For anyone seeking to learn more about state parole systems, the prison industrial complex, etc, this book is for you!

I found it fascinating, heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. And the stories focus on two men who lived in the same state as me, whose geographies I was familiar with. It made this hit home even more.

Great book about our corrections system. Thoughtful and would recommend to anyone wanting to broaden their reading.

I admit that I knew absolutely nothing about the parole system in the United States or anywhere else before sitting down to read this book. I picked it up because it sounded interesting and I wanted more knowledge about the subject. This turned out to be one of the best books I’ve read this year.

This gives a history of the parole system in the United States and talks about how the system works in other countries. It also follows the story of multiple people and why they ended up in the prison system and their efforts to leave lock up and enter society again on parole.

This book was fascinating and downright heart breaking at points. You can’t help but think that the system is failing people. I admit that I have no background in anything like this and I can’t give opinions on how the system should be overhauled and reformed but the current system seems broken.

Much of the content in this book can be heavily triggering so I don’t recommend reading this if you aren’t in the right head space for it but if you are I highly recommend this and think you need to read it. Will be looking up more books by the author in the future.

Really thoughtful and presented with such tact, comprehension and care. I wish more people knew about this book.

I was looking forward to this audiobook as I had been reading books on a similar theme around the time that I started listening to it. That being said I did not find it overly interesting or enjoyable to listen to. Perhaps this is a book I would have preferred reading, but in comparison to other books I have read, this one didn't have as many insights to offer. If you have not read/listened to any works on this subject then definitely you should check it out though as it is an important subject. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for giving me the chance to listen to this audiobook.

An absolute must-read for anyone interested in learning about the criminal justice system. I highly recommend!

4.5/5

Thank you Netgalley for providing a digital ARC.

Correction, written by Ben Austen, is a book about the criminal justice system, parole, and the individual people behind the stories. This book tells of systematic problems with the criminal justice system, such as how individuals who are BIPOC, mentally ill, or of marginalized groups are not always best served by prison time. It also tells of problems within police departments, such as individuals being tortured during interviews, or being forced to confess to things that are not true. I fee that this is an important book to read and learn from. Thank you to the author and publisher of this book, as well as to NetGalley for an advanced listeners copy in exchange for an unbiased review.

This book offers an important and readable exploration of the human cost of America's incarceral system.

This was an interesting audiobook that offers lots of new information to reader. This offers a good look at the US prison system and it’s downfalls.

This was a really good listen, although I'm finding it difficult to break down in to a coherent synopsis. Perhaps the audiobook wasn't the best choice for this particular book, at least for me I was wanting to retain information. But overall, this was a compassionate, well-researched and thought provoking read, all about how (essentially) people who have been imprisoned are still people. There is a lot of talk about parole and whether or not indefinite sentencing is humane, which is something I'd never thought about before. There is also a lot of talk about the efficacy of prisons themselves, which I have read about before. But the parole stuff was all new.

Recommend this one definitely if prison abolition and justice system reformation is something you're interested in.

I am incredibly grateful to have received an early copy of 'Correction: Parole, Prison, and the Possibility of Change' by Ben Austen, courtesy of Netgalley & Macmillian Audio. This book is a must-read that I'll recommend to anyone interested in literature. It offers crucial insights that every person should be aware of, particularly regarding the flawed nature of our correctional system—a problem far more entrenched than I had initially realized.

For those untouched by the criminal justice system, the struggles of the incarcerated may be invisible, and there's a tendency to oversimplify these issues, attributing them solely to personal failings. However, Austen's work reveals that the truth is far more complex.

The book masterfully blends thoroughly researched historical information, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the real-life stories of Johnny Veal and Michael Henderson. These individuals, who each spent around 40 years in prison, exemplify the failings of an imprecise and discriminatory parole system. Their stories illustrate how difficult it is for such a system to fairly determine when someone is rehabilitated and ready for release.
What I particularly appreciate about Austen's book is its balance between hard facts and a palpable human touch. A major issue with our criminal justice system is its tendency to dehumanize those behind bars. Whether or not one agrees with the proposed solutions within these pages, it's impossible to read this book without gaining new insights that clarify the complexities of our criminal justice system.

