The most recommended criminal justice books

Who picked these books? Meet our 32 experts.

32 authors created a book list connected to criminal justice, and here are their favorite criminal justice books.
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The Privatization of Policing

By Brian Forst, Peter K. Manning,

Book cover of The Privatization of Policing: Two Views

Brian Forst Author Of Errors of Justice: Nature, Sources and Remedies

From the list on the economics of crime and justice.

Who am I?

Throughout my academic career, my chief scholarly interest has been to assess public policy using coherent theory and rigorous empirical method. The economics of crime and justice offers a powerful framework for achieving these ends.

Brian's book list on the economics of crime and justice

Why did Brian love this book?

This book presents contrasting views on the privatization of policing: whether it is mostly a good thing, its downsides, and which aspects of policing lend themselves to privatization. 

Forst argues that a blend of public and private policing can provide a more equitable and efficient delivery of policing services than can public police alone.  

Manning, unfriendly to economics and management efficiency, takes a dramaturgical perspective, concluding that those paradigms are fundamentally at odds with the traditional policing mandate, which confers on the government a monopoly on the use of coercion. 

By Brian Forst, Peter K. Manning,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Privatization of Policing as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The increasing reliance on private security services raises questions about the effects of privatization on the quality of public police forces, particularly in high-crime, low-income areas. In an effective pro-and-con format, two experts on policing offer two strikingly different perspectives on this trend towards privatization. In the process, they provide an unusually thoughtful discussion of the origins of both the public police and the private security sectors, the forces behind the recent growth of private security operations, and the risks to public safety posed by privatization. In his critique of privatization, Peter K. Manning focuses on issues of free market…


The Secret Barrister

By The Secret Barrister,

Book cover of The Secret Barrister: Stories of the Law and How It's Broken

V. Charles Ward Author Of Legal Profession: Is It For You?: A No-Nonsense Guide to a Career in the Law

From the list on becoming a lawyer in the UK.

Who am I?

I have been a lawyer for more than 50 years and I love what I do. I also want to share my enthusiasm for what I regard as the world’s most exciting profession, where every day is a little different. I am also a legal writer. But I don’t just write for other lawyers. I want to make the law accessible to everyone. That includes anyone who may be thinking seriously about a legal career but has yet to make the leap.

V.'s book list on becoming a lawyer in the UK

Why did V. love this book?

This anonymously written and entertaining book will tell you what your barrister is really thinking, behind the polite smile and measured language, when they are defending you against a criminal charge. An insider’s view of the UK criminal justice system and its failings. Ever wondered why there are so many miscarriages of justice? Not just those which make the headlines. The writer contrasts the professionalism of the crown court trial, with its judge and jury, with the wild west of the magistrates’ court, in which more than 91% of UK criminal prosecutions begin and end.

By The Secret Barrister,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Secret Barrister as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

An anonymous barrister's darkly comic and moving first-hand account of life in the legal system, and how it's failing us all.

The Sunday Times number one bestseller.
Winner of the Books are My Bag Non-Fiction Award.
Shortlisted for Waterstones Book of the Year.
Shortlisted for Specsavers Non-Fiction Book of the Year.

'Eye-opening, funny and horrifying' - Observer

You may not wish to think about it, but one day you or someone you love will almost certainly appear in a criminal courtroom. You might be a juror, a victim, a witness or - perhaps through no fault of your own -…


Covered with Night

By Nicole Eustace,

Book cover of Covered with Night: A Story of Murder and Indigenous Justice in Early America

John Reeves Author Of Soldier of Destiny: Slavery, Secession, and the Redemption of Ulysses S. Grant

From John's 3 favorite reads in 2023.

Who am I?

Author Reader History buff Sports fan Music enthusiast

John's 3 favorite reads in 2023

Why did John love this book?

The central story of this Pulitzer Prize-winning book is the murder of a Seneca man by two white settlers in the backwoods of Pennsylvania in 1722.

It reads like a thriller, while also revealing profound insights about European colonization in North America during the early 18th century. Ironically, the English authorities were inclined to punish the white settlers severely for the crime in order to appease the Five Nations of the Haudenosaunee. The Native American leaders felt differently, however, preferring to forgive the two men.

“Native peoples,” Eustace writes, “subsume issues of guilt and punishment beneath efforts to redress anguish of victims, acknowledge remorse of perpetrators, and above all reestablish communal bonds.” This is a fascinating account of Indian and European views on justice. 

