Profit and Punishment

How America Criminalizes the Poor in the Name of Justice

By: Tony Messenger

Narrated by: Karen Chilton

Pulitzer Prize winner Tony Messenger offers the first humane, journalistic expose of an American tragedy: modern-day debtor's prisons and how they've destroyed the lives of poor Americans.

"His Pulitzer Prize winning series on debtors' prisons in Missouri made a serious difference in real people's lives and his book will be a must read for a nation seeking a bipartisan path forward on criminal justice reform." (Claire McCaskill, former US senator and analyst for MSNBC)

Profit and Punishment is the most comprehensive look at the criminalization of poverty in the US, joining a growing and popular genre that is making a difference. It is Charged meets Evicted, focusing on that touchstone issue of the criminal justice reform movement: the insidious use of fines and fees to raise money for broken government budgets off the backs of the poor, and the partnership those governments have formed with for-profit companies that are getting rich on the backs of people incarcerated for minor crimes.

In a feat of exceptional reporting, Profit and Punishment reveals a familiar reality to the nation's poor, anchored by the stories of three single mothers living in poverty, one in Oklahoma, one in Missouri, and one in South Carolina, who are abused by a judicial system more focused on debt collection than public safety.

All over the country, similar schemes are criminalizing the vulnerable and the poor, with the full support of politicians in both parties. The geography is Missouri, South Carolina, and Oklahoma. The story is American.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press.

“When Tony Messenger writes about social justice issues, he is relentless in his pursuit of truth, particularly when the victims of a broken criminal justice system are disproportionately people of color.” (DeRay McKesson, host of Pod Save the People and author of On the Other Side of Freedom)

©2021 Tony Messenger (P)2021 Macmillan Audio

A must read for all Americans.

This is an excellent analysis of the vicious cycle that grips millions, upon millions of impoverished Americans. The outline of this group of greed mongering scum that build a for-profit system hinging on increasing the suffering of others is alarming. An important and awakening work.

Should be required reading for lawyers judges and legislators

As a Missouri lawyer and former legislator o thought I understood the issues this book deal with. I did not. My new hobbies will be asking legal and political colleagues what they think of it

Powerful!

I became aware of back door fees on offenders in Missouri during the Ferguson riots , and how it unfairly affects them if they are unable to pay often for the rest of their lives. This book greatly expands on that, describing a cruel, corrupt system . A must read if you care about fairness and justice.

Politically motived and bias

The info presented is terrible because it happens in this country. There shouldn’t be laws or practices allowing the debtor prisons to happen or put people in jail because they can’t pay the over the top court cost. There needs to be change.

The problem I have with this book and the reason for the low stars is the bias the author has and pure distain for Trump and republicans. These practices have been in place according to the author for years and decades, to have so much pent up hatred for a man that held 4 years of office in ridiculous. Clearly the author is a far left leaning journalist but didn’t hear any talk about Obama not addressing these issue or much talk about democrat run states. Was hoping to learn something I knew nothing about, which I did to a point but got a repetitive look at liberals and their hatred for anything to do with republicans. If I had know this was going to be a political dumpster fire I would have avoided it.

The performance was horrible. Sounded like she was just mad the entire time she read the book but was clear it was the overall context of the book.