Free Downloads A Pound Of Flesh: Monetary Sanctions As Punishment For The Poor (Amer Sociological Association's Rose Ser)

                
              
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A Pound Of Flesh: Monetary Sanctions As Punishment For The Poor (Amer Sociological Association's Rose Ser)
Over seven million Americans are either incarcerated, on probation, or on parole, with their criminal records often following them for life and affecting access to higher education, jobs, and housing. Court-ordered monetary sanctions that compel criminal defendants to pay fines, fees, surcharges, and restitution further inhibit their ability to reenter society. In A Pound of Flesh, sociologist Alexes Harris analyzes the rise of monetary sanctions in the criminal justice system and shows how they permanently penalize and marginalize the poor. She exposes the damaging effects of a little-understood component of criminal sentencing and shows how it further perpetuates racial and economic inequality.Harris draws from extensive sentencing data, legal documents, observations of court hearings, and interviews with defendants, judges, prosecutors, and other court officials. She documents how low-income defendants are affected by monetary sanctions, which include fees for public defenders and a variety of processing charges. Until these debts are paid in full, individuals remain under judicial supervision, subject to court summons, warrants, and jail stays. As a result of interest and surcharges that accumulate on unpaid financial penalties, these monetary sanctions often become insurmountable legal debts which many offenders carry for the remainder of their lives. Harris finds that such fiscal sentences, which are imposed disproportionately on low-income minorities, help create a permanent economic underclass and deepen social stratification.A Pound of Flesh delves into the court practices of five counties in Washington State to illustrate the ways in which subjective sentencing shapes the practice of monetary sanctions. Judges and court clerks hold a considerable degree of discretion in the sentencing and monitoring of monetary sanctions and rely on individual values—such as personal responsibility, meritocracy, and paternalism—to determine how much and when offenders should pay. Harris shows that monetary sanctions are imposed at different rates across jurisdictions, with little or no state government oversight. Local officials’ reliance on their own values and beliefs can also push offenders further into debt—for example, when judges charge defendants who lack the means to pay their fines with contempt of court and penalize them with additional fines or jail time.A Pound of Flesh provides a timely examination of how monetary sanctions permanently bind poor offenders to the judicial system. Harris concludes that in letting monetary sanctions go unchecked, we have created a two-tiered legal system that imposes additional burdens on already-marginalized groups.
Series: Amer Sociological Association's Rose Ser
Paperback: 216 pages
Publisher: Russell Sage Foundation; 1 edition (June 8, 2016)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 087154461X
ISBN-13: 978-0871544612
Product Dimensions:  6 x 0.9 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review:  4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #117,468 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)   #97 in Books > Law > Criminal Law > Criminal Procedure   #138 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Social Sciences > Poverty   #302 in Books > Law > Rules & Procedures
Dr. Harris has written a truly eye-opening, thoroughly researched book. For those interested in criminal justice, Alexes Harris reveals the inequalities in a system that imposes what become lifelong monetary penalties for the poor. I had no idea these practices existed.
I have had the honor of having Professor Alexis Harris as my instructor for her Sociology course on juvenile and criminal justice, HIV/AIDS, and poverty and homelessness several months ago. This book was published near the end of the quarter. Shortly after the final, I was able to run up to her and thank her for providing me one of the only courses which actually made me feel like I am finding better places. What I mean is.. her work makes me believe I am in the right track towards developing an education and career in social justice. This book is an intense resource of information regarding the issues I mentioned earlier which tie into racism, sexism, and ableism within the US. It is thoroughly written in a way one can understand the main points and read through the information about statistics, crime and punishment, real stories, and much more. I plan to reread this again after taking an introduction to law course, but I highly recommend this book to anyone who has an interest or concern about monetary sanctions (LFO's), even if it's not the most fun thing to read. And lastly, at risk of putting Harris on blast, her health has been compromised and, as her former student at the UW, I ask you to strongly consider contributing to her cause - contribute to fighting cancer in some way at least once, purchase this book, or even just tweet to her.Terra
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