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Synopsis
Over two million people are incarcerated in America's prisons and jails, eight times as many since 1975. 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.
Library Journal
The United States locks up more of its population than any other country in the world. There are over two million people incarcerated in U.S. prisons and jails-eight times the rate in 1975. This increase can be greatly attributed to sentences for nonviolent drug and property offenses, which skyrocketed during the 1990s. Jacobson (criminology, John Jay Coll.) argues for changes in parole and probation agency operations, reductions in punitive sentencing, and the creation of drug treatment programs in lieu of prison sentences for low-level drug offenders. The premise here is to show how "the tremendous growth of incarceration over the past few decades relates directly to this country's present difficulties in adequately funding its education and healthcare systems." Jacobson does an adequate job defending his belief that incarceration is not the only sentencing alternative. Recommended for specialized collections in criminal justice.-Tim Delaney, SUNY at Oswego Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.