Check nearby libraries
Buy this book
"In September 1996, fifty-three-year-old heroin addict Billy Ochoa was sentenced to 326 years in prison. His crime: committing $2,100 worth of welfare fraud. Ochoa was sent to New Folsom supermax prison, joining thousands of other men who will spend the rest of their lives in California's teeming correctional facilities as a result of that state's tough Three Strikes law. His incarceration will cost over $20,000 a year until he dies.".
"Hard Time Blues weaves together the story of the growth of the American prison system over the past quarter century primarily through the story of Ochoa, a career criminal who grew up in the barrios of post-World War II L.A. Ochoa, who had a long history of nonviolent crimes committed to fund his drug habit, and cycled in and out of prison since the late 1960s, is a perfect example of how perennial misfits, rather than blood-soaked violent criminals, make up the majority of America's prisoners.
This is also the story of the burgeoning careers of politicians such as former California governor Pete Wilson, who rose to power on the "crime issue." Wilson, whose grandfather was a cop murdered by drug-runners in early twentieth-century Chicago, scored a stunning come-from-behind reelection victory in 1994. In so doing, he came to epitomize the 1990s tough-on-crime politician."--BOOK JACKET.
Check nearby libraries
Buy this book
Previews available in: English
Subjects
Administration of Criminal justice, Discrimination in criminal justice administration, Sentences (Criminal procedure), Imprisonment, Political aspects of Administration of criminal justice, Political aspects, Criminal justice, administration of, Criminal procedure, united statesPeople
Billy Ochoa (1943-), Pete WilsonPlaces
United States, CaliforniaShowing 3 featured editions. View all 3 editions?
Edition | Availability |
---|---|
1
Hard Time Blues: How Politics Built a Prison Nation
2011, St. Martin's Press
in English
1429970049 9781429970044
|
zzzz
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
|
2
Hard time blues
2002, St. Martins Press/Thomas Dunne Books
in English
- 1st ed.
0312268114 9780312268114
|
eeee
|
3
Hard Time Blues: How Politics Built a Prison Nation
January 22, 2002, Thomas Dunne Books
Hardcover
in English
- 1st edition
0312268114 9780312268114
|
aaaa
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
|
Book Details
First Sentence
"Billy Ochoa had been living with his younger sister Virginia, her daughter, and her sick son Arthur, since he had been expelled from the Weingart Center halfway house on November 11, 1994, where he had lived after serving a couple of years in prison for welfare fraud in the early 1990s."
The Physical Object
ID Numbers
Community Reviews (0)
Feedback?History
- Created April 30, 2008
- 6 revisions
Wikipedia citation
×CloseCopy and paste this code into your Wikipedia page. Need help?
August 12, 2010 | Edited by IdentifierBot | added LibraryThing ID |
April 24, 2010 | Edited by Open Library Bot | Fixed duplicate goodreads IDs. |
April 16, 2010 | Edited by bgimpertBot | Added goodreads ID. |
April 14, 2010 | Edited by Open Library Bot | Linked existing covers to the edition. |
April 30, 2008 | Created by an anonymous user | Imported from amazon.com record |