Death in Custody:

Reviews

"There’s no real way to know how many people die in custody each year. In their book, Death in Custody, Roger and Jay chronicle the efforts of activists and journalists to uncover the true scope of this problem, to try to figure out how many people actually are dying in custody. And they argue for a straightforward solution. I learned a lot from this book. It blew my mind."

DeRay McKesson, Pod Save the People

Dr. Mitchell and Professor Aronson's meticulous examination of our criminal legal system is a shocking exposure of just how little our society knows or cares to know about people dying in custody. In their careful accounting of various attempts to understand and prevent deaths in custody, one thing becomes clear: the reforms on the margins that federal, state, and local governments engage in are simply not enough to stop the human suffering that occurs every day in this country.

Hunter Parnell, Public Defenseless Podcast

Death in Custody is a radical shift in how to analyze violence, misconduct, and dysfunction in the criminal justice system in the modern era. Aronson and Mitchell offer recommendations for attempting to sort out this crisis, but this book would be important even if it didn't. Death in Custody makes the case that white supremacy, economic inequality, and exploitation are among the causes of this festering problem.

Brian Gilmore, The Progressive

"America's prisons have become death houses for so many people who have tragically lost their lives as a result of neglect, abuse, and mismanagement. This critically important work shines a powerful light on a public health emergency created by our nation's addiction to incarceration and extreme punishment. An urgent, compelling, and necessary call to action we should all embrace."

Bryan Stevenson, Founder and Executive Director, Equal Justice Initiative

Death in Custody provides readers with the brutal history on which the U.S. criminal legal system was built. These unnecessary deaths will continue to occur until there is a uniform way of making our judicial system transparent and accountable.

Antoine Davis, ZEKE magazine

In Death in Custody, Roger A. Mitchell Jr. and Jay D. Aronson argue that deaths in law enforcement custody amount to a public health emergency. Their work ties in high-profile examples and shows how journalists have long done the work of tracking in-custody deaths. Mitchell and Aronson argue that collecting accurate data is the first step toward addressing this crisis.

Chris Blackwell, The Appeal

"Dr. Roger Mitchell has an extensive history conducting in-custody death investigations. I cannot think of anyone more qualified, committed, or passionate in exposing these often-invisible deaths that leave so many grieving families with unanswered questions. Death in Custody by Dr. Mitchell and Dr. Jay Aronson is an exhaustive and critical examination that is long overdue."

Keith L. Alexander, Pulitzer Prize–winning crime and courts reporter, The Washington Post

"This timely, important, and well-researched book shines a much-needed light on the epidemic of preventable―and hidden―deaths in our nation's prisons and jails. It's impossible to read it without demanding that policy makers address the lack of data, the lack of oversight, and the lack of humanity in these dark places."

Michele Deitch, Prison and Jail Innovation Lab, The University of Texas at Austin

UNLOCKING THE BLACK BOX OF IN-CUSTODY DEATHS

Despite the frequency of in-custody deaths, their exact scope remains unknown and data is often intentionally obfuscated

Book Review: Policing the Police

“Death in Custody” is a radical shift in how to analyze violence, misconduct, and dysfunction in the criminal justice system in the modern era.