Book Review: The Legal Rights of the Convicted

• Published date: 01 December 2011
• DOI: 10.1177/0734016811401340
• Author: Elyshia Aseltine
• Date: 01 December 2011
• Subject Matter: Book Reviews

reforms, and interventions by the courts. Nonetheless, as Bosworth shows in earlier chapters, such

restructuring throughout history has always fallen short of eliminating the prison.

Chapter 8 is perhaps the most attention-grabbing. Purportedly securing the borders and

safeguarding our country, institutions holding immigrants and terrorist suspects are spotlighted.

Heavily scrutinized by Bosworth, it is here that immigration detention centers, military lockups, and

clandestine government facilities are exposed as political prisons of which little is known. Naturally,

to the inquiring researcher, sparse knowledge of modern day prisons is frustrating at best. Basing the

limited criminological research on empirical difficulties and epistemological matters inherent in

studying these types of prisons, Bosworth implicitly makes the case for the necessities of further

academic investigations. Bosworth also questions whether these institutions are completely

exclusive, ‘‘or whether they are merely new versions of the American prison’’ (p. 201). The author

determines that shared characteristics exist between immigrant detention centers, war prisons, and

correctional facilities for citizen offenders, especially in terms of staff and institutional design.

And yet, she also realizes the incredible authority and discretion of the United States government

concerning noncitizens and the prisons that detain them.

The concluding chapter recalls the escalating number of individuals behind bars in America,

suggestingthat the ubiquity of the prisonis likely to remain. Despite thefact that prisons have been con-

demned relentlessly throughouthistory, the text maintains that suchplaces of confinement are ‘‘in rude

health’’ (p. 230). Indeed, after reading Bosworth’swork, this statement becomes quite compelling.

Ultimately, Explaining U.S. Imprisonment exhibits dedicated scholarship and imparts an

exceptional, as well as comprehensive, look at the history of imprisonment in the United States.

By means of her historical evidence from researchers, practitioners, journalists, and those currently

and formerly locked in prisons, Bosworth successfully illustrates that imprisonment in the United

States has never fulfilled its anticipated purpose. This book is well suited for scholars and students

alike, particularly those interested in corrections, imprisonment, and historical America.

Perhaps, it is time to pay attention to our nation’s history of imprisonment. Like this text, which

astutely takes notice of the secondary, but parallel, narratives and attitudes of our society, it is

essential to consider as many perspectives as possible prior to rendering decisions on such important

matters as the future of prisons in America. Surely, following a conscientious read of this book, some

support will be garnered for a less retaliatory approach to confinement, if not for a humble reconsi-

deration of those we decide to lock inside our nation’s prisons.

B. Belbot and C. Hemmens

The Legal Rights of the Convicted El Paso, TX: LFB Scholarly Publishing, 2010. vii, 262 pp. $42.95.

ISBN: 978-1-59332-424-7

Reviewed by: Elyshia Aseltine, Lycoming College, Williamsport, PA, USA

DOI: 10.1177/0734016811401340

In an era of mass incarceration, an increasing amount of scholarly attention is being paid to prisons.

What is missing from recent literature, however, is an in-depth discussion of the myriad of ways that

conviction impacts the legal privileges of those convicted. Belbot and Hemmens’ book fills this gap

by offering a comprehensive discussion of the legal rights of convicts in the United States.

The authors shed a much needed light on the complex legal lives of the convicted, beginning with

sentencing, through incarceration, and ending with release. Prior to considering the legal lives of the

convicted, the book opens with a discussion to orient the reader to the history and basic structure of

convict-related, judicial decision-making. The second chapter outlines the history of sentencing

Book Reviews 521