By Nicole Eustace,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Covered with Night as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In the winter of 1722, on the eve of a major conference between the Five Nations of the Haudenosaunee (also known as the Iroquois) and Anglo-American colonists, a pair of colonial fur traders brutally assaulted a Seneca hunter near Conestoga, Pennsylvania. Though virtually forgotten today, the crime ignited a contest between Native American forms of justice-rooted in community, forgiveness, and reparations-and the colonial ideology of harsh reprisal that called for the accused killers to be executed if found guilty. In Covered with Night, historian Nicole Eustace reconstructs the attack and its aftermath, introducing a group of unforgettable individuals-from the slain…


A Murder in Virginia

By Suzanne Lebsock,

Book cover of A Murder in Virginia: Southern Justice on Trial

Charles Oldham Author Of Ship of Blood: Mutiny and Slaughter Aboard the Harry A. Berwind, and the Quest for Justice

From the list on fascinating but not so well known true crimes.

Who am I?

I’m both a history buff and a criminal defense attorney. I grew up in a small North Carolina town, as the son of two educators who encouraged me to read anything I could get my hands on. My favorite stories were adventures and mysteries, especially courtroom dramas. Clarence Darrow was my historical hero, so I guess it wasn’t surprising that I would attend law school and try my hand at legal practice. I practiced criminal law for about 15 years, long enough to get a feel for how investigations and trials really work. That experience had a major impact on my own writing, and how to pick out a really fascinating true story.

Charles' book list on fascinating but not so well known true crimes

Why did Charles love this book?

This book tells of the shocking axe murder of a white woman in rural Virginia in 1895, and the trials of three Black women who were accused of the crime. Given the time and place, you would not expect things to go well for those Black defendants. But as with the murder drama that I describe in my book, many things about this case defy expectations. A surprising group of people, Black and white, worked together to achieve some measure of justice. This book definitely served as a model for me as I was writing my own. And the author’s attention to detail, with every fact carefully documented, truly makes it a marvel of historical research. 

By Suzanne Lebsock,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Murder in Virginia as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

It's 1895 in Virginia, and a white woman lies in her farmyard, murdered with an ax. Suspicion soon falls on a young black sawmill hand, who tries to flee the county. Captured, he implicates three women, accusing them of plotting the murder and wielding the ax. In vivid courtroom scenes, Bancroft Prize-winning historian Suzanne Lebsock recounts their dramatic trials and brings us close to women we would never otherwise know: a devout (and pregnant) mother of nine; another hard-working mother (also of nine); and her plucky, quick-tempered daughter. All claim to be innocent. With the danger of lynching high, can…


Book cover of I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself

Jennifer Savran Kelly Author Of Endpapers

From the list on queer people on the edge.

Who am I?

I’m endlessly fascinated by people’s resilience—how we hold onto life and find meaning in it when everything seems to be falling apart. As a queer and genderqueer author, I especially love to see stories about queer characters in all of their human messiness, characters who aren’t forced to be models of perfection in order to earn readers’ empathy, stories that show us queer people don’t deserve dignity because we’re perfect; we deserve it because we’re human. These five novels have affected me deeply because they don’t shy away from the complexities of grief, love, parenting, trauma, sex, social justice, gender identity, and more. 

Jennifer's book list on queer people on the edge

Why did Jennifer love this book?

Against the backdrop of a speculative future in which extra shadows have become the alternative to prison and cameras watch our every move, I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself takes a raw, honest look at grief, family, queerness, and how we survive.

Kris has lost her wife Beau and gained an extra shadow—along with a child who also has an extra shadow. As she navigates her new reality, Kris can either sink deeper into her grief, accepting a life of surveillance and oppression for herself and her kid, or she can choose love and hope.

Crane’s approach to storytelling, open and vulnerable and using small fragments and pop quizzes, allowed me deep into Kris’s heart, and I rooted for her as she forged a life against all odds.   

By Marisa Crane,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Dept. of Speculation meets Black Mirror in this lyrical, speculative debut about a queer mother raising her daughter in an unjust surveillance state

In a United States not so unlike our own, the Department of Balance has adopted a radical new form of law enforcement: rather than incarceration, wrongdoers are given a second (and sometimes, third, fourth, and fifth) shadow as a reminder of their crime—and a warning to those they encounter. Within the Department, corruption and prejudice run rampant, giving rise to an underclass of so-called Shadesters who are disenfranchised, publicly shamed, and deprived of civil rights protections.

Kris…


Golden Gulag

By Ruth Wilson Gilmore,

Book cover of Golden Gulag: Prisons, Surplus, Crisis, and Opposition in Globalizing California

Nancy Hiemstra Author Of Detain and Deport: The Chaotic U.S. Immigration Enforcement Regime

From the list on why the U.S. has the biggest immigration detention system.

