Through the stories of prisoners and their families, including her own family’s experiences, Maya Schenwar shows how the institution that locks up 2.3 million Americans and decimates poor communities of color is shredding the ties that, if nurtured, could foster real collective safety. As she vividly depicts here, incarceration takes away the very things that might enable people to build better lives. But looking toward a future beyond imprisonment, Schenwar profiles community-based initiatives that successfully deal with problems—both individual harm and larger social wrongs—through connection rather than isolation, moving toward a safer, freer future for all of us.

"Pfaff, let there be no doubt, is a reformer...Nonetheless, he believes that the standard story--popularized in particular by Michelle Alexander, in her influential book, The New Jim Crow--is false. We are desperately in need of reform, he insists, but we must reform the right things, and address the true problem."--Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker A groundbreaking examination of our system of imprisonment, revealing the true causes of mass incarceration as well as the best path to reform In the 1970s, the United States had an incarceration rate comparable to those of other liberal democracies-and that rate had held steady for over 100 years. Yet today, though the US is home to only about 5 percent of the world's population, we hold nearly one quarter of its prisoners. Mass incarceration is now widely considered one of the biggest social and political crises of our age. How did we get to this point? Locked In is a revelatory investigation into the root causes of mass incarceration by one of the most exciting scholars in the country. Having spent fifteen years studying the data on imprisonment, John Pfaff takes apart the reigning consensus created by Michelle Alexander and other reformers, revealing that the most widely accepted explanations-the failed War on Drugs, draconian sentencing laws, an increasing reliance on private prisons-tell us much less than we think. Pfaff urges us to look at other factors instead, including a major shift in prosecutor behavior that occurred in the mid-1990s, when prosecutors began bringing felony charges against arrestees about twice as often as they had before. He describes a fractured criminal justice system, in which counties don't pay for the people they send to state prisons, and in which white suburbs set law and order agendas for more-heavily minority cities. And he shows that if we hope to significantly reduce prison populations, we have no choice but to think differently about how to deal with people convicted of violent crimes-and why some people are violent in the first place. An authoritative, clear-eyed account of a national catastrophe, Locked In transforms our understanding of what ails the American system of punishment and ultimately forces us to reconsider how we can build a more equitable and humane society.

Regina Jackson, attractive single mom and rising curator of a newly formed arts foundation is in love with her boss, Dr. Dennis Dickerson. Dennis is elusive, at best, and totally by accident, Regina finds herself in a relationship with an incarcerated man, Ray Boden. Dennis makes trips to the prison, seemingly on business, but Regina later finds out that he is dealing drugs in the prison and is in way over his head. Ray is trying to stop the drug trade in Cell block C, while Shaka – Ray’s arch enemy – is trying to get rich by selling cocaine to the other inmates. Ray tries to solicit Regina’s help and they fall in love. In the meantime, Dennis justifies his illegal actions. He is using the money to build his museum and a reputation for himself. On a trip to the prison, Shaka tries to kill him and steals his identity. Shaka succeeds in escaping and goes to the museum to score big money and kill the object of everyone’s affection – Regina. Dennis arrives just in time to save her. Shaka is apprehended and returned to prison. Regina realizes that she truly loves Dennis and her locked down relationship must end. However, her passion for Ray won’t die. Regina agrees to come to the prison to say goodbye. When she arrives, Ray has ‘disappeared’ but she discovers her long lost father who has been incarcerated for over 25 years. Throughout the novel, Regina meets nine women who are in locked down relationships. All of these women share their stories with her which effect the outcome of Regina’s love affair. She realizes that she, in many ways, has been locked down in love. It took the love of a convict to set her free.

Former FAA chief counsel and senior aviation policy official Gerchick unravels the unseen forces and little-known facts that have reshaped our air travel experience since September 11, 2001. With wry humor and unique insight, he exposes the new normal of air travel: from the packed planes and myriad hassles of everyday flying to the alchemy of air fares.

Where are the seekers, the free thinkers, the advocates, the rebels?