States of Confinement

1. Front Matter

   Pages I-XVI

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2. Executions

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

      PDF

   2. Testimony

      • Robert Meeropol

      Pages 3-9

   3. “… Give Me Death”: Capital Punishment and the Limits of American Citizenship

      • Lee Bernstein

      Pages 10-21

   4. Sentencing Children to Death

      • Steven Hawkins

      Pages 22-34

   5. The Ordeal of Mumia Abu-Jamal

      • Daniel R. Williams

      Pages 35-49

3. Blacks and Criminal Justice

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 51-51

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   2. Black Radicalism and an Economy of Incarceration

      • Manning Marable

      Pages 53-59

   3. From the Convict Lease System to the Super-Max Prison

      • Angela Y. Davis

      Pages 60-74

   4. Young Black Americans and the Criminal Justice System

      • Marc Mauer

      Pages 75-84

   5. The New Black Leadership: Gang-Related?

      • Salim Muwakkil

      Pages 85-93

   6. Black Women and Gangs

      • Adrien K. Wing

      Pages 94-105

4. Gender, Sexuality, and Confinement

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 107-107

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   2. Programming and Health Care Accessibility for Incarcerated Women

      • Joanne Belknap

      Pages 109-121

   3. Race, Ethnicity, and Gender in Studies of Incarceration

      • Juanita Díaz-Cotto

      Pages 122-131

   4. Imprisoned Native Women and the Importance of Native Traditions

      • Luana Ross

      Pages 132-143

   5. Military Prostitution in Asia and the United States

      • Alexandra Suh

      Pages 144-158

   6. HIV, AIDS, and Rape in Texas Prisons

      • Brenda Rodriguez

      Pages 159-171

   7. Ritual Killings: Antigay Violence and Reasonable Justice

      • Annjanette Rosga

      Pages 172-188

5. Policing

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 189-189

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The United States has the highest incarceration and execution rate in the industrialized world. Due to bias in policing and sentencing, seventy percent of the nearly two million people incarcerated in U.S. prisons and immigration detention centers are people of color. Statistics like these, and the often unsafe conditions under which people are imprisoned, make an analysis of incarceration urgent and timely. Using a broad multicultural approach, States of Confinement uncovers the political, social, and economic biases in our policing and punishment systems. The distinguished authors of this collection - such as Angela Y. Davis, Manning Marable, Gary Marx, Robert Meeropol (the son of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg), Julie Su (an attorney for immigrants' rights), and Judi Bari (a founder of Earthfirst!) - use their diverse experiences and expertise to discuss troubling abuses of police powers in our society. The issues they expose include racial profiling and sentencing disparities that target African Americans and Latinos, the sexual exploitation of women in prison and police custody, racist and homophobic violence, the policing of Asian Americans and Arabs, the adverse conditions of HIV-positive prisoners, and the use of the Grand Jury and police to undermine political activity. These twenty-seven cogent and accessible essays will appeal to students and educators, as well as anyone concerned about the erosion of democracy and equality in this era of increasing incarceration and police powers.

• AIDS
• capital
• care
• children
• democracy
• gender
• immigration
• Marx
• migration
• police
• society
• statistics
• Tradition
• violence
• women

"This challenge to conventional wisdom about the criminal justice system is needed." - Booklist

"This book is an enormously useful treasury of information, joining powerful personal stories with bold, thoughtful analysis." - Howard Zinn, author of A People s History of the United States

JOY JAMES is Professor of Political Theory, Department of Africana Studies at Brown University. Her books include Transcending the Talented Tenth: Black Leaders and American Intellectuals and The Angela Y. Davis Reader.

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