Who am I?

I first became aware of harms of immigration enforcement policies while volunteering to tutor kids of undocumented migrant farmworkers in the 1990s. Through a variety of jobs in the U.S. and Latin America, my eyes were opened to reasons driving people to migrate and challenges immigrants face. I eventually went to graduate school in Geography to study local to transnational reverberations of immigration policies. A project in Ecuador where I helped families of people detained in the U.S. led me to realize how huge, cruel, and ineffective U.S. immigration detention is. I hope these books help you break through myths about detention and make sense of the chaos.

Nancy's book list on why the U.S. has the biggest immigration detention system

Why did Nancy love this book?

This book is key to understanding the economic, political, and social drivers behind the rise of the incarceration industry, which moved on to promote and expand immigration detention using the same playbook.

Ruth Wilson Gilmore provides a powerful case study of the explosive growth of California’s prison system since the 1980s. The book traces how corporate lobbyists for the prison industry took advantage of local economic downturn and racist narratives to push new laws that massively increased the number of people incarcerated, fueling a prison boom.

While a depressing account, Gilmore leaves the reader with a sense of hope and purpose by recounting the rise of a determined grassroots movement fighting the hungry carceral industry, with lessons that can be transferred to stopping detention expansion.

By Ruth Wilson Gilmore,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Golden Gulag as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Since 1980, the number of people in U.S. prisons has increased more than 450%. Despite a crime rate that has been falling steadily for decades, California has led the way in this explosion, with what a state analyst called 'the biggest prison building project in the history of the world'. "Golden Gulag" provides the first detailed explanation for that buildup by looking at how political and economic forces, ranging from global to local, conjoined to produce the prison boom. In an informed and impassioned account, Ruth Wilson Gilmore examines this issue through statewide, rural, and urban perspectives to explain how…


Until I Could Be Sure

By George H. Ryan,

Book cover of Until I Could Be Sure: How I Stopped the Death Penalty in Illinois

Maurice Possley Author Of Hitler in the Crosshairs: A GI's Story of Courage and Faith

From the list on true stories with meaning and power.

Who am I?

I am a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist who has worked for the past 10 years as the senior researcher for the National Registry of Exonerations. In that capacity, I have written nearly 2,500 individual accounts of men and women and teenagers who were wrongly convicted of crimes they did not commit. Some of them were sentenced to death. I have seen and written about these tragedies firsthand.

Maurice's book list on true stories with meaning and power

Why did Maurice love this book?

This is the true first person account of Illinois Governor George Ryan’s courageous and unprecedented decision to suspend the death penalty and empty death row in 2003. He oversaw the state’s last execution, an experience that was seared in his brain. In 2000, he became the first governor (and a Republican at that) to impose a moratorium on the death penalty. I was there as a journalist and I helped him write this powerful memoir.

By George H. Ryan,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Until I Could Be Sure as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In January 2000, Illinois Governor George Ryan declared a moratorium on executions-the first such action by any governor in the history of the United States.

Despite a long history as a death penalty proponent, Ryan was emotionally moved after allowing an execution in 1999. He was also profoundly disturbed by the state's history-12 men had been executed and 13 had been exonerated since the return of the death penalty in Illinois in 1977. More had been proven innocent than had been executed.

Three years later, in 2003, Ryan pardoned four death row inmates based on their actual innocence and then…


Until You Are Dead

By Julian Sher,

Book cover of Until You Are Dead

Charles Oldham Author Of Ship of Blood: Mutiny and Slaughter Aboard the Harry A. Berwind, and the Quest for Justice

From the list on fascinating but not so well known true crimes.

Who am I?

I’m both a history buff and a criminal defense attorney. I grew up in a small North Carolina town, as the son of two educators who encouraged me to read anything I could get my hands on. My favorite stories were adventures and mysteries, especially courtroom dramas. Clarence Darrow was my historical hero, so I guess it wasn’t surprising that I would attend law school and try my hand at legal practice. I practiced criminal law for about 15 years, long enough to get a feel for how investigations and trials really work. That experience had a major impact on my own writing, and how to pick out a really fascinating true story.

Charles' book list on fascinating but not so well known true crimes

Why did Charles love this book?

The story of a horrific miscarriage of justice in rural Canada in 1959. Fourteen-year-old Steven Truscott was charged with the rape and murder of a 12-year-old schoolmate, mostly because he was the last person seen with the victim, riding a bike along a country road. Today, modern crime analysts would look at this case and see immediately that the likely perpetrator was an adult pedophile, not an adolescent boy. But at the time, local law enforcement jumped to the wrong conclusion. Steven was convicted and sentenced to death by hanging, and although the sentence was commuted on humanitarian grounds, he spent ten years in prison. It took more than four decades of work by attorneys, and a few diligent journalists, to clear Steven’s name. This book tells the whole tale.

