“Incarceration Generation” includes essays from 21 researchers and advocates who highlight the specific populations affected by mass incarceration, as well as the different aspects of our practice and procedures that propel these populations into the justice system. The book also features a foreword written by New York Times bestseller Michelle Alexander, author of “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindess.”

The soft cover, 10×10-sized book includes a pull-out timeline poster that graphically displays the ramping up of punitive, ineffective and costly juvenile and criminal justice policies. The timeline from 1969 to 2013 includes events such as the creation of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) by President Richard Nixon, and legislation to stiffen drug offense sentences in 1973 supported by New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller.

The poster also highlights events such as the creation of the Corrections Corporation of America in 1983 and the growth of the private prison market, the stream of popular culture television programming on the criminal justice system in the late 1980s, and the fatal shooting of African-American teenager Trayvon Martin by local vigilante George Zimmerman in 2012.

Essays in the book also examine the people most affected by the justice system: the racial and ethnic groups that are disproportionally imprisoned, children and teens, girls and women, people with mental illness, and victims. Other essays examine drug policies, policing, the pre-trial process, “problem solving” specialty courts, sentencing, private prisons, parole and re-entry after incarceration, and the economics of our “incarceration generation.” Essays in the book have been contributed by national experts and advocates including: Liz Ryan, former executive director of Campaign for Youth Justice; Neill Franklin, police veteran and executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition; Will Marling, executive director of National Organization for Victim Assistance; Judy Greene, director of Justice Strategies; Norman Reimer, executive director of National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers; Greg Carpenter, formerly incarcerated Baltimore community advocate; Nkechi Taifa, senior policy analyst, Open Society Foundations; Robert Schwartz, executive director of the Juvenile Law Center; Alex Friedmann, associate editor of Prison Legal News; Bruce Western, Harvard professor of sociology; and Jasmine Tyler, former deputy director of national affairs, Drug Policy Alliance.

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Click here to get your copy today via PayPal or place an order via email or phone at 202.558.7974 / [email protected]. A $50 contribution to JPI receives a copy of JPI’s “Incarceration Generation” and a timeline poster. A $75 contribution receives a copy of “Incarceration Generation” signed by New York Times bestselling author Michelle Alexander and includes a copy of the poster. A $15 contribution receives a copy of the “Incarceration Generation” timeline poster. Shipping is not included.

Book reviews of “Incarceration Generation”

Maryland Reporter
Culture of Rejection

The Justice Policy Institute, based in Washington, DC, is working to reduce the use of incarceration and the justice system and promote policies that improve the well-being of all people and communities. For more JPI reports on the criminal justice system, please visit our website at www.justicepolicy.org.