Rating: 
Summary: Extremely Valuable Reporting
Review: Christian Parenti's "Lockdown America" is one of many excellent recent books on crime policy. As do David Cole and Elliott Currie, Parenti contributes to showing the failures of the one-dimensional crime policies of the past 20-30 years, during which time the only acceptable variation on "get tough" has been "get tougher.""Lockdown" consists of three parts. First, Parenti surveys the development of crime policy over the past 30-odd years. His account is sterngthened by his placement of crime policy in a broader context of important social and economic trends such as growing income inequality and the decline of manufacturing employment, especially in large cities. The other two segments focus on two groups who are on the front lines of crime policy--the police and prisons. Parenti describes a number of disturbing trends, such as: -the spread of "zero-tolerance" policing policies, and the enormous increase in lawlessness and violence on the part of the supposed keepers of the law. -the growing militarization of police forces as seen in the proliferation of paramilitary SWAT teams and similar units, many of which, again, are responsible for wildly excessive use of force. -the rampant degree to which prison guards engage in violence against inmates as well as formenting such violence among inmates themselves. Parenti's reporting is first-rate. While his book is not a complete picture of the crime issue--he is somewhat short on solutions--his account is a valuable complement to the more policy-oriented work of Cole or Currie. "Lockdown America" deserves to be widely read.
Rating: 
Summary: Important, but...
Review: Factually, this is an excellent book. Parenti is a gifted writer, and the criminal justice system has long needed an expose of this type. His writing and research are on the firmest ground when writing about the prison system, which should be read by everyone who thinks prison is somehow a "country club." It's also high time that somebody criticized William Bratton and the rather brutal police tactics he legitimized. Although Parenti makes no secret of his far-left intellectual leanings, it does undermine his credibility in places. His recounting of the Amadou Diallo case, for example, misstates the facts, and he seems to believe that crime is something invented by big-city cops to harass young black men. Crime is real, and, as anyone who lives in a city can attest, the fear of it is also real--not just for whites but, to an even greater extent, for law-abiding blacks. To Parenti, agressive policing is a sop to yuppies and "gentrification" proponents so that the well-to-do can walk to their corner Starbucks unmolested. No--we'd all like to live in a crime-free environment, and we all have that right. That said, this is an important book, and well worth reading and discussing.
Rating:
Summary: POLICE STATE U.S.A., INC.
Review: In the best traditions of investigative journalism Christian Parenti forcefully delves into answering the question: why does 4% of the world's population incarcerate 25% of the world's people in penitentiaries? Based on a great deal of hard data Parenti suggests that first its citizens are made to be frightenened by myths of rampant crime. This leads to imprisoning large numbers of mainly poor whites and minorities for non-violent crimes. This underclass forms the raw materials for corporate prison systems. Not coincidentally, the largest such prison system is in Texas which also executes more people than anywhere else in the Free World. So then incarcerating large numbers of America's underclass is both good politics and a lucatrive business. This gives the terms free market, capitalism and American justice a sinister meaning. Parenti's book wanders into economic theory, leading to somewhat shaky interpretations. One need not rely on capitalism's counterpoint, Marxism, to discuss the practical evils of the former. It would be sufficient to compare what happens to America's criminalized citizens (after subtracting the truly violent bad guy (women) "perps") with the now classical police states of the 20th Century. There are parallels in the present system of state serial killing by lethal injection in Texas. The prison administrators of Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Russia and Mao's China would find the killing in George W. Bush's prison industry quite acceptable. However, the United States and in particular its Constitution prides itself on forbidding "cruel and unusual punishment." Nevertheless, as Parenti points out, that's fine unless there is big money and political power to be made out of it! LOCKDOWN AMERICA is a heartbreaking book to read. Anyone caring about justice and fair play in the best of American traditions, reiterated as guarentees in the Constitution, should read Parenti's fascinating and important book.
Rating:
Summary: YES!
