States of Confinement: Policing, Detention, and Prisons

by NA NA, Kenneth A. Loparo

Overview

The United States has the highest incarceration and execution rate in the industrialized world. Due to bias in policing and sentencing, seventy percent of the nearly two million people incarcerated in U.S. prisons and immigration detention centers are people of color. Statistics like these, and the often unsafe conditions under which people are imprisoned, make an analysis of incarceration urgent and timely. Using a broad multicultural approach, States of Confinement uncovers the political, social, and economic biases in our policing and punishment systems. The distinguished authors of this collection - such as Angela Y. Davis, Manning Marable, Gary Marx, Robert Meeropol (the son of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg), Julie Su (an attorney for immigrants' rights), and Judi Bari (a founder of Earthfirst!) - use their diverse experiences and expertise to discuss troubling abuses of police powers in our society. The issues they expose include racial profiling and sentencing disparities that target African Americans and Latinos, the sexual exploitation of women in prison and police custody, racist and homophobic violence, the policing of Asian Americans and Arabs, the adverse conditions of HIV-positive prisoners, and the use of the Grand Jury and police to undermine political activity. These twenty-seven cogent and accessible essays will appeal to students and educators, as well as anyone concerned about the erosion of democracy and equality in this era of increasing incarceration and police powers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780312217778
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan US
Publication date:	02/12/2000
Edition description:	2000
Pages:	350
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.04(d)

About the Author

JOY JAMES is Professor of Political Theory, Department of Africana Studies at Brown University. Her books include Transcending the Talented Tenth: Black Leaders and American Intellectuals and The Angela Y. Davis Reader.

Table of Contents

Introduction—Joy James
• Part I: Executions
• Testimony—Robert Meeropol
• "Give Me Death": Capital Punishment and the Limits of American Citizenship—Lee Bernstein
• Sentencing Children to Death—Steven Hawkins
• The Ordeal of Mumia Abu-Jamal—Dan Williams
• Part II: Blacks and Criminal Justice
• Black Radicalism and an Economy of Incarceration—Manning Marable
• From the Convict Lease System to the Supermax Prison—Angela Y. Davis
• Young Black Americans and the Criminal Justice System—Marc Mauer
• The New Black Leadership: Gang-Related?—Salim Muwakkil
• Black Women and Gangs—Adrien K. Wing
• Part III: Gender, Sexuality, and Confinement
• Programming and Health Care Accessibility for Incarcerated Women—Joanne Belknap
• Race, Ethnicity, and Gender in Studies of Incarceration—Juanita Díaz-Cotto
• Imprisoned Native Women and Native Traditions—Luana Ross
• Militarized Prostitution in Asia and the United States—Alexandra Suh
• HIV, AIDS, and Rape in Texas Prisons—Brenda Rodriguez
• Ritual Killings: Anti-Gay Violence and Reasonable Justice—AnnJanette Rosga
• Part IV: Policing
• All the Brother Wanted Was a Ride: Lynching and Police Powers in Texas—Larvester Gaither
• Surplus Value: The Political Economy of Prisons and Policing—David Theo Goldberg
• The Militarization of the Police in the United States—Gabriel Torres & David A. Love
• State Violence, Asian Immigrants, and the "Underclass"—Eric Tang
• The INS and the Criminalization of Immigrant Workers—Julie A. Su
• The New Surveillance—Gary Marx
• Part V: Political Repression and Resistance
• The Grand Jury—Margaret Ratner & Michael Ratner
• At the Constitution’s Edge: Arab Americans and Civil Liberties—Huessin Ibish
• Political Incarceration—Jose López
• It’s Time to Bring Our Political Prisoners Home—Donna Willmott
• Earthfirst! and the FBI—Judi Bari

Editorial Reviews

"This challenge to conventional wisdom about the criminal justice system is needed." - Booklist

"This book is an enormously useful treasury of information, joining powerful personal stories with bold, thoughtful analysis." - Howard Zinn, author of A People s History of the United States

From the Publisher

This book is an enormously useful treasury of information, joining powerful personal stories with bold, thoughtful analysis.

Howard Zinn

Twenty-seven essays take the United States' criminal justice system to task, beginning with Robert Meeropol's (son of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg) "Testimony" on the death penalty, and concluding with excerpts from panel presentations given at the forum "Human Rights in the United States: The Unfinished Story of Political Prisoners/Victims of COINTELPRO." Other topics include Arab Americans and civil liberties; antigay violence and reasonable justice; military prostitution in Asia and the US; race, ethnicity, and gender studies of incarceration; and black women and gangs. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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