Punishment Without Crime

How Our Massive Misdemeanor System Traps the Innocent and Makes America More Unequal

By: Alexandra Natapoff

Narrated by: Janina Edwards

A revelatory account of the misdemeanor machine that unjustly brands millions of Americans as criminals

Punishment Without Crime offers an urgent new interpretation of inequality and injustice in America by examining the paradigmatic American offense: the lowly misdemeanor. Based on extensive original research, legal scholar Alexandra Natapoff reveals the inner workings of a massive petty offense system that produces over 13 million cases each year. People arrested for minor crimes are swept through courts where defendants often lack lawyers, judges process cases in mere minutes, and nearly everyone pleads guilty. This misdemeanor machine starts punishing people long before they are convicted; it punishes the innocent; and it punishes conduct that never should have been a crime. As a result, vast numbers of Americans—most of them poor and people of color—are stigmatized as criminals, impoverished through fines and fees, and stripped of drivers' licenses, jobs, and housing.

For too long, misdemeanors have been ignored. But they are crucial to understanding our punitive criminal system and our widening economic and racial divides.

A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2018

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2018 Alexandra Natapoff (P)2018 Basic Books

Critic reviews

"A sweeping look at the misdemeanor system and its impact on the American people.... Misdemeanor courts wield the bluntest, dumbest and cruelest instruments of the justice system, a host of biased codes called 'order-maintenance' crimes. What Punishment Without Crime makes clear is whose order, exactly, is being maintained."—Paste

"An essential contribution to the fields of criminology and sociology."—CHOICE

"Intelligently written, tightly argued, and often heartbreaking, Natapoff's account is a worthy companion to Michelle Alexander's The New Jim Crow."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

concerning look at our misdemeanor justice system

makes a lot of good points, and backs it up with data. this is well written with some compelling illustrations. I knew a lot of this, but didn't really how bad the fee system has gotten, or is, in some states. it's a good reminder of the history of legislating poverty, and she points out some good hypocrisies. Definitely worth a read.

Must read!

The is a very important book and should by a must read on any social justice reading list. Very well researched!

Very informative

This book really lays out really just how destructive misdemeanors are in this country and how it shapes communities. Communities that are predominantly people of color and also poor communities. I feel like majority of these laws are put into place to purposely destroy those community by making sure that these people had records. It clogged up our courts and filled up our jails. It forced people to lose their jobs, their housing, Sometimes their children. Some people think it’s just a misdemeanor but it’s so much more and can be so devastating and destructive to so many. Again that’s why voting is so important especially at the local and state level. Time to make some real changes in our communities.

American "Justice"?

Everyone should listen to this book before commenting on how "great" this justice system is.

Informative and very interesting!

educational and relatable for everyone. definitely recommend. the stories helped me understand and it really sheds light on our misdemeanor system.

sometimes we don't think!

When reading about crime and punishment one never thinks about the misdemeanor system.
This work certainly brings that to life.

This Book Should Be A Required Read For All

Amazing and necessary read for all individuals doing criminal injustice work. Law students, sociology, political science, public policy and psychology should be required to read this as well as judges, lawyers, paralegals, police depts, sheriff depts and prosecutors.

Insightful

Narrator was great. Loved her passion & story telling skills. Everyone in the court system should buy this book.

Don't wait until this happens you..get in the know

Loved it! Narrator very easy to listen to and caring. She is a thoughtful human.

The information on the justice system

The book did not have any draw to keep me reading. It made good points and had some good information. But was presented so dry that I lost interest in the content quickly. I was hoping in some more case examples of the failures of the justice system. The book gave a lot of general stats but nothing that woul want me to pick up another book and find out more.