American Prison- Shane Bauer

Getting Life: an Innocent Man's 25-year Journey from Prison to Peace - Michael Morton

Enchanted - Rene Denfeld

The new Jim Crow : mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness - Michelle Alexander

Summary: As the United States celebrates the nation's "triumph over race" with the election of Barack Obama, the majority of young black men in major American cities are locked behind bars or have been labeled felons for life. Although Jim Crow laws have been wiped off the books, an astounding percentage of the African American community remains trapped in a subordinate status, much like their grandparents before them. Argues that the War on Drugs and policies that deny convicted felons equal access to employment, housing, education, and public benefits create a permanent under caste based largely on race.

Kirkus Reviews

A civil-rights lawyer's disturbing view of why young black men make up the majority of the more than two million people now in America's prisons.In this explosive debut, Alexander (Law/Moritz College of Law and the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity) argues that the imprisonment of unusually large numbers of young blacks and Latinos—most harshly sentenced for possession or sale of illegal drugs, mainly marijuana—constitutes "a stunningly comprehensive and well-designed system of racialized social control." The "warehousing" of inner-city youths, she writes, is a new form of Jim Crow under which drug offenders—in jail or prison, on probation or parole—are denied employment, housing, education and public benefits; face a lifetime of shame; and rarely successfully integrate into mainstream society. The author blames the situation mainly on the War on Drugs, begun by Ronald Reagan in 1982, which grew out of demands for "law and order" that were actually a racially coded backlash to the civil-rights movement. The situation continues because of racial indifference, not racial bias, she writes. Many will dismiss the author's assertions; others will find her observations persuasive enough to give pause. Most people who use or sell illegal drugs are white, but in many states 90 percent of those admitted to prison for drug offenses are black or Latino. Police departments, given financial incentives—cash grants and the right to keep confiscated cash and assets from drug raids—to focus on drug enforcement, find it easier to send SWAT teams into poor neighborhoods, where they will face less political backlash, than into gated communities and college frat houses. Also, most people do not care what happens to drug criminals, feeling that "they get what they deserve." So what's to be done? Alexander writes that civil-rights leaders, reluctant to advocate for criminals, remain quiet on the issue; President Obama, an admitted former user of illegal drugs, is not in a position to offer leadership; and policymakers offer only piecemeal reforms. She hopes a new grassroots movement will foster frank discussion about race, cultivate an ethic of compassion for all and end the drug war and mass incarceration.Alarming, provocative and convincing. Copyright Kirkus 2009 Kirkus/BPI Communications.All rights reserved.

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The Shawshank Redemption (DVD)

The Shawshank Redemption (DVD)

Summary: Two convicts, one white and one black, never give up the dream of freedom, and together they turn hope and friendship into an uplifting bond no prison can ever take away.





Video Librarian Reviews
Initially released in 1994 to mixed reviews, this lengthy but engrossing adaptation of a Stephen King novella would go on to earn seven Academy Award nominations... Opening in 1947, when bank vice president Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is convicted on circumstantial evidence for the murder of his wife and her lover, and sentenced to life imprisonment in Shawshank Prison, the film charts Dufresne's quiet but tenacious endurance, which wins him the respect of both hardened prisoners--like "Red" (Morgan Freeman)--and the duplicitous warden (Bob Gunton), who puts the new fish to work on his personal financial matters. The Shawshank Redemption's length--nearly two-and-a-half hours--makes the film tough going for some viewers, but the format actually plays into director Frank Darabont's hands since audiences experience (briefly) the same tedium, punctuated by bursts of brutality and horror, that wears down prisoners sentenced to long terms. Made with painstaking exactitude, stylish direction, and memorable performances, this is a rewarding picture that's guaranteed to linger in one's memory...Highly recommended.

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Burning Down the House - Nell Bernstein

Burning Down the House: The End of Juvenile Prison - Bernstein, Nell

Summary: Presents a look at the juvenile justice system, describing the violence and physical abuses that pervade detention centers and advocating the need for reform so that juveniles can receive the rehabilitation they need to change their lives.



Publishers Weekly Reviews
Award-winning journalist Bernstein (All Alone in the World) turns her attention to the U.S. juvenile justice system in which more than 66,000 youths are confined. Many young people in large detention centers live under "constant surveillance," fearful of beatings, rape, solitary confinement, or being denied showers, companionship, and adequate food. Such is the grim reality of a system that removes two elements central to adolescent development—connection and autonomy—and, as Bernstein documents, drives low-level delinquents deeper into criminality. With considerable empathy, Bernstein introduces adolescents in and out of detention centers, capturing their struggles to overcome traumatic histories. She covers the rise of the "super-predator myth" in the late 1980s/early 1990s that led to increased rates of juvenile incarceration and more stringent laws ("three strikes"), as well as the wave of reform that resulted in a 39% drop in incarceration in the past decade. She interviews reform-minded administrators like Tom Decker, director of Missouri's juvenile justice system, a model for other states because of its acclaimed network of small, non-institutional placements and low rates of recidivism. Visiting "therapeutic" prisons in Minnesota, California, and New York, she concludes that no matter how much effort goes into creating "a kinder, gentler prison," these institutions remain embedded in a larger culture that seems impervious to reform. Passionate, thoughtful, and well-researched, this is a resounding call to action.

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Orange is the new black - Piper Kerman

Orange is the new black - Kerman, Piper

Summary: A compelling, often hilarious, and unfailingly compassionate portrait of life inside a woman's prison. Follows the author's incarceration for drug trafficking, during which she gained a unique perspective on the criminal justice system and met a varied community of women living under exceptional circumstances.


Booklist Reviews
Just graduated from Smith College, Kerman made the mistake of getting involved with the wrong woman and agreeing to deliver a large cash payment for an international drug ring. Years later, the consequences catch up with her in the form of an indictment on conspiracy drug-smuggling and money-laundering charges. Kerman pleads guilty and is sentenced to 15 months in a federal prison in Danbury, Connecticut. Entering prison in 2004—more than 10 years after her crime—Kerman finds herself submerged in the unique and sometimes overwhelming culture of prison, where kindness can come in the form of sharing toiletries, and an insult in the cafeteria can lead to an enduring enmity. Kerman quickly learns the rules—asking about the length of one's prison stay is expected, but never ask about the crime that led to it—and carves a niche for herself even as she witnesses the way the prison system fails those who are condemned to it, many of them nonviolent drug offenders. An absorbing, meditative look at life behind bars.

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