Prison Nation: The Warehousing of America's Poor

Section I.The Warehousing of America's Poor The Accused Gets What the System Doesn't Pay For-Stephen Bright Absolute Power, Absolute Corruption-Ron Owen Capital Crimes-George Winslow Color Bind-Paul Street Drug Policy as Social Control-Noam Chomsky Victims' Rights' as a Stalkinghorse for State Repression-Paul Wright Section II. Two Million Swept Away Swept Away-Nell Bernstein An American Seduction: Portrait of a Prison Town-Joelle Fraser The Politics of Boot Camp-Christian Parenti Secrecy, Power, Indefinite Detention-Mark Dow Trapped by the System: Parole in America-Kelly Virella Relocation Blues-Nell Bernstein Section III. Making a Buck off the Prisoner's Back Boeing Makes Slave Labour Fly-Paul Wright The Politics of Prison Labor: A Union Perspective-Gordon Lafer Work Strike Suppressed and Sabotaged in Ohio-Daniel Burton-Rose Prison Jobs and Free World Unemployment -Adrian Lomax Section IV. The Private Prison Industry Bailing Out Private Jails-Judith Greene Juvenile Crime Pays-Alex Friedmann University Professor Shills for Private Prison Industry-Alex Friedmann Campus Activism Defeats Multinational's Prison Profiteering-Kevin Pranis Juveniles Held Hostage -Alex Friedmann Section V. Malign Neglect: Prison Medicine The New Bedlam-Willie Wisely Wreaking Medical Mayhem on Washington Prisoners-Tara Herivel Hepatitis C: A Silent Epidemic Strikes U.S. Prisons-Silja Talvi Dying for Profits-Ron Young Prisoners with HIV Deprived of Proper Medical Care-Anne Marie Cusac FDOC Hazardous to Prisoners' Health-Mark Sherwood & Bob Posey Bill Clinton's Blood Trails-Jeffrey St. Clair Section VI. Rape, Racism and Repression Cowboys and Prisoners-Willie Wisely The Restraint Chair Anne? Marie Cusac Deliberate Indifference-Joanne Mariner and Human Rights Watch Corcoran-Willie Wisely Guarding Their Silence-Christian Parenti Our Sisters' Keepers-Daniel Burton Rose Not Part of my Sentence-Silja Talvi "Make it Hard for Them"-Mark Dow Anatomy of a Whitewash-Mumia Abu?Jamal Sentenced to the Backwaters of Greene County, P.A.-Mumia Abu?Jamal Section VII. The Bars to Prison Litigation Prison Litigation Over the Decades-John Midgley Barring the Federal Courthouses to Prisoners-Matt Clarke Limits of the Law-Mumia Abu?Jamal

Paul Wright is a Washington state prisoner, jailhouse lawyer, political activist and journalist. Paul is the co-founder of Prison Legal News, a monthly magazine published since 1990 that is prisoner written, edited and published. His last book was The Celling of America. Tara Herivel is a prisoners' rights activist and lawyer who has written for Prison Legal News and other progressive periodicals in the Seattle area.

"This biography of Hurston is one of the best books I've read in years and I unabashedly highly recommend it."
-Jack Danger, "The Portland Alliance
""Prison Nation
goes beyond the numbers to show the complex, interwoven reasons that have produced the prison-industrial complex. In every section of the book...readers will find solid reporting, gripping writing and political revelation."
-Ken Silverstein, from the Preface
"This riveting collection makes a compelling case that the United States has an INjustice system at work, and that it operates its own gulag within this supposedly free society, largely out of sight of its citizenry. The brutalities, cruelties and inhumanity widely prevalent in the way people are put in prison, kept there, degraded and mistreated, as recounted in this book's accounts of racist bias, medical care, prison labor, parole, rape, and the "restraint chair," among many other topics, read like something out of Kafka and Solzenhitzyn. This important book is a shocker."
-Edward S. Herman, co-author of "Manufacturing Consent
"An extraordinary collection of essays by some of our most astute observers of the American prison system. What they tell us is shocking and sobering, and their analysis forces to think beyond the cruelties of everyday prison life to the social forces behind those cruelties. This volume makes clear the connection between prisons and poverty, the class nature of the justice system. It is both a treasury of information and a profound examination of imprisonment in America."
-Howard Zinn, author of "A People's History of the United States
"Every American with any concern for justice and democracy ought to read thisdevastating book--but not right before bedtime. "Prison Nation is a true horror story, a profound revelation of what the prison system is doing both to millions of poor Americans trapped in its no-exit nightmare and to America itself. But it is also an inspiring book, bringing together some of the most important work by dozens of dedicated scholars and activists."
-H. Bruce Franklin, John Cotton Dana Professor of English and American Studies, Rutgers University