Lenore Anderson

In Their Names should be required reading for anyone who believes that the solution to rising crime is more police and more incarceration. Or for anyone who believes that all victims want harsh punishment for those who harmed them.

The author clearly and evenhandedly explains how our recent system of mass incarceration developed, how that system does not, in fact, make our communities safer, and what steps we can take to actually improve public safety.

One theme that really stood out for me is the idea that "hurt people hurt people"--in other words, there are not two separate classes of "victims" and "criminals" but instead these categories largely overlap. People who are victims may turn to crime, and people who engage in criminal activity may become victims. The true path to public safety is to end this cycle and to get victims the help they need.… (meer)