Liberty's Prison is a must-read for correctional leaders throughout the United States. Randy Liberty is one of the most forward-thinking leaders in the field, and through his work with the Maine Department of Corrections, he has proven that when you provide incarcerated individuals with opportunities for change, in most cases, they will take advantage of those opportunities.

Because his father served time in prison, Liberty thinks differently than most leaders, viewing the correctional system through a different lens, one that began to take shape during his childhood. He recognizes the incarcerated as human beings-seeing them as someone's father or mother, someone's son or daughter, someone's brother or sister.

Liberty has dedicated his career to providing the incarcerated with opportunities for change, and any time we have ideas for innovations in the field of corrections, he is the first person we go to. As correctional leaders, there is much we can learn by reading Liberty's story.

Kevin Kempf, Executive Director of the Correctional Leaders Association

Part memoir, part recipe for change, this book compellingly makes the case for the human ability to change, and the need to make sure our structures change along with them.

Liberty's Prison has many lessons we need to learn. First, incarceration is most frequently the result of structural rather than individual failings-patriarchy, masculinity, poverty, racism, lack of social safety nets-and therefore structural solutions are needed to change it. Second, leadership matters. When leaders' personal identities give them access to perspectives that facilitate unconventional decisions, many benefits can follow. Third, incarcerated people are capable of living meaningful lives that can both contribute to society while also addressing their own personal growth, if only given the chance. The political will of leaders is the missing ingredient, but Randy Liberty adds it in and has made real change in Maine's Department of Correction.

Randy Liberty's personal insight into how incarceration harms families and society, and his commitment to reinventing what the system does for people in confinement, is both a revolutionary and pragmatic approach to the field. His bold choices upend conventional practices of incarceration, reminding readers of the true meaning of correction-to offer means for self-betterment that can also heal patterns of structural and individual harm. Through economic opportunities for incarcerated people to earn real income via remote work and college degrees, to therapeutic meaning-making through gardening, bee-keeping, and yoga, the story of Liberty's tenure as Commissioner of the Maine Department of Correction holds lessons for decision-makers in every state. This book gave me hope that real change in the carceral system is possible.

Mneesha Gellman, Director, Emerson Prison Initiative and Associate Professor of Political Science, Emerson College

Liberty's Prison will take you on a journey you won't easily leave behind. Liberty's book is an inside look at the life of a boy who grew up in extreme poverty, suffering trauma throughout childhood while visiting his father in prison. That same boy further experienced trauma while serving in combat as well as through rescue diving and his career in law enforcement. Upon becoming the Commissioner of the Maine Department of Corrections, Liberty used those experiences to implement radical changes based upon his personal belief that healing and connection are necessary to moving forward in life. This book takes you behind the scenes in one of the darkest places on earth, only to release you into the light on the other side.

Lisa Clements, PhD, Tom Clements Foundation