Race and the U.S. Prison Crisis

Prisoner's Rights After Death Row

2011-03-09T12:55:00.001-08:00

The article, “Giving Life After Death Row,” written by an Oregon death row inmate by the name of Christian Longo raises questions about a prisoner’s right to donate their organs after being executed on death row. Longo is a convicted murderer who took the lives of his wife and children and now remains in his 6 foot by 8 foot cell on death row in an Oregon state prison for 22 hours a day. He requested to donate his organs after he is executed, but prison officials denied his request. Longo points to concerns of the health of the inmates as well as potential abuse of the prisoners’ organs by the state in reference to unwarranted medical testing. It is well known that there are many people in the United States on waiting lists for organ transplants. With such a high prison population, the denial of requests to donate organs of prisoners leaves out a lot of people who are potential donors. The article points out that the organs of one inmate could potentially save up to eight lives if given the chance to donate their organs once they are deceased.

The method of execution in most states is carried out with a series of three drugs that ultimately damage the vital organs leading to the death of the prisoner. However, there are other ways in which to carry out an execution that does not damage the vital organs of the inmate. Such methods are used in Washington State and Ohio. Public concerns about the health of the organs of a prisoner come into question as well. As with any other person who opts to be an organ donor a series of tests can be administered in order to determine the health of the organs, so this really isn’t an issue that prison administrators should be concerned with. What is at stake here is a prisoner’s right to his or her own body once the state has carried out its punishment for the crime they have been convicted of. When a person is executed, they have completed their sentence in the prison system and should therefore have the right to dispose of their organs in the way they see fit.

If a person is sentenced to death for a crime they have committed, does that sentence end with their execution? It would seem so, but prison administrators don’t seem to agree given that they denied Longo’s request to donate his organs after he is executed. Once a person is convicted of a crime and sentenced they are property of the state. In any other case, a person is no longer property of the state once they have served their sentence, so why should it be any different for a person who is sentenced to death row? The concern about the health of the prisoners’ organs brings up the issue of the health within prisons. If prisons weren’t such an unhealthy environment for a person to be held this would not be an issue. The prevalence of disease in prisons is something that can be diminished if prison officials and policy makers cared enough about the people who are incarcerated, but that would make them seem human instead of criminal. The denial of Longo’s request to donate his organs after his execution is a violation of his rights to his own body. There is something wrong with prison administrators who do not consider the request of an inmate to donate his or her organs in order to save the lives of people who are awaiting an organ transplant. The question we really have to ask ourselves is when does a prisoner’s sentence really end if they are unable to have rights to their own organs once they have been executed? Many issues are raised by this article; a person's rights to their body when they are incarcerated and after they have been executed, the prominence of disease within prisons that are attributing to deteriorating health of inmates, as well as the methods used to carry out executions in most state in the U.S.

Amplifying Injustices; Criminalization of Human Behaviors

2011-03-09T12:51:00.000-08:00

Recently, a young man was arrested in the Eugene Springfield area for "urinating in public." He committed suicide while in jail, by hanging himself. He had recently served a few months in jail for an unrelated "weapons" offense.

He ran from the police--who were attempting to arrest him--and they tackled him to the ground one they caught up with him. He was found unconscious in his cell by a guard making the rounds. Despite the design of his cell--configured to have no places to suspend or hang things--he was, unfortunately, successful . . . . He attained the final say; he was the only one who could control his body, mind and ultimately, his destiny. Despite attempts by the managers and designers of the modern punitive careral system to achieve mastery and hegemony over minds and bodies, they have failed.

