime rate has dropped.

“Global money transforming the city’s real estate market” –> Louise Story and Stephanie Saul report for the NYT that in one high-end New York City apartment building, “a majority of owners have taken steps to keep their identities hidden, registering condos in trusts, limited liability companies or other entities that shield their names.” But the Times investigation revealed a growing number of wealthy foreign owners, including some who have been investigated for wrongdoing by governments around the world. ALSO: In other news of hidden wealth, the French newspaper Le Monde received thousands of pages of leaked documents from HSBC and shared them with more than 50 other media outlets worldwide. They reveal that the global bank “helped wealthy clients across the world evade hundreds of millions of pounds worth of tax.” The BBC has more.

Plugging a “black hole” –> Jessica Silver-Greenberg at the NYT reports that for the first time, a federal regulatory agency — the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — is taking on the $46 billion payday loan industry, “drafting regulations that could sharply reduce the number of unaffordable loans that lenders can make.”

Excessive force? –> A US district court is hearing a lawsuit that could determine the legality of police officers using pepper spray to subdue unruly high school students. Allie Gross has the details at MoJo.

Wolves in sheep’s clothing? –> The Koch brothers are backing a group that provides pro bono legal assistance to plaintiffs like a wind farm in Oregon and a lesbian couple in northern California. But Evan Halper reports for the LAT that “critics of the group call it a sophisticated charade, saying the lawyers trawl for clients… whose cases enable them to pursue a Koch brothers agenda in the guise of helping individuals or small firms that liberals might find sympathetic.”

Pick your battles –> Congressional Republicans vow publicly to roll back the EPA’s new greenhouse gas regulations, but Elana Schor reports for Politico that behind the scenes there’s little enthusiasm for this fight, and the party is holding its fire.

“Punishing budget cuts” –> At Salon, Andrew Burstein and Nancy Isenberg look at attempts by presidential hopefuls Scott Walker and Bobby Jindal to appeal to the GOP’s base by gutting Wisconsin and Louisiana’s public education systems.

POTUS speaks –> Vox’s Ezra Klein talks domestic policy with Barack Obama. AND: Matt Yglesias discusses foreign policy with the president.

Related –> Conservatives are outraged that at this year’s National Prayer Breakfast, Barack Obama mentioned that like other religions, Christianity has frequently been used to justify violence and oppression. The Atlantic’s Ta-Nehisi Coates says their criticism indicates “the limited tolerance for any honest conversation around racism in our politics.”

Viral –> As yet another snow storm batters the Northeast, enjoy this video which appeared all over the Internet this weekend…