Showing results for "The Mass" in Law

Nothing casts a more sinister shadow over our nation's history than the gruesome lynchings that happened between 1882 and 1937, claiming 4,680 victims. Often, in a show of racist violence, the lynchers tortured their victims before murdering them. Most killers were never brought to justice; some were instead celebrated as heroes, their victims' bodies displayed or even cut up and distributed as trophies.

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.

In the first edition of A Country Called Prison, Mary Looman and John Carl presented persuasive data calling for downsizing of America's prisons. Their novel approach continues in their second edition, shifting the beliefs many people have about prisons and their role in the American society. Since the original edition was published, the landscape of incarceration has been changing.

From Sandy Hook, Connecticut, to Aurora, Colorado, to Tucson, Arizona, this nation has been racked from coast to coast with mass shootings perpetrated by criminals with sick minds. Authors Dr. Liebert and Dr. Birnes believe the increase in violence is an epidemic and dig deep into the causes of mental illness to determine what exactly is going on with these individuals and society as a whole, and what action can be taken to slow this frightening trend toward mass violence.

Nearly every aspect of our criminal justice system encourages defendants-whether innocent or guilty-to take a plea deal. Punishment Without Trial showcases how plea bargaining has undermined justice at every turn and across socioeconomic and racial divides. It forces the hand of lawyers, judges, and defendants, turning our legal system into a ruthlessly efficient mass incarceration machine that is dogging our jails and pun­ishing citizens.

The courthouse is an important part of every story of mass incarceration in America and, too often, it is a place of powerlessness for those facing criminal charges, their families, and their communities. But the courthouse can also be an important site of resistance, a place where Americans affected by incarceration can become agents of change—even though they are not lawyers or judges.

From an author praised by the Wall Street Journal for his "eye for a good story" comes an account of Herbert Fuller tragedy of 1896, a tragedy that occurred on the high seas and one involving the senseless slaughter of three of the 12 souls on board. Stunned by this act of random violence, and in sure knowledge that one or more of their own was the murderer, the living turn the vessel to shore, 750 miles distant.

What's Prison For? examines the “incarceration” part of mass incarceration. Our prisons remain a shameful waste of lives and money, feeding a pathological cycle of poverty, community dysfunction, crime and hopelessness. What is the alternative? This book makes the case for better...