This book is a critical exploration of prisons in contemporary America. Paying special attention to race and Islam, the work draws on a range of data and sources, including interviews and written correspondence with current and ex-prisoners, documentary research, and congressional hearings on topics that include criminal justice and religion, culture, conversion, radicalization, and reform.

Author_Bio: SpearIt is an Associate Professor of Law at Thurgood Marshall School of Law, Texas Southern University. He has taught for the Prison University Project at California's death-row facility, San Quentin State Prison, as well as taught Corrections Law at Saint Louis University School of Law, in addition to serving on the Advisory Board of the Prison Program--a program that offers courses to both inmates and staff. He is currently active in the American Bar Association's Corrections Committee and its work to restore Pell Grant Funding for prison