[.ca] Gates of Injustice: The Crisis in America's Prisons (ISBN 0131427911)

Timely & Provocative Book:
Alan Elsner is an outstanding reporter with a rare ability to see beyond the obvious. His well-written book captures the horrors of life inside America's penal system without resorting to the trite partisan cliches that politicians have relied on for so many years. It will introduce you to the millions of Americans who live in the gray zone between civilization and barbarism. Kudos to the author on a job well done!

Gates of Injustice:
Before reading this book I had general impressions about prison life based upon thin slices of reality provided by media reporting and political rhetoric. I also relied on the fiction and stereotypes created by movies and television. The author discussed many of the human and economic issues that are not widely known and provided compelling statistics to put the costs to society in perspective.

Gates of Injustice:
A friend recommended I read this book. At first I didn't want to, but after a few pages I was hooked. I had no idea of some of the horrors that go on in our prisons. Women being forced to give birth chained to beds, guards putting prisoners in restraints for 48 hours, seriously disturbed mentally ill people living lives of misery and making life miserable for all around them. I am not soft on crime but I don't support abuse either. And Mr. Elsner has proven to me that our prisons are way too abusive. He has also given a good deal of thought to fixing some of the larger problems. This is a tough-minded book but it is also a sensible and rational one. I recommend it to anyone who cares about our nation.

Compelling Reading!!:
This book was recommended to me and I opened it with trepidation because I, like many people I know, do not count prisons and those they house and employ among my preferred reading topics. I suppose the information I'd gleaned from articles, movies, stories and the news over my four decades painted a picture of prisons as some sort of dark nether world where "stuff happens", but mostly the bad guys get what they deserve (loss of their freedom) and me and my family are kept safe from them. Well, I was disturbed and angered by some of the information in GATES OF INJUSTICE, and I admit to being grateful for the rude wake up call. For those who believe "the rest of us" are not impacted by what goes on in our prison system, Mr. Elsner paints a vivid portrait of the proliferation of gangs within prison culture and the networks that keep such gangs growing strong within prison walls as well as in our cities, our suburbs, and even our small towns. As a woman and a parent of a neurologically challenged individual, I was especially chagrined to read of the plights of women, many of them mothers, and of the mentally ill inside our nations prisons. The brutality and inhumanity of our prisons, portrayed so well in this book,is counter to any idea of rehabilitation and to human dignity and decency. The author offers some sound beginnings toward prison reform that make overwhelming sense. This book is important reading for anyone who cares deeply about the human condition.

America's Dark Secret:
Alan Elsner has captured the dark picture of America's secret. He has revealed to all his readers the stark reality of what America's desire for vengance has cost. Get tough on crime makes good political sound byte. Lock them up and throw away the key wins elections. The reality of "out of sight - out of mind" has lead to a picture of America that is more comfortable in a third-world dictatorship. Our prisons become darker and darker places as they devour people of color, women, the mentally ill, the addicted, and the inept. I spent the last thirty years working in the prison system, while watching it get bigger and "badder." Now as a professor, I am trying to tell my criminal justice students that America can do a better job finding justice other than locking up everyone that doesn't fit in. Alan Elsner captures the reality of a place that cannot help but be awful. The best of prisons are terrible, dark places. Every American should read this book and ask himself, "Is this the best the 'land of the free' can do?" Good work Alan on writing about a subject that most Americans don't want to think about. This book will be mandatory reading for my criminal justice students.