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Principles of Politics
by Joe OppenheimerModern rational choice and social justice theories allow scholars to develop new understandings of the foundations and general patterns of politics and political behavior. In this book, Joe Oppenheimer enumerates and justifies the empirical and moral generalizations commonly derived from these theories. In developing these arguments, Oppenheimer gives students a foundational basis of both formal theory and theories of social justice, and their related experimental literatures. He uses empirical findings to evaluate the validity of the claims. This basic survey of the findings of public choice theory for political scientists covers the problems of collective action, institutional structures, citizen well-being and social welfare, regime change and political leadership. Principles of Politics highlights what is universal to all of politics and examines both the empirical problems of political behavior and the normative conundrums of social justice.
Principles of Property Law (Law in Context)
by Alison ClarkePrinciples of Property Law offers a critical and contextual analysis of fundamental property law, providing students with the tools to enable them to make sense of English land law rules in the context of real-world applications. This new book adopts a contextual approach, placing the core elements of a qualifying law degree property and land law course in the context of general principles and practices as they have developed in the UK, and other jurisdictions in response to a changing societal relationship with a variety of factors. Also drawing on concepts of property developed by political theorists, economists and environmentalists, Principles of Property Law gives students a clear understanding of how property law works, why it matters, and how the theory connects with the real world. Suitable for undergraduates studying property and land law in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as postgraduate students seeking an accessible analysis.
Principles Of Responsible Management: Glocal Sustainability, Responsibility, And Ethics
by Roger Conaway Oliver LaaschPRINCIPLES OF RESPONSIBLE MANAGEMENT offers an international, scientifically sound, and strictly practice-related perspective. It is the first official textbook of the United Nations for the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) academic network, and a reference book for companies of the United Nations Global Compact Initiative. It is a primary text for traditional business and society, business ethics, corporate social responsibility, and sustainability courses, or may serve as a practitioner handbook. Contributors are renowned academic professionals in their respective chapter topics as well as distinguished business practitioners who contribute highly relevant practice cases.
Principles of Shared Responsibility in International Law
by André Nollkaemper Ilias Plakokefalos Jessica N. M. Schechinger André Nollkaemper Ilias PlakokefalosThe Shared Responsibility in International Law series examines the underexplored problem of allocation of responsibilities among multiple states and other actors. The International Law Commission, in its work on state responsibility and the responsibility of international organisations, recognised that attribution of acts to one state or organisation does not exclude possible attribution of the same act to another state or organisation, but has provided limited guidance on allocation or reparation. From the new perspective of shared responsibility, this volume reviews the main principles of the law of international responsibility as laid down in the Articles on State Responsibility and the Articles on Responsibility of International Organizations, such as attribution of conduct, breach, circumstances precluding wrongfulness and reparation. It explores the potential and limitations of current international law in dealing with questions of shared responsibility in areas such as military operations and international environmental law.
Principles of Social Justice
by David MillerDeveloping a new theory for social justice, David Miller, in this book, argues that principles of justice must be understood contextually, with each principle finding its natural home in a different form of human association.
