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What's worse than a heinous crime? Being convicted of committing it when you didn't do it. The Innocence Project, run by New York's Cardozo School of Law, only handles cases where post-conviction DNA testing of evidence can yield conclusive proof of innocence. So far it has won the release of 175 people who didn't commit the crimes they were convicted of; thousands more await testing to provide the proof they need to be freed. The site's intention is to "raise awareness and concern about the failings of our criminal justice system. It is a facet of our society that eventually touches all of its citizens. The prospect of innocents languishing in jail or, worse, being put to death for crimes that they did not commit, should be intolerable to every American, regardless of race, politics, sex, origin, or creed." From This is True for 7 May 2006 Suggestions for further reading:
 By: Stanley Tookie Williams List Price: $16.00 Amazon Price: $11.20 Editorial Review: A gripping tale of personal revolution by a man who went from Crips co-founder to Nobel Peace Prize nominee, author, and antigang activist When his L.A. neighborhood was threatened by gangbangers, Stanley Tookie Williams and a friend formed the Crips, but what began as protection became worse than the original gangs. From deadly street fights with their rivals to drive-by shootings and stealing cars, the Crips' influence -- and Tookie's reputation -- began to spread across L.A. Soon he was regularly under police surveillance, and, as a result, was arrested often, though always released because the charges did not stick. But in 1981, Tookie was convicted of murdering four people and was sent to death row at San Quentin in Marin County, California. Tookie maintained his innocence and began to work in earnest to prevent others from following his path. Whether he was creating nationwide peace protocols, discouraging adolescents from joining gangs, or writing books, Tookie worked tirelessly for the rest of his life to end gang violence. Even after his death, his legacy continues, supported by such individuals as Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Snoop Dogg, Jesse Jackson, and many more. This posthumous edition of Blue Rage, Black Redemption features a foreword by Tavis Smiley and an epilogue by Barbara Becnel, which details not only the influence of Tookie's activism but also her eyewitness account of his December 2005 execution, and the inquest that followed. By turns frightening and enlightening, Blue Rage, Black Redemption is a testament to the strength of the human spirit and an invaluable lesson in how rage can be turned into redemption.  By: Silja J. A. Talvi List Price: $15.95 Amazon Price: $11.16 Editorial Review: More and more women—mothers, grandmothers, wives, daughters, and sisters—are doing hard prison time all across the United States. Many of them are facing the prospect of years, decades, even lifetimes behind bars. Oddly, there’s been little public discussion about the dramatic increase of women in the prison system. What exactly is happening here, and why? The answers are in Women Behind Bars, in which investigative journalist Silja Talvi sheds light on why American girls and women are being locked up at such unprecedented rates. Talvi travels across the country to weave together interviews with inmates, correctional officers, and administrators, providing readers with a glance at the impact incarceration has on our society. With a combination of compassion and critical analysis, Talvi delivers a timely, in-depth analysis of a growing and extremely complicated issue. U.S. Federal Prison System List Price: $49.95 Amazon Price: $44.96 Editorial Review: Despite the fact that 160,000 people are locked up in our federal correctional facilities, practical information about the federal prison system remains difficult to locate. While some information may be found scattered on the Internet, in directions given at court, or through shared personal experience, there is no single source available that is a collection of all available information. The U.S. Federal Prison System is the first comprehensive book to include official prison policies, first-person accounts from prisoners, and information about each federal facility. Now published in paperback, The U.S. Federal Prison System is perfect for classroom use as it interweaves the academic study of incarceration with a survey of government reports on prison policy. Organized into two parts, this book is an accessible text on the current U.S. federal prison system. Part I is an introduction to federal prison facilities, including key statistics and "views from the inside" provided by inmates of federal prisons. Part II is a look at the Federal Bureau of Prisons policies on various matters such as discipline, education, visits, and religious practices. The U.S. Federal Prison System is an ideal text for students studying corrections and penology in Criminal Justice, Criminology, Law, Social Work, Psychology, and Sociology. This book is also an excellent resource for families of inmates, researchers, and the general public.  