Are Prisons Obsolete?

This was an interesting, readable look at the history of (chiefly) American incarceration. It's fairly old now (2002), so some of the content on the War on Drugs seems dated, but in general still feels very relevant. I found the chapters on gendered incarceration particularly good. I'd recommend it if you're interested in sociology.

I think this book is a very good introductory read on prison abolition. There wasn't any complicated jargon so it was pretty easy to follow along and it's fairly compact (you could read it in one sitting if you wanted to). I do wish however, that more time was spent talking about alternatives to the prison system. She only really explores decarceration in the last chapter and doesn't necessarily offer viable solutions. Still a really good read though.

Overall I think this book was great. I really liked how the author discussed the history of American prisons, and how they form the latest link in a chain that includes segregation and Jim Crow laws, the Black Codes of the South, and ultimately slavery. Her point about how people of power - white people - could not imagine a different system for dealing with crime/”crime” than what was in place during their lives, and how these systems did ultimately change, is useful to keep in mind when thinking about prisons and crime in America.

However, I have a major problem with this book.

The author never gives adequate answers to the question of what to do when someone commits a crime. Throughout the book she discusses how we as a society need to become less racist, less sexist, and less discriminatory against poor people, and that this will prevent crime. The final chapter is titled 'Abolitionist Alternatives', and where one imagines she will finally elaborate on true ideas for prison alternatives. But no - in fact she chastises the reader for thinking that there should be a punishment when a crime is committed. The author then goes on to rehash her opinions that better education and job opportunities will make prisons obsolete, and then offers the well-worn ideas that making drug and prostitution legal will also make prisons obsolete. What about those crimes that are truly crimes, like murder? She suggests that we enact some sort of reparative or restorative justice. Her example of this is of a murder in South Africa of a white American woman (an anti-apartheid activist) by a crowd of black South Africans. Her convicted murderers said they were sorry during the Peace and Reconciliation Commissions, and were eventually given cushy instructor/administrative jobs. That's all that happened when these people took away a person's life, and the author would like America to emulate this setup. I cannot agree with her because I think that we owe more to the victims and the victims' loved ones than a simple sorry.

So aside from my major problem with this book, I feel like this is an excellent read.