Prison by Any Other Name: The Harmful Consequences of Popular Reforms

Criminal justice activists Schenwar (Locked Down, Locked Out) and Law (Resistance Behind Bars) deliver a cogent critique of proposals to end mass incarceration that replicate the surveillance, control, and punishment of the “prison industrial complex” rather than offering genuine justice or rehabilitation. Contending that “innovation, in itself, is no guarantee of progress,” the authors cite studies indicating that house arrest actually increases the likelihood of recidivism, that sex offender registries do nothing to prevent sexual violence, and that diversionary drug treatment programs focused on total abstinence all but guarantee relapse. The authors illustrate their arguments with stories of vulnerable people “ensnared in the carceral web,” including a transgender woman picked up in a “prostitution diversion” program in Arizona, and an African-American teenager held at gunpoint by police officers investigating a string of calculator thefts at his high school in Oregon. Identifying prison abolition as the ultimate goal, Schenwar and Law suggest systemic changes to reduce crime and the targeting of minorities by law enforcement, such as providing adequate health care, food, and housing to all Americans. Their impassioned yet evidence-based polemic exposes flaws in much of the perceived wisdom around the issue. Policy makers and criminal justice reform advocates should consider this bracing account a must-read. Agent: Hannah Bowman, Liza Dawson Associates. (July)