Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Michelle Alexander

Quote by Michelle Alexander

Work

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness

This book critically examines the impact of mass incarceration on African Americans, arguing that it constitutes a new form of racial segregation and discrimination in the United States. more

Author

Michelle Alexander
Michelle Alexander

Michelle Alexander is a distinguished professor of law at the University of California, Berkeley. Born on October 7, 1967, she is recognized for her expertise in criminal justice and civil rights. Alexander has authored numerous articles and books on the subject of mass incarceration in the United States and its effects on African American communities. more

You May Also Like

“The Palestinian leadership failed disastrously by not coming up with an alternative to the U.S.-Israeli position at Camp David and subsequent negotiations through the end of the Clinton presidency. It also failed by not explaining what was wrong with the terms being negotiated at Camp David, and how the whole process, from Oslo on, represented the subordination of international law to Israeli demands.”

“It is not intended that every violation of the law should be prosecuted. There are more important priorities on which to spend public money. It is enough that the law is available to be used when necessary, to try to prevent violations from reaching unacceptable levels in particular communities, and to prevent perpetrators of high-profile offences from escaping with impunity. Indeed, even when criminal charges are brought, it is increasingly common to prescribe some remedial sentence, such as attendance at a ‘speeding awareness’ course, instead of a penalty. International law is no different. There is neither the expectation nor the intention that international law should be enforced on every occasion when it is violated. Many minor violations are willingly tolerated as the products of human frailty, or as not worth pursuing.”

“One of the clearest principles of contemporary international law is that States are not free to threaten or use military force against each other or to intervene in each other’s affairs. That is one reason why, for example, western States have been ready to take action against terrorist groups in Iraq, where the States act at the invitation of the Iraqi government, but have been very reluctant to take such action in Syria, where there is no such invitation.”

“International Law of the sea evolved over the years thereby concretizing the right of the freedom of navigation –FON; further the right evolved with its operational ramifications that led to the concept of Freedom of Navigation Operations (FONOPs); which operational freedom is based on sovereignty and interdependence of the state to enforce such a right.”