Review: Lockdown America: Police And Prisons In The Age Of Crisis surveys and documents the absurdities, counter- productivity, and humanitarian outrages of contemporary American practices of militarized policing, prisons, fortified borders, and "war on drugs" campaign. Written with an accessible and vivid text making clear the links between crime and politics in a period of gathering economic crisis, Lockdown America is a highly recommended and clarion call in behalf of badly needed reforms for the sake of justice, public safety, and the humane treatment of incarcerated individuals.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent writing style - Important reading
Review: My review of Christian Parenti's "Lockdown America" is highly favorable. A common complaint of expose, issue books is the tendency of authors to abuse statistics and facts at the expense of stylistic wholeness- not so with this book. Mr. Parenti's history as a seasoned journalist shows in his concise prose and the logical organization of the text. This book is guaranteed to get you very upset at the Reagan-Bush-Clinton law and order crusade (unless you think this book is written by a conspiracy-theorist with suspicious funding. Heh! What are you reading this for anyways?) My only issue is similar to other reviewers, but from a different perspective. Whenever Mr. Parenti comes to economic matters, there seems a strange switch from confident description to fumbling critique, of capitalism in particular. Is Mr. Parenti hampered in his economic diction? (by his editor perhaps?) This is written for mostly middle class, U.S. consumption after all. Can we honestly expect Mr. Parenti to do something like include an appendix on introductory neo-marxian theory for the 21st century while making reference to it in the book? Did you read Marx in school? I sure didn't. Why confuse the important issues or scare away interested, but wary people. Speaking TO the people, not OVER the people is a good idea. But this really is a minor point. I think most readers will hardly notice this and be mesmerised by the forcefulness of his argument, as was I.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent writing style - Important reading
Review: My review of Christian Parenti's "Lockdown America" is highly favorable. A common complaint of expose, issue books is the tendency of authors to abuse statistics and facts at the expense of stylistic wholeness- not so with this book. Mr. Parenti's history as a seasoned journalist shows in his concise prose and the logical organization of the text. This book is guaranteed to get you very upset at the Reagan-Bush-Clinton law and order crusade (unless you think this book is written by a conspiracy-theorist with suspicious funding. Heh! What are you reading this for anyways?) My only issue is similar to other reviewers, but from a different perspective. Whenever Mr. Parenti comes to economic matters, there seems a strange switch from confident description to fumbling critique, of capitalism in particular. Is Mr. Parenti hampered in his economic diction? (by his editor perhaps?) This is written for mostly middle class, U.S. consumption after all. Can we honestly expect Mr. Parenti to do something like include an appendix on introductory neo-marxian theory for the 21st century while making reference to it in the book? Did you read Marx in school? I sure didn't. Why confuse the important issues or scare away interested, but wary people. Speaking TO the people, not OVER the people is a good idea. But this really is a minor point. I think most readers will hardly notice this and be mesmerised by the forcefulness of his argument, as was I.
Rating:
Summary: Indispensable
Review: This is the best book I have ever read dealing with the burgeoning police state in the US. Parenti ranges far and wide by giving a sound structural analysis as to why police and their paramilitary style tactics have oversaturated our streets. Economics is often at the crux of most social problems; Parenti understands this and gives the reader an intellectually fascinating and stimulating journey, showing how our country has been transformed over the last thirty years into a civil libertarians nightmare.
The "social dynamite" and "social junk" need to be quartered and corralled, otherwise the owning class would be forced to put down rebellions and riots. The new American prison boom is dealt with by Parenti along with a myriad of other criminal justice issues. As mentioned above, the most accurate and satisfying aspect of the book is the manner in which he intelligently ties a politico-economic critique into his analysis of criminal "justice".
Go beyond nonsense television programs, which purport to deal with crime and society, by devouring Parenti's book.
Rating:
Summary: Indispensable
Review: This is the best book I have ever read dealing with the burgeoning police state in the US. Parenti ranges far and wide by giving a sound structural analysis as to why police and their paramilitary style tactics have oversaturated our streets. Economics is often at the crux of most social problems; Parenti understands this and gives the reader an intellectually fascinating and stimulating journey, showing how our country has been transformed over the last thirty years into a civil libertarians nightmare.
The "social dynamite" and "social junk" need to be quartered and corralled, otherwise the owning class would be forced to put down rebellions and riots. The new American prison boom is dealt with by Parenti along with a myriad of other criminal justice issues. As mentioned above, the most accurate and satisfying aspect of the book is the manner in which he intelligently ties a politico-economic critique into his analysis of criminal "justice".
Go beyond nonsense television programs, which purport to deal with crime and society, by devouring Parenti's book.
Rating:
Summary: Indispensable
Review: This is the best book I've ever read that deals with the burgeoning police-state in the U.S. Parenti ranges far and wide by giving a sound structural analysis as to why police and their paramilitary style tactics have oversaturated our streets. Economics and politics are often at the crux of most social problems; Parenti understands this and gives the reader an intellectually fascinating and stimulating journey documenting just how our country has been transformed over the last thirty years into a civil libertarians nightmare.
As Lockdown America demonstrates, the "social dynamite" and "social junk" need to be quartered and corralled by the ruling class, otherwise the owning class would be forced to put down rebellions and riots. The new American prison boom is dealt with by Parenti along with a myriad of other criminal justice issues. As mentioned above, the most accurate and satisfying aspect of the book is the manner in which it intelligently ties a politico-economic critique into it's analysis of criminal "justice."
Go beyond nonsense television programs that purport to deal with crime and society, by devouring Parenti's book.
Rating: 
Summary: The liberal Rush Limbaugh
Review: When I embarked upon reading this book, I thought I would be getting a fair and precise look into the American legal system. What I got was anything but that. Anybody wanting to read this book should know that Parenti is an extreme left-winger and this book is an acidic ribbing of the Republican Party, police offers, etc. etc. I do admit that Parenti is quite knowledgeable about the justice system and he provides many examples -- this book is full of examples to back up his points. But there is a problem: the only examples he gives are examples of police malfeasance, he never tells police success stories.
Also, my other major complaint is that throughout much of the book, he assumes a Rush Limbaugh personae and just starts taking irrelevant, low blows at people. He calls Rudy Giuliani a "ghoul," he sarcastically calls Dan Quayle "that towering intellect," and he even goes so far as to make fun of the way New York City Police Chiefs dress while they are off duty. Overall, this book is not very scholarly in tone. It states that there is a problem, but he never offers a solution to the problem - it is just a couple hundred pages of non-stop whining and Limbaugh-esque mocking of people he disagrees with.
If you are looking for a good introduction to contemporary American justice and the legal system, I HIGHLY suggest you look elsewhere.
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