Texas Tough: The Rise of America's Prison Empire

By Robert Perkinson

Book Overview

In the prison business, all roads lead to Texas. A pioneer in criminal justice severity--from assembly-line executions to supermax isolation, from mandatory sentencing to prison privatization--Texas is the most locked-down state in the most incarcerated country in the world. Texas Tough , a sweeping history of American imprisonment from the days of slavery to the present, explains how a plantation-based penal system once dismissed as barbaric became a template for the nation. Drawing on the individual stories as well as authoritative research, Texas Tough reveals the true origins of America's prison juggernaut and points toward a more just and humane future.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312680473
• ISBN13: 9780312680473
• Release Date: October 2010
• Publisher: Picador USA
• Length: 512 Pages
• Weight: 0.92 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 5.4" x 8.4"