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Inferno: An Anatomy of American Punishment
America's criminal justice system is broken. The United States punishes at a higher per capita rate than any other country in the world. In the last twenty years, incarceration rates have risen 500 percent. Sentences are harsh, prisons are overcrowded, life inside is dangerous, and rehabilitation programs are ineffective. Police and prosecutors operate in the dark shadows of the legal process--sometimes resigning themselves to the status quo, sometimes turning a profit from it. The courts define punishment as "time served," but that hardly begins to explain the suffering of prisoners. Looking not only to court records but to works of philosophy, history, and literature for illumination, Robert Ferguson, a distinguished law professor, diagnoses all parts of a now massive, out-of-control punishment regime. He reveals the veiled pleasure behind the impulse to punish (which confuses our thinking about the purpose of punishment), explains why over time all punishment regimes impose greater levels of punishment than originally intended, and traces a disturbing gap between our ability to quantify pain and the precision with which penalties are handed down. Ferguson turns the spotlight from the debate over legal issues to the real plight of prisoners, addressing not law professionals but the American people. Do we want our prisons to be this way? Or are we unaware, or confused, or indifferent, or misinformed about what is happening? Acknowledging the suffering of prisoners and understanding what punishers do when they punish are the first steps toward a better, more just system.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published March 3, 2014
About the author
Robert A. Ferguson
15 books3 followersGeorge Edward Woodberry Professor in Law, Literature, and Criticism, Columbia Law School
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
January 18, 2015
This is a powerhouse study of the America prison system and the psychological reasons why our society’s general awareness of the system’s flaws hasn’t resulted in meaningful improvement. The writing is clear and his tone is confident and consistent. It’s well-organized, and features a particularly thoughtful (if idealistic) proposal for prisoner restoration.
The author's use of American and Western literature to depict the act, reception, and witnessing of punishment is very illuminating – these passages are the easiest to follow in an already articulate book. Some readers won’t like literary criticism in their activist non-fiction, but Ferguson’s very point is that from the outside, we can’t know what a prisoner suffers. Language fails. Any creative angle whose truth is corroborated by first-hand testimonies is useful.
I have only two complaints about the book, neither of which are pervasive throughout. 1.) Ferguson does not often concern himself with counterpoints to his reform-oriented perspective. For this reason, he won’t persuade many readers who aren’t already inclined towards his opinions. 2.) He also excludes vital statistical data, leaving the reader to search his notes and sources. (For example, he makes broad statements about the power of greed behind the prison regime, but doesn’t provide data and serious discussion of profit-grubbing in prisons other than those privately-run.)
Having read Inferno, I feel newly informed about the issue of the American penal system, and unfortunately as overwhelmed (close to powerless) as ever as an individual who would like to see the ideal changes Ferguson proposes. The book is smoothly-written, well-researched, and honest about the grim situation it handles.
The author's use of American and Western literature to depict the act, reception, and witnessing of punishment is very illuminating – these passages are the easiest to follow in an already articulate book. Some readers won’t like literary criticism in their activist non-fiction, but Ferguson’s very point is that from the outside, we can’t know what a prisoner suffers. Language fails. Any creative angle whose truth is corroborated by first-hand testimonies is useful.
I have only two complaints about the book, neither of which are pervasive throughout. 1.) Ferguson does not often concern himself with counterpoints to his reform-oriented perspective. For this reason, he won’t persuade many readers who aren’t already inclined towards his opinions. 2.) He also excludes vital statistical data, leaving the reader to search his notes and sources. (For example, he makes broad statements about the power of greed behind the prison regime, but doesn’t provide data and serious discussion of profit-grubbing in prisons other than those privately-run.)
Having read Inferno, I feel newly informed about the issue of the American penal system, and unfortunately as overwhelmed (close to powerless) as ever as an individual who would like to see the ideal changes Ferguson proposes. The book is smoothly-written, well-researched, and honest about the grim situation it handles.
