|  | | Cover is NOT Final | |
| | Sub-Imprint | Avid Reader Press |
| | | | | | | | Category Full 1 | SOCIAL SCIENCE / Penology |
| | Category Full 2 | HISTORY / United States/21st Century |
| | Category Full 3 | POLITICAL SCIENCE / Public Policy/City Planning & Urban Development |
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| | | | About the BookOther Formats | A deeply reported work of narrative nonfiction that takes readers behind the scenes of one of the most consequential decisions of our time—the closure of Rikers Island—and what it could mean for the future of prison reform and restorative justice.
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| | For nearly a century, Rikers Island has stood on a 416-acre strip of land in the East River, housing an average daily population of 10,000 prisoners (the majority of whom are awaiting arraignment and trial), employing about the same number of corrections officers and civilian workers, and costing just over $800 million per year to operate. It is the largest correctional and mental facility in New York City. It also one of the most controversial and notorious jails in America.
Which is why, when Mayor Bill De Blasio announced in 2017 that Rikers would be closed within the next decade, replaced with new buildings designed to reflect new outlooks on mass incarceration and prisoner rehabilitation, the decision––which seemed to be a step towards a more humane, more understanding future as terms like abolition and “Defund the Police” were becoming common conversation––sounded like an unalloyed good to many, including Architectural Digest writer Eva Fedderly, who was leading the magazine’s coverage of the closure. But, as she dug deeper and spoke to more people in the different populations surrounding and participating directly in the debate, she discovered that the consensus was hardly universal. Many told her that new jails wouldn’t solve anything—but what could were more programs outside of jails, more equity, and alternative ways to deal with crime. People needed to be given the tools to succeed. Only then, could violence, racism, and crime in America subside. So why was no one listening?
In These Walls, Fedderly takes readers behind the scenes and through the layers of the Rikers decision and what it will really mean for reformists, justice architects, abolitionists, city government officials, prison guards, and most wrenchingly, the incarcerated themselves. The result is a compelling blend of on-the-ground reporting and sweeping social and architectural history, perfect for readers of Locking Up Our Own and American Prison that captures the texture of this centuries-old debate and challenges our long-held beliefs about what constitutes justice and power.
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| | “Can America design its way out of a broken criminal justice system that feeds a daily crisis in city jails? Yes, says author Eva Fedderly, but only if we stop seeing 'abolition' as a four-letter word. These Walls reframes the debate the country's incarceration crisis, with a compelling focus on architecture as a path forward.”
— Tony Messenger, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Profit and Punishment
“An important book. . . This is a discussion we need to have and These Walls is a great introduction to the key issues. Readers will be better educated for the experience, whichever side they come down on.”
— Richard E. Wener, author of The Environmental Psychology of Prison and Jails
"Filled with key perspectives from those on the front lines of the ‘war on crime,’ Eva Fedderly’s These Walls is a critical intervention in the high stakes debate about the social value of jails and what we could do instead to create safety and justice."
— Alex Vitale, author of The End of Policing
“Eva Fedderly’s deep commitment to confronting the complexities of criminal justice reform is evident on every page of this prismatic survey. Especially engaging is her visit to a cellblock in the nation’s first bona fide penitentiary, outside Philadelphia, as well as her look at attempts to design more humane prisons. The endemic problems of our penal system, Fedderly concludes, will not be resolved until we create a more socioeconomically equitable America.”
— David Friend, author of Watching the World Change and editor of creative development at Vanity Fair
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| | Eva Fedderly’s investigative reporting has been published in Architectural Digest, New York magazine, The Christian Science Monitor, Esquire, and Courthouse News, where she reported hundreds of news-breaking stories on the American legal system. She is a graduate of UC Berkeley and Harvard University, and lives in New York City and New Orleans. These Walls is her first book.
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