A Political and Literary Forum

Menu Close Search Close

Support Boston Review

Become a Member

Crime and prison

Gender & Sexuality

Is Stealthing a Sex Crime?

Prosecuting stealthing may not be the best way to end the practice.

Judith Levine

Politics

How Immigrants Became Criminals

Immigrants are not committing more crimes than in the past. Rather the definition of “criminal” has broadened significantly.

Alan A. Aja, Alejandra Marchevsky

Law & Justice

Whom Do Sanctuary Cities Protect?

Public safety is precisely why sanctuary cities are a good idea.

Lauren Carasik

Law & Justice

Slaves of the State: Prison Uprisings and the Legacy of Attica

A historian uncovered an archive of massacre at Attica—only to have the records disappear.

Robert Chase

Law & Justice, Race

How the Government Built a Trap for Black Youth

Throughout the twentieth century, bipartisan consensus was that black youth were latent criminals in need of abundant policing.

Kelly Lytle Hernández

Class & Inequality, Law & Justice

No Easy End to Prison Profiteering

The DOJ says it will stop using private prisons. The truth is more complicated.

Christopher Petrella

Law & Justice, Race

Paying for Punishment

Debt still sends many people—especially black people—to jail.

Donna Murch

Law & Justice, Politics

Waiting at Guantánamo

After fourteen years, Mohamedou Ould Slahi may finally have a chance at freedom.

Henry Ace Knight

Race

Lynching by Any Other Name

Prosecutors are corrupting the intent of lynching laws.

Christopher Lebron

Gender & Sexuality, Law & Justice

Brock Turner and The Problem of Punishment

Rapists should be held accountable. But is more incarceration the best way?

Judith Levine

Law & Justice, Politics

On Stone Mountain

White supremacy and the birth of the modern Democratic Party.

Christopher Petrella

Law & Justice, Race

The Roots of Black Incarceration

A nineteenth-century memoir sheds light on the origins of the modern prison.

Joy James

Sign Up for Our Newsletter

Vital reading on politics, literature, and more in your inbox

Love Boston Review?

Then you’ll love our new membership program! Join us to support engaged discussion on critical issues. You’ll also enjoy exclusive membership benefits.
Get Started

Copyright © 1993-2017 Boston Review and its authors.

Support Boston Review

Become a Member

Make a tax-deductible donation today

Boston Review Printing Note: For best printing results try turning on any options your web browser's print dialog makes available for printing backgrounds and background graphics.