Justice System Reform

James Comey, former FBI Director and New York Times bestselling author of A Higher Loyalty, uses his long career in federal law enforcement to explore issues of justice and fairness in the US justice system. James Comey might best be known as the FBI director that Donald Trump fired in 2017, but...

From Pulitzer Prize–winning author Gilbert King comes a chilling exploration of one of America’s most haunting wrongful conviction cases. Based on the hit podcast, Bone Valley dives into the dark heart of rural Florida, where a young man’s life was upended by a tragic miscarriage of...

In a world where artificial intelligence has replaced work, comfort has replaced purpose, and consequence has been erased, society begins to rot from the inside out. The Cities of Refuge presents a radical answer. Set in a near-future utopia where citizens live on universal basic income, the story follows Elias Thorne—a man who crosses a single line and is instantly cast out of comfort and into a brutal system of consequence. Stripped of entitlement and placed into a desert-based City of Refuge, he must face an unyielding law: if you do not work, you do not eat. This is not a prison. ...

How states are making their legal systems more equitable, seen through the story of a Black man falsely imprisoned for thirty years for murder. In 1987, Ben Spencer, a twenty-two-year-old Black man from Dallas, was convicted of murdering white businessman Jeffrey Young—a crime he didn’t...

An acclaimed legal scholar exposes the Supreme Court’s increasing use of unsigned, unexplained orders to change the law—all behind closed doors The Supreme Court has always had the authority to issue emergency rulings in exceptional circumstances. But since 2017, the Court has dramatically...

This book is the culmination of a lifetime of love and lessons that have shaped my personal journey from a young man in crisis to a champion for children. There were critical moments in my story where self-appointed “Hope Dealers” like my mother, Alice Lovelace, and my educator, Dr. Lorraine Wilson, intervened in my projected course to failure. The lessons I learned from them became the foundation of my own work with and for young people facing challenges that they often did not believe they can face alone: hopelessness, shame, disability, tragic home life, generally summed up as the ...

An accessible guide for activists, educators, and all who are interested in understanding how the prison system oppresses communities and harms individuals. The United States incarcerates more of its residents than any other nation. Though home to 5% of the global population, the United States...

Locked In is a revelatory investigation into the root causes of mass incarceration by one of the most exciting scholars in the country. Having spent 15 years studying the data on imprisonment, John Pfaff takes apart the reigning consensus created by Michelle Alexander and other reformers, revealing that the most widely accepted explanations - the failed War on Drugs, draconian sentencing laws, an increasing reliance on private prisons - tell us much less than we think.

Electronic monitoring. Locked-down drug treatment centers. House arrest. Mandated psychiatric treatment. Data-driven surveillance. Extended probation. These are some of the key alternatives held up as cost-effective substitutes for jails and prisons. But many of these so-called reforms actually widen the net, weaving in new strands of punishment and control, and bringing new populations, who would not otherwise have been subject to imprisonment, under physical control by the state.

Your VoicePrint Is Your Weapon™ 50 Fifth-Dimensional Prayers to Break Chains, Govern Realms, and Release Dominion By Dr. Tieasha Stephens This is not a book. It is a portal. It is a scroll opened from the fifth-dimensional realm—written for the remnant who no longer beg for breakthrough but legislate as divine government in the earth. Your VoicePrint Is Your Weapon™ is a throne-issued repository of decrees, dimensional prayers, and prophetic blueprints for those who war from their seated position in Christ. These pages are not inspirational—they are instructional, judicial, and ...

Trauma from abuse can crush your spirit unless you confront your enemies. After years of stuffing her emotions, putting on a happy face, and enduring hardship like a good airman, Jakia Lindley realized she needed to stand toe-to-toe against her foes. She needed to fight back.

"In God's Will" "In God's Will" is a gripping, emotionally charged journey through the eyes of Demetric Richardson, a 19-year-old Black teenager from Saginaw, Michigan, wrongfully convicted of a murder he did not commit. Sentenced to life in prison, Demetric's world collapses as he loses his family, his hope, and nearly his life. But fate intervenes when he finds an ancient bottle in the prison yard that holds a powerful genie, offering him three wishes that will change the course of his destiny. This hauntingly beautiful story explores the depths of loss, the struggle for justice, and the ...

In Get Off My Neck, Debbie Hines draws on her unique perspective as a trial lawyer, former Baltimore prosecutor, and assistant attorney general for the State of Maryland to argue that US prosecutors, as the most powerful players in the criminal justice system, systematically target and criminalize Black people. Hines describes her disillusionment as a young Black woman who initially entered the profession with the goal of helping victims of crimes, only to discover herself aiding and abetting a system that prizes plea bargaining, speedy conviction, and excessive punishment above all else.

How can we be proud of a system of justice that often pressures the innocent to plead guilty? How can we claim that justice is equal when we imprison thousands of poor Black men for relatively modest crimes but rarely prosecute rich white executives who commit crimes having far greater impact? Federal Judge Jed S. Rakoff, a leading authority on white-collar crime, explores these and other puzzles in Why the Innocent Plead Guilty and the Guilty Go Free, a startling account of our broken legal system. 

In a world where artificial intelligence has erased the need for survival, humanity faces a deeper crisis: purpose. The Cities of Refuge were built as the final answer. When a citizen refuses to contribute, society does not punish them—it rescues them. Stripped of comfort and placed into a brutal system of consequence, every individual enters with a debt. Every meal must be earned. Every privilege must be rebuilt. The rule is absolute: if you do not work, you do not eat. Soren Hayes has spent years buried beneath the utopia, choosing apathy over purpose. But when the system pulls him out ...

They’re Still Kids: A Juvenile Probation Guide for Parents, Caregivers, Caseworkers, and Juvenile Offenders This compassionate, no-nonsense guide offers a rare and vital look into the world of juvenile probation. Written for families, educators, youth advocates, and young people themselves, They’re Still Kids delivers clarity in a system often clouded by confusion and stigma. Through 15 informative chapters, readers will explore every stage of the juvenile probation process—from arrest and court conditions to rehabilitation and reform. With real-life case studies, expert insights, and...

In Profit and Punishment, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist exposes the tragedy of modern-day debtors prisons, and how they destroy the lives of poor Americans swept up in a system designed to penalize the most impoverished. “Intimate, raw, and utterly scathing” — Heather Ann Thompson...

Unlock the hidden layers of the world's penal systems with International Perspectives on Penal Systems. This comprehensive eBook delves deep into the intricacies of penal reform movements, offering a global viewpoint on the effectiveness of different penal policies. Begin your journey with a historical overview of penal systems, understanding the importance and the drivers behind reforms. Explore the significant role of human rights and see how international standards shape prison policies across continents. Investigate real-world case studies that highlight human rights violations and ...

In June 1985, a young Black man named Darryl Hunt was falsely convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the rape and murder of a white copyeditor at the local paper. Many in the community believed him innocent and crusaded for his release even as subsequent trials and appeals reinforced his sentence. Finally, in 2003, the tireless efforts of his attorney combined with an award-winning series of articles by Phoebe Zerwick in the Winston-Salem Journal led to the DNA evidence that exonerated Hunt.  

What if everything you think you know about crime and punishment is just one moment in a much longer—and stranger—story? And what if understanding that story is the key to reimagining justice today? You live in a world of police, prisons, and headlines about crime waves and crackdowns, yet so much of it feels confusing, unfair, or out of control. Debates about safety, reform, and justice are loud and polarized, while the deeper questions—What is a crime? Who gets punished, and why?—rarely get answered. Without a bigger historical view, it’s easy to feel stuck between fear and ...