An accessible guide for activists, educators, and all who are interested in understanding how the prison system oppresses communities and harms individuals
A Note on Language
Introduction
PART 1: WHAT DRIVES THE MASS INCARCERATION BOOM? MYTHS ABOUT THE
CAUSE OF MASS INCARCERATION
CHAPTER 1
The system of mass incarceration is flawed and not working as
designed (or, A brief history).
CHAPTER 2
We need prisons to make us safer.
CHAPTER 3
Prisons are places of rehabilitation.
CHAPTER 4
Private prison corporations drive mass incarceration.
CHAPTER 5
Private corporations and profit from prison labor drive mass
incarceration.
CHAPTER 6
Race has nothing to do with mass incarceration (or, If people of
color are disproportionately incarcerated, it’s because they commit
more crimes).
CHAPTER 7
“Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time.” People need to take
personal responsibility for their actions.
PART 2: THE MYTHS OF PRISONS AS SERVICE PROVIDERS AND SAFETY
NETS
CHAPTER 8
Jails and prisons provide people with needed mental health
care.
CHAPTER 9
People in prison “jump the line” for life-saving medical care.
CHAPTER 10
Incarceration is an effective way to get people into drug
treatment.
PART 3: THE INVISIBLE PEOPLE BEHIND THE WALLS
CHAPTER 11
Mass incarceration only affects Black cisgender men.
CHAPTER 12
Bringing up a history of abuse and violence is simply an “abuse
excuse.”
CHAPTER 13
Mass incarceration and immigrant detention are unrelated issues
that can be addressed separately.
PART 4: HOW DO WE END MASS INCARCERATION?
CHAPTER 14
Most people are in prison for nonviolent drug offenses. Let them
out and we’ll end mass incarceration.
CHAPTER 15
People in prison don’t resist or organize against abusive
conditions.
CHAPTER 16
Prisons keep us safe from murderers and rapists.
CHAPTER 17
Incarceration and sex offender registries are necessary to keep our
children safe.
CHAPTER 18
The system is broken and we simply need some reforms to fix it.
CHAPTER 19
We should make our prisons more like those in Norway.
CHAPTER 20
Prisons are the only logical and evident way to address violent
crime and meet the needs of victims.
CHAPTER 21
Even if societal and political conditions are to blame, there’s
nothing we can do about it.
For Further Reading
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index
Victoria Law has been researching and writing about incarceration, gender, and resistance since 2000. She is the author of Resistance Behind Bars and the coauthor of Prison By Any Other Name. Law has written about prisons and other forms of confinement for outlets including the New York Times, The Nation, Wired, and Bloomberg Businessweek. She is a cofounder of Books Through Bars-NYC and the longtime editor of the zine Tenacious- Art and Writings by Women in Prison. Connect with her at victorialaw.net or on Twitter @LVikkiml.
“Convincing, creatively effective arguments for the dismantling of
mass incarceration.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Law has offered us a very important tool. Her careful and
accessible analysis, her feminist approach, and her methodical
demystification of widely held views about incarceration enable
precisely the kind of understanding we need at this moment.”
—Angela Y. Davis, Distinguished Professor Emerita, University of
California, Santa Cruz
“Law brilliantly uses facts, figures, and moving and enraging
stories from incarcerated people to bring to light important and
misunderstood facets of our singularly massive criminal legal
system. . . . An essential book that demands attention and
action.”
—Piper Kerman, author of Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a
Women’s Prison
“In this timely, powerfully persuasive, and relevant book, Law
looks at some of the most damaging myths and misconceptions about
mass incarceration. This is a must-read for those interested in the
truth about mass incarceration and solutions to address it.”
—Talitha LeFlouria, author of Chained in Silence
“Think you haven’t fallen prey to the myths around mass
incarceration? Think again. . . . This is the book we need, as
movements sweep across the US challenging injustices in policing
and incarceration, to show us our history, analyze our current
policies, and chart the way forward.”
—Jeanne Theoharis, author of A More Beautiful and Terrible History
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