May 18, 2018
Things I liked:
1) The literary references. Ferguson used a couple of different books to illustrate certain ideas, and as an English major and fiction enthusiast, I really liked this.
2) It didn't shy away from describing the horrors that happen in prison. It didn't go into super gory detail, but it painted a clear picture. And that picture was horrifying.
3) Not poorly written. It was dense, but readable.
Things I didn't like:
1) I wish that Ferguson had talked more about juvenile detention centers. He mentioned them for a small section in one of the chapters, but I would've almost preferred that little bit wasn't there, because it made me more curious.
2) Like I mentioned, dense--readable, but not if you're tired.
Overall--not bad. A good book if it's a subject you're interested in.
1) The literary references. Ferguson used a couple of different books to illustrate certain ideas, and as an English major and fiction enthusiast, I really liked this.
2) It didn't shy away from describing the horrors that happen in prison. It didn't go into super gory detail, but it painted a clear picture. And that picture was horrifying.
3) Not poorly written. It was dense, but readable.
Things I didn't like:
1) I wish that Ferguson had talked more about juvenile detention centers. He mentioned them for a small section in one of the chapters, but I would've almost preferred that little bit wasn't there, because it made me more curious.
2) Like I mentioned, dense--readable, but not if you're tired.
Overall--not bad. A good book if it's a subject you're interested in.
January 2, 2021
Reread.
February 27, 2023
2.5 stars
September 8, 2014
No startling new information here: Ferguson's take is different. Using the lens of philosophy, bookended by Jack Abbott's In the Belly of the Beast and Dante's Inferno, he examines the justification (or lack thereof) for incarcerating so many people, under such harsh conditions.
The public gets pleasure in punishment, and has sufficiently "othered" the poor Black men who largely fill our prisons, that change is going to be really hard. He lays out 7 principles for reforming the system....but none get at the root cause: racism and economic inequality.
For example (from early on), he talks about how strange the law is:
Law is strange. Medicine, psychiatry, etc. all try to alleviate pain. Law justifies intentionally inflicting pain on people.
So, what IS punishment? 1) unwelcome by recipient; 2) intentionally inflicted; 3) some claim of right to inflict; 4) done for violation of rule; 5) breach of rule voluntary; 6) not mere sadism (is some sadism ok?); 7) intent of punisher matters, not punished. But are there limits (see 6)? Isn't the intent of the recipient key--doesn't (7) contradict (1) and (5)?
Infliction of punishment is diffused via law: legislators define, police arrest, prosecutors charge, juries convict, but judges sentence, & prison official inflict punishment.
Proportionality of punishment is widely accepted...but why? What makes one crime "worse?" What is ideal sentence for ANY crime? Without a baseline, how do you know if a proportionate sentence is too long/too short? But the reality is that sentences are set, within broad ranges, by legislators compromising w/each other.
The deeper reality is that time is different in prison. Time spent away from family, away from social bonds, is longer. Even "spend a weekend in your bathroom" experiment misses much: gangs, violence, arbitrariness of guards, and the culture of violence. The US prison system is "manifestly worse than that of any other liberal democracy you can name." Why do we put with it?
I do think he gives too short shrift to two issues:
First, the degree to which the prison binge is fueled. It by any theory of punishment, but purely as a way to distract voters from the real theft: theft of huge pieces of the world economy by the .01%. By focusing on petty street crime, politicians can pretend to be "tough on crime" while still being complicit in this grand theft of economic resources.
Second, he tends to view criminals as rational actors who, often for good reason, chose to violate society's norms. But this ignores the fact that the majority of prisoners are being punished for conduct which is a direct symptom of mental illness. It is simply absurd to suggest that a schizophrenic seeing and hearing things that are not there "chooses" to commit a crime, and this deserves to be punished.
But those are minor points. My bottom line is that Ferguson gives us a new way of looking at a problem that seems intractable. Very thought provoking (albeit not an easy read)--and well worth the time.
The public gets pleasure in punishment, and has sufficiently "othered" the poor Black men who largely fill our prisons, that change is going to be really hard. He lays out 7 principles for reforming the system....but none get at the root cause: racism and economic inequality.
