Correction Parole, prison, and the possibility of change

Chicago journalist Austen, author of the acclaimed High Risers (2018), tracks the establishment, demise, and potential return of parole in the U.S. He makes it personal by chronicling the stories of two Illinois men who were among the few remaining inmates eligible for parole, Johnnie Veal and Michael Henderson. Though both were sentenced as teens in the early 1970s, Veal attained notoriety as a Chicago police killer, while Henderson's murder case in East St. Louis was relatively obscure. Both served decades in prison intent on rehabilitation, appearing numerous times before parole boards. Austen not only gets to know the men and their lives, but also the men and women whose often-unpredictable judgments determine their fates in a cycle of heartbreak and hope. In looking at the larger prison system, Austen explores why and how indeterminate sentencing with the possibility of parole fell out of favor in the "tough-on-crime" era and was replaced with mandatory sentencing, and why some are now encouraging a return. Writing in the mode of Alex Kotlowitz, Austen provides a thoughtful and clarifying look at parole and its often-fraught place in the arc of the criminal justice system in the U.S, which "locks up a quarter of the world's incarcerated people."

What the flawed parole system tells us about American (in)justice. As Chicago journalist Austen clearly demonstrates, America's commitment to mass incarceration over the last half century has exacted a staggering human and economic toll. Moreover, the logic of incarceration--what it is meant to achieve in relation to offenders, victims, and the public at large--has remained disastrously ill defined. In this follow-up to his acclaimed debut, High-Risers: Cabrini-Green and the Fate of American Public Housing, Austen explores the senselessness of the parole system. The experiences of Johnnie Veal and Michael Henderson, men convicted of serious crimes at young ages and held in prison for decades, provide illuminating case studies for how the system has gone wrong. Parole decisions have often hinged on irrelevant criteria or impossible standards, and the possibility of an early release from a long sentence often simply amounts to false hope. For those granted parole, other daunting obstacles remain in place: Adequate help in transitioning from prison life is routinely unavailable, and parole supervision often seems designed to catch parolees in infractions in order to send them back behind bars. Systemic racism in policing and discriminatory sentencing guidelines have also meant that nonwhite Americans have suffered disproportionately from these failings. The author's contention that the recent history of the parole system represents an ethical catastrophe is compelling. "Imprisonment became the default response to crime," he writes. "Imprisonment also became the de facto response to poverty, lack of social mobility, addiction, joblessness, housing insecurity, mental health issues, and segregation. A sense of justice in the United States was shaped by a profound lack of mutual responsibility and collective identity." Despite a few clunky passages, Austen argues persuasively that improving the carceral system must involve shifting emphasis from "vengeance and permanent punishment" to genuine rehabilitation and the chance for the incarcerated to lead productive lives after serving their time. A cleareyed, compassionate, urgent appeal for prison reform. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.