Principles of Sustainable Business: Frameworks for Corporate Action on the SDGs (The Principles for Responsible Management Education Series)
by Rob van Tulder Eveline van MilThe basic function of companies is to add value to society. Profits are a means to an end, not an end in itself. The ability of companies to innovate, scale and invest provides them with a powerful base for positive change. But companies are also criticized for not contributing sufficiently to society’s grand challenges. An increasingly VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous) world creates serious governance gaps that not only require new ways of regulation, but also new ways of doing business. Can companies effectively contribute to sustainable development and confront society’s systemic challenges? Arguably the most important frame to drive this ambition was introduced and unanimously adopted in 2015: the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDG-agenda not only defines a holistic set of global goals and targets, but also foundational principles to guide meaningful action to their achievement by 2030. Multinational companies have signed up to the SDGs as the world’s long-term business plan. Realizing the SDGs provides a yearly $12 trillion investment and growth opportunity, while creating hundreds of millions of jobs in the process. But progress is too slow – witnessing society’s inability to deal with pressing human, ecological, economic and health crises – whilst the vast potential for societal value creation remains underutilized. This book provides a timely account of the systemic, strategic and operational challenges that need to be addressed to enhance the effectiveness of corporate involvement in society, by using the SDGs as the leading principles-based framework for actionable, powerful and transformative change. Principles of Sustainable Business is written for graduate and postgraduate (executive) students, policymakers and business professionals who want to understand the complex challenges of global sustainability. It shows how companies can design and implement SDG-relevant strategies at three levels: the macro level, to assess whether the SDGs present wicked problems or opportunities; the micro level, to develop and operationalize innovative business models, design new business cases and navigate organizational transition trajectories; and the meso level, to develop fit-for-purpose cross-sector partnering strategies. Principles of Sustainable Business presents innovative tools embedded in a coherent sequence of analytical frameworks that can be applied in courses for students, be put into practice by business professionals and used by action researchers to help companies contribute to the Decade of Action.
Principles of Sustainable Development
by F. Douglas MuschettThis book brings together the collective thinking, ecological perspectives, and experiences of individuals from air quality, land use and transportation disciplines who are working to advance and operationalize sustainable development.
Principles of Taxation for Business and Investment Planning (2017 Edition)
by Shelley Rhoades-Catanach Sally M. JonesPrinciples of Taxation for Business and Investment Planning focuses on the role taxes play in business and investment decision, presenting the general roles of taxation and discussing its implications for all tax-paying entities before delving into a specific exception. The benefit of this approach is a strong grasp of the fundamental principles informing taxation rules. This helps students comprehend the framework of the tax system, making future changes to the tax code easier to understand-no matter how many there are. Unlike traditional introductory texts, Principles of Taxation for Business and Investment Planning downplays the technical detail that makes the study of taxation such a nightmare for business students. This text attempts to convince students that an understanding of taxation is not only relevant but critical to their success in the business world. Don't just teach your students the tax code; teach them how the tax code affects business decision making with the 2017 edition!
Principles of the Carriage of Goods by Sea
by Paul ToddPrinciples of the Carriage of Goods by Sea offers students studying this topic as part of their LLM or LLB course an accessible, comprehensive overview of the subject from a leading expert in the field. Written specifically with students in mind, concentrating on principles, and tailored to common law coverage, this title presents all the essential topics and is supported by the following useful pedagogy: Line Diagrams: illustrating the relationships between parties so that this may be understood at a glance; also where appropriate, time lines Case Studies: looking at topical matters such as piracy, and problematic areas of law such as reachable on arrival clauses and the carriage of bulk oil by sea Sample Problem Questions: problem questions and suggestions to help students to prepare for assessment Annotated appendices: concise appendix of the most important legislation and international conventions, with useful annotation from the author that explains these and puts them in context
Principles of Tort Law
by Rachael MulheronPresenting the law of tort as a body of principles, this authoritative textbook leads students to an incisive and clear understanding of the subject. Each tort is carefully structured and examined within a consistent analytical framework that guides students through its preconditions, elements, defences and remedies. Clear summaries and comparisons accompany the detailed exposition, and further support is provided by numerous diagrams and tables, which clarify complex aspects of the law. Critical discussion of legal judgments encourages students to develop strong analytical and case-reading skills, whilst key reform proposals and leading cases from other jurisdictions illustrate different potential solutions to conundrums in tort law. A rich companion website, featuring ten additional chapters and sections on more advanced areas of tort law, completes the learning package. Written specifically for students, the text is also ideal for practitioners, litigants, policymakers and law reformers seeking a comprehensive and accurate understanding of the law.
