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Halfway Home

Race, Punishment, and the Afterlife of Mass Incarceration
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( 1,237 ratings, 174 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
In Halfway Home, Reuben Jonathan Miller, chaplain and sociologist, explores the harsh realities faced by over half a million Americans released from prison annually. The book reveals how life after incarceration functions as a continued imprisonment, with released individuals barred from employment, housing, and voting rights. Drawing from personal experience and extensive research, Miller illustrates how the American justice system and parole perpetuate poverty and disenfranchisement, challenging the myth that paying one's debt leads to true freedom.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book is ideal for readers interested in social justice, criminal justice reform, sociology, and the lived experiences of formerly incarcerated people. It is also suited for students, academics, and anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the systemic barriers faced after imprisonment.

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A "persuasive and essential" (Matthew Desmond) work that will forever change how we look at life after prison in America through Miller's "stunning, and deeply painful reckoning with our nation's carceral system" (Heather Ann Thompson).

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Each year, more than half a million Americans are released from prison and join a population of twenty million people who live with a felony record.

Reuben Miller, a chaplain at the Cook County Jail in Chicago and now a sociologist studying mass incarceration, spent years alongside prisoners, ex-prisoners, their friends, and their families to understand the lifelong burden that even a single arrest can entail. What his work revealed is a simple, if overlooked truth: life after incarceration is its own form of prison. The idea that one can serve their debt and return to life as a full-fledged member of society is one of America's most nefarious myths. Recently released individuals are faced with jobs that are off-limits, apartments that cannot be occupied, and votes that cannot be cast.

As The Color of Law exposed about our understanding of housing segregation, Halfway Home shows that the American justice system was not created to rehabilitate. Parole is structured to keep classes of Americans impoverished, unstable, and disenfranchised long after they've paid their debt to society.

Informed by Miller's experience as the son and brother of incarcerated men, Halfway Home captures the stories of the men, women, and communities fighting against a system that is designed for them to fail. It is a poignant and eye-opening call to arms that reveals how laws, rules, and regulations extract a tangible cost not only from those working to rebuild their lives, but also from our democracy. As Miller searchingly explores, America must acknowledge and value the lives of its formerly imprisoned citizens.

PEN America 2022 John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction Finalist

Winner of the 2022 PROSE Award for Excellence in Social Sciences

2022 PROSE Awards Finalist

2022 PROSE Awards Category Winner for Cultural Anthropology and Sociology

An NPR Selected 2021 Books We Love

As heard on NPR's Fresh Air

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Halfway Home is praised as a vital and compelling exploration of racism, crime, and punishment in America. Matthew Desmond, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Evicted, highlights Miller's powerful weaving of moral philosophy, interviews, legal theory, and personal history, tackling justice and redemption in an unjust society. The book stands out for Miller's intimate perspective on incarceration, bringing unique insight and authority to this urgent issue.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780316451482

Publisher: Little, Brown & Company

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 02 June 2022

Country: United States

Imprint: Back Bay Books

Audience: Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 26.0mm

Width: 138.0mm

Height: 208.0mm

Weight: 300g

Pages: 352

About the Author

Reuben Jonathan Miller is a sociologist, criminologist and a social worker who teaches at the University of Chicago in the School of Social Service Administration where he studies and writes about race, democracy, and the social life of the city. He has been a member at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton New Jersey, a fellow at the New America Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation, and a visiting scholar at the University of Texas at Austin and Dartmouth College. A native son of Chicago, he lives with his wife and children on the city's Southside.

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