By: Denis Brian List Price: $28.00 Amazon Price: $22.40 Editorial Review: On May 14, 1825, one hundred mute, dispirited convict-laborers disembarked from steamers at Mount Pleasant, New York. They had been transported in chains nearly three hundred miles from Auburn Prison in upstate New York for the purpose of constructing a new maximum-security prison near a village on the Hudson called Sing Sing. Wielding pick axes and shovels, they worked under brutal supervision for five years, building the grim structure out of the rock underfoot, rusty scrap iron, and granite from a local quarry. Overseeing their slave labor was the sadistic Elam Lynds, formerly the warden in Auburn and soon to be the first master of Sing Sing. So begins Denis Brian's gripping history of one of America's most notorious prisons. For most of the 19th century Sing Sing was a bastion of inhumane treatment, where guards made every effort to break the spirit of inmates by a fanatic rule of silence enforced by shockingly brutal punishments and tortures—floggings with metal-tipped whips, the Chinese water cure, the Cage, the Crucifix, the Ball and Chain, and more. In 1891, Sing Sing witnessed its first electrocution, which was reportedly a terrible fiasco. This was followed by 613 additional electrocutions of both men and women. In addition, we learn that electricity genius Thomas Edison was a great proponent of this method. Based on extensive research with original sources, Brian's narrative covers every period of the prison's checkered history, from the awful conditions of the 19th century to the relative improvements of the 20th century to today. In 1916, a dramatic turnaround occurred, when one of criminology's most progressive wardens, Lewis Lawes, took over. In command for twenty-one years, Lawes—who believed in reforming prisoners, not just punishing them—brought almost miraculous changes for the better. During the 20th century Sing Sing held such infamous prisoners as members of Murder Incorporated, the Lonely Hearts Killers, Albert "the cannibal" Fish, Lucky Luciano, Louis Lepke, and Ethel and Julius Rosenberg. Brian recounts their stories and throws in "cameos" by such diverse visiting luminaries as Harry Houdini, Arthur Conan Doyle, Johnny Cash, John Cheever, and Mother Theresa. At the same time, it was the scene of daring, ingenious escapes, the first blood donations by prisoners, and inmates volunteering to be injected with syphilis in the interest of medical science. Brian's story ends with a glimpse of Sing Sing today, based on first-hand visits, and interviews with the present warden, prison psychologists, doctors, and chaplains. A must for fans of true crime, criminology, and urban American history, Brian's powerfully told story is both a dramatic page-turner and a definitive history.  By: Nell Bernstein List Price: $25.95 Amazon Price: $19.72 Editorial Review: An intimate and heartwrenching investigation into the lives of children of imprisoned parents, by an award-winning journalist. "I think they shouldn't have took my mama to jail….Give her the opportunity to make up for what she did. Using drugs, she's hurting herself. You take her away from me, now you're hurting me."—Terrence, a fifteen-year-old boy left to fend for himself after his mother was imprisoned for nonviolent drug possession One in ten American children has a parent under criminal justice supervision—incarcerated, on probation, or on parole. One in thirty-three American children—and one in eight African American children—goes to sleep without access to a parent because that parent is in jail. Despite these staggering numbers, the children of prisoners remain largely invisible to society. Following in the tradition of the bestseller Random Family, journalist Nell Bernstein shows, through the deeply moving stories of real families, how the children of the incarcerated are routinely punished for their parents' status: ignored, neglected, stigmatized, and endangered, with minimal effort made to help them cope. Topics range from children's experiences at the time of their parent's arrest, to laws and policies that force even low-level offenders to forfeit their parental rights, to alternative sanctions that take into account prisoners' status as mothers and fathers. All Alone in the World defines a crucial aspect of criminal justice and, in doing so, illuminates a critical new realm of human rights. |
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