Excessive Punishment - by Lauren-Brooke Eisen (Paperback)

About the Book

This book brings together essays by scholars, practitioners, activists, and writers, including incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people, to explore the harms of making punishment the main response to social harm.

Book Synopsis

The United States has by far the world's largest population of incarcerated people. More than a million Americans are imprisoned; hundreds of thousands more are held in jails. This vast system has doled out punishment--particularly to people from marginalized groups--on an unfathomable scale. At the same time, it has manifestly failed to secure public safety, instead perpetuating inequalities and recidivism. Why does the United States see punishment as the main response to social harm, and what are the alternatives?

This book brings together essays by scholars, practitioners, activists, and writers, including incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people, to explore the harms of this punitive approach. The chapters address a range of issues, from policing to prosecution, and from how people are treated in prison to the consequences of a criminal conviction. Together, they consider a common theme: We cannot reduce our dependence on mass incarceration until we confront our impulse to punish in ways that are excessive, often wildly disproportionate to the harm caused. Essays trace how a maze of local, state, and federal agencies have contributed to mass incarceration and deterred attempts at reform. They shed light on how the excesses of America's criminal legal system are entwined with poverty, racism, and the legacy of slavery. A wide-ranging and powerful look at the failures of the status quo, Excessive Punishment also considers how to reimagine the justice system to support restoration instead of retribution.

Review Quotes

This book breaks through the tropes about what it takes for our criminal legal system to ensure public safety; it smashes the generalizations that have fueled our failed experiment in mass incarceration for the past several decades. And it does so with experts of all kinds--scholars, activists, practitioners--who chronicle how our system went off the rails and, more important, how to fix it.--Judge Nancy Gertner

This book weaves a path toward reform of the fragmented system of criminal punishment in the United States, which produces too many harms and too little safety for anyone. Essays brilliantly distill the histories of control and racism, and they map how to reorient interactions on streets, in prisons, and after release to recognize the political voice and social worth of all members of the country.--Judith Resnik, Arthur Liman Professor of Law, Yale Law School

In 2020, millions of Americans came together in an unprecedented call for a more just society. This collection of essays by some of the country's foremost thinkers continues that work--helping us understand the history of our carceral system and offering a blueprint for how we can create safe, healthy, and thriving communities from coast to coast.--James Cadogan, Executive Director, National Basketball Social Justice Coalition

From the perspective of someone who has endured fourteen years within the confines of federal prison, I have witnessed the stark and often brutal realities of our criminal justice system. Excessive Punishment emerges as a beacon of understanding in this complex landscape, offering a profound insight into the cycle of mass incarceration that grips our nation. This book isn't just a collection of statistics; it's a window into the lives affected and the profound harm inflicted by a system overly invested in punitive measures.

What makes this book truly stand out is its chorus of diverse voices - it's a tapestry woven from the experiences of those who have lived behind bars and the relentless efforts of advocates working for systemic change. It exposes the deep-seated flaws in our justice system, tracing the roots of these issues back to poverty, systemic racism, and the enduring impact of a criminal record.

As someone who has journeyed from the depths of incarceration to the forefront of advocacy for justice reform, I see Excessive Punishment as more than just a book - it's a catalyst for change. This is not merely an exposé of the system's failings; it's a call to action, inspiring us to think differently and work collectively towards a justice system that embodies fairness, rehabilitation, and a true sense of justice for all.

--Louis L. Reed, Film Producer, Council of Criminal Justice Trustee, Executive Vice President of The Frederick Douglass Project for Justice

This book brings together an amazing array of contributors to outline the biggest problems with American conceptions and implementation of punishment -- and also to propose solutions.--Emily Bazelon, author of Charged: The New Movement to Transform American Prosecution and End Mass Incarceration

This book's strength is in its expansiveness, featuring work by academics, policymakers, and incarcerated people examining aspects of excessive punitiveness in the United States. All of the pieces are inviting: some are written in an accessible, friendly, conversational tone; others are more lyrical. But there is definitely something for everyone. This is a one-stop shop of critical and radical perspectives on the criminal justice system.--Hadar Aviram, author, The Legal Promise and the Process of Justice

About the Author

Lauren-Brooke Eisen is senior director of the Brennan Center's Justice Program. She is the author of Inside Private Prisons: An American Dilemma in the Age of Mass Incarceration (Columbia, 2017) and has written dozens of reports and articles on how to reduce the United States' reliance on incarceration.