Principles of Tort Law
by Rachael MulheronPresenting the law of tort as a body of principles, this authoritative textbook gives an incisive understanding of the subject. Each tort is carefully structured and examined within a consistent analytical framework that guides students through its preconditions, elements, defences and remedies. Clear summaries and comparisons accompany the detailed exposition, and further support is provided by diagrams and tables which clarify complex aspects of the law. Critical discussion of legal judgments encourages students to develop strong analytical and case-reading skills, whilst key reform proposals and leading cases from other jurisdictions illustrate different potential solutions to conundrums in tort law. A rich companion website, featuring semesterly updates alongside ten additional chapters on more advanced topics, completes the learning package. This new edition has been updated to take account of important cases, legislative developments and law reform studies since July 2015.
Principles Of Tort Law
by Marshall ShapoPresenting the law of tort as a body of principles, this authoritative textbook leads students to an incisive and clear understanding of the subject. Each tort is carefully structured and examined within a consistent analytical framework that guides students through its preconditions, elements, defences and remedies. Clear summaries and comparisons accompany the detailed exposition, and further support is provided by numerous diagrams and tables, which clarify complex aspects of the law. Critical discussion of legal judgments encourages students to develop strong analytical and case-reading skills, whilst key reform proposals and leading cases from other jurisdictions illustrate different potential solutions to conundrums in tort law. A rich companion website, featuring ten additional chapters and sections on more advanced areas of tort law, completes the learning package. Written specifically for students, the text is also ideal for practitioners, litigants, policymakers and law reformers seeking a comprehensive and accurate understanding of the law.
Principles of Water Law and Administration: National and International, 3rd Edition
by Dante A. Caponera Marcella NanniThis book, which was first published in 1992 and then updated in 2007, provides a tool for dealing with the legal and institutional aspects of water resources management within national contexts and at the level of transboundary water resources. Like its two previous editions, it seeks to cover all aspects that need to be known in order to attain good water governance, but it provides updates concerning developments since 2007. These relate, inter alia, to the following: - the “greening” of water law, which calls for the progressive integration of environmental law principles into domestic and international water law; - the adoption, by the International Law Commission in 2008, of the Draft Articles on the Law of Transboundary Aquifers, and subsequent developments;- the emergence of the right to water as a self-standing human right;- the adoption of domestic water laws supporting integrated water resources management (IWRM) and enhanced public participation in planning and decision making;- the integration into these laws of tools facilitating adaptive water management as a response to climate variability and change;- progress in the implementation of EU law;- recent international agreements and judicial decisions;- efforts of regional organizations other than the EU to steer cooperation in the management of transboundary water resources and the harmonization of national laws;- institutional mechanisms for the management of transboundary water resources (surface and underground). Unique in its scope and nature, the book identifies the legal and institutional issues arising in connection with water resources management and provides guidelines for possible solutions in a manner accessible to a wide range of readers. Thus, it is a useful reference for lawyers and non-lawyers — engineers, hydrologists, hydrogeologists, economists, sociologists — dealing with water resources within government institutions, river basin commissions, international organizations, financing institutions and academic institutions, among other things, and also for students of disciplines related to water resources.
Prioritarianism (Elements in Ethics)
by Richard J. ArnesonPrioritarianism holds that improvements in someone's life (gains in well-being) are morally more valuable, the worse off the person would otherwise be. The doctrine is impartial, holding that a gain in one person's life counts exactly the same as an identical gain in the life of anyone equally well off. If we have some duty of beneficence to make the world better, prioritarianism specifies the content of the duty. Unlike the utilitarian, the prioritarian holds that we should not only seek to increase human well-being, but also distribute it fairly across persons, by tilting in favor of the worse off. A variant version adds that we should also give priority to the morally deserving – to saints over scoundrels. The view is a standard for right choice of individual actions and public policies, offering a distinctive alternative to utilitarianism (maximize total well-being), sufficiency (make everyone's condition good enough) and egalitarianism (make everyone's condition the same).
