When Crime and Punishment in America was first published in 1998, the national incarceration rate had doubled in just over a decade, and California's prison system ranked among the largest in the world. Today, our prison problem has only worsened, and the United States is still the world's most violent industrialized society. In this groundbreaking work on the American penal system, renowned criminologist Elliott Currie offers a vivid critique of America's incarceration binge, turning his penetrating eye toward recent developments in criminal justice. Cogent, compelling, and drawing on years of original research, this newly revised edition of Crime and Punishment in America will continue to frame the way we think about imprisonment for years to come.