Review of "Time of Grace: Thoughts on Nature, Family, and the Politics of Crime and Punishment" by Ken Lamberton

Ken Lamberton was convicted in 1986 of having sex with a teenage student. He served 12 years in prison, during which time he developed an insightful perspective on the criminal justice system. In "Time Of Grace", he shares the diary he wrote while he was in prison. The deeply emotional recitation shows us the helplessness of prison life, and how the prison staff - from the administrators to the guards - add to the dispair and misery through their arrogance and bullying. Lamberton was very lucky in many ways. Instead of divorcing him, his wife and family forgave and embraced him throughout his ordeal. "Time Of Grace" is a testament to how the politics of America have abandoned any semblance of belief in rehabilitation, and so prisons are left solely with the tasks of incarceration and punishment. You'll be shocked by the mistreatment of prisoners and the violence Lamberton has to endure as prisoners seem to consider it their job to punish anyone convicted of a sex-related crime, and how the prison system treated him like a yo-yo by bouncing him from minimum security to maximum, and revoking his parole without any consideration for his original plea bargain, but you'll also be rewarded by watching how he manages to hold on to his humanity.