Declining crime rates that do not correspond with increasing incarceration rates tell a disturbing tale about Oregon--which has the dubious distinction of having the fastest growing prison population in the nation. We must change policies that create increased criminalization of normal human behaviors. Urinating in public? I've often wondered where all the public bathrooms are when I've been in a similarly desperate and painful situation. Most of us have been in this situation, and can sympathize . . . . I have a confession to make--I'm guilty of relieving myself in the bushes a few times; it's either that or develop a urinary tract infection. Humans have needs, which are often difficult to fulfill in public areas without running afoul of dehumanizing, draconian laws that are selectively enforced via de facto racial profiling practices. In order to fill new prisons, society is widening it's "criminal justice" dragnet. The metaphor of the dragnet is appropriate because it produces "by-catch"--it snares species that were not specifically or consciously targeted. One these unfortunate prey are entangled, their fate is usually sealed; they either die underwater, unable to move, of else are killed on the boat. Hopefully this tangent helps to illuminate the dire consequences of those who happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Was the unfortunate young man being rehabilitated for his transgression--public urination--or was he being treated unfairly, punished severely for such a minor offense? Either way, he is gone forever. Congratulations "criminal justice" system. Perhaps we should begin intensifying pre-hire screening procedures within police departments; studies show that they test nearly as socio-pathologically as the criminals they wish to contain. We must make it easier for good police to operate, remain and succeed within their departments.

I have friends (they shall remain anonymous) who are good people, who attempted to pursue careers as police; they were essentially chased off the force, because they were too honest and good natured for the tastes of the other, established, officers. This is just anecdotal evidence. As is the story of the young man who killed himself, in his cell, after relieving himself. Shame on us.

San Quentin Prison: an illustration of multiple issues engendered by the ‘Prison Industrial Complex’

2011-03-08T19:11:00.000-08:00

According to Angela Davis, the ‘Prison Industrial Complex’ corresponds to massive investment of the state to build more prisons. This concept finds its roots in Reagan’s 1980 project to incarcerate massively and systematically in the context of the war on drugs. In addition, the Prison Industrial Complex reflects the shift from the ‘Military Industrial Complex’ that perpetuated culture of violence and suspicion in the 1950-60’s. The PIC’s main result was to normalize incarceration and make prisons natural but also invisible.

In California, 9 prisons were built in 100 years but their number doubled in one decade (1980-1990). San Quentin was built in 1852. It was the first Californian state prison and its original purpose was to correct and rehabilitate. According to Ruth Gilmore, the purpose of this prison was to make inmates ‘self-reliant’.
Alyssa Block visited San Quentin in 2008 and shows how the prison as well as prisoner’s living conditions have changed in the context of the Prison Industrial Complex. Today, San Quentin holds twice as much inmates as its building capacities, and the vast gym hall has been transformed into a single large cell. Prison overcrowding leads to several issues such as racial tensions, filth, or stress, which are all intertwined. Alyssa Block argues that San Quentin creates a ‘circular logic’ that perpetuates massive incarceration and overpopulation: because the prison is overcrowded, racial tensions appear, which is an obstacle to rehabilitation work, therefore more inmates will come back into prison shortly after their release (70% of inmates return to prison within 3 years), leading to overcrowding.

One main consequence of overcrowding that A. Block mentions is the increase in racial conflicts. At San Quentin, life is regulated by the tension between the two main gangs: ‘Southern’ and ‘Northern Latinos’ that has led to intense confrontations, inmates injured and sometimes killed. Both inmates and wardens are aware of this conflict and express to A. Block that there is no safe place to escape if a conflict arises. More specifically, the Dining Hall appears to be the least safe place, implying that shared spaces are the most dangerous. As a result of gang tensions, inmates of same race gather and create their own space, which evokes the situation under the apartheid and the eradication of shared spaces between Blacks and Whites.

Consequences of prison overcrowding are numerous and prove the need to reform the massive incarceration system. The role of the Prison Industrial Complex in prison’s overcrowding is crucial. The economic burden of prison overcrowding has had, however, an impact on recent incarceration politics. According to the New York Times of March 13, 2010, the financial crisis in California has led the state to release inmates considered as less ‘threatening’. Is releasing an efficient alternative to overcrowding? It seems as lack of rehabilitation leads, in both cases, to recidivism and re-incarceration. In the specific case of California, a solution could be to rearrange parole in order to decrease the number of individuals incarcerated for violation of parole. Above all, what seems to be a solution to reduce prison overcrowding is the opportunity for inmates to attend rehabilitation programs that are necessary to their reintegration.

