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Cast Out: A Call for a Forgiving Society in an Age of Incarceration
“There is no them, there is only us.”
“Margulies tells the stories of people who have done monstrous things but are not monsters, are not forever defined by their worst acts. He writes beautifully of pain and loss, but also of redemption and transformation. . . . A wonderfully hopeful book about what it means to be human.”—Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking
In Cast Out, civil rights lawyer Joseph Margulies insists that those who commit even the most heinous crimes are one of us and should be judged in a spirit of forgiveness. He explains that American society is too often unforgiving, preferring to cast out those we consider irredeemable by fixating narrowly on the question, “What did they do?”, and imagining that those who have done great wrongs have no past worth learning and no future worth preserving.
But judgment in a forgiving spirit demands that we ask, “What happened?” What brought a human being to this place. Through intimate interviews, his rich chapters bring to life 6 men and women, sharing their (sometimes brutal) crimes, the grim but all-too-human paths that led them there, and their evolution and insights.
Eye-opening and unflinching, Cast Out makes us truly see those society locks away—the so-called “worst of the worst.” It challenges the reader to see us in them and them in us, and in that way, to recognize the humanity we all share.
“Margulies tells the stories of people who have done monstrous things but are not monsters, are not forever defined by their worst acts. He writes beautifully of pain and loss, but also of redemption and transformation. . . . A wonderfully hopeful book about what it means to be human.”—Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking
In Cast Out, civil rights lawyer Joseph Margulies insists that those who commit even the most heinous crimes are one of us and should be judged in a spirit of forgiveness. He explains that American society is too often unforgiving, preferring to cast out those we consider irredeemable by fixating narrowly on the question, “What did they do?”, and imagining that those who have done great wrongs have no past worth learning and no future worth preserving.
But judgment in a forgiving spirit demands that we ask, “What happened?” What brought a human being to this place. Through intimate interviews, his rich chapters bring to life 6 men and women, sharing their (sometimes brutal) crimes, the grim but all-too-human paths that led them there, and their evolution and insights.
Eye-opening and unflinching, Cast Out makes us truly see those society locks away—the so-called “worst of the worst.” It challenges the reader to see us in them and them in us, and in that way, to recognize the humanity we all share.
184 pages, Hardcover
Published September 15, 2026
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August 19, 2026A Powerful and Hopeful Book About Redemption and Humanity
In Cast Out, civil rights lawyer Joseph Margulies insists that those who commit even the most heinous crimes are one of us and should be judged in a spirit of forgiveness. Through intimate interviews with six men and women, he shares their sometimes brutal crimes, the paths that led them there, and their evolution and insights.
Margulies challenges us to move beyond the question "What did they do?" and instead ask "What happened?" to see the humanity in those we have cast out. As Sister Helen Prejean writes, this is "a wonderfully hopeful book about what it means to be human."
Eye‑opening and deeply moving, Cast Out is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand justice, redemption, and our shared humanity.
In Cast Out, civil rights lawyer Joseph Margulies insists that those who commit even the most heinous crimes are one of us and should be judged in a spirit of forgiveness. Through intimate interviews with six men and women, he shares their sometimes brutal crimes, the paths that led them there, and their evolution and insights.
Margulies challenges us to move beyond the question "What did they do?" and instead ask "What happened?" to see the humanity in those we have cast out. As Sister Helen Prejean writes, this is "a wonderfully hopeful book about what it means to be human."
Eye‑opening and deeply moving, Cast Out is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand justice, redemption, and our shared humanity.
September 28, 2026
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Cast Out by Joseph Marguiles is a raw look at convicted criminals, the crimes they committed, and many of the mitigating circumstances that created opportunities for them to do the unthinkable. It doesn't excuse behavior, but rather provides a context for it.
Marguiles is a professor at Cornell. I wonder what his take is on the rape culture that is making headlines.
Cast Out by Joseph Marguiles is a raw look at convicted criminals, the crimes they committed, and many of the mitigating circumstances that created opportunities for them to do the unthinkable. It doesn't excuse behavior, but rather provides a context for it.
Marguiles is a professor at Cornell. I wonder what his take is on the rape culture that is making headlines.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
A compassionate and healing book about how no human should be judged by their worst mistakes. Highly recommend to anyone interested in criminal justice reform.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews