Lacino Hamilton's In Spite of the Consequences is worth the read, giving those who have never been incarcerated a look inside the life of what some of the incarcerated people I have known call "insiders."

Hamilton writes quite well and is engaging. The reason I gave four rather than five stars is that the organization of this book is haphazard and dizzying. One moment you are reading a letter to a mentor, another to the author's father, another to his partner, and so on. This leads to disorganization and the sort of confusion that comes in listening to one side of a phone call.

I would love to read a more organized chapter by chapter treatise on subjects such as prison abolition which weave in the author's experience with more organized essays. That said, this book, though disorganized by it's nature as a collection of random letters, still shines through the author's strong voice of experience and wisdom about the pitfalls and problems of mass incarceration.

Short of getting to know people who are currently or formally incarcerated, this book is one good way of hearing a voice from within a prison.

I hope Hamilton will write more and will look forward to more of what he has to say. ( )

To Lacino Hamilton, I say: thank you! This book is absolutely a requirement for any abolitionist's library. By sharing with us his letters to friends, family, comrades, and supporters, Hamilton has provided us with an essential tool. His words lay out clearly the inhumanity of our prison system -- as a system -- and therefore why it must be abolished. He gently chides wrong thinking in his correspondents and shares with them the facts of prison life. Through this, not only can we the readers sort through our own thoughts and ideas about prisons (and hopefully also reach an abolitionist conclusion), but we can then take those words with us into conversation with others. That, I think, is the greatest gift of this book -- it gives readers clear, simple, direct language with which to talk about complex and challenging ideas, which in turn will enable us to be effective proponents of prison abolition.
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For the first half of this book I wasn't sure quite what to think of it. Hamilton is an excellent writer with a lot to say, and a unique perspective on his subjects (prison reform, criminal justice, racism in America). But I initially found the letters repetitive, as his correspondence with various people seemed to touch on the same points and ideas over and over again. However, as the book went on, and more of his own biographical details came out, as well as details about his personal experience of prison, the letters in this collection developed into a work of deeply personal philosophy, thought, and activism. While I still wish there was more to read about Hamilton's life, as well as the people he's corresponding with (none of whom we ever hear from in this book), In Spite Of The Consequences is still a unique and important piece of literature in the fight for better, smarter justice.
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Author Lacino Hamilton, falsely convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison, shares his correspondence with various friends, relatives, educators, and activists, advocating for the abolition of the prison system.

Hamilton articulately speaks about how the American prison system has failed. He is correct in noting that there are hundreds of people in prison who have been falsely convicted due to detectives with confirmation bias, prosecutors who want convictions rather than truth, and judges who allow junk science to become part of evidence.

He writes a lot about the abuse that prisoners suffer at the hands of the system, and encourages noncompliance with prison rules, as well as laws and rules outside of prison. He advocates for abolishing police, courts, and prisons and letting “the community” deal with offenders. Unfortunately, he never fully explains how the community should deal with law breakers. In fact, I have the distinct impression that Hamilton believes that society has no need of laws.

Although there is much to think seriously about in Hamilton’s letters, this book left me wanting more viable suggestions on how prisons can be reformed with an emphasis on rehabilitation. ( )

I'm trying really hard to like this book. The author definitely has something to say, and he's speaking from bitter experience. I've been reading it off and on for close to 3 months, though, and I'm not finding it compelling. It's not because of the content, but because of the format.

The author, Lacino Hamilton, was falsely convicted and given a very long prison sentence. Because of a lack of educational resources in the prison system, he taught himself to a high degree. He spent his time trying to reform the system from within, and the book reflects his efforts through letters he wrote to outsiders as well as other prisoners (because they weren't allowed to talk to each other).

A word of advice to anyone reading this book: do read the introduction, the preface, and the foreword. If you don't, you may not have any idea what you're reading! The book is organized into five sections, each with a dozen letters or so, but the sections aren't titled nor does there seem to be any semblance of organization. I finally resorted to skipping ahead, to see if later sections had more suggestions rather than just philosophy, and it appears that is the case in section 4.

I know from the before-the-body parts of the book that I'm not going to agree with everything the author has to say, but I believe it's important to hear all sides of an issue. I'm just not finding that this format is necessarily the best for conveying the author's message. ( )