Brazen Big Business Initiatives Give No Apology

2011-03-08T10:57:00.000-08:00

Those of us who keep up with current events have already heard about the racist immigration bill, Arizona State Senate Bill 1070, set into motion by Republican governor Jan Brewer in April of last year. At first glance it makes a previously illegal act of racial profiling…legal. As many African Americans can attest, racial profiling is illegal but doesn’t mean many police don’t commit this crime against them. Simply ask anyone who was ever pulled over for a DWB (Driving While Black). However the racist immigration law in Arizona is even more deceitful than racial profiling. What isn’t clear in the news reports on the local television station about Brewer’s immigration law is who wrote it. The answer is chilling.

Exposed from corporate records, campaign finance reports, lobbying documents, and hours of research, NPR found the authors of the racist Arizona bill. “What they show is a quiet, behind the scenes effort to help draft and pass Arizona Senate Bill 1070 by an industry that stands to benefit from it: the private prison industry.”

The racist bill is unbridled capitalism at its finest. AZ State Senate Bill 1070 will fill prisons at a rate never before subjugated in the United States. Obviously, there are shareholders and CEOs and management who find this huge climb in prison populations quite profitable. Perhaps that’s why ALEC, or American Legislative Exchange Council came up with the scheme in the first place.

ALEC sounds like a pretty legitimate “council” until we uncover who comprises the “council”. NPR reports its members include the National Rifle Association, the tobacco company Reynolds American Inc., ExxonMobil and the largest private prison company in the country, Corrections Corporations of America. Michael Hough, a staff director for ALEC and admits unabashedly that ALEC routinely writes bills for various legislators. “Yeah, that’s the way it’s set up. It’s a public-private partnership. We believe both sides business and lawmakers should be at the table, together.” Notice he makes no mention of the people of a democratic society at the “table” with the businesses and lawmakers. He doesn’t have to. In fact, ALEC is quite brazen. It makes one wonder what else they have masterminded with their plots and schemes, under the noses of ignorant Americans whose votes are skewed with well planted fear. Somehow, this news story NPR so carefully studied and presented didn’t make it onto Fox News.

ALEC clutches 6 million a year from the high powered companies like Pfizer Inc. it calls its members, while state legislators only have to pay $50.00 annually to be a member. With such an affordable price, legislators with grubby hands can write bills alongside big business and take it to their own states for their own agendas. Brewer hardly needed the input though. Her top two advisors Paul Senseman and Chuck Coughlin are both former lobbyists for private prison companies.

As Angela Davis has already warned, “As prisons proliferate in U.S. society, private capital has become enmeshed in the punishment industry. And precisely because of their profit potential, prisons are becoming increasingly important to the U.S. economy. If the notion of punishment as a source of potentially stupendous profits is disturbing by itself, then the strategic dependence on racist structures and ideologies to render mass punishment palatable and profitable is even more troubling.”

The fact that big businesses author bills that become America’s reality is terrifying, especially when they target yet another group of people with brown skin. Contained within the legacy of racist U.S. history that includes genocide and enslavement, Mexicans in Arizona join the millions before them whose rights, lives, and freedoms are at risk in this “Land of the Free” that only some of us can call home.

reddit: IamA former inmate pAMA

2011-03-07T23:20:00.000-08:00

I was browsing reddit, an internet forum the other day. Under the “ask me anything” subsection, I found this gem:

Key: IAMA= I am A; AMA: ask me anything; also, in this context respondent= the person responding the questions aka the former inmate

IAMA Former Inmate at a Supermax facility. AMA
Served 18 months of five years in at CMAX, in Tamms Illinois.
I was released from a medium security facility in 2010.
I'm 35, white, male. Convicted of Armed Robbery and Attempted Murder, sentenced to 10 years, released after 5.
Ask me anything.

