Most of the more than 1 million Americans in prison — disproportionately low-income people of color — will return to their communities after serving long sentences with few resources and little support. Recidivism rates remain stubbornly high. The criminal justice system, then, fails to produce public safety even as core values such as equality, fairness, and proportionality have fallen by the wayside.

 

The new book Excessive Punishment: How the Justice System Creates Mass Incarceration, edited by the Brennan Center’s Lauren-Brooke Eisen, features essays from scholars, practitioners, activists, writers who experienced incarceration, and others. The contributors explore the social costs of excessive punishment and how to ensure public safety without perpetuating the harms of mass incarceration.  

 

Listen to the recording of our virtual panel from earlier this month with contributors to the book:

 

Jeremy Travis, Senior Fellow at Columbia Justice Lab

Nkechi Taifa, President of the Taifa Group

Khalil Cumberbatch, Senior fellow at the Council on Criminal Justice and co-CEO of Edovo

 

If you enjoy this program, please give us a boost by liking, subscribing, and sharing with your friends. If you’re listening on Apple Podcasts, please give it a 5-star rating. 

 

Find out more about the book here: https://bookshop.org/p/books/excessive-punishment-how-the-justice-system-creates-mass-incarceration-lauren-brooke-eisen/20877826?ean=9780231212168 

Keep up with the Brennan Center’s work by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, The Briefing: https://go.brennancenter.org/briefing

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brennancenter.substack.com