The New Debtors' Prison

“Lest one think that debtors’ prisons are a thing only of Dickens’ long-ago London, Chris Maselli demonstrates in this beautifully-written book how such a draconian thing is still a part of America’s shameful present.  The ‘land of the free,’ we learn, is not so free, especially if you are poor.”—Dan Kovalik, author of The Plot to Control the World: How the US Spent Billions to Change the Outcome of Elections Around the World? “The ‘land of the free’ is and always has been the land of the wealthy and powerful. Christopher Maselli’s book is an important resource for convincing working-class Americans of this reality. If what this book says is true, then the violent people we should be worried about are not those behind bars, but the police, prosecutors, and judges who put them there. Who do they really serve? Who do they really protect? What the white ruling elite calls the criminal ‘justice’ system is, for the rest of us, a cruel joke—a joke that produces quite the death toll.”—Roberto Sirvent, Ph.D., author of American Exceptionalism and American Innocence: A People’s History of Fake News—from the Revolutionary War to the War on Terror 

Christopher B. Maselli, Esq., is an attorney at the Providence, Rhode Island, law firm of Thomas E. Badway & Associates, LLP, specializing in civil and criminal litigation. In 2006, Maselli was elected the state senator from Johnston, Rhode Island. While a senator he rose to the level of deputy majority leader, chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, and secretary of the Judiciary Committee. He lives in Johnston, Rhode Island.

Paul Lonardo has published both fiction and nonfiction books, including numerous collaborative titles. He studied filmmaking and screenwriting at Columbia College, Hollywood and earned a BS in English from the University of Rhode Island. A freelance writer and author, he lives in Lincoln, RI, with his wife and son.