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/fypjj/by_request_iama_former_inmate_at_a_supermax/?limit=500

There were about 2137 comments submitted. I picked some that I thought were most relevant to our course. I think Reddit is absolutely amazing for this. The majority of people who don’t know a someone in prison would never be able to ask a current or former inmate about their experience in prison. Even better, the former inmate posts this thread on his own, and answers questions he wants and on his own terms. This makes people comfortable enough to ask questions, knowing that the former inmate is willing to do this, that he’s opening up to questions. Some of the questions and comments are a little disturbing but overall this open forum has made an excellent medium for the exchange of information. And the former inmate (the respondent) gives really great insights about the conditions he faced in prison.

Some interesting themes I came across:
- the purpose of prison
- Rehabilitation v. punishment
- The panopticon
- Effects of solitary confinement
- Rape (the readers were really curious, more than the respondent was willing to respond)

Q: What is the biggest misconception most people have about prison?

That there is anything even near rehabilitation. It's about warehousing people society hates. Period.

Q: I thought this was what most people knew. There should be more rehab part to it, but would you agree punishment for a violent crime is necessary?

Punishment is about revenge. If you're going to punish someone, kill them. You want them out on the streets again? Rehabilitate them.

Related comment: I don't think people delude themselves with the term 'rehabilitation.' They think of prison as a humbling dehumanization that 'breaks' the individual.
I think that most people imagine that prison is so terrible that it makes people want to never go back, so they roll their eyes at mistreatment and poor/unsafe conditions and even root for them.
The misconception is that prison improves people and prevents recidivism.

Related comment: Yes, it breaks people, and we then have this misconstrued idea that they have hit bottom and will rebuild themselves into better people.
What's the goal with boot camp? To break certain habits of an individual so that the military can then rebuild them into an effective member of a unit.
What's the goal with drug rehab? To break certain habits of an individual so that he or she can rebuild themselves with peer support and counseling.
Who is there to rebuild a felon when he breaks in prison? A whole lot of conflicting forces.

Related comment: I find it hard to believe that the prison system, drug laws, etc., were designed to get cheap labor to make goods such as license plates. Even considering whatever economic gain is derived from their cheap labor, incarceration is an overall economic loss for the state.

Q: If you had no conception of any end point, how do you think you would you have handled the experience in CMAX?

I'd have killed myself. Simple as that.

Q: What was it like adjusting to the real world after getting out? Anything like Red from the Shawshank Redemption?

It was harder going from CMAX to gen pop. Being around people again, the noise, the smell, it was crazy-making.
By the time of my release I felt mostly human again. I still sleep with my bedroom door locked. I don't like open spaces at all anymore.

Q: Do you feel the facility aided in rehabilitation? That you were previously an unfit member of society and due to your experience inside you are now a better person?
Fuck no. It's about punishment. I got sent to CMAX because I got into it with a black gang at my first prison. I'm not a racist, but the blacks in that place liked to fuck with the white guys all the time. I fought back, I was a target.
What is rehabilitating about locking a guy in a box for 23 hours a day? I nearly lost my mind many times and I'm still fucking damaged from it. If anything it made me regret not killing the guy, if I was going to face that kind of shit anyway.
Rehabilittion is a joke.

Q: What, in your opinion, would rehabilitate violent offenders?
Fuck, I dunno. Maybe a society where the poor aren't so desperate and fucked over at every turn. I did a six year hitch in the Navy (SEABEE) and came out to find no jobs without a college degree that could pay my bills. All the construction jobs go to Mexicans who do it for nothing.
Give a man a decent job at a good wage and treat him like a fucking person.

Related comment:There are really no questions about how to go about rehabilitating violent offenders (it's sexual offenders that are problematic). It's a question of cost and humility on the part of the federal government and the American people. We, as a country, are not prepared to forgive, to look forward, and to invest in criminal rehab.
We want to shut them out of our minds in an imaginary hell, where they are punished endlessly until they're old men, and then are released and die quietly. Preferably, they'll be put to death regardless of the severity of their crime. If they aren't "sorry" enough, they should never be released, either. Let's not forget that we don't want to coexist with them in open society, ever, and will do everything in our power to push them into destitution and low-skill, low-pay deadend manual labor.
We're living in the dark ages of criminal justice. If you want to learn about how a responsible, modern state deals with crime, visit a prison in Northern or Western Europe.

