Ending Mass Incarceration: Why it Persists and How to Achieve Meaningful Reform

Mass incarceration persists in the US despite reforms, driven by political dynamics, resistance to reform, and the failure of drug policy reforms. This book argues for political and policy shifts to reduce punishment, address social problems, and reimagine public safety.

Format: Hardback
Length: 272 pages
Publication date: 03 May 2022
Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc

Critics on both the left and the right increasingly use the term mass incarceration to call attention to the unprecedented scale and inequities of the U.S. criminal legal system, and the havoc it wreaks. But even as lawmakers begin to embrace criminal justice reform, the criminal legal response to crime is harsher than ever. In this book, Katherine Beckett explains how and why mass incarceration persists despite growing recognition of its many failures, plummeting crime rates, and widespread efforts by state legislators and others to reduce prison populations. Beckett identifies three primary forces sustaining incarceration rates in this country: political dynamics around violence, resistance to criminal legal system reform in suburban and rural counties, and the failure of popular drug policy reforms to reduce the reach of the criminal legal system. Most reform efforts to date have limited themselves in ways that are politically palatable but do little to curb key drivers of mass incarceration. Beckett then turns to the question of how we can meaningfully decrease the size of the criminal justice system when so many reforms have failed. Drawing on extensive research, she argues for political and policy shifts that would significantly reduce the scale of punishment while also addressing the underlying social problems to which those extreme penalties are a misguided response. We need to end excessive sentencing and tackle the myth of monstrosity that fuels these inhumane sentences. We need to expand restorative justice principles that offer alternative ways of promoting accountability and healing. We need to expand harm-reduction and community-based responses that address the root causes of crime and promote public safety. The time has come for a bold and comprehensive approach to criminal justice reform that prioritizes justice, equity, and the well-being of all Americans.

Weight: 594g
Dimension: 243 x 166 x 28 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780197536575