"A powerful document of the inner lives and creative visions of men and women rendered invisible by America’s prison system. More than two million people are currently behind bars in the United States. Incarceration not only separates the imprisoned from their families and communities; it also exposes them to shocking levels of deprivation and abuse and subjects them to the arbitrary cruelties of the criminal justice system. Yet, as Nicole Fleetwood reveals, America’s prisons are filled with art. Despite the isolation and degradation they experience, the incarcerated are driven to assert their humanity in the face of a system that dehumanizes them. Based on interviews with currently and formerly incarcerated artists, prison visits, and the author’s own family experiences with the penal system, Marking Time shows how the imprisoned turn ordinary objects into elaborate works of art. Working with meager supplies and in the harshest conditions—including solitary confinement—these artists find ways to resist the brutality and depravity that prisons engender. The impact of their art, Fleetwood observes, can be felt far beyond prison walls. Their bold works, many of which are being published for the first time in this volume, have opened new possibilities in American art. As the movement to transform the country’s criminal justice system grows, art provides the imprisoned with a political voice. Their works testify to the economic and racial injustices that underpin American punishment and offer a new vision of freedom for the twenty-first century."

One of the few studies of its kind, this political history of the Louisiana penal system from its origin to the near-present places heavy-emphasis on the development of penal policy and shows how the vicissitudes of the system have reflected the prevailing social, economic, and political views of the state as a whole. The author traces Louisiana’s doleful history of convict leasing from 1844 to 1901 and provides a close look at the machinations of the notorious Major Samuel L. James, who controlled the state penal system for more than thirty brutal years. Professor Carleton analyzes the effects of the Huey Long regime and the heel-slashings of the 1950s which brought the penitentiary the label of “America’s Worst Prison.” Finally, he traces the slow, uphill battle of those interested in better treatment and preparatory rehabilitation for state prisoners. “At its worst,” says Carleton, Louisiana’s penal system “has been a barbaric and exploitative form of state slavery. . . . At best it has been a progressive correctional institution, administered by professional penologists with little or no interference from penal reactionaries or politicians.” Politics and Punishment is a significant contribution to penal historiography and will no doubt serve as a model for similar studies in the field.

A searing and entertaining manifesto on the ills of the criminal justice system from two of America’s most prominent defense attorneys. From the rise of the Internet and the 24-hour news cycle to the television ratings bonanza of the O.J. Simpson trial, a perfect storm of media coverage has given the public an unprecedented look inside the courtroom, kicking off popular courtroom shows and TV legal commentary that further illuminate how the criminal justice system operates. Or has it? In Mistrial, Mark Geragos and Pat Harris debunk the myths of judges as Solomon-like figures, jurors as impartial arbiters of the truth, and prosecutors as super-ethical heroes. Mistrial draws the curtain on the court’s ugly realities—from stealth jurors who secretly swing for a conviction, to cops who regularly lie on the witness stand, to defense attorneys terrified of going to trial. Ultimately, the authors question whether a justice system model drawn up two centuries ago before blogs and television is still viable today. In the aftermath of recent high-profile cases, the flaws in America’s justice system are more glaring than ever. Geragos and Harris are legal experts and prominent criminal defense attorneys who have worked on everything from celebrity media-circuses—having represented clients like Michael Jackson, Winona Ryder, Scott Peterson, Chris Brown, Susan MacDougal, and Gary Condit—to equally compelling cases defending individuals desperate to avoid the spotlight. Shining unprecedented light on what really goes on in the courtroom, Mistrial is an enjoyable, fun look at a system that rarely lets you see behind the scenes.

Originally published: Syracuse, N.Y.: Prison Research Education Action Project, 1976.

Cost-effective methods for improving crime control in America Since the crime explosion of the 1960s, the prison population in the United States has multiplied fivefold, to one prisoner for every hundred adults—a rate unprecedented in American history and unmatched anywhere in the world. Even as the prisoner head count continues to rise, crime has stopped falling, and poor people and minorities still bear the brunt of both crime and punishment. When Brute Force Fails explains how we got into the current trap and how we can get out of it: to cut both crime and the prison population in half within a decade. Mark Kleiman demonstrates that simply locking up more people for lengthier terms is no longer a workable crime-control strategy. But, says Kleiman, there has been a revolution—largely unnoticed by the press—in controlling crime by means other than brute-force incarceration: substituting swiftness and certainty of punishment for randomized severity, concentrating enforcement resources rather than dispersing them, communicating specific threats of punishment to specific offenders, and enforcing probation and parole conditions to make community corrections a genuine alternative to incarceration. As Kleiman shows, "zero tolerance" is nonsense: there are always more offenses than there is punishment capacity. But, it is possible—and essential—to create focused zero tolerance, by clearly specifying the rules and then delivering the promised sanctions every time the rules are broken. Brute-force crime control has been a costly mistake, both socially and financially. Now that we know how to do better, it would be immoral not to put that knowledge to work.

A unique hybrid between monograph and field guide, offering insights into the design practice and technical expertise of Houston-based firm Interloop--Architecture. Interloop--Architecture is a Houston-based design office founded in 2001 by principals Dawn Finley and Mark Wamble, who both also teach at Rice University's School of Architecture. The firm's focus is on innovative building technologies, inventive forms, and precise material finishes. Their project types range from the design of custom furniture and fixtures to private residences, research complexes, and cultural institutions. System of Novelties is the first book on Interloop--Architecture's work to date, tracking the firm's formation and trajectory. It operates between a monograph and a field guide, presenting novel works of architectural design within a broader context of influence, procedures, and techniques that are threaded from project to project over a period of two decades. It features a diverse collection of built and speculative designs that are framed through three research topics: Information--Shape, Procedure--Assembly, and Material - Pattern. All this is supplemented with graphic notes that synthetically connect the unique and recurring systems engaged in this innovative architectural practice. System of Novelties offers unique insights on innovative forms of contemporary practice in architecture and demonstrates the firm's technical expertise with material, manufacturing, and delivery processes.