Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America

Written by James Forman, Jr.

Narrated by Kevin R. Free

Former public defender James Forman, Jr., is a leading critic of mass incarceration and its disproportionate impact on people of color. In Locking Up Our Own, he seeks to understand the war on crime that began in the 1970s and why it was supported by many African American leaders in the nation’s urban centers.

Forman shows us that the first substantial cohort of black mayors, judges, and police chiefs took office amid a surge in crime and drug addiction. Many prominent black officials, including Washington, D.C., mayor Marion Barry and federal prosecutor Eric Holder, feared that the gains of the civil rights movement were being undermined by lawlessness—and thus embraced tough-on-crime measures, including longer sentences and aggressive police tactics. In the face of skyrocketing murder rates and the proliferation of open-air drug markets, they believed they had no choice. But the policies they adopted would have devastating consequences for residents of poor black neighborhoods.

A former D.C. public defender, Forman tells riveting stories of politicians, community activists, police officers, defendants, and crime victims. He writes with compassion about individuals trapped in terrible dilemmas—from the men and women he represented in court to officials struggling to respond to a public safety emergency. Locking Up Our Own enriches our understanding of why our society became so punitive and offers important lessons to anyone concerned about the future of race and the criminal justice system in this country.

"A beautiful book, written so well, that gives us the origins and consequences of where we are … I can see why [the Pulitzer prize] was awarded."—Trevor Noah, The Daily Show

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR GENERAL NON-FICTON • ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEWS' 10 BEST BOOKS • LONG-LISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD • FINALIST, CURRENT INTEREST CATEGORY, LOS ANGELES TIMESBOOK PRIZES

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Apr 18, 2017
• ISBN: 9781501946554

James Forman, Jr.

James Forman, Jr. is a professor of law at Yale Law School. He has written for the New York Times, The Atlantic, numerous law reviews, and other publications. A former clerk for Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, he spent six years as a public defender in Washington, D.C., where he cofounded the Maya Angelou Public Charter School. He is the author of the Pulitzer Prize—winning Locking Up Our Own and a co-editor of Dismantling Mass Incarceration.

Reviews for Locking Up Our Own

[narshkite · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I was a criminology major in college, later a lawyer. The criminilization of blackness is something I have been studying formally and informally since the early 80s. This book has a different POV than any I have read. I think all rational people can agree that in the US white people have rigged the system to keep those with more melanin down, and that the justice system has been the most efficient and devastating tool in that arsenal. This book though goes a bit farther and looks at the ways African Americans abetted that process. I have seen others indicate this was a response to The New Jim Crow -- I disagree with that descriptor. This book is a "yes and" follow up to The New Jim Crow. A solid piece of scholarship and social commentary . I do think the book could have been better organized, and that the final section should have used much more of the good research out there about recidivism rates for offenders who go to prison versus those given probation and job training. The author left the reader to fill in a lot of blanks. Still an exceptionally worthwhile read to start my 2020.

[technodiabla · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A very interesting historical perspective on crime and criminalization in America and the overwhelming adverse effects on black communities. This is a topic that could easily be covered in heavily biased way. Though the thesis is clear (and one-sided), I thought the arguments and evidence were handled in a balanced and thorough way. A very good book that lays out some history that we all lived through but were not necessarily exposed to first hand. Eye opening.

[muddyboy · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a thought provoking book about why there is such a high percentage of Blacks in various penal institutions across our country. What is interesting here is that Forman sees the decisions and impetus for this coming from the black populous - driving this phenomena. A majority favored stricter marijuana laws, mandatory sentences and police stopping drivers for minor infractions to search for guns (Eric Holder) but then arresting them for other crimes. Also, he argues black citizens were against gun laws because they feared white society and home invasions. Justly deserves all its plaudits.

[strandbooks_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Locking Up Our Own by James Forman Jr. After reading this book and Evicted last year, I'm determined to read more Pulitzer winning non-fiction. This book looks at how our high levels of incarceration got to where they are, specifically in the African American community and how 3-4 decades ago African Americans were often the loudest voice regarding tough on crime and minimum sentences. Forman's main thread through the book is how the complex long-term solutions got left behind (better schools, fighting systemic racism, job training etc) while fighting drugs and violent crime got all the resources both on the local level and national. He puts the decisions in the 70s-90s in historical perspective and shows how the shift has happened over time when communities realized the unforeseen repercussions of their policies.

[rivkat_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Focusing on DC, where Forman lived and worked for a number of years, Forman tells a story that applies in many places in the US: the reasons that African-Americans supported, at least initially, harsh-on-crime policies that produced the New Jim Crow, exploding prison populations and ensuring that huge numbers of young African-Americans were involuntarily involved in the criminal justice system. Forman argues: (1) The pioneers who joined and rose in the police were often looking for good jobs, not to transform policing; you wouldn’t expect a rise in black firefighters to change the way fires were fought. (2) Class divisions in the African-American community made it easier for upper- and middle-class blacks to endorse policies that kept poor blacks overpoliced; it’s no accident that the policies they fought the hardest were the ones, like racially motivated traffic stops, that they were likely to experience, while policies that targeted poor neighborhoods got more of a pass. (3) Poor African-Americans were often underpoliced as well; there were huge crime and drug problems in poor communities, and while African-Americans asked for all kinds of resources—including education and economic development along with improved police presence—to fight them, all they got was the police presence. Then policies directed at those neighborhoods, often initially to combat violence, ended up criminalizing a lot of behavior that whites just wouldn’t be caught for, like possession of small amounts of pot. It’s a thought-provoking read.