For example (from early on), he talks about how strange the law is:
Law is strange. Medicine, psychiatry, etc. all try to alleviate pain. Law justifies intentionally inflicting pain on people.
So, what IS punishment? 1) unwelcome by recipient; 2) intentionally inflicted; 3) some claim of right to inflict; 4) done for violation of rule; 5) breach of rule voluntary; 6) not mere sadism (is some sadism ok?); 7) intent of punisher matters, not punished. But are there limits (see 6)? Isn't the intent of the recipient key--doesn't (7) contradict (1) and (5)?
Infliction of punishment is diffused via law: legislators define, police arrest, prosecutors charge, juries convict, but judges sentence, & prison official inflict punishment.
Proportionality of punishment is widely accepted...but why? What makes one crime "worse?" What is ideal sentence for ANY crime? Without a baseline, how do you know if a proportionate sentence is too long/too short? But the reality is that sentences are set, within broad ranges, by legislators compromising w/each other.
The deeper reality is that time is different in prison. Time spent away from family, away from social bonds, is longer. Even "spend a weekend in your bathroom" experiment misses much: gangs, violence, arbitrariness of guards, and the culture of violence. The US prison system is "manifestly worse than that of any other liberal democracy you can name." Why do we put with it?
I do think he gives too short shrift to two issues:
First, the degree to which the prison binge is fueled. It by any theory of punishment, but purely as a way to distract voters from the real theft: theft of huge pieces of the world economy by the .01%. By focusing on petty street crime, politicians can pretend to be "tough on crime" while still being complicit in this grand theft of economic resources.
Second, he tends to view criminals as rational actors who, often for good reason, chose to violate society's norms. But this ignores the fact that the majority of prisoners are being punished for conduct which is a direct symptom of mental illness. It is simply absurd to suggest that a schizophrenic seeing and hearing things that are not there "chooses" to commit a crime, and this deserves to be punished.
But those are minor points. My bottom line is that Ferguson gives us a new way of looking at a problem that seems intractable. Very thought provoking (albeit not an easy read)--and well worth the time.
April 20, 2014
This is a compelling analysis of the American punishment system - its origins and foundations, current state, and where we go from here. Ferguson grounds his analysis in a diverse batch of sources. As a big reader myself, I particularly enjoyed the use of literary sources as a reference point for understanding the themes discussed - sources include The Brothers Karamazov,In the Penal Colony, and The Just and the Unjust.
The book asks the important question of why America punishes more severely than its first world counterparts and hones in on the effects on the punished. It challenges the reader to consider the effects on the punished and questions the assumptions underlying America's complacency with the injustices rampant in the current prison system. Ferguson proposes solutions and imagines how those solutions might be brought into being, while acknowledging the difficult work that lies ahead. This isn't a dry academic tome, but a fairly quick read for a dense topic, with timely references to current events illuminating the larger systematic problems.
I highly recommend this thought-provoking read for those who are interested in the state of the criminal justice system or concerned with problems facing American society as a whole.
Disclosure: The author lent me a copy to read in preparation for an interview & review published in The Morningside Muckraker.
The book asks the important question of why America punishes more severely than its first world counterparts and hones in on the effects on the punished. It challenges the reader to consider the effects on the punished and questions the assumptions underlying America's complacency with the injustices rampant in the current prison system. Ferguson proposes solutions and imagines how those solutions might be brought into being, while acknowledging the difficult work that lies ahead. This isn't a dry academic tome, but a fairly quick read for a dense topic, with timely references to current events illuminating the larger systematic problems.
I highly recommend this thought-provoking read for those who are interested in the state of the criminal justice system or concerned with problems facing American society as a whole.
Disclosure: The author lent me a copy to read in preparation for an interview & review published in The Morningside Muckraker.
July 23, 2014
My master plac'd, in graceful act and kind.
Whence I of his intent before appriz'd,
Stretch'd out to him my cheeks suffus'd with tears.
