Until We Reckon: Violence, Mass Incarceration, and a Road to Repair

Until We Reckon is a powerful examination of the brutality of the U.S. prison system. Sered illustrates through research, rational thought, and her experiences with Common Justice — a racial equity program that offers alternatives to incarceration — the ongoing cost of separating people from their communities, and how our current system punishes and degrades those who have caused harm without actually holding them accountable, making our communities any safer, or respecting the needs of survivors. This book offers so many valuable insights into our very notions of harm and who perpetuates it. I can't recommend enough. Recommended By Darla M., Powells.com

Shortlisted for the 2019 Goddard Riverside Stephan Russo Book Prize for Social Justice
One of Mashable's "17 books every activist should read in 2019"
Selected by Kirkus Reviews as "One of the Best Books of 2019 to Fight Racism and Xenophobia" 

"Profoundly necessary." Michelle Alexander, New York Times columnist and author of The New Jim Crow

In the eloquent tradition of Bryan Stevenson's Just Mercy, an award-winning leader in the movement to end mass incarceration takes on the vexing problem of violent crime

Although over half the people incarcerated in America today have committed violent offenses, the focus of reformers has been almost entirely on nonviolent and drug offenses. Danielle Sered's brilliant and groundbreaking Until We Reckon steers directly and unapologetically into the question of violence, offering approaches that will help end mass incarceration and increase safety.

Widely recognized as one of the leading proponents of a restorative approach to violent crime, Sered asks us to reconsider the purposes of incarceration and argues persuasively that the needs of survivors of violent crime are better met by asking people who commit violence to accept responsibility for their actions and make amends in ways that are meaningful to those they have hurt — none of which happens in the context of a criminal trial or a prison sentence.

Sered launched and directs Common Justice, one of the few organizations offering alternatives to incarceration for people who commit serious violent crime and which has produced immensely promising results.

Critically, Sered argues that the reckoning owed is not only on the part of those who have committed violence, but also by our nation's overreliance on incarceration to produce safety — at great cost to communities, survivors, racial equity, and the very fabric of our democracy.

"A must-read for anyone who works in the criminal courts, the many who care about making our streets and communities safer and all those who espouse concern for the simple concept of justice." New York Law Journal

"The work [Sered is doing] is truly impressive and innovative. . . . [It] encompasses two seemingly contradictory threads — one is diverting violent criminals from the prison system, and the other is helping victims heal. I found it completely, radically original and generally fascinating. . . . Truly remarkable work."  The Atlantic

"A pioneer in restorative justice." NPR

"Sered issue[s] a clarion call to take [violent crime] seriously and handle it with nuance. Sered reminds us that, if we're serious about reducing mass incarceration, we need to grapple seriously, and safely, with people who have committed violent offenses and the survivors of their crimes." HuffPost

Danielle Sered leads the award-winning Brooklyn-based Common Justice, which develops and advances solutions to violence that meet the needs of those harmed and advance racial equity without relying on incarceration. She is the author of Until We Reckon (The New Press).