Punishment Without Crime: How Our Massive Misdemeanor System Traps the Innocent and Makes America More Unequal

by Alexandra Natapoff

From a prize-winning Harvard legal scholar, “a damning portrait” ( New York Review of Books ) of the misdemeanor machine that unjustly brands millions of Americans as criminals  
 
Punishment Without Crime offers an urgent new perspective on inequality and injustice in America by examining the paradigmatic American 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 thirteen million criminal cases each year, over 80 percent of the national total. 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 disproportionately people of color—are stigmatized as criminals, impoverished through fines and fees, and stripped of driver’s licenses, jobs, and housing. And as the nation learned from the police killings of Eric Garner, George Floyd, and too many others, misdemeanor enforcement can be lethal. 
 
Now updated with a new afterword, Punishment Without Crime shows how America’s sprawling misdemeanor system makes our entire country less safe, less fair, and less equal. 

Genres: Nonfiction, Law, Politics, Social Justice, Sociology, Race, True Crime

352 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 2018

Reviews

[Nancy Mills · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book will make you mad. With the ubiquity of smart phones, social media, dash cams and body cams, many Americans were shocked to discover that police do abuse their power, often to the point of injustice and occasionally to the point of outright murder. Move on up to the courts, which are so loaded with misdemeanor cases that judges run through cases at about one per minute, and overburdened public defenders are pressured to pressure their clients to plea bargain rather than put themselves and the busy courts through a long drug-out court procedure. And the next level of the so-called "justice system" is comprised of a befuddling tangle of probation officers, court costs, fines, AA meetings, anger management classes, and of course the rightly-maligned for-profit jails and prisons, sometimes owned by the very people in charge of determining your punishment, and unless you can afford a lawyer averaging $200-$520 (https://www.advisoryhq.com/articles/a...) or have a law degree yourself, you're probably screwed.
Quite a few of us get a bit self-righteous when confronted with these facts. "Well, if they didn't break the law in the first place, they wouldn't be in that pickle."
Yes, and if your Daddy plays golf with the judge or your sister is banging the sheriff, you probably wouldn't, either. As the author points out, "once in a while we all jaywalk, litter, loiter, spit, trespass, act disorderly, and, of course, speed....some people are less likely to be touched at all, and the impact of a misdemeanor encounter depends heavily on wealth and race--but everybody is potentially exposed to the low-level criminal system."
The whole point of the book is, once you get sucked into this gargantuan labyrinth, it is very tough to get out. And whether you get sucked in at all depends heavily on your connections, your economic class, and yes, your race. In my rural community, even in the towns I work in, I don't know of anyone personally who has been busted for jaywalking or loitering, but apparently in slummy neighborhoods, especially black neighborhoods, jaywalking and loitering are a common snare cops use to snag suspicious looking people. What even IS loitering, anyway? I guess hanging out on the corner with your friends. A bunch of black guys hanging out on a corner inspires suspicion, whether they are doing anything wrong or not. They may be dealing drugs or they may be analyzing yesterday's football game. In high-crime areas, police use the "move along" strategy to pick on people for very little reason. Look, I'd like to arrest people who wear pants down to their knees, too, but in a just society we don't do that. What happens is, the cops get pushy, the kid they're targeting naturally gets resentful, and they wind up arresting him for resisting arrest or disorderly conduct.
I am going to stop here as I must go to work and don't want to get arrested for speeding. When I get back to this, I'm going to explain why I'm giving this well-written, eye-opening book only 3 stars.
I'm back. What taints this book for me is either a deliberate bias on the part of the author, or a deficit in logic. And I am not phrasing this very clearly, so this is an example: Natapoff, when writing about otherwise nice, normal people who get entangled in the the system, lumps jaywalkers, speeders and folks caught with a joint in the same class as shoplifters. And I'm sorry; while I don't think somebody's whole life should be ruined when they pilfer a lipstick from Walgreens or a blouse from the mall, to me any kind of theft is NOT a victimless crime. You are damaging someone else; Walmart stockholders and other Walmart shoppers, because they have to price merchandise accordingly, figuring in the cost of loss and prevention into their operating costs. Not paying parking tickets or growing pot are entirely different matters.
The author bemoans the fact that, if an officer stops you for a broken tail light or expired plate, and you turn out to be an "undocumented" person, your immigration status could well be negatively affected. Huh? If you're here illegally, your immigration status SHOULD be affected!. Often connected with this are driving without insurance or a valid license. A valid license, well, that can easily be an innocent mistake or often a glitch in state red tape where your license is suspended and you don't even KNOW it. Driving without insurance, though, falls under the same category logically as DUI, because chances are, you won't hurt anybody, but if God forbid something does happen, it can destroy OTHER people's lives. If this does occur let the wrath of God come down on these offenders; if they simply get caught, they should be penalized but not to the point where they can't get a job or become so ensnared in the criminal justice labyrinth that it becomes nearly impossible to get out. Which seems to be the way it's designed. If you're on probation and someone who doesn't like you calls the cops and accuses you of something, back to jail you go. Whether you're innocent or not matters not a whit; just being accused is enough to deprive you of your freedom. And bang, you lose your job, your home, your car, default on child support, and eventually once again find yourself back in jail for vagrancy or non-support or about a million other things they can throw at you. (This really does happen. I had a friend and neighbor, nice hardworking guy, very loving father, divorced, he's walking down the street and some undercover cop comes on to him like a prostitute and he says, how much? For that, he winds up in jail for months, loses the truck he used to make a living, gets in BIG trouble for not paying child support and loses his drivers license, and pretty much winds up on a friend's couch, leaving customers without transport, a kid without support and of course the government with that much less income tax revenue. Guess that makes work for probations officers, jailers, and lawyers, though.
Other than lumping all petty offenders in one box, the book has some excellent points. Jo Walton, in her novel Farthing , sums it up succinctly: "There is one law for rich and poor alike, which prevents them equally from stealing bread and sleeping under bridges."

