Get Off My Neck
Black Lives, White Justice, and a Former Prosecutor's Quest for Reform
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- $16.99
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
A deeply revealing exposé of the American prosecutorial system and its historic and present racial inequities—and how we can transform the system to one of fairness and justice.
In Get Off My Neck, Debbie Hines draws on her unique perspective as a trial lawyer, former Baltimore prosecutor, and assistant attorney general for the State of Maryland to argue that US prosecutors, as the most powerful players in the criminal justice system, systematically target and criminalize Black people. Hines describes her disillusionment as a young Black woman who initially entered the profession with the goal of helping victims of crimes, only to discover herself aiding and abetting a system that prizes plea bargaining, speedy conviction, and excessive punishment above all else. In this book, she offers concrete, specific, and hopeful solutions for just how we can come together in a common purpose for criminal justice and racial justice reform.
Get Off My Neck explains that the racial inequities in the prosecutorial system are built into our country’s DNA. What’s more, they are the direct result of a history that has conditioned Americans to perceive the Black body as insignificant at best and dangerous at worst. Unlike other books that discuss the prosecutor’s office and change from inside the office, Hines offers a proactive approach to fixing our broken prosecutorial system through a broad-based alliance of reform-minded prosecutors, activists, allies, communities, and racial justice organizations—all working together to end the racist treatment of Black people.
Told intimately through personal, family, and client narratives, Get Off My Neck is not only a deeply sobering account of our criminal justice system and its devastating impact on Black children, youth, and adults but also a practical and inspiring roadmap for how we can start doing better right now.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Hines, a former public prosecutor in Baltimore and now a private defense attorney, debuts with a scathing indictment of the criminal justice system. Mincing no words, she charges that the system is riddled with racism, populated by police officers with white supremacist views and by prosecutors who value convictions over justice. Hines provides ample evidence drawn from her own experiences in Baltimore's courtrooms and gleaned from studies that show Black people are more likely than white people to be stopped and searched by police, sentenced to longer prison terms, and victimized by police brutality. For example, she cites reports that officers in more than 100 police departments have been found to have sent racist emails, and that prosecutors are 50% more likely to charge Black people under habitual offender laws, which require harsher sentences. Among other pragmatic suggestions for countering the injustice embedded in the current system, Hines advises readers to join activist "court watcher" groups that attend trials and document their observations. While similar ground has been covered by others, what makes Hines's account uniquely worthwhile is her detailed and intriguing behind-the-scenes analysis of how prosecutors operate. This passionate firsthand critique will appeal to those interested in criminal justice reform.
