{"product_id":"not-a-crime-to-be-poor-9781620975480","title":"Not a Crime to Be Poor","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eAwarded \"Special Recognition\" by the 2018 Robert F. Kennedy Book \u0026amp; Journalism Awards\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFinalist for the American Bar Association's 2018 Silver Gavel Book Award\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNamed one of the \"10 books to read after you've read \u003cem\u003eEvicted\u003c\/em\u003e\" by the \u003cem\u003eMilwaukee Journal Sentinel\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"Essential reading for anyone trying to understand the demands of social justice in America.\"—Bryan Stevenson, author of \u003cem\u003eJust Mercy\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWinner of a special Robert F. Kennedy Book Award, the book that \u003cem\u003eEvicted \u003c\/em\u003eauthor Matthew Desmond calls \"a powerful investigation into the ways the United States has addressed poverty . . . lucid and troubling\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003eIn one of the richest countries on Earth it has effectively become a crime to be poor. For example, in Ferguson, Missouri, the U.S. Department of Justice didn't just expose racially biased policing; it also exposed exorbitant fines and fees for minor crimes that mainly hit the city's poor, African American population, resulting in jail by the thousands. As Peter Edelman explains in \u003cem\u003eNot a Crime to Be Poor\u003c\/em\u003e, in fact Ferguson is everywhere: the debtors' prisons of the twenty-first century. The anti-tax revolution that began with the Reagan era led state and local governments, starved for revenues, to squeeze ordinary people, collect fines and fees to the tune of 10 million people who now owe $50 billion.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNor is the criminalization of poverty confined to money. Schoolchildren are sent to court for playground skirmishes that previously sent them to the principal's office. Women are evicted from their homes for calling the police too often to ask for protection from domestic violence. The homeless are arrested for sleeping in the park or urinating in public.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA former aide to Robert F. Kennedy and senior official in the Clinton administration, Peter Edelman has devoted his life to understanding the causes of poverty. As Harvard Law professor Randall Kennedy has said, \"No one has been more committed to struggles against impoverishment and its cruel consequences than Peter Edelman.\" And former \u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e columnist Bob Herbert writes, \"If there is one essential book on the great tragedy of poverty and inequality in America, this is it.\"\u003c\/div\u003e\n\n\u003cdiv\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Peter Edelman","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48284101574907,"sku":"9781620975480","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0779\/3917\/9771\/files\/CoreSourceHub_13e93a60-0c2c-463a-9f10-4cd923a8c3d6.jpg?v=1771398913","url":"https:\/\/indiepubs.com\/products\/not-a-crime-to-be-poor-9781620975480","provider":"IndiePubs","version":"1.0","type":"link"}