237, Keramet Reiter
237, Keramet Reiter
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23/7
Pelican Bay Prison and the Rise of Long-Term Solitary Confinement

Author: Keramet Reiter

Narrator: C.S.E. Cooney

Unabridged: 9 hr 57 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 10/31/2016

Synopsis

Originally meant to be brief and exceptional, solitary confinement in U.S. prisons has become long-term and common. Prisoners spend twenty-three hours a day in featureless cells, with no visitors or human contact for years on end, and they are held entirely at administrators' discretion. Keramet Reiter tells the history of one "supermax," California's Pelican Bay State Prison, whose extreme conditions recently sparked a statewide hunger strike by 30,000 prisoners. This book describes how Pelican Bay was created without legislative oversight, in fearful response to 1970s radicals; how easily prisoners slip into solitary; and the mental havoc and social costs of years and decades in isolation. The product of fifteen years of research in and about prisons, this book provides essential background to a subject now drawing national attention.

About Keramet Reiter

Keramet Reiter, an assistant professor in the Department of Criminology, Law and Society and at the School of Law at the University of California, Irvine, has been an associate at Human Rights Watch and testified about the impacts of solitary confinement before state and federal legislators. She lives in Los Angeles.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Brad

Powerful and extensively detailed I've gotten involved with Defy Ventures in the past year. As part of this, I am planning to go to Pelican Bay this year. This book helped me understand the background of why Pelican Bay and the SHU exist in the first place. More importantly, it helped me have context......more

Goodreads review by Lizet

Amazing review of what the solitary confinement process is like. I loved the implementation of personal stories of people that have lived through it. Overall I thought it was a great mix of history and anecdotes that added to the purpose of the book......more

Goodreads review by Leftbanker

Never once does the author answer the question of how prisons should deal with inmates who assault and murder other prisoners or guards. Unfortunately, this book has little to do with solitary confinement, or at least not enough. This book does not focus at all on the effects of long-term confinement......more

Goodreads review by Bella

I REALLY wanted to like this book, but it lacked a lot of content. Even though it gave you some background on how Pelican Bay and the SHU came about, I just felt it was too statistically out there. The author focused mainly on two individuals. While it gave you a little glimpse on the inside of what......more

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