The narration by Brett Barry deserves special mention. His engaging delivery enhances the book, bringing to life both the research and the human stories within. Barry's narration adds an essential human element to the narrative.


'Correction: Parole, Prison, and the Possibility of Change' is more than just an informative read; it's a profound exploration of the human elements within the criminal justice system. Ben Austen not only presents a meticulously researched critique of the system but also humanizes a topic that is often reduced to statistics and stereotypes. The stories of Johnny Veal and Michael Henderson, in particular, are powerful testaments to the systemic issues within parole and rehabilitation processes. This book is a significant contribution to the ongoing discourse about criminal justice reform, offering a nuanced perspective that challenges readers to look beyond the surface. Whether you are deeply familiar with the subject or new to the conversation, Austen's compelling narrative and Brett Barry's engaging narration ensure that this book is not only enlightening but also accessible. I highly recommend 'Correction' to anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the complexities and humanity within our criminal justice system.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Published: November 2023
Length: 12 hrs 31 min

Ben Austen traces the history of parole along two routes: (1) the rise of mass incarceration, increasingly harsh sentencing, and uglier conditions of imprisonment; (2) the stories of two men imprisoned for decades, who after repeated parole hearings are finally freed.

Why, he invites us to ask, is loss of freedom not in itself a sufficient punishment? Why must the conditions of confinement be brutal?

A few items from my notes:

Decades-long incarceration wasn't always the norm, even in the US; a predicate of such long sentences is that people can't change. At parole hearings, the crime takes center stage and the question is whether the prisoner can tell a more compelling story -- so a favorable result hinges on narrative skill when "the present [is] forever being pulled back into the past." How hungry and tired are the parole board members? If you're the fifth person whose case is being heard that day, and the parole board has released two others, will the board feel compelled to pull back lest they be seen as too "soft"? Someone seeking parole now is doing so in a climate where extremely long sentences have been normalized and prison capacity has been treated as limitless.

Austen takes in the history of the victims'-rights movement, which grew partly out of feminist efforts to improve the treatment of victims of sexual assault and intimate partner violence but which came to be equated with policing and punishment, not just better treatment of crime victims. He points out that the victims'-rights movement as presently constituted treats victim and criminal as mutually exclusive categories, as though no one who committed a crime had ever themselves been victimized. There were commonsense changes, such as notifying victims of trial dates, but also changes that made it harder and harder for people who had committed crimes to reintegrate into civil society. And Austen points out the dishonesty of a movement that overlooks those most often victimized. For instance, "nearly every law named for a victim of a horrific crime since the 1980s is named for a white crime victim."

You can see why I kept having to pause the audio to take notes, and why you may find yourself gasping with relief when Johnnie Veal and Michael Henderson, the two men whose stories Austen tells in greatest depth, are finally granted parole.

Correction was often painful listening, but it never dragged. The audiobook narration is excellent, with the tiny, flinch-inducing quibble that Brett Barry thinks "just deserts" is pronounced like the geographical feature. (PSA: It's "deserts" as in "what someone deserves." Not the sweet course at the end of a meal, either.)

correction is an essential non-fiction read for all. I appreciated the author's well-researched exploration of prison and incarceration. It didn't feel too technical.

Though CORRECTIION: PAROLE AND AMERICAN JUSTICE, Ben Austen brings in readers to really look at the the carceral system critically. What is the point of the system: rehabilitation, punishment, power? What is the point behind parole and the parole process?

Austen accomplished what many nonfiction writers fumble: explain their point without being preachy or one-sided. It is clear that Austen is arguing for system reform, but he did so through extensive research and explanation on the various viewpoints for and against this argument.

Following two incarcerated men, including attending parole hearings, kept me invested in this book to not only learn more about the system, but to be able to make this book more captivating and personable, as I do not personally know anyone who has gone through the carceral system.

