Leigh Goodmark Books

A profound, compelling argument for abolition feminism—to protect criminalized survivors of gender-based violence, we must dismantle the carceral system. Since the 1970s, anti-violence advocates have worked to make the legal system more responsive to gender-based violence. But greater state intervention in cases of intimate partner violence, rape, sexual assault, and trafficking has led to the arrest, prosecution, conviction, and incarceration of victims, particularly women of color and trans and gender-nonconforming people. Imperfect Victims argues that only dismantling the system will bring that punishment to an end. Amplifying the voices of survivors, including her own clients, abolitionist law professor Leigh Goodmark deftly guides readers on a step-by-step journey through the criminalization of survival. Abolition feminism reveals the possibility of a just world beyond the carceral state, which is fundamentally unable to respond to, let alone remedy, harm. As Imperfect Victims shows, abolition feminism is the only politics and practice that can undo the indescribable damage inflicted on survivors by the very system purporting to protect them.

"Decriminalizing Domestic Violence asks the crucial, yet often ignored, question of why and how the criminal legal system has become the primary response to intimate partner violence in the United States. It introduces readers, both new and well versed in the subject, to the ways in which the criminal justice system harms rather than helps those who are subjected to abuse and violence in their homes and communities. The book examines how mandatory arrests, no-drop prosecutions, zero-tolerance public housing policies, and the ever-growing collateral consequences of a criminal record can mean that vast amounts of social, legal, and financial resources are diverted into a criminal justice apparatus that is ultimately unable to deliver justice or safety to victims, or to prevent domestic violence to begin with. Envisioned for both courses and research topics in domestic violence, family violence, gender and law, sociology of law, and others, the book challenges readers to view intimate partner violence not as a criminal justice concern but as an economic, public health, community, and human rights problem. At a moment when we are examining our national addiction to punishment, Decriminalizing Domestic Violence offers a thoughtful, pragmatic roadmap to real domestic violence reform"--Résumé de l'éditeur