[Mara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just gave this the four-to-five-star bump a title earns if I find myself bringing it up/recommending it three or more times within months of my finishing reading it.

[Booknblues · Rating 4 out of 5]

I often like to start the year reading something light and positive, but this year I did the opposite. Reading Punishment Without Crime: How Our Massive Misdemeanor System Traps the Innocent and Makes America More Unequal, I felt that I was reading something important, which I hope will get people thinking about ways to improve our misdemeanor system. As Alexandra Natapoff states:


Misdemeanors .....are the chump change of the criminal system. They are labeled “minor,” “low-level,” and “petty.” Sometimes they go by innocuous names like “infraction” or “violation.” Because the crimes are small and the punishments relatively light in comparison to felonies, this world of low-level offenses has not gotten much attention. But it is enormous, powerful, and surprisingly harsh. Every year, approximately 13 million people are charged with crimes as minor as littering or as serious as domestic violence.3 Those 13 million misdemeanors make up the vast majority, around 80 percent, of the nation’s criminal dockets. Most arrests in this country are for misdemeanors. Most convictions are misdemeanors.

I have recently been hearing about people being jailed for failure to pay fines and thought to myself "this can't be right we don't have debtors prisons in this country." So when I saw that Punishment Without Crime was being released and critics were acclaiming it, I thought that I should read it as well and get down to the bottom of the story. It was indeed eye-opening as I confess to being quite ignorant of the whole misdemeanor system which is enormous and according to Natapoff anything but just:

As legal scholar Jonathan Simon puts it, “The whole structure of misdemeanor justice… seems intended to subject the urban poor to a series of petty but cumulative blows to their dignity as citizens of equal standing.”38

Natapoff has done her homework. This work has been thoroughly researched and is annotated throughout. She is also clear in her descriptions and explanations so that a lay person can understand the law and what is happening easily.

Natapoff explains how the misdemeanor system effects the disparities of race and wealth, how it frequently tramples our constitution, how it has become privatized, and causes negative life changing impacts. In the final chapter she cautiously lays out how it could be changed for the better.

