ABSTRACT
In most mainstream television shows about crime, such as NYPD Blue, Law and Order, and The Practice, the story ends with either a confession of guilt or a courtroom conviction. At this moment, justice prevails because the criminal is removed from the narrative. With this figure behind bars, order is restored. We can feel safe again. This invisibility is also designed to focus our attention on the crime itself, not the broader social forces behind it. By ending the story here, the criminal vanishes. His or her story is silenced. And with it, the problems of the prison system remain unacknowledged; its deplorable living conditions, inherent racism, and failure to offer training, education, or any substantive rehabilitation can be overlooked more easily.
