I wasn’t sure that I wanted to write a book.
In fact, for a long time I’ve been quite
resistant to writing a book.
I just have felt like I don’t have time
for something like that.
But I’m increasingly concerned about this
disconnect that I see in American society,
where we have an image of ourselves.
We have a belief about our system of justice
that doesn’t actually comport with the reality
of our system of justice, the reality of ourselves.
And a lot of that, I think, is fueled by the
stories we tell ourselves that aren’t real
but are easier to believe and understand.
And so I decided to write this book because
I really did—I am persuaded that if I can
get people closer to what I see—I think
if most Americans saw what I saw, they would
demand change tomorrow.
If they’d been in jail cells holding little
children who had been sexually abused because
we put them in places where they were going
to be abused, I think they would demand a change.
I think if they saw innocent people being
wrongly convicted and almost executed, they
would demand a change.
If they saw the kind of bias and discrimination
that I’ve seen, they would demand a change.
And so the book is really an effort to get
people closer to what I see.
And I am persuaded that—I’m hopeful that
in doing so, more people will take up the
importance of reform in our criminal justice
system.