I will admit to being pretty ignorant of this part of our justice system and am happy to have read this book.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

While author approaches this subject with a reformist vs. abolitionist lens, and it had some repetition (honestly 50-100 pages can easily be cut), this was an important and informative reading.

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is required reading.

Natapoff does an impeccable job of balancing policy details, philosophical underpinnings, and recommendations for structural changes necessary in our criminal justice system.

Ultimately, when we think about the misdemeanor system it's important to grapple with our conceptual understanding and values in regards to what constitutes criminal behavior. Do we need law enforcement to arrest ("seizure") people for infractions such as jaywalking and spitting? How can we fund or support the misdemeanor system in a way that eliminates any professed need to generate revenue? These are the big questions that Natapoff expertly unearths and allows us to consider.

Perhaps what I took away most from this book was that our society is not necessarily interested in discussing philosophical issues such as our beliefs about criminal justice. Or if our society *is* interested in these discussions (I suspect more people are interested than we might think), we need to think through how to have these conversations in a way that widens the net to include more people and generates a commitment to implementing reforms that we believe are necessary.

[Jonathan Blanks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full review is in the Spring 2019 edition of “Democracy: A Journal of Ideas” https://democracyjournal.org/magazine...

[Swarit Pakala · Rating 4 out of 5]

Punishment without Crime: How Our Massive Misdemeanor System Traps the Innocent and Makes America More Unequal is pervasive, thoughtful, and decisive, imploring Americans across the country to be cognizant of issues and informing everyone about the nuance of the judicial system and, more specifically, the judicial process. Beginning with fairly simple anecdotes, Natapoff reaches for the reader's heart, snatching it away as they read about Grandma G, an older woman who received the first-hand experience of being a poor minority in the judicial system. Exploring the judicial system's flaws through the lens of money, Natapoff goes into the position that prosecutors, public defenders, and even judges play in eroding what is supposed to be the fairest rule in the land. Frequently referencing anecdotes, cases of the past, and statistics encompassing the courts across the country, Natapoff leaves no stone unturned, assuring that the reader is going to have a comprehensive understanding of how Misdeamenors attack the poor in the United States by the time they are finished.
With this elaboration and intensive presentation of the facts, Natapoff's writing would benefit from having more analysis and connecting central points. Too often, as I read through chapters, I found that while the evidence was exceptionally strong, the analysis left the piece feeling underwhelming, perhaps because I had to formulate those connections between ideas, which, while powerful, would have been better served to be attacked by Natapoff, especially in the context that she is a specialist in her field. For those who are vigorous note-takers and appreciate doing analysis, this piece will not be an issue and will equip you with extensive knowledge about the monetization of the legal system. If this is your first book on legal analysis, you may have to investigate how the court facets, but it will not be overwhelming. For those who desire supplementary information about how the current age of capitalism has infiltrated contemporary society, Alexandra Natapoff's Punishment Without Crime is a book I would heavily suggest.

[Lydia VanOsdol]

Have learned a lot in the past about how drug convictions fuel mass incarceration — but this book opened my eyes to the truly massive reach of the petty offense process and how carelessly our system handles misdemeanor convictions, despite the fact that a misdemeanor conviction can (and does, 13 million times per year) completely ruin lives.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t recommend this to any of my friends—but I would probably have my dad read it.

[GeneralTHC · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 stars

Another book full of important info everyone should read and probably won't.

[Wendi · Rating 4 out of 5]

At times repetitive, but a powerful read.

[Jessica Henry · Rating 5 out of 5]

A meticulously researched and comprehensive analysis of our misdemeanor system and its tremendous -- but often overlooked -- impact on the people caught within it.

[George Lichman · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book addressed many very pressing issues in the misdemeanor system that need immediate attention: excessive fees, lack of adequate resources—especially defense counsel—privatization of jails and probation services, misdemeanors as revenue for local governments, rewarding police for citations and arrests regardless of their effectiveness, the disproportionate effects on poor and minority groups, and more. All are great issues, worthy of discussion, and in need of change.

