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Defining Documents in American History: Prison Reform provides an in-depth analysis of the primary documents that capture the debates, activism, and legislation surrounding the system of imprisonment in the United States. Prisoners have been part of the population in America since the first settlers arrived from Europe. Since then, there have been efforts to reform and improve the prison system in this country. This volume collects and analyzes sixty-one documents that discuss the fierce debates and legislation related to prison reform, the privatization prisons, the efforts to end practices like solitary confinement, and the improvement of mental health care in prisons. The documents reviewed here include letters, memoirs, book excerpts, speeches, court rulings, legal texts, and legislative acts.