By Julian Sher,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Until You Are Dead as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

FULLY REVISED AND UPDATED

National Bestseller
Winner of the Canadian Authors Association Birks Family Foundation Award for Biography
Finalist for the Writers’ Trust Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing

The investigation that helped Truscott get a new appeal.

In 1959, a popular schoolboy, just 14 years old, was convicted and sentenced to hang for the rape and murder of his 12-year-old classmate. That summer, Canada lost its innocence and the shocking story of Steven Truscott became imprinted on the nation’s memory. First published in 2001, “Until You Are Dead” revealed new witnesses, leads and evidence never presented to the courts.…


Corrections in Ink

By Keri Blakinger,

Book cover of Corrections in Ink: A Memoir

Joanna Schwartz Author Of Shielded: How the Police Became Untouchable

From the list on the human toll of the criminal justice system.

Who am I?

Stories of people impacted by the criminal justice system have been key to my understanding of the system and my efforts to reform it. I knew I wanted to be a civil rights lawyer when, in law school, I represented a woman who was raped by a corrections officer in a federal prison in Connecticut. My experiences suing the police and corrections officers as a young lawyer in New York inspired 15+ years researching the realities of civil rights litigation and barriers to achieve justice. I believe that the best way to understand the realities of the criminal justice system is through the experiences of people trying to make their way through it.

Joanna's book list on the human toll of the criminal justice system

Why did Joanna love this book?

Corrections in Ink grabbed me from the first paragraph and wouldn’t let go.

It’s a beautifully and fiercely told memoir about Kari Blakinger’s journey from high school figure skater and Cornell college student to drug addition, to prison, and back out into the free world.

Her insights about her time in jail and prison – the conditions of her confinement, interactions with guards, relationships with other prisoners, and the psychological impact of doing time – stick with you, indelibly.

By Keri Blakinger,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Corrections in Ink as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

“Brave, brutal . . . a riveting story about suffering, recovery, and redemption. Inspiring and relevant.” —TheNew York Times

An electric and unforgettable memoir about a young woman's journey—from the ice rink, to addiction and a prison sentence, to the newsroom—and how she emerged with a fierce determination to expose the broken system she experienced.

Keri Blakinger always lived life at full throttle. Growing up, that meant throwing herself into competitive figure skating with an all-consuming passion that led her to nationals. But when her skating career suddenly fell apart, that meant diving into self-destruction with the intensity she once…


Locking Up Our Own

By James Forman Jr.,

Book cover of Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America

Tanya Maria Golash-Boza Author Of Before Gentrification: The Creation of DC's Racial Wealth Gap

From the list on how DC became the most gentrified city in the country.

Who am I?

I am a White person who grew up in a primarily Black DC neighborhood in the 1980s. Growing up in a Black community in DC at a time when the city was experiencing a cascade of crises – from the spread of crack to an AIDS epidemic to a failing school system – has fundamentally shaped my life and my view of the world. When I returned in the early twenty-first century to my city to find it had significantly changed and that many of my Black neighbors had been pushed out, I was compelled to learn more about DC before gentrification and to understand the path the city I love had taken.

Tanya's book list on how DC became the most gentrified city in the country

Why did Tanya love this book?

To understand how a majority-Black city became the epicenter for the War on Drugs, destroying Black communities in the process, read this book. Although Washington, DC has long had Black leadership, it remained subject to the whims of majority-White federal authorities and thus to a governing body that has long been anti-Black.

James Forman, Jr. explains in his book, Locking Up Our Own, that the city’s Black leadership fully supported the coercive anti-crime policies implemented beginning in the 1980s. And, while some members of the Black community requested improved schools, drug rehabilitation clinics, and better city services, the federal government responded to these pleas by funding more policing and prisons.

Despite Black leadership, Black police officers, Black judges, and Black teachers, the city remains embedded in a broader context of White supremacy and anti-Blackness that have stymied efforts to support Black people in meaningful ways.

By James Forman Jr.,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Locking Up Our Own as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Winner of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction

Longlisted for the National Book Award

One of the New York Times Book Review's 10 Best Books of 2017

Former public defender James Forman, Jr. is a leading critic of mass incarceration and its disproportionate impact on people of colour. In LOCKING UP OWN OWN, he seeks to understand the war on crime that began in the 1970s and why it was supported by many African American leaders in the nation's urban centres.