There to my visage he anew restor'd
That hue, which the dun shades of hell conceal'd.
Then on the solitary shore arriv'd,
That never sailing on its waters saw
Man, that could after measure back his course,
He girt me in such manner as had pleas'd
Him who instructed, and O, strange to tell!
As he selected every humble plant,
Wherever one was pluck'd, another there
Resembling, straightway in its place arose.
I ended this reading with the coda of the book, a disquisition on Dante's Il Purgatorio, in which the author finds sense to make of our fainting world. We are stuck in a cycle of punishment and ever greater punishment. Now, it is not enough that a criminal is found guilty, but he and the sentencing judge must hear the victim impact statement. The accused must walk out on the court step to be shamed by his public if he is well known. The convicted will not be allowed to vote, to live in public housing, to stay with friends if any of those friends have been convicted of similar crimes. Unlike America of the Forties and Fifties, with the strength of computers, the convict who has paid his debt will be followed no matter where he goes. And still we ask for worse and worse penalties, longer and longer sentences. Anyone who cares about our country's debts to society, education, prison, or the military, should read this book from cover to cover. America has become a great empire and has lost empathy. These clauses damn us.
Whence I of his intent before appriz'd,
Stretch'd out to him my cheeks suffus'd with tears.
There to my visage he anew restor'd
That hue, which the dun shades of hell conceal'd.
Then on the solitary shore arriv'd,
That never sailing on its waters saw
Man, that could after measure back his course,
He girt me in such manner as had pleas'd
Him who instructed, and O, strange to tell!
As he selected every humble plant,
Wherever one was pluck'd, another there
Resembling, straightway in its place arose.
I ended this reading with the coda of the book, a disquisition on Dante's Il Purgatorio, in which the author finds sense to make of our fainting world. We are stuck in a cycle of punishment and ever greater punishment. Now, it is not enough that a criminal is found guilty, but he and the sentencing judge must hear the victim impact statement. The accused must walk out on the court step to be shamed by his public if he is well known. The convicted will not be allowed to vote, to live in public housing, to stay with friends if any of those friends have been convicted of similar crimes. Unlike America of the Forties and Fifties, with the strength of computers, the convict who has paid his debt will be followed no matter where he goes. And still we ask for worse and worse penalties, longer and longer sentences. Anyone who cares about our country's debts to society, education, prison, or the military, should read this book from cover to cover. America has become a great empire and has lost empathy. These clauses damn us.
January 6, 2016
This book is on an important subject, it is by a very bright author, and it engages in a fascinating discussion of current mass incarceration practices by way of lots of literary comparisons. But it is also a book that badly needs a talented editor. Much of the author's prose is impenetrable, because he loves academic jargon, and often seems to be speaking to himself, with elliptical, incomprehensible references to concepts and discussions he has never shared with the reader. He has an infuriating habit of using examples with hardly any data, such as telling us about a 41 year old prisoner's term of incarceration -- but not gender, crime, location, date, or anything else that might anchor what he says. His prescriptions for fixing the U.S. prison system are vague, undeveloped, brief, and apparently not anchored in any research. He talks often about changing U.S. voting public attitudes towards prisons and sentencing, but never says anything comprehensible about how to do that. And lastly, but not least, interesting as I found his use of literature to talk about current prison conditions, that is not exactly persuasive data. Because fiction is . . . fiction, not data. The many footnotes in this book don't help much with clarifying this book or making it readable.
May 1, 2015
A disappointing critique of the criminal justice system from a Columbia University professor. The book will not change minds. Ferguson expects everyone to be as outraged at the state of the US prisons as he is, but then ends paragraph after paragraph with rhetorical questions about why we tolerate it. I don't think this approach works.
July 21, 2023
Remarkable. Important. Insightful
April 25, 2014
very heavy
September 11, 2014
Useful background for those interested in why we punish the way we do. The writing made for a long slog: Far too philosophical and theoretical for this narrative lover's tastes.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews