Halfway home : race, punishment, and the afterlife of mass incarceration / Reuben Jonathan Miller

A "persuasive and essential" (Matthew Desmond) work that will forever change how we look at life after prison in America through Miller's "stunning, and deeply painful reckoning with our nation's carceral system" (Heather Ann Thompson). Each year, more than half a million Americans are released from prison and join a population of twenty million people who live with a felony record. Reuben Miller, a chaplain at the Cook County Jail in Chicago and now a sociologist studying mass incarceration, spent years alongside prisoners, ex-prisoners, their friends, and their families to understand the lifelong burden that even a single arrest can entail. What his work revealed is a simple, if overlooked truth: life after incarceration is its own form of prison. The idea that one can serve their debt and return to life as a full-fledge member of society is one of America's most nefarious myths. Recently released individuals are faced with jobs that are off-limits, apartments that cannot be occupied and votes that cannot be cast. As The Color of Law exposed about our understanding of housing segregation, Halfway Home shows that the American justice system was not created to rehabilitate. Parole is structured to keep classes of Americans impoverished, unstable, and disenfranchised long after they've paid their debt to society. Informed by Miller's experience as the son and brother of incarcerated men, captures the stories of the men, women, and communities fighting against a system that is designed for them to fail. It is a poignant and eye-opening call to arms that reveals how laws, rules, and regulations extract a tangible cost not only from those working to rebuild their lives, but also our democracy. As Miller searchingly explores, America must acknowledge and value the lives of its formerly imprisoned citizens. PEN America 2022 John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction Finalist Winner of the 2022 PROSE Award for Excellence in Social Sciences 2022 PROSE Awards Finalist 2022 PROSE Awards Category Winner for Cultural Anthropology and Sociology An NPR Selected 2021 Books We Love As heard on NPRs Fresh Air "In the United States, more than half a million people are released from jails and prisons each year, joining the nearly 20 million Americans who live with a felony record. Reuben Jonathan Miller, a sociologist and a former chaplain at the Cook County Jail in Chicago, spent years walking alongside incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people, their friends, and their families as they tried to put their lives back together. What he learned is an overlooked truth: life after incarceration is its own form of prison. The idea that someone can serve a debt and return as a full-fledged member of society is one of America's most persistent myths. The recently released return to an alternate legal reality that restricts their ability to work, or find housing, or spend time with their families. Informed by Miller's experience as the son and brother of formerly incarcerated men, Halfway Home is a poignant and eye-opening call to arms that exposes how the policies we've enacted prevent people from rebuilding their lives and how mass incarceration has fundamentally changed our democracy. As Miller searchingly explores, America must acknowledge and value the lives of its formerly imprisoned citizens.". Sommario fornito dall'editore "Reuben Miller, a chaplain at the Cook County Jail in Chicago and now a sociologist studying mass incarceration, spent years alongside prisoners, ex-prisoners, their friends, and their families to understand the lifelong burden that even a single arrest can entail. What his work revealed is a simple, if overlooked truth: life after incarceration is its own form of prison. The idea that one can serve their debt and return to life as a full-fledged member of society is one of America's most nefarious myths. Recently released individuals are faced with jobs that are off-limits, apartments that cannot be occupied and votes that cannot be cast. Informed by his experience as the son and brother of incarcerated men, Miller captures the stories of the men, women, and communities fighting against a system that is designed for them to fail. It is a poignant and eye-opening call to arms that reveals how laws, rules, and regulations extract a tangible cost not only from those working to rebuild their lives, but also our democracy. As Miller searchingly explores, America must acknowledge and value the lives of its formerly imprisoned citizens."-- Provided by publisher "Reuben Miller, a chaplain at the Cook County Jail in Chicago and now a sociologist studying mass incarceration, spent years alongside prisoners, ex-prisoners, their friends, and their families to understand the lifelong burden that even a single arrest can entail. What his work revealed is a simple, if overlooked truth: life after incarceration is its own form of prison. The idea that one can serve their debt and return to life as a full-fledged member of society is one of America's most nefarious myths. Recently released individuals are faced with jobs that are off-limits, apartments that cannot be occupied and votes that cannot be cast. Informed by Miller's experience as the son and brother of incarcerated men, captures the stories of the men, women, and communities fighting against a system that is designed for them to fail. It is a poignant and eye-opening call to arms that reveals how laws, rules, and regulations extract a tangible cost not only from those working to rebuild their lives, but also our democracy. As Miller searchingly explores, America must acknowledge and value the lives of its formerly imprisoned citizens."-- Provided by publisher Cover Title Page Copyright Dedication Something Like an Introduction – 1 – Debt Chapter 1: Confession Chapter 2: Guilt Chapter 3: Sinnerman – II – Wage Chapter 4: Millions of Details Chapter 5: In Victory and Spectacular Defeat Chapter 6: Chains and Corpses – III – Salvation Chapter 7: Treatment Chapter 8: Power Chapter 9: America, Goddamn! Author’s Note Acknowledgments Discover More Appendix: The Gift of Proximity Notes About the Author Miller, a Chicago Cook County Jail chaplain and mass-incarceration sociologist, examines the lifelong realities of a criminal record. He demonstrates how America's justice system is less about rehabilitation and more about structured disenfranchisement. In doing so, he captures the stories of the men, women, and communities fighting against a system that is designed for them to fail--Adapted from jacket A Chicago Cook County Jail chaplain and mass-incarceration sociologist examines the lifelong realities of a criminal record, demonstrating how America's justice system is less about rehabilitation and more about structured disenfranchisement.