Prisoners of Politics: Breaking the Cycle of Mass Incarceration

Barkow

ISBN 10: 0674248325 / ISBN 13: 9780674248328

Published by Belknap Press (edition Reprint), 2021

About this Item

It's a well-cared-for item that has seen limited use. The item may show minor signs of wear. All the text is legible, with all pages included. It may have slight markings and/or highlighting.

Seller Inventory # 0674248325-11-1

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Prisoners of Politics: Breaking the Cycle of Mass Incarceration
• Publisher: Belknap Press (edition Reprint)
• Publication Date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0674248325
• ISBN 13: 9780674248328
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition: Reprint.
• Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

A CounterPunch Best Book of the Year
A Lone Star Policy Institute Recommended Book

“If you care, as I do, about disrupting the perverse politics of criminal justice, there is no better place to start than Prisoners of Politics.”
―James Forman, Jr., author of Locking Up Our Own

The United States has the highest rate of incarceration in the world. The social consequences of this fact―recycling people who commit crimes through an overwhelmed system and creating a growing class of permanently criminalized citizens―are devastating. A leading criminal justice reformer who has successfully rewritten sentencing guidelines, Rachel Barkow argues that we would be safer, and have fewer people in prison, if we relied more on expertise and evidence and worried less about being “tough on crime.” A groundbreaking work that is transforming our national conversation on crime and punishment, Prisoners of Politics shows how problematic it is to base criminal justice policy on the whims of the electorate and argues for an overdue shift that could upend our prison problem and make America a more equitable society.

“A critically important exploration of the political dynamics that have made us one of the most punitive societies in human history. A must-read by one of our most thoughtful scholars of crime and punishment.”
―Bryan Stevenson, author of Just Mercy

“Barkow’s analysis suggests that it is not enough to slash police budgets if we want to ensure lasting reform. We also need to find ways to insulate the process from political winds.”
―David Cole, New York Review of Books

“A cogent and provocative argument about how to achieve true institutional reform and fix our broken system.”
―Emily Bazelon, author of Charged

About the Author

Rachel Elise Barkow is the Charles Seligson Professor of Law and Faculty Director of the Zimroth Center on the Administration of Criminal Law at NYU School of Law. A past member of the United States Sentencing Commission, she is the author of Prisoners of Politics: Breaking the Cycle of Mass Incarceration.