FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                         Contacts:Zerline Hughes

Tuesday, June 25, 2013                                                 202.558.7974   x308 or    

                                                                                               202.320.1029

Washington D.C. – Detailing the generational scourge of the criminal justice system on children, families and taxpayers that has made the U.S. a world leader in the rate at which we incarcerate our citizens, the Justice Policy Institute’s first book, “Incarceration Generation” (ISBN 978-0-9892928-0-1). The book will be released Tuesday, June 25, at a book discussion and signing featuring contributing author Julie Stewart, executive director of Families Against Mandatory Minimums at the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, 1313 New York Ave., NW from 3 to 6pm. Additional events will be held in the District on July 9 at Busboys & Poets, and in Baltimore on July 10 at the Open Society Institute. Plans are being made for events in California, Chicago and New York.

“’Incarceration Generation’ is a powerful contribution to the field that speaks to critical aspects of the justice system. It is a terrific partnership effort between JPI and the leading thinkers and do’ers in the field on one of the most critical issues facing society said Marc Schindler, incoming Executive Director of JPI.

“The 19 contributors to this compilation is telling of the partnerships, the decades of advocacy and successful reform, and the dire need to continue juvenile and criminal justice reform on a national level. There are generations impacted by incarceration and its collateral consequences. It’s time to break this legacy.”

“Incarceration Generation” details the myriad criminal injustices that exist in the United States. The essays in the book provide testimonies, statistics on many aspects of incarceration by experts in the field, advocates, and formerly and currently incarcerated individuals. The book also features a foreword written by New York Times Bestseller Michelle Alexander, author of “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindess.”

The soft cover, 10×10-sized book features a timeline poster that graphically displays the ramping up of punitive, ineffective and costly juvenile and criminal justice policies. The timeline from 1969 to 2013 includes events such as the creation of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) by President Richard Nixon, and legislation to stiffen drug offense sentences in 1973 supported by New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller. The poster also highlights events such as the creation of the Corrections Corporation of America in 1983 and the growth of the private prison market, the stream of popular culture television programming on the criminal justice system in the late 1980s, and the fatal shooting of African-American teenager Trayvon Martin by a local vigilante George Zimmerman in 2012. Essays in the book also examine the people most affected by the justice system: the racial and ethnic groups that are disproportionally imprisoned, children and teens, girls and women, people with mental illness, and victims. Other essays examine drug policies, policing, the pretrial process, “problem solving” specialty courts, sentencing, private prisons, parole and re-entry after incarceration, and the economics of our “incarceration generation.” Essays in the book have been contributed by national experts and advocates including: Liz Ryan, executive director of Campaign for Youth Justice; Neill Franklin, police veteran and executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition; Will Marling, executive director of National Organization for Victim Assistance; Judy Greene, director of Justice Strategies; Norman Reimer, executive director of National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers; Greg Carpenter, formerly incarcerated Baltimore community advocate; Nkechi Taifa, senior policy analyst, Open Society Foundations; Robert Schwartz, executive director of the Juvenile Law Center; Alex Friedmann, associate editor of Prison Legal News; Bruce Western, Harvard professor of sociology; and Jasmine Tyler, deputy director of national affairs, Drug Policy Alliance.

To interview an “Incarceration Generation” author or speak to JPI or to get a copy, please contact Zerline Hughes at 202.558.7974 x. 308 or [email protected].

The Justice Policy Institute, based in Washington, DC, is working to reduce the use of incarceration and the justice system and promote policies that improve the well-being of all people and communities. For more JPI reports on the criminal justice system, please visit our website at www.justicepolicy.org.