The Toughest Beat : Politics, punishment, and the prison officers union in california

In crisp, vivid prose, The Toughest Beat shows how the California Correctional Peace Officers Association (CCPOA), the labor union representing prison officers and other correctional workers, had transformed from a loose, fraternal organization into one of the most politically potent and feared interest groups in the nation. The book describes how the union promoted ultra-tough policies like "Three Strikes and You're Out," empowered political figures and groups that supported its interests and views on criminal punishment, and frustrated efforts to privatize prisons. And as its leaders made strides for its members, the union also influenced the nature, purpose, and scope of imprisonment. To understand California's deep and durable penal crisis, Page explains, we cannot neglect the story of this group so often known simply as "the powerful prison guards' union".