But much of the way this was done was by painting a picture with much too broad a brush, often referring to misdemeanor offenses in general without differentiating between what was referred to as social order offenses and violent crimes. (In fairness, it was mentioned that certain misdemeanors were public safety issues, but rarely and not in a way that meaningfully differentiated them.) I also felt that the value of social order/quality of life offenses was minimized. These violations—disorderly conduct, noise, traffic offenses, etc.—are certainly not as serious as assault or drunk driving, but they directly impact the quality of life in communities.

The book favored decriminalizing many minor offenses, which I took to mean that the maximum penalty could be fines, no arrest and no jail. If that’s the case, it would include Ohio’s minor misdemeanor offenses. I certainly do not oppose this effort, but don’t agree that decriminalization would solve many of the problems it is implied it would. People still can’t afford the fines. Community service? Maybe, but what happens when the community service doesn’t get served? Then we’re right where we started.

I am often reluctant to be overly critical of minor issues in books that highlight such important shortcomings in our criminal justice system, because all the issues I mentioned in the first paragraph are serious, with life changing consequences, and in need of reform. Sometimes I feel that criticizing some of the details is missing the forest for the trees. But in this case, and especially because I felt it was a bit lacking in proposed solutions, I think it is fair. (One proposed solution I like and don’t believe gets nearly enough attention is setting fines based on income—day fines, I believe it was referred to.)

Finally, while it was touched on slightly, I believe more attention needs to be paid to other social institutions to help solve a lot of the issues in the misdemeanor system. Police and courts are left to solve issues that would be better addressed by schools and other social service resources like drug, alcohol, and mental health treatment, job training, protective services, etc. But, since politicians and those who elect them seem unwilling to properly fund those efforts or ensure living wages for people to be better able to help themselves, police and courts are left o deal with these problems, generally less effectively, and funding the repair of what are society’s problems on the backs of those who can lease afford it. Until more Americans value these issues—and recognize that they ultimately impact all of us—we are unlikely to see meaningful change.

Despite my criticism, I believe this book has a lot of value in the discussion of criminal justice reform, and is unique in its focus on low level misdemeanors.

[Athena · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would say this book is targeted at people who are outraged by US mass incarceration and want reform but don't know much about how racial capitalism drives "lower"-level components of the carceral system. Readers who don't fit that description might want to read the book in a different order or skip some chapters. For example, someone who is well-versed in carceral system reform could skip the middle chapters on race and history; this is content that feels tacked on and better dealt with by other writers. But someone who doesn't really understand the relationship between racial capitalism and policing/prosecution should maybe start there.

The strongest chapters in Punishment Without Crime are the ones that lay out the misdemeanor process and discuss why so many people receive misdemeanor sentences even though they're legally innocent. I recommend these chapters to anyone who doesn't know much about the misdemeanor system. Keep in mind that Alexandra Natapoff's research is driven by secondary sources, such as statewide data and large-scale studies, and not by her own experience as a defense attorney (though she does get into that a little, and she also sprinkles in anecdotes about individual cases from the studies she cites).

Natapoff makes clear that she is not against criminalization overall. She's against the way the misdemeanor system arbitrates criminality; she believes that that function should be limited to the felony system. I disagree — it will always be harmful to concede to throw some people under the bus of criminalization. Instead we need to reframe things entirely, in terms of an expansive conception of safety. Natapoff does criticize how the misdemeanor system ruins so many people's lives, especially those of poor people of color, but her template for change treats systemic wrongs as failures that can be reformed as opposed to — as I would argue — outcomes of the fact that the system works exactly as it was meant to. There is a good section in her policy recommendations, though, about the way in which court diversion programs end up channeling more people into the carceral system.

