Why American prisons fail : how to fix them without spending more money (maybe less) /

Book titles that announce "why" something is corrupt and "how to fix" it often veer toward being over-promising. However, this terrific volume zeros in powerfully on failures of the US prison establishment while skewering the political and prosecutorial ambiance making it possible. The two authors offer different, interconnecting perspectives on the carceral themes. Paxson is an academic teaching criminal justice at Middlesex (MA) Community College. He provides theory, contemporary research, and analysis. Watson, Paxson's onetime law school mate, spent about three and a half years in federal prison camp for criminal violations in real estate dealings. He earned a standard fee for advising on a few real estate closings, which violated federal regulations containing criminal penalties. Watson faced substantial hard time and entered into a plea bargain that, even now, he regards as a wiser choice than facing a jury trial. His perspective provides an insider's view of federal prison life, "warehousing at its worst." Example: a prison camp administrator admonished new prisoners that "real men do all their time," discouraging them from participating in a demanding yearlong drug dependency program that could cut their sentences and also the recidivism rate. Summing Up: Essential. All levels/libraries. --Robert D. McCrie, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY