Prisons constitute one of the most controversial and contested sites in a democratic society. The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the industrialized world, with over 2 million people in jails, prisons, and detention centers; with over three thousand on death row, it is also one of the few developed countries that continues to deploy the death penalty. International Human Rights Organizations such as Amnesty International have also...

"This volume is based on the conviction -- disturbing to many -- that the United States and its governing institutions, not just its penal sites rife with human rights abuses, need to be transformed. Here, activists incarcerated for deeds criminalized by the United States appeal to the U.S. Constitution, international law, morality, and religious faith to transform life on both sides of the razor wire. Insights into insurrection, rebellion, and liberation...