[Tedi Beemer · Rating 4 out of 5]

wielding this in city court like a talisman

[Dan Downing · Rating 5 out of 5]

Misdemeanor: Over 13,000,000 (thirteen million) cases per year according to the data gathered by Professor Natapoff. Besides being an academic, she has street cred, having been a public defender in Baltimore, of all places. For anyone wanting a graphic understanding of Baltimore, I recommend "The Wire", as real and enlightening as television has ever been, and a good background for reading "Punishment Without Crime."

The thesis here is that the misdemeanor system operates more as a means of social control than an arm of justice. The ways various states and localities have devised to rook the hapless are numerous and often ingenious. Bottom line: if you are not middle class and preferably white, you can have your life wrecked by a simple step over 'the line'. The pressure to plead guilty in order to avoid jail, or because one does not have the money to pay fines PLUS costs, whether one committed an offense or not---and many have not---weighs on the poor, the homeless, the black, the Latino, the 'underclass' in general.

The arguments here are clear, detailed, supported by evidence and example; they enrage and depress. Natapoff writes well and documents freely. One of the rays of hope shed here is that the misdemeanor legal machine is not a continuous mechanism spread across the country like the Federal system. Most misdemeanors are local affairs and thus may be FIXED AT THE LOCAL LEVEL. That means that we do not have to wait for a dysfunctional Federal bureaucracy to clean up its act. It also means, of course, a fight, since the police, judiciary, prosecutors, etc. all have vested interests and often substantial racial prejudice which is served by the status quo. But people of conscience---even victims of the system---can act to effect change. This is why we have Constitutional Law, even though many misdemeanor law administration mechanisms defy the Constitution every day.

Highly Recommended

[Steve · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was very disappointed in this book. Very little original research, mostly a recap of what is widely known by people that pay attention to the criminal justice system.

Add to that some glaring inconsistencies -- diversion bad in one place, good in another, fines are bad in one place but should be used to decriminalize some behaviors (ignoring the fact that a fine is in some places treated as a conviction of a crime) --and the answers become pretty incoherent.

Basically, the prescription for the problem is for legislators to reduce or eliminate fines, costs, and criminal penalties; police to arrest fewer people; and actors within the court system provide more careful attention to these cases (even though the aforementioned legislators have refused to provide the resources to do that).

Perhaps the most glaring and inexplicable omission is the interrelationship between behavioral health systems and the criminal justice system. Our jails and prisons today are the primary provider of mental health services. Creating a true diversion system, using crisis teams instead of police responses, and educating everyone in the system would go a long way toward addressing some of the issues discussed in this book.

Some of the statements are just plain wrong. The author talks about FSTs (field sobriety tests) and makes a blanket statement about their reliability based on a single case where they were excluded, when in fact courts across the country have held Daubert hearings on their reliability and many if not most have found the evidence to be reliable.

Interesting book, mostly for the footnotes that reference a lot of useful material when used as original sources.

[Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really important book about an issue, that quite frankly, I knew very little about. There's clearly a racially/ethnically biased industry in the U.S. whereby misdemeanor infractions are revenue sources for some municipalities. Further, once the cycle starts with a small infraction such as "vagrancy" or loitering, it can be debilitating to an individual - impacting their ability to get an apartment, a job or the services needed. Further those investigated are often pressured into a guilty plea under the guise that it would be "cheaper" and "quicker"; however court fees, fines, and other costs drive these individuals into more debt and financial hardship. It's a horrible system and this book is an excellent introduction into its roots and offers up some progressive and thoughtful solutions. This should be a must-read for every local and national elected official with even a passing interest in our criminal justice system.

