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alyshadeshae's review against another edition
5.0
It's one thing to "know" that systematic racism is a problem in our country and judicial system. It's another thing entirely to learn the numbers and multiple sides of the history that helped put this system into place.
rorymassey's review against another edition
4.0
Surprisingly unpolitical book for such a seemingly politically charged topic. This book takes a realistic and honest look at problems particularly in the intercity. I come from a very small town and have only visited these big cities so this book really brought home the struggles that these cities have with racism and crime. The only problem that I have with this book is that it talks almost exclusively about Washington D. C. I really don't know how the author could have included other cities seeing that his experience was with Washington D. C. but it did seem that he kind of painted with a broad brush based on his experiences with D. C. The observations were spot on though and the author presented (how I see it) a bipartisan view on a serious problem.
smtenaglia's review against another edition
5.0
Forman deftly uses D.C. as a microcosm of the various policies- The War on Drugs, the War on Crime, warrior policing, stop and search, mandatory minimums, to name a few- that have transformed and defined our criminal justice system over the past 4 decades. It’s the accumulation of these individual policy decisions that has contributed to the rapid development of mass incarceration for our nation’s black Americans. He leaves us with some important questions to consider:
“What if we came to see that justice requires accountability, but not vengeance? What if we came to understand that equal protection under the law, including equal protection for black victims too long denied it, doesn’t have to mean the harshest available punishment? What if we strive for compassion, for mercy, for forgiveness?”
“What if we came to see that justice requires accountability, but not vengeance? What if we came to understand that equal protection under the law, including equal protection for black victims too long denied it, doesn’t have to mean the harshest available punishment? What if we strive for compassion, for mercy, for forgiveness?”
bellalanzante's review against another edition
5.0
This was one of the most wonderful books I’ve ever read on public policy and how it directly affected the War on Drugs/Mass Incarceration. This book was heavily nuanced and the detail in it felt perfectly dense. It read as a lecture rather than a textbook! I truly felt like I learned so much and even found myself crying at times. A must read!!!
lindsayb's review against another edition
5.0
So good! I loved getting Forman's perspective--the context he built regarding guns/violent crimes to drug epidemics were particularly striking.
blondieesquire's review against another edition
5.0
Another must read. It’s well researched and well written, and Forman’s personal stories from his time as a public defender provided all too common examples of the harm caused by our failed criminal justice system.
audaciaray's review against another edition
4.0
This is not a book of theory or solutions, it is a really solid history that focuses on DC and spans about 70 years of policing and incarceration policy and practice. Forman is an engaging writer and as a black man who is former defense attorney who now works in a school that is designed to interrupt the school to prison pipeline, he knows what he's talking about. The chapter about "The MLK Speech" black judges give to black folks coming through court is particularly great. There are also great sections on the media and community hype around "black on black crime" and the advocacy processes for increasing the number of black folks working as police and the ways that black folks in DC led the charge to establish mandatory minimums. He doesn't get too heavy handed about what those policies have yielded in recent years, but rather creates a historical context to better understand WTF is happening. This book is best read in conversation with lots of contemporary analysis that black writers are doing on mass incarceration and anti-blackness in policing. Locking Up Our Own is an important piece of that puzzle.
sarabchard's review against another edition
5.0
Amazing! WhenI bought this book I thought I was buying a book about justice and racial bias. It was all that and so much more. It took me back in history to look at two times that somewhat mirrored our own (the 1st heroin epidemic in the US and the crack epidemic) and how they shaped the attitudes of people,police, government, the justice system today.