Overall, a book that covers a LOT but is not too heavy/dense, well-researched but not atonal.

Thank you to NetGalley, Flatiron Books, and Macmillan audio for providing an ARC audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I got to listen to an advance copy of the audiobook via NetGalley and WOW. I learned so much. I was never taught about the carceral system in school, and it is too easy for me to ignore. Not anymore. This was very eye opening and so well written. I learned so much and I left with more questions than I came with. I highly recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley, Flatiron Books, and Macmillan audio for providing an ARC audiobook of this book, which was published this week, November 7, 2023.

In “Correction, Parole, Prison and the Possibility of Change” Ben Austen argues persuasively that we must improve the current prison system and that we must shift our emphasis from vengeance and permanent punishment to genuine rehabilitation and the chance for those in the system to lead productive lives after they have completed their time.

Austen walks us through the lives of two inmates, Michael Henderson of East St. Louis and Johnnie Veal from Cabrini-Green of Chicago. These men were both incarcerated in the 70’s when they were teenagers. We see what they had to go through while they were incarcerated in a system that seems destined to create criminals and produce mental health issues. It would take a person with strong character to come out of this system able to live a healthy life.

This is a well researched non fiction work. Austen attends many parole hearings for these two men and provides a detailed report of what happened in their lives leading up to each parole hearing. What these men went through is heartbreaking. Throughout the book Austen provides a history of our parole system and prison system examining its limitations, offering solutions.

Brett Barry does a great job of narrating the audio version of this book.

I feel this is an important read, and I highly recommend Austen’s work.

Austen's High-Risers convinced me to pick up whatever he publishes without caring what it's about. A fascinating look at the systems behind parole and mass incarceration, and a timely reminder that best intentions can lead to horrifically inequitable results. How can you justify the present system when it has proven itself unsustainable, ineffective, and torturous? If the goal is to reduce crime and prevent recidivism, why are we throwing money after the same "solutions" that have only proven to increase this? Obviously the answer is that this system is working effectively for those in power and reducing crime is not, in fact, their goal. Compelling if sometimes confusing in timeline/structure, this is an excellent book to put an important topic in front of people.

🎧 Thanks to NetGalley, Flatiron Books, and Macmillan audio for providing an ARC audiobook of this book, which was published today, on 11/7/23. This is a very heartbreaking but crucial nonfiction read. It follows the stories of two “life with parole” incarcerated men: Johnnie Veal and Michael Henderson. They were both incarcerated in the 70’s and 80’s when they were teenagers. Ben Austen attends multiple parole hearings for these two men and provides a thorough history of parole in America as well as the current limitations and flaws of it.

Overall he argues that every state should reinstate parole because it provides a platform to see the humanity of incarcerated people in a system that often ignores it. It also “is a way to question what incarceration is supposed to accomplish, and to see the ruthlessness and wastefulness in a process that denies our mutual responsibility.”

He concludes that in order for parole to become truly effective, the entire concept of prisons needs to be redesigned with the possibility that anyone and everyone could become rehabilitated and go home. In its current state prisons are not designed with rehabilitation in mind, but are themselves criminogenic.

This book is mandatory reading for anyone interested in becoming an informed citizen about the state of our prison systems and how parole actually works. I am still shocked, outraged, and broken-hearted about what I read. But these are important stories to share because there are real people, with real freedom and lives at stake. Every human deserves a second chance. ❤️

Note: the audiobook narrator, Brett Barry, did an excellent job. He read this book so that it didn’t feel scripted or dry. I loved his inflection and tone.

