In Memoriam: Barry Krisberg
eulogy prepared for a memorial panel at the American Society of Criminology 2024 Annual Meeting In 2009, when we held our first California Correctional Crisis conference shortly after the order
Euthanize the Death Penalty Already: Scenes from Capital Punishment’s Chronic Deathbed
(published: The Green Bag 27(3), Spring 2024) INTRODUCTION J.R.R. Tolkien’s immortal Lord of the Rings tells of the crossing of the Bridge of Khazad-dûm, during which members of the Fellowship
The Scouring of Samson: Incarceration and Corporal Punishment
One of the major assumptions of modern penologists is that prison, as an artifact of modernity, came to replace other forms of punishment: executions, maiming, etc. Overall, I think there
Does Being Sick Excuse, or Compound, Being Bad?
One of the classic texts that left the most lasting impression on me in grad school was Peter Conrad and Joseph Schneider’s Deviance and Medicalization: From Badness to Sickness. Our
The Perfect, Yet Again, Is the Enemy of the Good: LWOP Edition
Back in 2016, I was campaigning with a group of determined activists, some of them formerly incarcerated, for Prop 62, which would have abolished the death penalty in California. Most
Two Federal Rulings on Campus Protests
This week saw two federal district court decisions against Harvard and UCLA, respectively, regarding their failure to protect their Jewish and Israeli students from antisemitic discrimination, which you can read
Euthanize the Death Penalty Already: Scenes from Capital Punishment’s Chronic Deathbed
(published: The Green Bag 27(3), Spring 2024) INTRODUCTION J.R.R. Tolkien’s immortal Lord of the Rings tells of the crossing of the Bridge of Khazad-dûm, during which members of the Fellowship
Damages Lawsuits for Prison COVID-19 Neglect Proceed
If you’ve followed this blog during COVID-19, when we were litigating Eighth Amendment cases at Quentin and beyond, or read FESTER (you should!), then you know an unpleasant truth about
Children’s Books About Prisons
Friend, are you heading to a birthday or baby shower? If you like bringing books as gifts, and want the books to be meaningful, I’d steer away from tiresome sloganeering
Left Realism Matters More than Ever in Criminology
Houston, we have a bit of a problem. Having just finished writing my term papers at the GTU, I’ve turned to grading exams (will be done soon! I promise!) and