America has long had the highest rates of poverty among the wealthy industrialized countries. Not only do we lead in poverty, but our conditions of impoverishment are incredibly damaging. Rather than providing support to the poor, U.S. social policies appear designed to punish and stigmatize them. Nowhere is this more clear than in Tony Messenger’s book, “Profit and Punishment: How America Criminalizes the Poor in the Name of Justice.”
Democracy Dies in Darkness
For poor defendants, minor crimes can lead to devastating debts
Review by Mark R. Rank