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Lockdown on Rikers: Shocking Stories of Abuse and Injustice at New York's Notorious Jail Hardcover – September 29, 2015

4.2 out of 5 stars 43 customer reviews

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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 288 pages
  • Publisher: St. Martin's Press (September 29, 2015)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1250077842
  • ISBN-13: 978-1250077844
  • Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 9.5 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #413,333 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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By Brian J. Greene VINE VOICE on June 30, 2015
Format: Hardcover Vine Customer Review of Free Product ( What's this? )
I think this book is very well done. Buser writes with clarity and honesty in detailing her time working in various capacities and in different segment of Riker's correctional facility. It's fascinating to see what became of a woman who entered her work motivated by a compassionate drive to help others in need, when she encountered the harsh realities of prisoners and prison life. It's such an important conflict inherent in the human condition - some peoples' desire to do good coming up against the harshness of a cold world - and Buser's experiences at Riker's illuminate that conflict so well. The writing is smooth and lively. The reader feels like they're inside Riker's, really understanding the prisoners Buser writes about, as well as the whole atmosphere of the place. It's a well written book, and it's meaningful. It's something anyone interested in doing any type of social work should read; also, anyone interested in understanding what jail life is really like. But you don't have to fall into one of those categories to enjoy it.
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Format: Hardcover Vine Customer Review of Free Product ( What's this? )
I can give this book four stars with no reservations - it's intense, infuriating, powerfully written and full of evocative and heartbreaking examples. I intend to use excerpts in a writing class this upcoming semester.

I do have some reservations - her employment at Rikers ended in 2000, and the book cried out for a coda/epilogue/something to bring her experiences up to the present day and tell the reader "it's worse or better or the same and here's what happened to St. Barnaby, etc." Without that, it's a powerful - but dated - memoir of a very specific experience, but I don't know how it relates to NOW (see below, about an additional epilogue to be included).

I can do the work myself - I can research Rikers, I can find out what changes were made, etc. I certainly don't think it's better! I think Buser was describing the tipping point where it really went off the rails. But I don't know if that's true or not.

I have no problem with a book demanding/expecting me to do more work - no problem, I'm ready and willing. BUT I expect most of my questions to be answered already and I ended this book with a big gap in my knowledge...it's not like she left work six months ago. Her experience pre-dates 9/11, for example - so what did that add to an already-stressed system?

The examples she gives are outrageous - for example, detainees are stuck in Rikers because they can't raise $100 in bail. So let me get this straight - $100 in bail obviously won't deter anybody from skipping out IF they can raise it; but if you can barely raise $100 you probably don't have any resources to flee if they DID let you out. AND the $100 the state doesn't get in bond money is spent a hundred times over in the cost of imprisioning that person for an extended person for what?
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Format: Hardcover Vine Customer Review of Free Product ( What's this? )
Reading this book was a real eye-opener. I’m not involved with the criminal justice system, but I found it to be a fascinating read. I’m sure that anyone who is interested in the social problems that plague our society will agree. The writing style is very easy to read, the content is not. The author shines a light on the brutal realities of prison life and it’s not pretty. There are huge problems with the system, especially overcrowding, but what’s the alternative? This is a thought provoking book that opens the door for discussion. The author left Rikers in 2000. I can only hope that there’s been some improvement in the last fifteen years.
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Format: Hardcover Vine Customer Review of Free Product ( What's this? )
This book was written by a woman who worked at Rikers as a social worker. I learned a lot from this non-fiction book about the prison system. The woman seems compassionate to the inmates, and she cares about their treatment in the "justice" system. This book gave me nightmares, but it's nothing compared to the nightmares so many inmates face each day. This is a book that needs to be read.
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Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
Riveting!

Lockdown on Rikers is particularly valuable as a first-hand account by someone who worked in various mental health units inside Rikers Island jails. While I expected a more statistics-laden study, the compelling real-life stories evoke the depth of tragedy suffered by individuals, representing the failure of a callous and broken system. The book makes clear that while abuse within the correctional facilities is horror enough, the most egregious injustice lies in systemic disadvantages the poor endure in the legal maze. Inability to make bail results in long jail times while awaiting trial, even for those who committed no crime. Unbearable conditions while incarcerated, along with badgering by court-appointed counsel, convince even the innocent to opt for plea bargains that can have life-long consequences. The fact that the court system is logistically incapable of providing trials for even a fraction of those arrested and subjects those who do wait for trial to unreasonable delays blatantly violates the Constitutional guarantee of a speedy trial.

The only drawback that struck me about the book is that the time period covered is not particularly current. An epilogue explains that while the inmate population of Rikers today is approximately half what it was in the 90s, abuses still continue and are rampant throughout the national prison structure. If even a fraction of the conditions remain today, the entire system is in desperate need of reform, beginning with the basic philosophy of restorative versus retributive justice. As is, the system serves the best interests of no one and brutalizes our entire society.

To bring more sensitivity to this deplorable situation, Lockdown on Rikers is a must-read book. For an expanded perspective on the topic of injustice for the poor, check out The Divide: American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap by Matt Taibbi.
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