What a well researched and fact driven book, based on decades of real statistics and figures and stories of real people who have been effected by our criminal justice system. When an event happens, there is almost a surreal call to 'fix the issue and fix it NOW' push for action which causes an unintended ripple effect that does more harm than good. In Their Names tells the stories of real individuals, and how they have been impacted by some type of trauma in their lives, and rather than actually helping the victim, it almost seems to punish them all over again while almost all the main focus is on punishing the offender, not realizing that if we could address the root of the offense in the first place, there might not be such a need for drastic measures of punishment. Not saying letting mayhem rule, but at the same time, not all victims want swift, severe, life consuming punishment. Hurt people hurt people, and we need more resources pushed into the helping of the hurting, to heal people so they, in turn, help others to find healing. Brilliant book and just what we need, even if it's later, better than never.
*I received a copy of this book from NetGalley. This review is my own opinion*

Often, the narrative of victims' safety and well-being is weaponised against the fight for prison abolition and restorative justice. In service of a carcareal paradigm, the experiences of innocent people are manipulated in favour of a system which seeks only to punish those most marginalised. This book is an exposure of that system, and is required reading for anyone interested in true, transformative changes to our justice system.

The book is about highlighting and, hopefully, changing the relationship between victim and the criminal Justice system so that there is a better outcome for all.

I raced through this book. Three strikes laws, mandatory minimums, more prisons, the history of how we decide who a “worthy” victim is and much more are all covered through research and story. I could go on and on.
It was so enlightening to see how over time the experiences of victims are used as reasoning to balloon the criminal justice system to its size today while not actually addressing the needs of victims. I appreciated that I learned more about how this affects people of color in particular through their own voices and stories.

I work in the criminal justice system and I’m left with so much to think about. I was a little worried that the book would be depressing. I see the tragedy in the criminal justice system every day. It’s hard to spend time with it after work. However, I found the final section uplifting in a way that there is a TON of work to do to change things, but is not hopeless.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

In Their Names should be required reading for anyone who believes that the solution to rising crime is more police and more incarceration. Or for anyone who believes that all victims want harsh punishment for those who harmed them.

The author clearly and evenhandedly explains how our recent system of mass incarceration developed, how that system does not, in fact, make our communities safer, and what steps we can take to actually improve public safety.

One theme that really stood out for me is the idea that "hurt people hurt people"--in other words, there are not two separate classes of "victims" and "criminals" but instead these categories largely overlap. People who are victims may turn to crime, and people who engage in criminal activity may become victims. The true path to public safety is to end this cycle and to get victims the help they need.

This book, which focuses on the way the victims’ rights movements of the 90s expanded mass incarceration without helping the majority of victims, should be required reading. Anderson eloquently traces the rise of victims’ rights movements to increases in incarceration rates to the rethinking of the policies in the last ten or so years. Using stories of victims and perpetrators, Anderson makes a convincing case for a rethinking of our policies, explaining through both rigorously researched statistics and moving personal narratives, that most of our policies have ignored the trauma of victims and have not offered the support they promised. Finally, Anderson offers concrete solutions to these problems, an ending I appreciated as often with these type of nonfiction books I feel helpless. Not so with this, instead I feel empowered. Anderson helps cross the divide between wanting to change policing and incarceration in the US with the fear of not protecting and honoring victims. Her argument that we are not doing that NOW is convincing and granted me the tools on how to discuss this the people around me. Mandatory reading for anyone concerned about the state of criminal justice in the US.

Lenore Anderson does an excellent job of advocating for criminal justice reform that prioritizes the needs of victims. Through the use of both peer-reviewed research and the inclusion of vignettes of actual victims' experiences, the reader can't help but be swayed by the overwhelming evidence that change is needed. Rather than continuing to promote mass incarceration as a means to promote safety, those who work in the criminal justice system must recognize that if they want to truly help victims, they should focus instead on addressing the cycle of trauma. This can be an uphill battle, as many of those working in criminal justice systems believe that the purpose of the system is to protect victims, but the truth of the matter is that the growth in imprisonment exacerbates trauma, and hurt people hurt other people.

Anderson's pleas for reform are particularly salient, as she worked as an advocate for alternatives to prison for youth, and then spent a decade working with other like-minded individuals to promote reform through programs like the Alliance for Safety and Justice. As we (as a nation) have begun to become more aware of the myriad ways in which people are victimized and the reasons why reporting such victimization fails to occur, we must be open to ideas on how to improve public safety in a way that actually works. Shared safety is capable when we advocate for a focus on community-based trauma recovery, violence prevention strategies, mental health assistance, and re-entry support for those who have been incarcerated.

As an educator who teaches classes within a program for students who are looking to eventually work in jails/prisons, probation and parole, and similar environments, I found that the material in this book is particularly applicable to my classes. However, I would also argue that the general public, and especially those who work in some capacity that can impact a change and/or improvement in our current way of addressing crime and victims, would benefit greatly from increasing their understanding of the subject by reading this book and seeking out additional sources of information found within its pages.

In Their Names shows how the victims’ rights movement has been used by the justice system to further a law and order approach that harms victims and continues mass incarceration. Anderson does a great job of showing how we fail victims, the progress made, and where we go in the future. Thank you to Netgalley and The New Press for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

In Their Names: The Untold Story of Victims’ Rights, Mass Incarceration, and the Future of Public Safety by Lenore Anderson is a heartbreaking and powerful look at justice and prison abolition while honor the victims and survivors of it's violent and racist system. A must for every library.

Timely Conversation Needs Even Better Documentation. The timing of this book, releasing just a week before Election Day in the United States, could perhaps be *slightly* better - a month earlier would have allowed it and its ideas to be discussed more during the final days of the campaign. And to be clear, this book does in fact present a mostly compelling argument and certainly a wrinkle on the American justice system that needs to be more openly examined and more critically debated by those who can actually change things - the various elected officials and bureaucrats who create and implement the very rules in question. The only truly noticeable objective-ish problem with the text here is that while the documentation provided is on the low-ish side of average in my experience (23%, compared to 20-33% being average), there is a *lot* of hand-waving, undocumented claims, that could have used much better documentation. These claims may in fact be accurate - but they needed sources rather than just claims, and for those more ardently opposed to the proposals here, the added documentation to these claims could be crucial in defense of Anderson's points and proposals. Thus, the one star deduction here. Still, this book truly does add yet another necessary wrinkle into an already truly complicated discussion, and for that reason it is very much recommended.