Forman shows us that the first substantial cohort of black mayors, judges and police chiefs took office amid…


Remembering

By Frederic C. Bartlett,

Book cover of Remembering: A Study in Experimental and Social Psychology

Matthew J. Sharps Author Of Processing Under Pressure: Stress, Memory, and Decision-Making in Law Enforcement

From the list on cognitive science and the criminal justice system.

Who am I?

I'm a professor of cognitive and forensic cognitive science. I have consulted on hundreds of criminal cases, most involving violent crime, and have published a body of research on the cognitive dynamics involved in eyewitness memory, officer-involved shootings, and training for IED detection in counterterrorism environments. The dynamics I've studied in the law-enforcement/forensic realm have proven to be important in the realm of firefighting and other first-response emergency services, as I also discuss in my book Thinking Under Pressure. This is an important field of study across the emergency and first response services, and will probably become more important in the future.

Matthew's book list on cognitive science and the criminal justice system

Why did Matthew love this book?

This 1932 work by Bartlett demonstrates many of the dynamics that Loftus would later use to conceptualize eyewitness memory, and that many scholars in law enforcement psychology, including myself, use on an everyday basis.

Bartlett showed that memories are not static representations of reality, admittedly with occasional lapses into forgetting.

Rather, in both the visual and verbal realms, Bartlett demonstrated that memories become abbreviated, operate in the direction of core or gist, and may be completely reconfigured in the direction of personal belief.

This work demonstrates strongly the fragility of human perception, memory, and the thought which derives from these more basic processes, and shows us how difficult it may be to develop vertical accounts of actual crimes in investigative and courtroom settings.

By Frederic C. Bartlett,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Remembering as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In 1932, Cambridge University Press published Remembering, by psychologist, Frederic Bartlett. The landmark book described fascinating studies of memory and presented the theory of schema which informs much of cognitive science and psychology today. In Bartlett's most famous experiment, he had subjects read a Native American story about ghosts and had them retell the tale later. Because their background was so different from the cultural context of the story, the subjects changed details in the story that they could not understand. Based on observations like these, Bartlett developed his claim that memory is a process of reconstruction, and that this…


Book cover of We Do This 'Til We Free Us: Abolitionist Organizing and Transforming Justice

Danny Katch Author Of Socialism....Seriously: A Brief Guide to Human Liberation

From the list on winning socialism in our lifetime.

Who am I?

I’ve been a socialist for my entire adult life and a wise-ass for even longer. As a writer I’ve found a way to combine these two passions, using humor to introduce complex economic and political ideas to a new audience, as well as poke fun at politicians, CEOs, and even myself and my fellow activists. Not all of the books on this list use humor the way I do, but they have all helped me keep my sunny disposition by giving me inspiration that the socialist cause is more dynamic and multifaceted than ever. 

Danny's book list on winning socialism in our lifetime

Why did Danny love this book?

The Black Lives Matter protests of 2020 introduced many people to the idea of abolishing police and prisons. Mariame Kaba might be the most thoughtful abolitionist organizer. This book of essays is both daring and humble, forward-thinking, and rooted in the everyday lives of young Black and Brown people.

Using simple language to convey profound ideas, Kaba asks if the massive expenditures of money and violence in our criminal justice system actually bring satisfaction and healing to those who are victims of crime. She insists that abolition is about not just ending a failed institution for public safety but also about experimenting with how to create better ones that are based in community and democracy. It’s a book that teaches you how to hope.

By Mariame Kaba,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked We Do This 'Til We Free Us as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

New York Times Bestseller

"Organizing is both science and art. It is thinking through a vision, a strategy, and then figuring out who your targets are, always being concerned about power, always being concerned about how you're going to actually build power in order to be able to push your issues, in order to be able to get the target to actually move in the way that you want to."

What if social transformation and liberation isn't about waiting for someone else to come along and save us? What if ordinary people have the power to collectively free ourselves? In…


Charged

By Emily Bazelon,

Book cover of Charged: The New Movement to Transform American Prosecution and End Mass Incarceration

Joanna Schwartz Author Of Shielded: How the Police Became Untouchable

From the list on the human toll of the criminal justice system.

Who am I?

Stories of people impacted by the criminal justice system have been key to my understanding of the system and my efforts to reform it. I knew I wanted to be a civil rights lawyer when, in law school, I represented a woman who was raped by a corrections officer in a federal prison in Connecticut. My experiences suing the police and corrections officers as a young lawyer in New York inspired 15+ years researching the realities of civil rights litigation and barriers to achieve justice. I believe that the best way to understand the realities of the criminal justice system is through the experiences of people trying to make their way through it.

