This strong indictment of the currentprison system, undertaken by tworespected experts on behalf of theAmerican Friends Service Committee,traces the history and features of ourpenal system, offers strong ethical andmoral assessments of it, and lays outa whole new paradigm of criminaljustice based on restorative justice andreconciliation. The book puts forwarda 12-point plan for immediate changes. Beyond Prisons opens a long-needed national dialogue onour responsibilities as citizens and as a nation to provideremediation rather than mere retributive incarceration,answerable to the common good and the justice of God. "A very thought-provoking book. This book challenges us by advocating the abolishment of our current penal system. Laura Magnani, Jamie Bissonette, and Harmon Wray have done an outstanding job researching and stating the inherent problems within our criminal justice system. Beyond Prisons describes the evils of imprisonment and want to exorcise this so called 'criminal justice system' from our society. What they ask for is a new justice paradigm which will not discriminate or be prejudicial to racial minorities and will not be retributive. Restorative justice, peace building and reconciliation are described as hallmarks of this new justice system. Moving an entire government and society as suggested in Beyond Prisons and the American Friends Service Committee may appear as a foolish dream to some. To others, many religious people and other people of goodwill who are disgusted with the costs, inefficiencies and apparent immorality of our current 'retributive' justice system; the dream of a new system which will be morally 'right and good' cannot be ignored. The Rev. Martin Luther King once proclaimed, 'I have a dream...'" — Paul E. Rogers, President, American Correctional Chaplains Association "Not just another book on criminal justice systems. Beyond Prisons is a jewel, working like a finely crafted prism to illumine many features of a new paradigm for justice needed in the USA today. Scholars and teachers will value its critical yet concise introduction to enduring debates in criminal justice. Informed activists will prop this book up alongside their phones and photocopying machines for ready reference to the key issues at stake." — Mark Lewis Taylor, Professor of Theology and Culture, Princeton Theological Seminary and author of The Executed God: The Way of the Cross in Lockdown America "This book is the fruit of years of organizing, advocacy and reflection concerning our deeply broken criminal justice system. Magnani and Wray offer a truly radical analysis that penetrates to the roots of the crisis, challenges long-held assumptions, and imagines thoughtful alternatives. It is the finest critique of the prison-industrial complex available." — Ched Myers, writer, theological educator and social justice organizer with Bartimaeus Cooperative Ministries in southern California. Laura Magnani is Assistant Regional Director for Justice for the American Friends Service Committee in Oakland, California, and author of America's First Penitentiary: A 200-Year-Old Failure (AFSC, 1990). Harmon L. Wray is Director of the Vanderbilt Program in Faith and Criminal Justice and author of Restorative Justice: Moving Beyond Punishment (General Board of Global Ministries, United Methodist Church, 2002).