Includes bibliographical references (pages 197-225) and index.
Contents:
Introduction -- Part I. What is mass incarceration? 1. Definition ; 2. The deprivation of incarceration ; 3. Where is mass incarceration? ; 4. Distinguishing the criminal justice and criminal legal systems -- Part II. The building blocks of mass incarceration. 5. A crime surge ; 6. Repeating patterns: crime, outrage, and harsher laws ; 7. Legislating more punishment and less rehabilitation ; 8. The futility of fighting crime with criminal law ; 9. The role of race -- Part III. The mechanics of mass incarceration. 10. More police, different arrests ; 11. Prosecutors turning arrests into convictions ; 12. Judges turning convictions into incarceration ; 13. Judicial interpretation ; 14. Punishing repeat offenses ; 15. The parole-and-probation-to-prison pipeline ; 16. Disappearing pardons ; 17. The mindlessness of jail -- Part IV. The road to recovery. 18. What success looks like ; 19. (Mostly) abolish the feds ; 20. Less crime, Part 1: changing the rules ; 21. Less crime, Part 2: decreased offending ; 22. Reducing admissions and shortening stays -- Conclusion.
Summary:
"A former prosecutor turned law professor explains the rise of Mass Incarceration and the path to reform. The book offers an in-the-trenches perspective that solves the riddle of how thousands of local police, prosecutors, and judges, acting independently, produced the world's highest incarceration rates, while solving a shockingly low percentage of even serious crimes"-- Provided by publisher. The United States imprisons a higher proportion of its population than any other nation. Mass Incarceration Nation offers a novel, in-the-trenches perspective to explain the factors--historical, political, and institutional--that led to the current system of mass imprisonment. The book examines the causes and impacts of mass incarceration on both the political and criminal justice systems. With accessible language and straightforward statistical analysis, former prosecutor turned law professor Jeffrey Bellin provides a formula for reform to return to the low incarceration rates that characterized the United States prior to the 1970s.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.