James Forman

“Most people that take jobs as police officers are taking them because they're good jobs. Many who go into these jobs are doing it because it's good work.”

“We need to hire more black police officers in this country because these are good jobs, and African Americans should have their fair share of good jobs. But we shouldn't do it because we think that's going to change policing. We have to push for police reform in other ways.”

“In court, judges tell people that their conviction carries a sentence of years, or probation. The truth is far more terrible. People convicted of crimes often become social outcasts for life, finding it difficult or impossible to rent an apartment, get a job, adopt children, access public benefits, serve on juries, or vote.”

“We rarely have good alternatives to offer to prison - that's our default.”

“Attica. The name itself has long signified resistance to prison abuse and state violence.”

“I find it very frustrating how much passing the buck there is in the criminal justice system when it comes to taking responsibility for outcomes.”

“African-Americans have always viewed the protection of black lives as a civil rights issue, whether the threat comes from police officers or street criminals. Far from ignoring the issue of crime by blacks against other blacks, African-American officials and their constituents have been consumed by it.”

“I clerked for a judge, William Norris, on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals right after law school and then for Justice O'Connor the next year.”

“We must continue to recruit progressive prosecutors to run in local elections, support those who do, and hold them accountable if they win.”

“At the end of the day, I think my story is, we need black officers because African-Americans need a fair shot at good jobs in this country, but we cannot expect them and should not expect them to change the nature of policing.”

“In terms of addressing crime issues in the black community, the dominant political class has historically refused to endorse the full slate of reforms along lines of education, economic security, housing, etc, necessary to address the root causes.”

“A black man of my generation born in the late 1960s is more than twice as likely to go to prison in his lifetime then a black man of my father's generation. I was born after the Voting Rights Act, after the Civil Rights Act, after the Fair Housing Act.”

“The only news most people ever hear about the inner city comes from grim headlines; the only residents they can name are characters on 'The Wire.' Of course, ignorance of a community doesn't stop outsiders from having opinions about it or passing laws that govern it.”

“While mass incarceration is a national crisis, it was built locally.”

“Mass incarceration and its never-ending human toll will be with us until we come to see that no crime justifies permanent civic death.”

“Actually creating a positive school climate, particularly in schools that are in communities that are themselves not calm and orderly, is hard work.”

“Our system never treated the failure of prison as a reason not to try more prison.”

“Prosecutors committed to reform need talented staff members who share that commitment, and our best legal talent should flock to their offices.”

“Mass incarceration is the result of small, distinct steps, each of whose significance becomes more apparent over time, and only when considered in light of later events.”

“I had gone to law school thinking that I would do something in the service of black people.”