Priorities for Research to Reduce the Threat of Firearm-Related Violence
by Arlene F. Lee Patrick W. Kelley Committee on Law and Justice Committee on Priorities for a Public Health Research Agenda to Reduce the Threat of Firearm-Related Violence Bruce M. Altevogt Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education Executive Office, Institute of Medicine Institute of Medicine Margaret A. Mccoy National Research Council Alan I. LeshnerIn 2010, more than 105,000 people were injured or killed in the United States as the result of a firearm-related incident. Recent, highly publicized, tragic mass shootings in Newtown, CT; Aurora, CO; Oak Creek, WI; and Tucson, AZ, have sharpened the American public's interest in protecting our children and communities from the harmful effects of firearm violence. While many Americans legally use firearms for a variety of activities, fatal and nonfatal firearm violence poses a serious threat to public safety and welfare. In January 2013, President Barack Obama issued 23 executive orders directing federal agencies to improve knowledge of the causes of firearm violence, what might help prevent it, and how to minimize its burden on public health. One of these orders directed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to, along with other federal agencies, immediately begin identifying the most pressing problems in firearm violence research. The CDC and the CDC Foundation asked the IOM, in collaboration with the National Research Council, to convene a committee tasked with developing a potential research agenda that focuses on the causes of, possible interventions to, and strategies to minimize the burden of firearm-related violence. Priorities for Research to Reduce the Threat of Firearm-Related Violence focuses on the characteristics of firearm violence, risk and protective factors, interventions and strategies, the impact of gun safety technology, and the influence of video games and other media.
The Priority of Love: Christian Charity and Social Justice (New Forum Books #57)
by Timothy P. JacksonThis book explores the relation between agape (or Christian charity) and social justice. Timothy Jackson defines agape as the central virtue in Christian ethical thought and action and applies his insights to three concrete issues: political violence, forgiveness, and abortion. Taking his primary cue from the New Testament while drawing extensively from contemporary theology and philosophy, Jackson identifies three features of Christian charity: unconditional commitment to the good of others, equal regard for others' well-being, and passionate service open to self-sacrifice for the sake of others.Charity, prescribed by Jesus for his disciples and named by Saint Paul as the "greatest" theological virtue, is contrasted with various accounts of justice. Jackson argues that agape is not trumped by justice or other goods. Rather, agape precedes justice: without the work of love, society would not produce persons capable of merit, demerit, and contract, the elements of most modern conceptions of justice. Jackson then considers the implications of his ideas for several questions: the nature of God, the relation between Christian love and political violence, the place of forgiveness, and the morality of abortion. Arguing that agapic love is to be construed as a gift of grace as well as a divine commandment, Jackson concludes that love is the "eternal life" that makes temporal existence possible and thus the "first" Christian virtue. Though foremost a contribution to Christian ethics, Jackson's arguments and the issues he takes up will find a broader readership.
Prisionero del sistema: Testimonios de un sobreviviente a la tortura y la injusticia carcelaria
by Rafael Méndez ValenzuelaLa historia de un joven que estuvo encarcelado injustamente desde sus 20 años hasta sus 33 y de cómo venció al sistema para quedar libre. En enero de 2008 Rafael Méndez Valenzuela fue detenido en el Estado de México. Agentes federales y militares lo obligaron a firmar una declaración en la que reconocía que formaba parte del grupo criminal La Familia. Tras 10 años en prisión, y al existir una denuncia por tortura, un tribunal federal ordenó la reposición del proceso para mantenerlo preso en lo que se investigaban los hechos, aun cuando el afectado ya había cumplido su sentencia en la cárcel. Ante la suma de injusticias, su madre, la periodista Judith Valenzuela, se acercó a distintas instancias judiciales y asociaciones de derechos humanos sin mayor éxito. Fue hasta que acudió a la conferencia mañanera presidencial, donde expuso el caso, que logró que López Obrador instara a la Secretaría deGobernación y a la Suprema Corte de Justicia a revisar el caso para que Rafael por fin fuera liberado. Con una prosa contundente que quita el aliento, Prisionero del sistema es el relato de la lucha de Rafael y su madre en contra de un sistema jurídico podrido, anacrónico. A lo largo de sus páginas descubrimos cómo la impartición de justicia en México somete a personas arbitrariamente y facilita la ilegalidad y la degradación humana de todos los que la integran: agentes policiacos, militares, ministerios públicos, jueces, gobernantes y sobre todo presos inocentes que pocas veces logran salir del infierno para rehacer su vida. Palabras de la crítica «Rafael nos lleva de la mano, a veces con susurros, a veces con gritos de desesperanza, por los vericuetos del aparato judicial mexicano, al que expone y desnuda hasta la vergüenza. Es la voz de cientos, tal vez miles, de presos que no han tenido la oportunidad de contar sus casos de injusticia.» -Jesús Lemus l