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very difficult read. Natapoff does a great job of breaking down the issues for a mainstream audience, but it is harrowing to read of the ridiculous misdemeanors for which people have been arrested and had their lives turned completely upside down. What's more discouraging is to read of the Supreme Court decisions that have made changing the system all the more difficult. I hope people will take the time to become more acquainted with these issues. It's high time politicians started looking at punishment solutions that not only fit the crime but keep basic society in place. There are no quick or easy solutions, but sometimes serious reform is what is necessary to fix problems so deeply rooted now within the system.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn’t anything you don’t already know (or I don’t already know, but I am a public defender), just drilled down to focus on the lowest-level offenses, where the vast majority of people actually have their interactions with the criminal justice system. Definitely worth the read if you’re interested in reform and mass incarceration.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had been meaning to read Alexandra Natapoff’s Crime Without Punishment since last summer, and I am sure glad this didn’t become one of those books permanently condemned to my “Want To Read” list. In this remarkably important book, Natapoff, currently a legal scholar at Harvard Law School but formerly a public defender in Baltimore, superbly clarifies the massive, byzantine, ineffective, and socially detrimental misdemeanor system in the United States. In a country fixated on violent crime statistics and frightening stories of local felons’ exploits, the petty-offense (think: having a little weed in one’s possession) and order-maintenance (think: jaywalking, standing around, calling a cop a pig) “crimes” that comprise a vast majority of lower misdemeanor convictions are somewhat of an afterthought in our collective consciousness—even for many activists. Natapoff capably locates this gap in our legal and social understandings, shedding light on an unfathomably regressive system that impacts upwards of 13 million Americans each year (a number which took her quite a bit of work to arrive at given the inherently decentralized, state-by-state and municipality-by-municipality nature of this uniquely unaccountable “system”). With a discriminate sweep of the hand, the misdemeanor system disproportionately criminalizes poor people and minorities, cavalierly creating extreme barriers to success as it condemns them to further poverty and numerous issues finding adequate employment or housing.

As I review some notes from this book, I am able to realize certain areas where I had my own gaps in understanding. With an academic background in sociology, I was obviously more familiar with the stratifying impacts of criminalization and the stigmas surrounding criminalization than with the size of and roles within the criminal justice (specifically misdemeanor) system; the specific processes by which people are brought into it, managed by it, and spit out of it; the alarmingly prevalent possibility of innocence in such an assembly line of a system (which, you guessed it, strongly incentivizes guilty pleas); or the dizzying array of fines and fees associated with it. I have copious notes from these latter topics and relatively few notes from the more sociological (on impact, money, race) or historical topics, which as I mentioned, simply reflects my own gaps in understanding coming into this book. But I mention all of this because the author is preternaturally at ease as she shifts from her domain—legal theory, criminal law, etc.—to sociology to history and even to political theory towards the end of the book as she discusses the misdemeanor system’s implications for our democracy. Seldom does a book bring in so many major topics outside of its immediate purview as cohesively as this one does (and it does this without dumbing them down too much). While I often learn a great deal from the non-fiction books I read, not many of them are well-written or confident outside of their narrow focus. Natapoff handles it all with aplomb, which is a great achievement for the author but an even greater means of edification for her fortunate readers. This important topic deserves nothing less than the rigorous, discerning exploration we get in Crime Without Punishment.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall: Depressing but necessary.

If you've ever gone to court for a traffic ticket and seen the difference between how a judge handles that case and the trial you see on tv, you begin to see what Natapoff is writing about. The many small and petty infractions that can barely be called crimes yet end up ruining lives are running amuck in our judicial systems. 13 million Per Year is the estimate she uses for the number of misdemeanor offenders, which are difficult to define fairly across jurisdictions and time. Efforts to make these things easier end up expanding the system and allowing it to grow to encompass more people - in ways that are often not even tracked. Her history of vagrancy laws and the racially motivated imprisonment of black men in slave-like conditions shows another aspect of this unjust system - one that increases criminalization. The way even well-intentioned members of the justice system treat these as minor criminal offenses obscures the fact the individual faces substantial losses, including government services, housing, employment, custody and immigration status resulting from these minor crimes. And a 2nd charge will be treated much worse.

Individual stories are told, exemplifying different aspects of the problem. Misdemeanors that average 2 minutes in front of a judge who, in the horrifying example of Mrs. Ji doesn't even bother to determine the competency of the person in front him. Or people who are accused of things they didn't do, but can't navigate the bureaucracy enough to prove it - particularly with cash bail. Plead guilty and go home or argue and stay in jail is a horrifying concept. Another assault on the values of justice are places where the cop who finds someone committing a misdemeanor can collect the penalty immediately and doesn't have to keep records - and they're the judge of the case too if you want to argue about it later.

