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Abstract: 

Our regular review of the literature features five new books. The topics covered include the areas of penal expansion, justice reinvestment, community organization, desistance from crime, and fighting capital punishment. All of these books have informative insights for the practitioner and the policymaker Judah Schept’s book Progressive Punishment is helpful in reminding us to examine the claims for reform of both the conservative and liberal camps; Schept’s review of the role of liberal benevolence in penal expansion is indeed a cautionary note, as is his warning about the extension of carceral logic and practices into areas of education and welfare. April Bernard’s Transforming Justice adds to the growing literature on desistance by examining the process of women’s commitment to crime desistance. Reviews in this issue include “Progressive Punishment: Job Loss, Jail Growth, and the Neoliberal Logic of Carceral Expansion” by Judah Schept, New York University Press; “Justice Reinvestment: Winding Back Imprisonment” by David Brown, Chris Cuneen, Melanie Schwartz, Julie Stubbs, and Courtney Young, Palgrave; “Ghosts of Organizations Past: Communities of Organizations as Settings for Change” by Dan Ryan, Temple University Press; “Transforming Justice, Transforming Lives: Women’s Pathways to Desistance From Crime” by April Bernard, Lexington Books; and “Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption” by Bryan Stevenson, Spiegel & Grau.

Keywords: Mass incarceration; justice reinvestment; desistance; capital punishment

Affiliations:  1: Contributing Editor.