The Prison Guard's Daughter: My Journey Through the Ashes of Attica
by Deanne Quinn MillerIn this moving memoir, a woman recounts her search for truth and justice regarding her father’s murder during America’s deadliest prison riot.Deanne Quinn Miller was five years old when her father—William “Billy” Quinn—was murdered in the first minutes of the Attica Prison Riot, the only corrections officer to die at the hands of inmates. But how did he die? Who were the killers? Those questions haunted Dee and wreaked havoc on her psyche for thirty years. Finally, when she joined the Forgotten Victims of Attica, she began to find answers. This began the process of bringing closure not only for herself but for the other victims’ families, the former prisoners she met, and all of those who perished on September 13, 1971—the day of the “retaking,” when New York State troopers and corrections officers at the Attica Correctional facility slaughtered twenty-nine rioting prisoners and ten hostages in a hail of gunfire.In The Prison Guard’s Daughter, Dee brings readers in on her lifelong mission for the truth and justice for the Attica survivors and the families of the men who lost their lives. But the real win was the journey that crossed racial and criminal-justice divides: befriending infamous Attica prisoner Frank “Big Black” Smith, meeting Richard Clark and other inmates who tried to carry her father to safety after his beating, and learning what life was like for all the people—prisoners and prison employees alike—inside Attica. As Miller lays bare the truth about her father’s death, the world inside Attica, and the state’s reckless raid and coverup, she conveys a narrative of compassionate humanity and a call for prison reform.Praise for The Prison Guard’s Daughter“A remarkable tale of healing and reconciliation, born from the tragedy of the nation’s deadliest prison uprising . . . . The Prison Guard’s Daughter reminds us that we can reach across divides—racial, social, economic—and learn lessons about others that inevitably teach us about ourselves. In a world in which the chasms among people seem to swell wider every day, this book tells us that our true angels can prevail, as long as we are ready to engage them.” —Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking: The Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty That Sparked a National Debate“In the wake of the unimaginable trauma caused by the State of New York, there were the courageous few who had to endure even more pain to make sure that there was some reckoning with this horrific event, and some measure of justice for its victims. This is the extraordinarily beautiful story of one of the most courageous of those few, Dee Quinn Miller, who, quite literally, changed history.” —Heather Ann Thompson, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and its Legacy“A personal, affecting, and eye-opening account of a pivotal tragedy on the seemingly endless road to prison reform.” —Booklist
Prison in Iran: A Known Unknown (Palgrave Studies in Prisons and Penology)
by Nahid Rahimipour AnarakiThis book offers a unique look into prisons in Iran and the lives of the prisoners and their families. It provides an overview of the history of Iranian prisons, depicts the sub-culture in contemporary Iranian prisons, and highlights the forms that gender discrimination takes behind the prison walls. The book draws on the voices of 90 men and women who have been imprisoned in Iran, interviewed in 2012 and 2017 across various parts of the Islamic Republic of Iran. It presents a different approach to the one proposed by Michel Foucault in Discipline and Punish because the author argues that Iran never experienced “the age of sobriety in punishment” and “a slackening of the hold on the body”. Whilst penal severity in Iran has reduced, its scope has now extended beyond prisoners to their families, regardless of their age and gender. In Iran, penalties still target the body but now also affect the bodies of the entire prisoner’s family. It is not just prisoners who suffer from the lack of food, clothes, spaces for sleeping, health services, legal services, safety, and threats of physical violence and abuse but also their families. The book highlights the costs of mothers’ incarceration for their children. It argues that as long as punishment remains the dominant discourse of the penal system, the minds and bodies of anyone related to incarcerated offenders will remain under tremendous strain. This unique book explores the nature of these systems in a deeply under-covered nation to expand understandings of prisons in the non-Western world.
