Practicing attorney Shanti Brien addresses criminal justice reform in her debut memoir ‘Almost Innocent: From Searching to Save in America’s Criminal Justice System’ (Amplify Publishing; March 2, 2021). A groundbreaking insider’s account of the messy, tragic, and often unjust legal system in America, ‘Almost Innocent’ outlines the human impact of the criminal justice system and illuminates one of the most urgent issues of our time.
Criminal defense, specializing in appeals and post-conviction proceedings is what Shanti Brien spent her professional career in. In her debut memoir, ‘Almost Innocent’, Shanti Brien details her narratives of nine of her clients and gets to breaking down the contradictions our country is struggling with—us versus them, good versus bad, guilt versus innocence, Black versus White—and challenges us to explore the humanity in between.
Though her clients’ profiles are as individual as their sentences—the teenage gang member whose gun never fired, the victim of the world’s most vindictive homeowners’ association, the soft-spoken three-strikes rapist, and the single mother turned get-away driver—they all touched her life in surprising ways. They saved her from stupid mistakes; strengthened her NFL-ravaged marriage; and taught her about humility, redemption, and humanity. Shanti Brien’s story is a “deft but humble investigation into who is worthy of compassion and where justice may have lost its way” (Kelly Corrigan).
Part memoir, part political commentary, Almost Innocent is a “compelling, thought-provoking work that shies away from easy answers to questions of right or wrong” (Kirkus Reviews) and is “sure to capture the attention of anyone vested in living in a country of truly equal and just laws” (BlueInk Review). This book is an intimate portrait of the criminal justice system that offers suggestions for what it could be: more fair, more humane, and more just.
The book ‘Almost Innocent’ is available at any store that books are sold at. Shanti Brien is more than available for interviews, features and virtual events and she is also the co-founder of Fogbreak Justice. This is a company that is involved in education and consultancy with the purpose of wanting to transform the criminal justice system through experiences are recue biasness, promotes fairness , builds community trust and creates equity.