Joanna's book list on the human toll of the criminal justice system

Why did Joanna love this book?

Charged reveals criminal prosecutors’ massive power and discretion.

And Emily Bazelon makes the stakes and consequences of this massive power and discretion come alive by telling the stories of two people charged with two different crimes by two different prosecutors.

By tracking every step of each case—from arrest to charging to trial to sentencing—she shows the harms the overzealous prosecutors can impose, as well as the mercy prosecutors can show. And she traces the work of progressive prosecutors across the country, offering an alternative path forward. 

By Emily Bazelon,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Charged as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A renowned journalist and legal commentator exposes the unchecked power of the prosecutor as a driving force in America’s mass incarceration crisis—and charts a way out.

“An important, thoughtful, and thorough examination of criminal justice in America that speaks directly to how we reduce mass incarceration.”—Bryan Stevenson, author of Just Mercy

“This harrowing, often enraging book is a hopeful one, as well, profiling innovative new approaches and the frontline advocates who champion them.”—Matthew Desmond, author of Evicted

FINALIST FOR THE LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE • SHORTLISTED FOR THE J. ANTHONY LUKAS BOOK PRIZE •…


Beyond Survival

By Ejeris Dixon, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha,

Book cover of Beyond Survival: Strategies and Stories from the Transformative Justice Movement

Roxanna Asgarian Author Of We Were Once a Family: A Story of Love, Death, and Child Removal in America

From the list on how our systems are failing vulnerable children.

Who am I?

I’m an investigative journalist and author, and a decade ago I began digging into the child welfare system—what we call the patchwork web of child protection agencies around the country. The more I learned, the more I realized how this system, which is ostensibly to help children in need, is actually perpetrating deep and lasting harm on generations of children and families. These books have helped me understand how we punish poor people instead of helping them, and how our racist systems harm Black and Indigenous children. They’ve also helped me to sit with the reality of child abuse, and begin to see a different way of preventing harm and healing those who’ve been hurt. 

Roxanna's book list on how our systems are failing vulnerable children

Why did Roxanna love this book?

Two high-profile activists have edited this anthology, which tackles the problem of how to address harm without incarcerating people.

A lot of people get stuck on abolition because they see it as a tearing down of a system, without understanding what new structures we’d need to build in its place. These brilliant thinkers grapple with what a more humane and accountable process would look like.

I particularly recommend the chapter on the transformative justice approach to ending child sexual abuse.

By Ejeris Dixon, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Beyond Survival as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Transformative justice seeks to solve the problem of violence at the grassroots level, without relying on punishment, incarceration, or policing. Community-based approaches to preventing crime and repairing its damage have existed for centuries. However, in the punative atmosphere of contemporary criminal justice systems, they are often marginalized and operate under the radar. Beyond Survival puts these strategies front and center as real alternatives to today’s failed models of confinement and “correction.”

In this collection, a diverse group of authors focuses on concrete and practical forms of redress and accountability, assessing existing practices and marking paths forward. They use a variety…


Partial Justice

By Nicole Hahn Rafter,

Book cover of Partial Justice: Women, Prisons and Social Control

Ashley Rubin Author Of The Deviant Prison: Philadelphia's Eastern State Penitentiary and the Origins of America's Modern Penal System, 1829-1913

From the list on the origins of American prisons.

Who am I?

I have been captivated by the study of prisons since my early college years. The fact that prisons are so new in human history still feels mind-blowing to me. I used to think that prisons have just always been around, but when you realize they are actually new, that has major implications. This is nowhere more clear than at the beginning: how hard it was to get to the point where prisons made sense to people, to agree on how prisons should be designed and managed, and to keep on the same path when prisons very quickly started to fail. It’s still puzzling to me.

Ashley's book list on the origins of American prisons

Why did Ashley love this book?

Prisons were originally built for men (really, white men), not for women. But women were sent to prison, just not in big enough numbers to merit their own facilities until much later. Women were also viewed as a difficult population by reformers and prison administrators alike: Women who committed crimes were deemed so morally repugnant that they could not be rehabilitated, so the routines and purposes of prisons seemed not to apply to them (prisons were originally supposed to rehabilitate their prisoners).

As a small and unprofitable population (because they were assigned unprofitable labor like sewing and laundry), women prisoners were considered especially burdensome. Using the prison histories of three differently situated states, Rafter describes the experiences of incarcerated women and how those experiences were shaped by their unique position and the biases about women criminals.