Prison Life: Pain, Resistance, and Purpose
by Ian O'DonnellHow prisons around the world shape the social lives of their inhabitantsPrison Life offers a fresh appreciation of how people in prison organize their lives, drawing on case studies from Africa, Europe and the US. The book describes how order is maintained, how power is exercised, how days are spent, and how meaning is found in a variety of environments that all have the same function – incarceration – but discharge it very differently. It is based on an unusually diverse range of sources including photographs, drawings, court cases, official reports, memoirs, and site visits.Ian O’Donnell contrasts the soul-destroying isolation of the federal supermax in Florence, Colorado with the crowded conviviality of an Ethiopian prison where men and women cook their own meals, seek opportunities to generate an income, elect a leadership team, and live according to a code of conduct that they devised and enforce. He explores life on wings controlled by the Irish Republican Army in Northern Ireland’s H Blocks, where men who saw the actions that led to their incarceration as politically-motivated moved as one, in perpetual defiance of the authorities. He shows how prisoners in Texas took to the courts to overthrow a regime that allowed their routine subjugation by violent men known as building tenders, who had been selected by staff to supervise and discipline their peers.In each case study O’Donnell presents the life story of a man who was molded by, and in return molded, the institution that held him. This ensures that his reflections on law and policy as well as on theory and practice never lose sight of the human angle. Imprisonment is about pain after all, and pain is personal.
Prison Ministry: Hope Behind the Wall
by Dennis W. PierceShow the incarcerated how to find forgiveness in unforgiving surroundingsAs the prison population in the United States increases by more than 1,000 inmates each week, prison ministry programs must have a working blueprint for dealing with the shame, humiliation, hate, and loneliness of incarceration at both the adult correctional and juvenile detention/probation levels. Prison Ministry: Hope Behind the Wall demonstrates how a ministry can adapt Latin American Liberation theology to address oppression and bring prisoners into the community of Christ. Author Dennis Pierce, former chaplain at the Joliet Correctional Center in Illinois (where the Fox Network's 2005 "Prison Break" series is filmed), presents a functioning approach to forgiveness and reconciliation, combining pastoral counseling, Christian education, Bible studies, and worship to help inmates develop self-esteem and an overall feeling of self-worth through compassion and empathy. Prison Ministry: Hope Behind the Wall provides an alternative resource on our prison system for chaplains, pastors, priests, and students working in theology, ethics, or counseling. Instead of the usual descriptive narratives of inmates&’ lives or discussions of statistical approaches, this unique book combines a theological model with a viable programmatic approach to confront the oppression of incarceration and reverse its effects. The book looks at the vital issues facing juveniles in the criminal justice system (the transition from county jail to a correctional facility, victimization, rejection, under-stimulation, homosexual rape) and examines the creation of non-threatening niches to address coping structures needed to move toward forgiveness and reconciliation. Prison Ministry: Hope Behind the Wall examines: meeting the incarcerated defining prison&’s emotional ethos dealing with human breakdowns oppression in maximum-security prison components of empowerment needed for prison ministry Prison Ministry: Hope Behind the Wall also includes case studies of four inmates, an extensive bibliography, a glossary of prison terms, sample Bible studies, and sermon topics. The book is invaluable for anyone dealing with incarcerated youth and young adults in civilian or military correctional or juvenile detention facilities.
