Banished

In the not-too-distant future, economic and political disasters lead to the collapse of the United States, and a new and troubled country called the Lands is born. It's a lot like the old U.S., except that the judicial system is openly crooked, alcohol's the devil's drink and an accused drunk driver can be sentenced to hard labor in retired lawyer F. David Stevenson's Banished, a multi-character novel for readers who like polemics mixed in with their plots.