I was unsure of what to expect from this book. Esthetically, the book is very appealing from the easy to read font and pocket size dimensions.

Immediately, I was drawn in from her passion for the project. I could immediately see myself within the first chapter. The second and third chapter was founded on necessary evidence and statistics. However, I was starting to question if the statistics would override the passion of the project. Chapter 4 was able to pull me back into the book.

When the author mentioned Huron Valley Prison, my heart started to pour out memories of when my mom was housed there when I was 7. I immediately started to think of my best friend that has served 17 years and still is housed at the facility. My friend that no doubt created a crime but was given a harsh sentence. A person with a trauma filled childhood that was sentenced by a judge that was later convicted of her own crime. How was she able to decide someone else’s fate? 

Prison is indeed an institution made to make profits more so than rehabilitation. What if we offered other alternatives? 

As we know, mental health is a major issue that prison alone can’t fix. Again, you would have to ask yourself “Are prisons obsolete?