I reluctantly accept the importance of driving for many of the individuals she speaks of, but did find her repeated assumption of the necessity of driving to be a productive member of society jarring. A lot of places don't have good alternatives to cars, but culturally I believe its better to fix this in ways other than allowing people to drive with multiple vehicular misdemeanors - but that's a smaller part of the book more implied than argued anywhere on it's own.

The book wraps up with ideas for solutions - from reforming the cash bail system to removing the 'quality of life' ordinances that often end up being a way to control the unpopular and unfortunate, often in profoundly racist ways. Some cautions are thrown in there, for example ankle bracelets & probation, which are billed as ways for people to go home, a positive for the offender right? Yet this allows a much broader expansion of surveillance and with difficult probation requirements may end up simply delaying the same jail time with the additional fees & costs of the probation added on to it.

Read on audiobook with Libby app from San Francisco Public Library.

[Savanah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful book about the issues facing our criminal justice system. Another great companion to a book like Locked in or New Jim Crow, but with a focus on the misdemeanor side of the criminal justice system, an often overlooked, but ever-important piece of our broken system. The book was thorough on its facts, data and sources, including in qualitative data and stories to enhance the reading. I was highly impressed with the amount of data she was able to track down and the discussions of how little studied this area is, with data that would simply be impossible to get in the current circumstances.

While misdemeanor crime is not as sexy as, say, felonies, murders and the like, they are highly important to look at. Misdemeanors are not just mini-crime, but a separate issue entirely, often focused on targetting "unpopular people and groups who are deemed unpleasant or inherently risky" or for a government to gain money as a type of tax (often on those who are the poorest in our society). But the misdemeanors go beyond just quality of life crimes and punishing the poor (she discusses plenty on these issues and does delve into race as well), the misdemeanor system effects every level of person in one degree or another and creates a never-ending maze for those who do not have the tools or money to cut through it. (Stealing from another book title) The Process is the Punishment. And often, this punishment comes despite the fact no crime was committed (see the title of this book).

I did enjoy her section on solutions, though I think they could have been more in-depth, I would love to see more about what other countries as well as more local places that are doing work through these issues.

[Johnathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review:
A deeply researched and eye-opening analysis of America’s overlooked misdemeanor system. Natapoff masterfully breaks down how minor offenses carry major consequences, creating a pipeline of injustice that affects millions. The book is both academic and accessible, blending legal insight with human stories that highlight the system’s failures. Anyone interested in criminal justice reform, inequality, or legal policy should read this.

Summary:
In Punishment Without Crime, legal scholar Alexandra Natapoff exposes the deep flaws of the U.S. misdemeanor system and how it disproportionately affects marginalized communities. While misdemeanors might seem minor compared to felonies, they make up the vast majority of criminal cases in the United States, affecting millions of people each year. Natapoff argues that this system, built on over-policing, wrongful arrests, and rushed plea deals, fuels inequality and mass incarceration.
Through compelling research and real-life cases, she reveals how minor offenses—like jaywalking or loitering—can lead to devastating consequences, including job loss, financial ruin, and even jail time for innocent people. The book challenges the notion that misdemeanor justice is fair or harmless, instead showing how it operates as a form of social control that disproportionately punishes the poor and people of color.

Themes:
Mass Incarceration
Criminal Justice Reform
Systemic Inequality
Over-policing

Recommended For:
Readers interested in social justice, law, and criminal justice reform. Fans of The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander or Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson will find this book especially relevant.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

The importance of this book is that it analyzes the little scrutinized system of misdemeanor management. Often ignored because perceived minor, misdemeanor level crimes quite affect recipients for the rest of their lives. Often too poor to pay bail, fines, and fees, people end up doing jail time for crimes they may not have committed or crimes with smaller amounts of jail time than they end up with.

