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The Resource Punishment without crime : how our massive misdemeanor system traps the innocent and makes America more unequal, Alexandra Natapoff

Punishment without crime : how our massive misdemeanor system traps the innocent and makes America more unequal, Alexandra Natapoff

Creator
Author
Summary
  • "Punishment Without Crime offers an urgent new interpretation of inequality and injustice in America by examining the paradigmatic American offense: the lowly misdemeanor. Based on extensive original research, legal scholar Alexandra Natapoff reveals the inner workings of a massive petty offense system that produces over 13 million cases each year. People arrested for minor crimes are swept through courts where defendants often lack lawyers, judges process cases in mere minutes, and nearly everyone pleads guilty. This misdemeanor machine starts punishing people long before they are convicted; it punishes the innocent; and it punishes conduct that never should have been a crime. As a result, vast numbers of Americans -- most of them poor and people of color -- are stigmatized as criminals, impoverished through fines and fees, and stripped of drivers' licenses, jobs, and housing. For too long, misdemeanors have been ignored. But they are crucial to understanding our punitive criminal system and our widening economic and racial divides." -- Amazon.com
  • "Every year, approximately 13 million Americans are charged with misdemeanor offenses. Those cases make up the vast majority--over 80 percent--of the US criminal system. While the crimes are typically minor, the punishments often ruin people's lives. Although we now recognize mass incarceration as a multibillion-dollar dehumanizing debacle, the misdemeanor behemoth does quieter damage on an even grander scale, making the poor poorer and widening our nation's racial divide. Presenting a profound new perspective on American criminal justice, [this book] demonstrates how our enormous misdemeanor system operates as a powerful engine of error, injustice, and inequality. Drawing on a decade of original research, prize-winning legal scholar Alexandra Natapoff lays bare the inner workings of our massive and surprisingly harsh petty offense process. People arrested for crimes as minor as driving on a suspended license or loitering are routinely incarcerated when they can't afford bail. Defendants are rushed through courts, often without lawyers, while many judges process cases in mere minutes. Nearly everyone pleads guilty. Many of these convictions are wrongful: innocent people frequently plead guilty to crimes they did not actually commit. In the end, millions of Americans--most of them poor and people of color--are stigmatized as criminals, impoverished through fines and fees, and stripped of life's basic resources such as driver's licenses, jobs, and housing. Urgent and revelatory, [this book] shows how America's sprawling misdemeanor system makes our entire country less safe, less fair, and less equal."--Dust jacket
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Edition
First edition
Extent
vii, 334 pages
Contents
  • Impact
  • Size
  • Process
  • Innocence
  • Money
  • Race
  • History
  • Justice
  • Change
Isbn
9780465093793
Instance
Label
Punishment without crime : how our massive misdemeanor system traps the innocent and makes America more unequal
Title
Punishment without crime
Title remainder
how our massive misdemeanor system traps the innocent and makes America more unequal
Statement of responsibility
Alexandra Natapoff
Creator
Author
Subject
Language
eng
Summary
  • "Punishment Without Crime offers an urgent new interpretation of inequality and injustice in America by examining the paradigmatic American offense: the lowly misdemeanor. Based on extensive original research, legal scholar Alexandra Natapoff reveals the inner workings of a massive petty offense system that produces over 13 million cases each year. People arrested for minor crimes are swept through courts where defendants often lack lawyers, judges process cases in mere minutes, and nearly everyone pleads guilty. This misdemeanor machine starts punishing people long before they are convicted; it punishes the innocent; and it punishes conduct that never should have been a crime. As a result, vast numbers of Americans -- most of them poor and people of color -- are stigmatized as criminals, impoverished through fines and fees, and stripped of drivers' licenses, jobs, and housing. For too long, misdemeanors have been ignored. But they are crucial to understanding our punitive criminal system and our widening economic and racial divides." -- Amazon.com
  • "Every year, approximately 13 million Americans are charged with misdemeanor offenses. Those cases make up the vast majority--over 80 percent--of the US criminal system. While the crimes are typically minor, the punishments often ruin people's lives. Although we now recognize mass incarceration as a multibillion-dollar dehumanizing debacle, the misdemeanor behemoth does quieter damage on an even grander scale, making the poor poorer and widening our nation's racial divide. Presenting a profound new perspective on American criminal justice, [this book] demonstrates how our enormous misdemeanor system operates as a powerful engine of error, injustice, and inequality. Drawing on a decade of original research, prize-winning legal scholar Alexandra Natapoff lays bare the inner workings of our massive and surprisingly harsh petty offense process. People arrested for crimes as minor as driving on a suspended license or loitering are routinely incarcerated when they can't afford bail. Defendants are rushed through courts, often without lawyers, while many judges process cases in mere minutes. Nearly everyone pleads guilty. Many of these convictions are wrongful: innocent people frequently plead guilty to crimes they did not actually commit. In the end, millions of Americans--most of them poor and people of color--are stigmatized as criminals, impoverished through fines and fees, and stripped of life's basic resources such as driver's licenses, jobs, and housing. Urgent and revelatory, [this book] shows how America's sprawling misdemeanor system makes our entire country less safe, less fair, and less equal."--Dust jacket
Cataloging source
PUL
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Natapoff, Alexandra
Index
index present
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
bibliography
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Crime
  • Criminal justice, Administration of
  • Crime
  • Criminal justice, Administration of
  • United States
Label
Punishment without crime : how our massive misdemeanor system traps the innocent and makes America more unequal, Alexandra Natapoff
Instantiates
Publication
Copyright
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
Impact -- Size -- Process -- Innocence -- Money -- Race -- History -- Justice -- Change
Dimensions
24 cm
Edition
First edition
Extent
vii, 334 pages
Isbn
9780465093793
Lccn
2018023630
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Note
GOBI Library Solutions from EBSCO
System control number
(OCoLC)1030760235
Label
Punishment without crime : how our massive misdemeanor system traps the innocent and makes America more unequal, Alexandra Natapoff
Publication
Copyright
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
Impact -- Size -- Process -- Innocence -- Money -- Race -- History -- Justice -- Change
Dimensions
24 cm
Edition
First edition
Extent
vii, 334 pages
Isbn
9780465093793
Lccn
2018023630
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Note
GOBI Library Solutions from EBSCO
System control number
(OCoLC)1030760235

Subject

Library Locations

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