An Expensive Way to Make Bad People Worse: An Essay on Prison Reform from an Insider's Perspective

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Summary: What Americans Should Know About Our Prisons
Review: This slim volume is packed full of information that most Americans are unaware of concerning criminal justice issues. The author focuses on what has happened in the last 30 years in America. Most shocking is the fact that we are spending 7 times more on prisons than in Jimmy Carter's presidency, yet the crime rate has remained virtually flat. Also, we are spending many times more than other industrialized nations, yet our crime rate is about the same as theirs. Obviously, we are not getting what we are paying for. Prisons have now become a big business that states lobby to have in their area, so there will be economic interests to fight true reforms and cut-backs. This book would be appropriate for almost anyone interested in knowing more about prisons. Short and concise, filled with charts and graphs, it would be useful in church classes on social issues, adult education classes, high school and college classes that deal with prison issues, and as a resource on anyone's bookshelf. Pastors, lawyers, and state legislators should have copies! I learned a lot that I didn't know when I read it, and decided to feature it in my bookstore.