Mass Supervision

Praise for Mass Supervision: "Schiraldi persuasively argues that probation and parole, together known as community supervision, have failed to achieve their twin goals of reducing incarceration and enhancing public safety." Christian Science Monitor "A necessary corrective that lays bare the harms and failures. . . . Mass Supervision should be an eye-opener for anyone who's never stopped to consider what probation and parole do to so many people in the United States and to get mad about it." Inquest "In this valuable book, Vincent Schiraldi firmly establishes that the people currently on parole or probationas well as the community at largewould be better off and safer if both systems were to disappear." The Arts Fuse "[A] disturbing analysis of the little-understood, long-calcified systems of probation and parole. . . . Schiraldi writes with compassion and an experienced eye. . . . An expertly developed contribution to progressive debates on civil liberties and imprisonment." Kirkus Reviews "A captivating account of the history and current state of criminal supervision in the U.S. . . . Schiraldi provides valuable insight for activists. This astute and accessible study illuminates a vital yet understudied topic." Publishers Weekly (starred review) This is a real moment for parole and probation in America. This book chronicles the rise of mass supervision and the birth of the movement to reform it. From the injustices I experienced on probation and the #FreeMeek movement that resulted in my release, to the experiences of millions of Americans who are tormented by the supervision-to-prison pipeline, to the many changes REFORM Alliance and others have already brought about, this book takes us from the creation of the system, through its transformations and reforms, and directs us to the hard work remaining to free men and women still unjustly trapped on supervision. Schiraldi captures how far weve come in the movement to fix parole and probation and reminds us how much more we can do if we stand together against injustice. Robert Meek Mill Williams, recording artist, entrepreneur, and co-founder of the REFORM Alliance "When I hired Vinny Schiraldi to run New York City's probation department, I wanted someone who would shake up a broken system; and that's exactly what we got. He played a critical role in helping our administration reduce both incarceration and crime to record lows, and the experiences and insights he shares in Mass Supervision hold lessons for the whole country." Michael Bloomberg, mayor of New York City (2000-2013) and founder of Bloomberg and Bloomberg Philanthropies Schiraldi combines the rare gifts of a memoirist and a reformer calling our attention to the mass casualties of our broken probation and parole systems. On the front lines for decades, no one is in a better position to help shrink and ultimately dismantle the problem of mass supervision than he is. Anyone in search of sanity and solutions must read this book. Khalil Gibran Muhammad, professor at Harvard Kennedy School and the Radcliffe Institute With Mass Supervision, Schiraldi asks us all to consider what it means to be on papers, that colloquial term for being under state supervision. Schiraldi knows what the rest of us dont about probation or paroleand in this book he reveals it: from its history to all its present disasters. But more than this, Schiraldi offers a pathway forward, to less supervision and more freedom and more safety. Thats why this one matters. Reginald Dwayne Betts, founder and director, Freedom Reads, and author of Felon The iron grip of mass incarceration reaches far beyond the walls of American prisons and jails, and in Mass Supervision, Schiraldi spotlights poorly understood and operated systems of probation and parole. Schiraldi shines a light on how

Vincent Schiraldi is the founder of the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice and the Justice Policy Institute. He has served as director of juvenile corrections in Washington, DC, commissioner of the New York City Department of Probation, and commissioner of the New York City Department of Correction. He has been a senior research fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School and co-founded the Columbia University Justice Lab. He is currently secretary of the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services and has written extensively for outlets ranging from the New York Times to The Marshall Project. The author of Mass Supervision (The New Press), he lives just outside of Washington, DC.