Texas Tough : The Rise of America's Prison Empire

In the prison business, all roads lead to Texas. A pioneer in criminal justice severity―from assembly-line executions to supermax isolation, from mandatory sentencing to prison privatization―Texas is the most locked-down state in the most incarcerated country in the world. Texas Tough , a sweeping history of American imprisonment from the days of slavery to the present, explains how a plantation-based penal system once dismissed as barbaric became a template for the nation. Drawing on the individual stories as well as authoritative research, Texas Tough reveals the true origins of America's prison juggernaut and points toward a more just and humane future. In The Prison Business, All Roads Lead To Texas. The Most Locked-down State In The Nation Has Led The Way In Criminal Justice Severity, From Assembly-line Executions To Isolation Supermaxes, From Prison Privatization To Sentencing Juveniles As Adults. This History Of American Imprisonment, From The Days Of Slavery To The Present, Shows How A Plantation-based Penal System Once Dismissed As Barbaric Becomes The National Template, And How That Injustice Can Change. Drawing On Convict Accounts, Official Records, And Interviews With Prisoners, Guards, And Lawmakers, The Author, A Historian Reveals The Southern Roots Of Our Present-day Prison Colossus. While Conventional Histories Emphasize The North's Rehabilitative Approach, He Shows How The Retributive And Profit-driven Regime Of The South Ultimately Triumphed. He Argues That Just As Convict Leasing And Segregation Emerged In Response To Reconstruction, So Today's Mass Incarceration, With Its Vast Racial Disparities, Must Be Seen As A Backlash Against Civil Rights. Illuminating The Origins Of America's Prison Juggernaut, This Book Points Toward A More Just And Humane Future. Prison Heartland -- Plantation And Penitentiary -- Worse Than Slavery -- The Agonies Of Reform -- The Penal Colony That Wasn't -- Best In The Nation -- Appeal To Justice -- Retributive Revolution -- The Triumph Of Texas Tough. Robert Perkinson. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 375-466) And Index. A vivid history of America's biggest, baddest prison system and how it came to lead the nation's punitive revolutionIn the prison business, all roads lead to Texas. The most locked-down state in the nation has led the way in criminal justice severity, from assembly-line executions to isolation supermaxes, from prison privatization to sentencing juveniles as adults. Texas Tough, a sweeping history of American imprisonment from the days of slavery to the present, shows how a plantation-based penal system once dismissed as barbaric became the national template. Drawing on convict accounts, official records, and interviews with prisoners, guards, and lawmakers, historian Robert Perkinson reveals the Southern roots of our present-day prison colossus. While conventional histories emphasize the North's rehabilitative approach, he shows how the retributive and profit-driven regime of the South ultimately triumphed. Most provocatively, he argues that just as convict leasing and segregation emerged in response to Reconstruction, so today's mass incarceration, with its vast racial disparities, must be seen as a backlash against civil rights. Illuminating for the first time the origins of America's prison juggernaut, Texas Tough points toward a more just and humane future. A vivid history of Americas biggest, baddest prison system and how it came to lead the nations punitive revolution In the prison business, all roads lead to Texas. The most locked-down state in the nation has led the way in criminal justice severity, from assembly-line executions to isolation supermaxes, from prison privatization to sentencing juveniles as adults. Texas Tough , a sweeping history of American imprisonment from the days of slavery to the present, shows how a plantation-based penal system once dismissed as barbaric became the national template. Drawing on convict accounts, official records, and interviews with prisoners, guards, and lawmakers, historian Robert Perkinson reveals the Southern roots of our present-day prison colossus. While conventional histories emphasize the Norths rehabilitative approach, he shows how the retributive and profit-driven regime of the South ultimately triumphed. Most provocatively, he argues that just as convict leasing and segregation emerged in response to Reconstruction, so todays mass incarceration, with its vast racial disparities, must be seen as a backlash against civil rights. Illuminating for the first time the origins of Americas prison juggernaut, Texas Tough points toward a more just and humane future. In the prison business, all roads lead to Texas. The most locked-down state in the nation has led the way in criminal justice severity, from assembly-line executions to isolation supermaxes, from prison privatization to sentencing juveniles as adults. This history of American imprisonment, from the days of slavery to the present, shows how a plantation-based penal system once dismissed as barbaric becomes the national template, and how that injustice can change. Drawing on convict accounts, official records, and interviews with prisoners, guards, and lawmakers, the author, a historian reveals the Southern roots of our present-day prison colossus. While conventional histories emphasize the North's rehabilitative approach, he shows how the retributive and profit-driven regime of the South ultimately triumphed. He argues that just as convict leasing and segregation emerged in response to Reconstruction, so today's mass incarceration, with its vast racial disparities, must be seen as a backlash against civil rights. Illuminating the origins of America's prison juggernaut, this book points toward a more just and humane future. -- from Back Cover "Although the American prison system is based (somewhat) on the principle of rehabilitation, it still retains, Perkinson says, powerful elements of one of its original influences: retribution. By way of explanation, he examines the country's harshest, largest penal system, that of Texas, the state that reigns supreme in the punishment business. (In one city, Huntsville, almost half its population is in prison and another fifth works in jobs related to keeping them there.) Perkinson explores the history of the state and its penal system, showing how retribution, at least as much as rehabilitation, played a key role in the system's evolution; and, by extension, he sheds light on the evolution of penal systems across the country. The American penal system, he argues, is very much a product of its southern influences (and, as a sure-to-be-controversial corollary to that, the racial imbalance of its prisoners is a kind of backlash against the civil rights movement). A fascinating and often deeply troubling book."--David Pitt, Library journal In The Prison Business, All Roads Lead To Texas. This Sweeping History Of American Imprisonment Shows How A Plantation-based Penal System Once Dismissed As Barbaric Becomes The National Template--and How That Injustice Can Change. Prison Heartland -- Plantation And Penitentiary -- Worse Than Slavery -- The Agonies Of Reform -- The Penal Colony That Wasn't -- Best In The Nation -- Appeal To Justice -- Retributive Revolution -- The Triumph Of Texas Tough. Robert Perkinson. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Prison heartland Plantation & penitentiary "Worse than slavery" The agonies of reform A dream deferred "Best in the nation" Appeal to justice Retributive revolution The triumph of Texas tough.