Halfway Home
Race, Punishment, and the Afterlife of Mass Incarceration
Race, Punishment, and the Afterlife of Mass Incarceration
A "persuasive and essential" (Matthew Desmond) work that will forever change how we look at life after prison in America through Miller's "stunning, and deeply painful reckoning with our nation's carceral system" (Heather Ann Thompson). Each year, more than half a million Americans are released from prison and join a population of twenty million people who live with a felony record. Reuben Miller, a chaplain at the Cook County Jail in Chicago and now a sociologist studying mass incarceration, spent years alongside prisoners, ex-prisoners, their friends, and their families to understand the lifelong burden that even a single arrest can entail. What his work revealed is a simple, if overlooked truth: life after incarceration is its own form of prison. The idea that one can serve their debt and return to life as a full-fledge member of society is one of America's most nefarious myths. Recently released individuals are faced with jobs that are off-limits, apartments that cannot be occupied and votes that cannot be cast. As The Color of Law exposed about our understanding of housing segregation, Halfway Home shows that the American justice system was not created to rehabilitate. Parole is structured to keep classes of Americans impoverished, unstable, and disenfranchised long after they've paid their debt to society. Informed by Miller's experience as the son and brother of incarcerated men, captures the stories of the men, women, and communities fighting against a system that is designed for them to fail. It is a poignant and eye-opening call to arms that reveals how laws, rules, and regulations extract a tangible cost not only from those working to rebuild their lives, but also our democracy. As Miller searchingly explores, America must acknowledge and value the lives of its formerly imprisoned citizens. PEN America 2022 John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction Finalist Winner of the 2022 PROSE Award for Excellence in Social Sciences 2022 PROSE Awards Finalist 2022 PROSE Awards Category Winner for Cultural Anthropology and Sociology An NPR Selected 2021 Books We Love As heard on NPR’s Fresh Air
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An important addition to the discussion about mass incarceration ([b:The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness 6792458 The New Jim Crow Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness Michelle Alexander https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328751532l/6792458.SX50.jpg 6996712] et al) because it discusses what comes afterward - the almost impossible tasks of finding a place to work and live when our laws prohibit individuals convicted of a felony from securing either one. Halfway Home is also eye opening in its portrayal of how freaking expensive it is to be in prison for the family, who have to pony up for phone calls, emails, food and supplies. Miller's personal experience as the brother and son of incarcerated men gives the book heart and validity, while his interviews and relationships with other former felons gives it a broader scope. Miller doesn't have the answer to the problem (hint: it's not “job readiness” programs that teach people how to interview and dress for jobs they are legally not allowed to have), but he deepens the understanding of a devastating problem and humanizes the lives of those we would prefer to see as “other.”
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