A history of the United States prison system and its many changes over the years.

"In 1963, more than 30 African American girls, ages 11-14, were arrested for taking part in Civil Rights protests in Americus, Georgia. Then came a greater ordeal: confinement in a Civil-War-era stockade."--Provided by publisher.

When he was fifteen, Kevin took a car for a joyride and got in an accident that seriously injured a pedestrian. Known inside juvenile detention as Strider, he has spent more than two years incarcerated, and has learned the hard way how to survive inside. Strider keeps his head down and continues his schoolwork, and another inmate called Wired gives Strider protection from the gangs in exchange for loans of money and helping Wired cheat on tests. When his parole officer suggests that he apply for early parole, Strider realizes that it would be hard for him to survive on the outside. All the kids he knew have moved on without him, and he has nothing to return to but life with his father since his mother left them. When Strider sees Wired's sister Larkyn come to visit her brother, he is very attracted to her. Maybe with someone like her, Strider can learn how to get by when he gets out. But his hopes that there might be a life for him after juvie are dashed when it becomes clear that Larkyn is just bait to get Strider to bring in contraband for Wired to distribute. Riddled with guilt, Strider feels he doesn't deserve to ever be let out, because he ruined his own life and the life of the victim of the car accident. But then he gets a visit from Aisha, the daughter of the man who was injured in the accident. With Aisha's help, can Strider forgive himself and try to make a life on the outside?

Nothing prepares you for finding your sister's lifeless body covered in blood. But when the police arrest her ex, a man I know is innocent, I can't sit by and do nothing. Not when I've been secretly in love with him for years. Heath may not want my help, but I won't take no for an answer. To catch a killer, I'm forced to take a job at Saint View Prison. Maximum security. The place they send the worst of the worst. But it's not just Heath who doesn't want me there. Rowe, the sinfully sexy head guard has made it clear I don't belong. I'd tell him where to go with my middle finger up, if my skin didn't prickle with awareness every time he touches me. And then there's Liam, hotshot lawyer and my old high school enemy. All that tension and chemistry is still there, burning between us like flames. I need his help, but I'll be damned if I beg for it. With every lie we uncover, every secret we expose, the danger mounts. Until there's only one thing we know for sure. The killer is still out there. And I'm his next target. Locked Up Liars is an adult, #whychoose romance, meaning the main character has more than one love interest. This book contains enemies-to-lovers and romantic suspense / dark themes that may trigger some readers. It is the first book in an ongoing trilogy. Download or 1-click this hot new romance today.

A prison guard teams up with an ex-detective inmate to solve a brutal murder in this thrilling mystery for fans of Rachel Abbott, Ed James, and Joy Ellis. Ariadne Teddington is surrounded by people who lie, but that is to be expected when you work in prison where every man claims to be innocent. Charlie Bell, an ex-police detective, now finds himself in that prison serving time for murder after taking the law into his own hands. Now, when a fellow inmate is killed Charlie is asked to investigate the case from the inside. Soon he finds himself working with Ariadne, but she is a guard, he is an inmate and some lines should never be crossed . . . Can two people on different sides of the law come together to solve the case? And do the answers lie closer to home than anyone ever imagined? Praise for Locked Up “Tense and claustrophobic, with a spine-chilling denouement!” —Caro Ramsay, author of the Anderson and Costello series “A brilliant new and authentic voice in crime fiction—GB Williams knows how to tell a story and tell it well.” —Katherine John, author of the Trevor Joseph series and By Any Name

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR GENERAL NON-FICTON ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEWS' 10 BEST BOOKS LONG-LISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST, CURRENT INTEREST CATEGORY, LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZES "Locking Up Our Own is an engaging, insightful, and provocative reexamination of over-incarceration in the black community. James Forman Jr. carefully exposes the complexities of crime, criminal justice, and race. What he illuminates should not be ignored." —Bryan Stevenson, author of Just Mercy and founder of the Equal Justice Initiative "A beautiful book, written so well, that gives us the origins and consequences of where we are . . . I can see why [the Pulitzer prize] was awarded." —Trevor Noah, The Daily Show Former public defender James Forman, Jr. is a leading critic of mass incarceration and its disproportionate impact on people of color. In Locking Up Our Own, he seeks to understand the war on crime that began in the 1970s and why it was supported by many African American leaders in the nation’s urban centers. Forman shows us that the first substantial cohort of black mayors, judges, and police chiefs took office amid a surge in crime and drug addiction. Many prominent black officials, including Washington, D.C. mayor Marion Barry and federal prosecutor Eric Holder, feared that the gains of the civil rights movement were being undermined by lawlessness—and thus embraced tough-on-crime measures, including longer sentences and aggressive police tactics. In the face of skyrocketing murder rates and the proliferation of open-air drug markets, they believed they had no choice. But the policies they adopted would have devastating consequences for residents of poor black neighborhoods. A former D.C. public defender, Forman tells riveting stories of politicians, community activists, police officers, defendants, and crime victims. He writes with compassion about individuals trapped in terrible dilemmas—from the men and women he represented in court to officials struggling to respond to a public safety emergency. Locking Up Our Own enriches our understanding of why our society became so punitive and offers important lessons to anyone concerned about the future of race and the criminal justice system in this country.

A groundbreaking reassessment of the American prison system, challenging the widely accepted explanations for our exploding incarceration rates In Locked In, John Pfaff argues that the factors most commonly cited to explain mass incarceration -- the failed War on Drugs, draconian sentencing laws, an increasing reliance on private prisons -- tell us much less than we think. Instead, Pfaff urges us to look at other factors, especially 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. An authoritative, clear-eyed account of a national catastrophe, Locked In is "a must-read for anyone who dreams of an America that is not the world's most imprisoned nation" (Chris Hayes, author of A Colony in a Nation). It 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.