Hard Time Blues: How Politics Built a Prison Nation (Hardcover)

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Amazon.com Review
Consider this an anti-anticrime book. Journalist Sasha Abramsky believes America's exploding prison population is a fatal threat to civil society: "A democracy collapses in on itself if a significant percentage of the population are imprisoned for crimes committed because of economic want and the lack of legitimate jobs." The numbers tell a harsh story: a quarter century ago, fewer than half a million people were behind bars in the United States; today that figure is more than two million. In Hard Time Blues, Abramsky zeroes in on the experiences of Billy Ochoa, a nonviolent repeat offender who finds himself on the losing end of three-strikes laws, and Pete Wilson, the former governor of California whose political successes were tied to crime-fighting initiatives. The most interesting parts of the book focus on the political consequences of mass incarceration. In some states, 10 percent of the black population is in prison. Others disenfranchise felony offenders. It's possible to believe the American political scene would look rather different today if these criminals were also voters. Despite these interesting observations, Hard Time Blues may have a hard time of its own appealing to readers whose own sympathies extend more to the victims of crime than the perpetrators. --John Miller

From Publishers Weekly
Journalist Abramsky delivers a carefully rendered, emotionally charged portrait of America's embrace of maximum imprisonment and punitive justice over the past two decades. Focusing on opponents of rehabilitative ideals and casualties of punitive practices, Abramsky zeroes in on two principal figures: former California governor Pete Wilson, who hitched his wagon to the 1990s war on crime, and Billy Ochoa, a hapless middle-aged heroin addict who, under Wilson's popular "three strikes" paradigm, received a 300-year sentence for a $2,000 welfare fraud. Abramsky also looks at prosecutors, survivors of crime and victims' rights advocates, and corrections employees who energized the prison juggernaut, offering a poignant, disturbing view contrary to standard "tough on crime" rhetoric. He situates these personal narratives within broader transformations in urban life, public safety and media coverage of crime between the Carter and Clinton eras, whereby many politicians (particularly Wilson, Reagan and Gingrich) fortified their careers with sweeping, draconian laws in response to such phenomena as crack-related violence. The sad case of Ochoa, a nonviolent career criminal who poses little threat to society relative to the expense and harshness of his punishment, reveals what Abramsky interprets as the decimation and electoral disenfranchisement of minority communities via imprisonment. Abramsky skillfully navigates a difficult proposition: that while particular crimes like Polly Klass's murder (and the crack epidemic generally) are horrifying and demand justice, the wholesale forfeit of civil liberties and race-related mass imprisonment generated by the drug war will threaten society in the long term. The vibrant personal accounts in Abramsky's jeremiad distinguish it in a crowded field. Agent, Paul Chung.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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First Sentence:
Billy Ochoa had been living with his younger sister Virginia, her daughter, and her sick son Arthur, since he had been expelled from the Weingart Center halfway house on November 11, 1994, where he had lived after serving a couple of years in prison for welfare fraud in the early 1990s. Read the first page Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Los Angeles, Sasha Abramsky, Billy Ochoa, Pete Wilson, New York, United States, San Diego, Bill Clinton, Sasha Ahramsky, White House, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Mike Reynolds, Polly Klaas, African American, Governor Wilson, Kathleen Brown, Boyle Heights, George Bush, Old Folsom, California Peace Officers Association, Cherry Hill, Eastern Penitentiary, York City, Administrative Segregation New!
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6 Reviews 5 star:  (4) 4 star:  (2) 3 star:    (0) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review 4.7 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews   7 of 7 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars timely and informative, January 8, 2002 By  Henry Greene (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews Does a great job of explaining both the causes and the consequences of the prison-building and sentencing trends of the past couple decades, and it was eye-opening even for a californian who has followed the debate over 3 strikes fairly closely in the news. It's thorough and balanced, avoiding the simplistic victim-versus-criminal rhetoric which seems to pervade much debate on these issues. Eminently readable too, given the complicated subject. Definitely recommended... Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   8 of 9 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars fascinating and important book!, January 13, 2002 By  Diane P. (Baltimore, MD) - See all my reviews I just finished reading this book and highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in the social and political future of this "prison nation." After reading Hard Time Blues it becomes clear that the problem in this country is not just crime but politicians who use tough on crime rhetoric in order to advance their campaigns. Abramsky shows how "three strikes" laws were created out of this context and often contribute more to social problems than fix them. The costly effect of imprisoning people for low level offenses is pointed out statistically all the time, yet it wasn't until I read this book that I realized the history behind the numbers. The reality that so much money is being paid to house people on drug convictions is a tragedy of increasingy proportions, as is the fact that most of those who go to jail are black and Latino despite the wide cross-section of people in this society who use illegal drugs. Hard Time Blues does a great job of showing another side of "broken windows" policing- the individuals who are sentenced to useless lives in jail and are not even given the opportunity to become productive citizens. It is time that this country start exploring alternatives to this pattern, and Abramsky's book is a crucial part of this story which will hopefully inform more people of the failure of "three strikes" and the desperate need for change. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   7 of 8 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Thoughtful Wake-up Call, January 10, 2002 By  Nancy Gutmann "nancy_gutmann" (Brookline, MA United States) - See all my reviews Sasha Abramsky's Hard Time Blues does a skillful job of presenting the symbiotic relationship of politics and prisons. In periods when the crime rate is declining, politicians nonetheless use the threat of crime to gain popularity, win elections, and pass stringent sentencing guidelines. Abramsky blends discussion and analysis of the political scene with well-told personal stories of people sentenced to life sentences for minor crimes. When a welfare cheat caught for receiving $2100 illegally is sent away for life at $20,000/year, the whole country pays, both literally and figuratively. This is the best book about the social/political scene that I've read in a long time, a must-read for any citizen who wants to think about how things work, as well as enjoy some good prose. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this) Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review › See all 6 customer reviews...		Ad feedback   Most Recent Customer Reviews 4.0 out of 5 stars An interesting critique of CA's criminal justice system In "Hard Time Blues", Sasha Abramsky effectively shows how disproportionate state prison sentences can be under California's Three Strikes Law. Read more Published on November 3, 2002 4.0 out of 5 stars Hard Time Blues: How Politics Built a Prison Nation The prison population is growing, argues Sasha Abramsky, even as crime rates fall. Moreover, the politics of crime fighting, playing on our visceral fears and leading to our... Read more Published on March 24, 2002 by Vivian E. Berg 5.0 out of 5 stars you've got to read this to understand our justice system It isn't even a matter of liberals versus conservatives anymore. When a 53-year-old man can be sentenced to spend the rest of his life in jail for committing $2,100 of welfare... Read more Published on January 9, 2002 by Martha Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews › See all 6 customer reviews...

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