Product Description
Gee Brooks is a young, idealistic probation officer in Maryland who wants to make a difference.She's one of the few officers who doesn't think a new case is a new burden.Gee believes most offenders have positive attributes, but she is caught in a criminal justice system that tries to catch offenders failing and then send them back to prison.Harsh punishment for offenders is the norm - the accepted culture.

A tragic event with a parolee under her supervision propels Gee to confront both the system and the emotional scars buried within her.Enraged by the external tragedy, she erupts into an abrasive public confrontation with a powerful state parole commissioner.Gee and her officer friends - Huggie, Pepe, and Hattie - known as the Cuatro Amigos, spontaneously forge an unstoppable grassroots uprising.The humanistic revolution, as it's sarcastically referred to by the press, is on.The Cuatro Amigos hope to survive the punishment that managers and state officials have planned for them long enough to gain the support of the community.

A story of friendship, healing, and leaning into conflict, Justice ... Is Just Us demonstrates the power of support in changing behavior - from the mighty to the meek. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Do yourself justice - read this book
This is a terrific book. A look into how probation officers deal with the pressures of the workplace and their humanity in caring for the offenders.A great insight into the justice system.

A must read!

hard to put this book down!
More than a fictional grasp at understanding our country's judicial crisis, but a heartfelt realistic representation of how families are impacted from the day to day politics of our authoritative powers. The characters portray the ever present inherent internal strife that oftens place political ambitions above moral conduct. Good to see that justice does occassionally prevail. ... Read more

Product Description

"A very timely book, offering a unique and important perspective on a topic of widespread concern."
—David Garland, author of The Culture of Control

Over 2 million people are incarcerated in America's prisons and jails, eight times as many since 1975. At current incarceration rates, an African American born in the U.S. today has a 30% chance of spending some time in prison. Mandatory minimum sentencing, parole agencies intent on sending people back to prison, three-strike laws, for-profit prisons, and other changes in the legal system have contributed to this spectacular rise of the general prison population.

After overseeing the largest city jail system in the country, Michael Jacobson knows first-hand the inner workings of the corrections system. In Downsizing Prisons, he convincingly argues that mass incarceration will not, as many have claimed, reduce crime nor create more public safety. Simply put, throwing away the key is not the answer. Instead, Jacobson suggests that our prison system needs a massive overhaul. Given the dire budget shortfalls facing most states, there really is no choice: we no longer have the revenue to continue prison expansion while simultaneously supporting education, health care, and lower taxes.

Downsizing Prisons examines specific ways that states have begun to transform their prison systems. Jacobson offers practical policy solutions and strategies, including: changing how parole and probation agencies operate, significantly reducing punitive sentencing and "technical" parole violations, and supporting drug-treatment programs for low-level drug offenders. These policy changes can actually increase public safety as well as save money.

As our prison populations swell to record levels, it is clear that the time to reform our prison system has come. Downsizing Prisons offers a clear and persuasive plan of action. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

great timing..
Once I ordered the book i recieved it in a few days and all I requested was regular mail. I would def. order from here again.

A Prison Employee
I work at a prison and suggested this book to my boss, the Prison Commissioner. He has found it to be true with his 5 years of experience in our prison system and is citing it in presentations before policy makers.

policy argument against excessive incarceration
Jacobson was a budget director for New York City who then became the head of probation and later the head of corrections.He thus has considerable experience with the costs of incarceration and how those costs impact the rest of the government's budgets.

In this book he reviews the tremendous rate of increase of incarceration over the last three decades and the costs attendant to this policy.The increased use of mandatory minimum sentences, three-strikes legislation, and the vastly increased use of technical parole violations are identified as the major contributors to these increases.He then reviews how ineffective this has been in reducing crime.Then he makes the case for reducing the rate of incarceration.

His thesis is that for lower grade cases (property crimes; drug crimes; etc.), lengthy prison sentences are both ineffective and fiscally wasteful.He would divert significant resources from this incarceration to (a) more treatment in lieu of custody and (b) other social programs which are also fiscally strapped.

The budget crunch faced by states in recent years he believes provide an opportunity for changes:states simply cannot afford their prisons.Even Louisiana and Mississippi have recently passed legislation which reduce some prison terms.

The book seems to be generally aimed at polilcy-level people.It describes the sorts of legislation that would be necessary, delineates some of the general political forces which are at work and which must be met ('tough-on-crime' attitudes; the prison guards unions; private prison corporations mainly). The book makes a persuasive case in fiscal terms and even on effectiveness (though his claims that we know which programs work and which don't are supported by citations of work and are not entirely convincing).

I was very glad to see a book like this become generally available and hope it gets a wide readership.This society clearly needs to deal with the issue, as we incarcerate people at a rate higher than any other nation in the world.Hopefullyl the book will help initiate and further the debate on the issue.

But it is not a book for general readership.He assumes that if costs can be cut and there is little change in public safety, then there can be little reason to not adopt the suggestions, that only politics is in the way.He makes no moral case against excessive incarceration.This omission means that this is not the book to convince the public, though it certainly should be given due consideration by the general public and policy makers. ... Read more