The book looks at motivations to arrest and charge, including quotas, counts applying to promotion, and racial/class bias. The chapter on money incentives is especially revealing as is the one on race.

The chapter on the history of misdemeanor type prosecution shows it is resistant to change though there has been some small progress. The chapter on Change explores options as well as cautions about how well intentioned changes can go wrong.

One might expect inequality of experience to be unconstitutional, but many have been deemed okay prompting the citation of Anatole France’s acute observation:”’The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, to steal bread’” (119).

The various chapters get repetitious, so I did more skimming than I usually do. Still the various points are important.

In these times of scrutinizing systems of policing and punishment it adds a dimension often overlooked.

[Kathleen W. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Save your time and choose another book! This one droned on and on and on going over how horrible it is to have there be consequences to illegal acts. I agree that no one should be arrested based on race or because you are poor. Then all the rest is total BS that there shouldn't be punishment for little acts like DRUNK DRIVING and speeding and shoplifting. WTF?? People die because others are speeding and drunk. Businesses fail if their merchandise is stolen. What about the people who are on the losing end of those "small acts"? It is illegal because no one wants to be on the road with drunks or to pay for even more massive amounts of stolen products in every store we shop from. I am not so worried about people losing their drivers license for DUI or repeated speeding or they have to pay a fine when they steal. It's no fun to get caught but that is the whole point of laws, to reduce how many people commit crimes and they actually make a choice when they do whatever criminal act. They do need to be sure someone actually did what they are arrested for. The rest was just nuts to think there are no consequences to choices and actions.

[Ed · Rating 5 out of 5]

For many years I've viewed our lower level, misdemeanor, criminal justice system as a churn factory. Get them in, get them to plea, and move on. Living in a state that doesn't appear to financially benefit from this paradigm, it's still disconcerting to see. Our founding values support the utmost reverence for the rule of law, but the reality is the rule of law has morphed into a system that punishes many individuals for behavior that simply should not be governed. This book goes into great detail as to how this has come to be, the efforts to correct, and of great importance, how these corrective actions often lead to greater numbers put into the system.

This is an issue that affects everyone in our society, and as such we should all take note and understand the problems we face with our criminal justice system in the hope that we may work to correct many of the problems inherent in the process.

[Tad · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are looking for something light and positive, this is definitely not the right book for that. This is a very thorough and detailed look at the misdemeanor system and all the ways it unfairly traps people in a system of poverty and inequality. At times, it felt a bit too thorough and too detailed to the point where it came off as a bit more scholarly and academic than I usually like. At the same time, though, I feel like I learned a lot from this book that I didn't know yet. And as someone who is fascinated by the legal system and our criminal justice system, I found it to be a great inside glimpse of what that is actually like for far too many people. This book will open your eyes which is never a bad thing. While it may be a bit of a slog at times, the actual content is solid and revealing. Recommended.

[Joshua Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author made a great argument as to why the misdemeanor process has major problems:

. Too many cases with too few resources
. Violating human rights by locking up suspects for days, weeks, months before even an attorney can be assigned
. Unfair fines and fees that serve as revenue generators, and not real deterrents

However, there was no real solution or series of solutions offered. The author even made that clear in the chapter titled "Change." She offered a series of guidelines that include:

. Legalize / decriminalize misdemeanors (maybe)
. Make fewer arrests
. Change the punishment

Basically, there is no offered solution, and that I find pretty troubling. I agree, there is a real problem here. However, I find the opportunity for change lacking.

[David Ellis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid read but you probably already know the gist of it. Goes into a bit more detail but can get very repetitive. Based on the size of the appendix and notes at the back of the bit it is clear that a lot of research went into the book, but I felt as though a lot of that was used just to make references and pull quotes to proof things that we all likely already know. If you want to help change the misdemeanor system in this country (I think we all do else we wouldn't be reading this book), then I would recommend to read this book very quickly and then find out ways to get involved. Let me know if you have any ideas.