By Nicole Hahn Rafter,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Partial Justice as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Contemporary Research on crime, prisons, and social control has largely ignored women. Partial Justice, the only full-scale study of the origins and development of women's prisons in the United States, traces their evolution from the late eighteenth century to the present day. It shows that the character of penal treatment was involved in the very definition of womanhood for incarcerated women, a definition that varied by race and social class.Rafter traces the evolution of women's prisons, showing that it followed two markedly different models. Custodial institutions for women literally grew out of men's penitentiaries, starting from a separate room for…


Punching the Air

By Ibi Zoboi, Yusef Salaam,

Book cover of Punching the Air

Padma Venkatraman Author Of Born Behind Bars

From the list on families with incarcerated members.

Who am I?

Over 5 million children in the United States have had at least one parent in a correctional facility at one time or another. These children, and their parents, are our neighbors, our family, our friends. We might see them at a soccer match, or sit beside them at public libraries, or gather together with them regularly in prayer. They need to see themselves portrayed in a meaningful manner in the books they read. This shortlist includes two picture books, a middle-grade novel, and two young adult titles. I'm passionate about books on this topic because equity and inclusiveness and vital to me; and because I think excellent books such as these may enable us to start nuanced discussions and enhance our compassion. 

Padma's book list on families with incarcerated members

Why did Padma love this book?

If you’ve ever wondered about the difference between writing that is spare and writing that is sparse, read this phenomenal verse novel for young adults. Punching The Air is a stunning example of eloquence and a testament to the power of poetry, created by award author Ibi Zoboi and prison reform activist, motivational speaker and member of the exonerated five, Yusef Salaam. As lyrical as it is profound, this is the story of one young man’s incredible strength and resilience; a young man able to preserve his humanity and compassion as he battles against oppression and systemic racism.

By Ibi Zoboi, Yusef Salaam,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Punching the Air as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From award-winning, bestselling author Ibi Zoboi and prison reform activist Yusef Salaam of the Exonerated Five comes a powerful YA novel in verse about a boy who is wrongfully incarcerated. Perfect for fans of Jason Reynolds, Walter Dean Myers, and Elizabeth Acevedo.

The story that I thought

was my life

didn't start on the day

I was born

Amal Shahid has always been an artist and a poet. But even in a diverse art school, he's seen as disruptive and unmotivated by a biased system. Then one fateful night, an altercation in a gentrifying neighborhood escalates into tragedy. "Boys just…


Book cover of I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself: A Novel

Alison B. Hart Author Of The Work Wife

From Alison's 3 favorite reads in 2023.

Who am I?

Author Recovering personal assistant Soccer player Reader

Alison's 3 favorite reads in 2023

Why did Alison love this book?

The premise of this speculative fiction is simple but wild: in the near future, “criminals” are given an extra shadow that follows them wherever they go, rain or shine. The narrator, a Shadester named Kris, is a new mother whose wife Beau has died in childbirth, earning their daughter her very own automatic shadow assignment.

The story is told in gorgeous experimental prose, a mix of letters to Beau, pop quizzes, shopping lists, and short vignettes that trace the contours of queer love, parenting, shame, and resistance. As the “squish-faced kid” butterflies into a fiery teen, she and Kris find their footing and voice alongside an extended family of fellow misfits.

This is a book for anyone who takes their politics with a dash of kink and a shot of hope and humor.

By Marisa Crane,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Dept. of Speculation meets Black Mirror in this lyrical, speculative debut about a queer mother raising her daughter in an unjust surveillance state

In a United States not so unlike our own, the Department of Balance has adopted a radical new form of law enforcement: rather than incarceration, wrongdoers are given a second (and sometimes, third, fourth, and fifth) shadow as a reminder of their crime—and a warning to those they encounter. Within the Department, corruption and prejudice run rampant, giving rise to an underclass of so-called Shadesters who are disenfranchised, publicly shamed, and deprived of civil rights protections.

Kris…


The New Jim Crow

By Michelle Alexander,

Book cover of The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness

Raina Lipsitz Author Of The Rise of a New Left: How Young Radicals Are Shaping the Future of American Politics

From the list on American politics for open-minded readers.

Who am I?

I’ve been obsessed with politics and social justice since I was a kid, have been writing professionally for over a decade, and have twice interviewed Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. I wrote The Rise of a New Left because I was covering a new generation of political candidates who were challenging old orthodoxies, and I was curious about the leftward shift in U.S. politics: where it came from, who was driving it, how deep it went, and how durable it might be. I try to convey a broader and more nuanced view of the American left and give young women and people of color the credit they deserve for reinvigorating it.

Raina's book list on American politics for open-minded readers

Why did Raina love this book?