Prison Officers: International Perspectives on Prison Work (Palgrave Studies in Prisons and Penology)
by Helen Arnold Matthew Maycock Rosemary RicciardelliThis edited collection brings together academics, lawyers, civil servants, and researchers working in the human rights NGO sector, to explore the work and role of prison officers around the world. Each chapter offers a distinctive perspective on the work of prison officers within localised socio-economic and criminal justice contexts, to provide a unique overview and insight into the realities and complexities of the role through accessible scholarly interpretations of their work. The aim of the book is to advance knowledge and understanding of the crucial role that prison officers occupy within carceral systems. The collection has widespread applicability with relevance beyond academia into criminal justice practice and policy internationally.Chapter 3 is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.
Prison Religion: Faith-Based Reform and the Constitution
by Winnifred Fallers SullivanMore than the citizens of most countries, Americans are either religious or in jail--or both. But what does it mean when imprisonment and evangelization actually go hand in hand, or at least appear to? What do "faith-based" prison programs mean for the constitutional separation of church and state, particularly when prisoners who participate get special privileges? In Prison Religion, law and religion scholar Winnifred Fallers Sullivan takes up these and other important questions through a close examination of a 2005 lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a faith-based residential rehabilitation program in an Iowa state prison. Americans United for the Separation of Church and State v. Prison Fellowship Ministries, a trial in which Sullivan served as an expert witness, centered on the constitutionality of allowing religious organizations to operate programs in state-run facilities. Using the trial as a case study, Sullivan argues that separation of church and state is no longer possible. Religious authority has shifted from institutions to individuals, making it difficult to define religion, let alone disentangle it from the state. Prison Religion casts new light on church-state law, the debate over government-funded faith-based programs, and the predicament of prisoners who have precious little choice about what kind of rehabilitation they receive, if they are offered any at all.
Prisoner Voices from Death Row: Indian Experiences
by Reena Mary GeorgeDeath penalty has produced endless discourses not only in the context of prisons, prisoners and punishment but also in various legal aspects concerning the validity of death penalty, the right to life, and torture. Death penalty is embedded in Indian law, however very little is known about the people who are on death row barring a few media reports on them. The main objective of this book is to enquire whether the dignity of prisoners is upheld while they confront the criminal justice system and whilst surviving on death row. Additionally, it explores the lived-experiences and perceptions of prisoners on death row as they create meaning out of their world. With this rationale, 111 prisoners on death row in India and some of their family members were interviewed. The theoretical underpinnings of phenomenology and symbolic interactionism coupled with data analysis lead to an understanding of the prisoners on death row with special reference to their demographic profile and the impact of death sentence on their families. George’s research highlights three salient features, namely: poverty, social exclusion and marginalisation are antecedent to death penalty; death penalty is a constructed account by the state machinery; and prisoners on death row situate dignity higher in the juxtaposition of death and dignity.
Prisoners of Isolation: Solitary Confinement in Canada
by Michael JacksonWhat is it really like in 'the hole'? On what basis do prison officials employ the most drastic of carceral punishments – solitary confinement – and to what effect? Michael Jackson, lawyer, professor, activist, made a point of finding out. Approached in 1974 by a group of prisoners in the British Columbia Penitentiary, Jackson listened to their stories, investigated, and became convinced that these prisoners were being held in solitary confinement under unlawful conditions and for arbitrary and unjustified reasons. He then helped launch proceedings on their behalf to have the imposition of solitary confinement in the B.C. Penitentiary declared 'cruel and unusual punishment.' Jackson sets out the facts and legal arguments presented to the Federal Court of Canada against a background of the historical evolution of solitary confinement and penitentiary discipline. Successfully argued, the McCann case (1975) was unique in Canadian judicial history. Since then Jackson has remained in close touch with his prison contacts, maintaining a watching brief on whether prison practice has conformed to the rule of the law. He traces the continuation of solitary confinement in the newest of Canada's maximum security institutions and describes the conditions in the 'special handling units,' the most recent addition to Canada's 'carceral archipelago.' It is clear from his findings that prison officials continue to violate human rights. Though Jackson eschews sensationalism, the raw facts and the record of direct testimony he presents make Prisoners of Isolation a disturbing book.