Locked in The true causes of mass incarceration--and how to achieve real reform

Pfaff (Fordham Law School) would like to see reform of mass incarceration, but he argues that the "standard story" of the prison buildup has some misconceptions, and that reform built on them will be inadequate and frustrating. Pfaff's notion of the "standard story" for mass incarceration includes the drug war, prisoners serving longer sentences, and private prisons. While not entirely rejecting the "standard story," he argues that prosecutors were the important driver for increasing mass incarceration, especially when crime and arrest rates were falling. Prosecutors are understudied, and no reform legislation has tried to curtail their behavior, unlike police stop-and-frisk and sentencing reform. Pfaff presents a great deal of data in support of his arguments, and his preferred method is to get into the data from states and 3,144 counties to find representative patterns. Consequently, every reader will find a place to disagree with his data, but they will also encounter a well-argued reality check on their beliefs. While at times the argument is overly nuanced, this book is ultimately an original, data-rich, and thought-provoking contribution to the literature that is well worth the reader's time. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. --Paul S. Leighton, Eastern Michigan University

There has been much discussion over past years about the issue of mass incarceration and prison reform in the United States. Pfaff (law, Fordham Law Sch.) adds his voice by illuminating the underlying causes of the high incarceration rates and suggesting ideas for practical, long-lasting reform. Backing up his claims with statistics and well-researched facts, Pfaff challenges several commonly cited causes of high incarceration rates and growth (e.g., the war on drugs) and suggests other factors for this issue such as unchecked prosecutorial power. There are also discussions of topics such as public perception and "tough-on-crime" laws (for example, increasingly punitive public opinion); social, economical, and political challenges like uneven electoral representation of constituents; reform opportunities such as reducing time served by utilizing sentencing guidelines; and more. VERDICT Timely and authoritative, Pfaff's discussion of mass incarceration provides a valuable and accessible addition to the prison reform narrative and an excellent analysis of the U.S. criminal justice system. Recommended for scholars and others interested in criminal justice and sociology.-Jennifer Harris, Southern New Hampshire Univ. Lib., Manchester © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.