My detailed notes:

- There is an age distribution for crime. Most crimes are committed by young people, below the age of 35. Older people are of little to no risk of committing crimes and yet it costs 3 times as much to continue imprisoning them.
- American prisons don’t reform people, they actually end up causing criminal behavior (they are “criminogenic”)
- Indeterminant sentences are corrupt and unfair. Because often parole becomes impossible.
- Parole board members have incredible power but their criteria to evaluate whether a prisoner is worthy of parole is often arbitrary. They have no training in law and are not required to have specialties in psychology or behavioral science. Yet they are tasked to evaluate someone on their understanding of psychology based off interviews that last mere minutes.
- In Louisiana it’s easier for a guilty man to be granted parole than an innocent one.
- Many parole board members are biased against the original crime so no matter how many years they’ve served or how much they’ve reformed, these prisoners can never do enough to be granted parole.
- Other countries like Canada and in Europe declared life sentences without parole unconstitutional and yet America continues to offer these sentences.
- The concept of victimhood is nebulous because hurt people hurt people. 90% of all those incarcerated for violent crimes experienced violence in their home as a child. But raising this at a parole hearing can come across as presumptuous. The fact that many of the people imprisoned for their crimes have also been victims of crimes themselves.
- A parole candidates freedom can hinge on whether or not the victim’s family attend the parole hearings.
- The victims movement has been good in some ways but has also brought a lot of harm to the justice system. “Conservatives were able to portray the criminal justice system, and really the entire country, as a binary: of victims and offenders.”
- Most victims rights groups in the 80’s and 90’s were led by middle class white women, so they were not representative of all victims. “In the United States a black person is 6 times more likely than a white person to be a victim of homicide. Black Americans are also more likely to be victims of sexual assault, robbery, motor vehicle theft, and nearly every other type of crime.”
- Victim consciousness has pervaded American culture. But this culture just perpetuates an unhealthy myth that all offenders are evil and all victims are good. Not only that, but it lit the fire for policies that drove mass incarceration and inhumane punishments.
- “Homelessness among the formerly incarcerated is ten times higher than it is among the general population.” This number is higher for women and people of color.
- “Police officers wield the immense power to determine what is known and believed to be true…. It’s not what happened, it’s what the police said happened.”
- “Prosecutors build convictions on the work and word of police. Parole boards, decades later, still reference the statements of facts to help determine who deserves to go free. When the policing is tainted, the entire system is corrupted.”
- “It was the word of a black gang member, a convicted murderer, against that of two Chicago police detectives and their commanding officer, all of them white.” (The context of this statement is a case of two police officers electrocuting a man's penis to get him to confess to a murder he didn't commit. 😳😳😳)
- Because of how strict parole supervision is, many formerly incarcerated on parole end up back in prison for minor infractions. Many had their parole revoked for technical reasons like a missed curfew. They were sent to prison without having committed another crime. Mass incarceration has led to mass supervision.
- “The country created a rigid caste system in which those with a felony conviction continually face barriers to re-entry. With a felony, people out on parole struggle to find employers who would hire them. They are frequently denied food stamps, student loans, and public assistance.”
- Some parole members don’t believe in the concept of rehabilitation. So they end up focusing on the original crime and determining parole based solely on that and not on whether the convicted are still a threat to society or not.

A harrowing read. Austen's book considers the parole system alongside the growth of the American prison industrial complex from the 1970s until the 2010s. As more states built prisons, they stopped offering those convicted of parole and granted far fewer releases. The author profiles Johnny Veal, a prisoner sentenced to 100–199 years for allegedly killing a Chicago police officer with a rifle, a notorious police death in 1970. The book exposes discrepancies in Veal's case, making it seem quite likely he was framed and had nothing to do with the murder. Also profiled is Michael, a man who gets parole and reintegrates into society. The author concludes with a passionate plea for the re-enstatement of parole hearings to allow for a space where prisoners can advocate for themselves.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio books for the advanced audio copy of this book.

This was a fantastic and important read. I could see using of it to incorporate into high school and college level Criminal Justice courses as they discuss the purpose of incarceration in our modern US society.

I would rank this high up on reading lists alongside Bryan Stevenson's Just Mercy as required reading in courses. I find it eye opening for those not familiar with the Criminal Justice system in this country.