Race to Incarcerate

A stunning examination of how the United States became the incarceration capital of the world, from one of the country’s leading experts on sentencing policy, race, and the criminal justice system

“A tremendously disturbing and important book. . . . The questions that it poses call for answers that too few of those in power have been brave enough to give.” —Jonathan Kozol

In this revised edition of his seminal book on race, class, and the criminal justice system, Marc Mauer, former executive director of one of the United States’ leading criminal justice reform organizations, offers the most up-to-date look available at three decades of prison expansion in America.

Race to Incarcerate tells the tragic story of runaway growth in the number of prisons and jails and the overreliance on imprisonment to stem problems of economic and social development. Called “sober and nuanced” by Publishers Weekly, Race to Incarcerate documents the enormous financial and human toll of the “get tough” movement, and argues for more humane—and productive—alternatives.

Praise

“An important book. The numbers tell a shocking story.”
San Diego Union-Tribune
Race to Incarcerate explains why prisoners have become commodities and why present policies are draining black communities of their young men.”
—Julian Bond, Chair of the NAACP Board of Directors
“Insightful. . . . Sheds new light on the relationship between drug use, sales, arrests, and race.”
Emerge

News and Reviews

Ava DuVernay’s 13th Features New Press Authors

We are very proud that Ava DuVernay’s Academy Awardnominated documentary 13th features six New Press authors and their books—Miche

Books by Marc Mauer

Invisible Punishment
The Collateral Consequences of Mass Imprisonment

Marc Mauer, Meda Chesney-Lind

Race to Incarcerate
A Graphic Retelling

Sabrina Jones, Marc Mauer

The Meaning of Life
The Case for Abolishing Life Sentences

Marc Mauer, Ashley Nellis

Goodreads Reviews