We Are All Criminals

We Are All Criminals weaves compelling photographs and first-person narrative with an incisive introduction to America's criminal justice system, providing a look at how the policies and prejudices of the past and present are bankrupting our nation. The book combines criminal justice statistics and statutes with photographs and personal stories to demonstrate the destruction caused by decades of mass criminalization, while leaving the reader with a sense of hope and inspiration to affect change. From the pediatrician who blew up a porta potty to the chiefs of police who burglarized a liquor distribution center to the countless students who smoked and sold pot, this photo-packed book is filled with stories of people who got away with crimes-and parallel stories of people laboring under the stigma of a criminal record. It's an examination of criminality, privilege, punishment, and second chances. Woven throughout is incisive commentary on the havoc our carceral state has wreaked upon the nation; the disparate impact of our legal system on poor communities and communities of color; and the exploration of innumerable life barriers created by criminal and juvenile records. About the author: Emily Baxter is the founder and executive director of We Are All Criminals (WAAC). She has served as the director of advocacy and public policy at the Council on Crime and Justice in Minnesota, and as an assistant public defender at the Regional Native Public Defense Corporation. Emily is a former Fellow at the Robina Institute of Criminal Law and Criminal Justice. She began developing WAAC through a Bush Fellowship in 2012.