Locked in: The True Causes of Mass Incarceration-And How to Achieve Real Reform

A groundbreaking reassessment of the American prison system, challenging the widely accepted explanations for our exploding incarceration rates

In Locked In, John Pfaff argues that the factors most commonly cited to explain mass incarceration -- the failed War on Drugs, draconian sentencing laws, an increasing reliance on private prisons -- tell us much less than we think. Instead, Pfaff urges us to look at other factors, especially a major shift in prosecutor behavior that occurred in the mid-1990s, when prosecutors began bringing felony charges against arrestees about twice as often as they had before.

An authoritative, clear-eyed account of a national catastrophe, Locked In is a must-read for anyone who dreams of an America that is not the world's most imprisoned nation (Chris Hayes, author of A Colony in a Nation). It transforms our understanding of what ails the American system of punishment and ultimately forces us to reconsider how we can build a more equitable and humane society.

Author: John Pfaff
Publisher: Basic Books
Published: 02/07/2017
Pages: 320
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.20lbs
Size: 9.30h x 6.20w x 1.30d
ISBN13: 9780465096916
ISBN10: 0465096913
BISAC Categories:
- Social Science | Penology
- Social Science | Criminology
- Political Science | Public Policy | Social Policy

About the Author
John F. Pfaff is a Professor of Law at Fordham Law School. His work on mass incarceration, prosecutors, and criminal justice reform has been covered in the Economist, the New Yorker, the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, National Review, Slate, and Vox, among many others. He has a JD and a PhD in Economics from the University of Chicago. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.