Locked Up and Locked Down

Locked Up and Locked Down: Multitude Lingers in Limbo is an existential account of mass incarceration in the United States criminal justice system. It traces the development and consequences of the retributive justice system through the argument of George Hegel that once a criminal always a criminal. In contrast the author draws on the works of Pope John Paul II St. Augustine of Hippo and W. E. B. Du Bois to make a case for the recognition of a second chance and respect for human dignity in the US criminal justice system. Locked Up and Locked Down is a solution-based analysis of the disproportionate rates of incarceration of especially Black and Hispanic men women and youths. It is both descriptive and prescriptive. The goal is criminal justice reform that is holistic smart and restorative. As an appeal it calls upon religious institutions in the United States including the Black Church to intervene.