Poetic Justice: Reflections on the Big House, the Death House, and the American Way of Justice

Robert Johnson’s Poetic Justice is a subtle and at times sardonic study of crime and punishment, justice and injustice. The poems in this book take a fresh look at concepts we take for granted (like reasonable doubt and the presumption of innocence), and offer unflinching portraits of the dark side of power – brutal crimes (including crimes of terror), harsh sanctions (including the death penalty) and the routine, invisible, yet profound traumas that are part and parcel of our legal process, starting with arrest and ending with a deep and often irrevocable change in the identity and even the destiny of those we label criminal. Poetic Justice is filled with vivid images that will stay with the reader long after the book has been put down.