Paradise is a book about Kentucky's failed quest to build a perfect society.
Kentucky’s first settlers were inspired by Thomas Jefferson’s vision for a freer, more humane Virginia. Disturbed by the use of capital punishment for serious crimes, Jefferson embraced the French use of penitentiaries to reform the wayward soul. Kentucky’s first legislators shared this ideal, so they built a prison soon after they settled—before there was even anyone to incarcerate.
This decision marked a dark turn. When Joel Scott convinced legislators to run the penitentiary as a business in exchange for a cut of the profits, Kentucky would build the nation’s first private prison. And, when Scott built a hemp factory inside the penitentiary, Kentucky became the first state to punish citizens with slavery. Kentucky has pioneered market innovations in prisons and illicit substances ever since.
Paradise traces Kentucky’s historic fascination with drugs and incarceration, demonstrating the optimism and sense of adventure that can surface in earnest attempts to manage the vexed pursuits of money and morality.
Tentative publication date: December 2020.