I thought I knew a decent amount about mass incarceration, but this book showed me just how much I didn’t know. It also deepened my commitment to fighting for anti-racist laws and enhanced my longstanding interest in defending the rights of incarcerated people. The New Jim Crow inspired me to read and write more about criminal justice issues and awakened my interest in prison abolition and restorative justice. I especially admire, and have sought to emulate, Alexander’s passion; it’s always impressive when an author’s justifiable anger spurs her to write a more extensive and rigorous book than someone who cared less would have produced.

By Michelle Alexander,

Why should I read it?

6 authors picked The New Jim Crow as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Seldom does a book have the impact of Michelle Alexander's The New Jim Crow. Since it was first published in 2010, it has been cited in judicial decisions and has been adopted in campus-wide and community-wide reads; it has been the winner of numerous prizes, including the NAACP Image Award; and it has spent nearly 250 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. Most important of all, it has spawned a whole generation of criminal justice reform activists motivated by Michelle Alexander's unforgettable argument that 'we have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it.'


Book cover of The Costs of Crime and Justice

Brian Forst Author Of Errors of Justice: Nature, Sources and Remedies

From the list on the economics of crime and justice.

Who am I?

Throughout my academic career, my chief scholarly interest has been to assess public policy using coherent theory and rigorous empirical method. The economics of crime and justice offers a powerful framework for achieving these ends.

Brian's book list on the economics of crime and justice

Why did Brian love this book?

Cohen offers a comprehensive sweep of the financial and non-financial consequences of criminal behavior, crime prevention, and society’s response to crime, public and private.  

Crime costs are far-reaching, including medical costs, lost wages, property damage, pain and suffering, and reduced quality of life for victims and the public at large, as well as public expenditures on police, courts, and prisons, and the costs borne by offenders and their families, who often suffer consequences apart from the punishments they receive for committing crime. 

By Mark A. Cohen,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Costs of Crime and Justice as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This book presents a comprehensive view of the financial and non-financial consequences of criminal behavior, crime prevention, and society's response to crime. Crime costs are far-reaching, including medical costs, lost wages, property damage and pain, suffering, and reduced quality of life for victims and the public at large; police, courts, and prisons; and offenders and their families who may suffer consequences incidental to any punishment they receive for committing crime.

The book provides a comprehensive economic framework and overview of the empirical methodologies used to estimate costs of crime. It provides an assessment of what is known and where the…


Eyewitness Testimony

By Elizabeth F. Loftus,

Book cover of Eyewitness Testimony: With a New Preface

Matthew J. Sharps Author Of Processing Under Pressure: Stress, Memory, and Decision-Making in Law Enforcement

From the list on cognitive science and the criminal justice system.

Who am I?

I'm a professor of cognitive and forensic cognitive science. I have consulted on hundreds of criminal cases, most involving violent crime, and have published a body of research on the cognitive dynamics involved in eyewitness memory, officer-involved shootings, and training for IED detection in counterterrorism environments. The dynamics I've studied in the law-enforcement/forensic realm have proven to be important in the realm of firefighting and other first-response emergency services, as I also discuss in my book Thinking Under Pressure. This is an important field of study across the emergency and first response services, and will probably become more important in the future.

Matthew's book list on cognitive science and the criminal justice system

Why did Matthew love this book?

Professor Elizabeth Loftus essentially launched the modern field of eyewitness studies with her experiments on the dynamics of human memory in the eyewitness context, and this book discusses her most important experiments, major studies which reinvigorated this important field.

She demonstrated that memory can be reconfigured in the presence of post-event information, to the degree that a given eyewitness memory may bear no resemblance to the actual events supposedly being remembered.

This is among the most important books in forensic cognitive science, the psychological basis of law enforcement, and the criminal justice system.

Loftus began the studies which culminated in my own book. Her work focused on eyewitness memory, but has implications far beyond that realm in more modern research.

The dynamics she identified operate in realms as disparate as officer-involved shootings, training for the detection of terrorist bombs, and even beliefs in paranormal phenomena and "sightings" of such…

By Elizabeth F. Loftus,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Eyewitness Testimony as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Every year hundreds of defendants are convicted on little more than the say-so of a fellow citizen. Although psychologists have suspected for decades that an eyewitness can be highly unreliable, new evidence leaves no doubt that juries vastly overestimate the credibility of eyewitness accounts. It is a problem that the courts have yet to solve or face squarely.

In Eyewitness Testimony, Elizabeth Loftus makes the psychological case against the eyewitness. Beginning with the basics of eyewitness fallibility, such as poor viewing conditions, brief exposure, and stress, Loftus moves to more subtle factors, such as expectations, biases, and personal stereotypes, all…