Related comment: My brother was sent to state prison at SIXTEEN. He went in as a punk kid, came out as a hardened, tattooed sociopath with a boatload of new criminal skills.

Are you familiar with the term "panopticon"? Is that what the CMAX was like? What did you do for your hour a day outside your cell? How did your perception of time change? Were you able to even keep track of time? What did you do during your 23 hours on your own during the day?

You were always under camera or guard watch.
Time gets very fucked up. I'd think it was noon when it was really 4pm. Afternoons were the worst. They seemed to just go on for ages.

The respondent has a very strong opinion about the purpose of rehabilitation versus punishment. After spending 5 years in prison, and part of it in a supermax facility, his answers are very intruding. A participant explains that prison is seen as a humbling dehumanization that 'breaks' the individual. And because this dehumanization serves a specific and important purpose (“breaking the individual”), it becomes a justification for ignoring subhuman prison conditions. “Punishment,” he says, “is about revenge.” It’s interesting then to see how the punishment mentality affects prisoners after their release. If punishment doesn’t rehabilitate prisoners, what does? The respondent suggests that better economic opportunities would be effective,” Give a man a decent job at a good wage and treat him like a fucking person.” Another reader added that his brother was sent to prison when he was 16 and came out with new criminal skills. Paradox.

The respondent says that the readers seems to be almost obsessive about prison rape, and another readers suggests that rape is a deterrent of crime, at least for him. I don’t if this is really measurable, but it would be interesting to find out about how much of a deterrent the idea of rape is. Another interesting theme from all the questions and responses is how racialized the discourse is. “I’m not racist but…” comes up a few times. The respondent doesn’t consider himself a racist, but he does reflect back on race relations in prison. He was eventually sent to a supermax prison from a medium security prison for getting into a fight with a gang of Black prisoners and while he doesn’t blame Mexicans for not being able to get a job, he does say that any work will be done by Mexicans for much less. He seems aware of economic inconsistencies among working class people (how they are pit against each other) and how those have worked to his disadvantage.

There are other interesting questions and comments (this is an open and ongoing forum) that I didn’t include. I suggest following the link to see what else has been added. I assume the thread will be open until the person who opened it decides he doesn’t want to answer more questions.

Life After Prison

2011-03-06T21:26:00.000-08:00

Finding a job these days is pretty difficult. If you are an ex-inmate, however, it is much more difficult and sometimes impossible. There are many employers who will not hire convicted felons in any case while others, according to Ginnie Graham and Curtis Killman, two World Staff Writers, will not hire felons for at least five to ten years after they have been released from prison. Because of these issues, for former inmates, the possibility of finding any well-paying job can look bleak. Moreover, former inmates are not allowed to pursue a career that requires any type of state licensing. This cuts back a lot on what opportunities are available to ex-inmates and makes it tougher for them to find work.

In addition to job discrimination against former inmates, there are many other issues that can prevent ex-inmates from being able to obtain legitimate work after their release. Many feel that because there are not many good job options open to them, their best bet is to start selling drugs because it is much more profitable, in some regards, than obtaining a menial- labor job. A lot of the time, many ex-felons find themselves back in prison for selling drugs, and the cycle starts over again.

Without a job, relevant job experience, or something to fall back on, many former felons turn to recommitting crimes and end up back in prison. However, there are some programs that help to provide former inmates jobs, housing, and a new start outside of prison. One such program is called the Prisoner Reentry Initiative in Tulsa. This program works with local companies to employ former inmates when they are released from prison. Not only do these companies employ these former inmates, but they sometimes will also provide job training programs, which help to train inmates and allow them to gain more relevant and useful job experience.

Along with helping provide former inmates the basics for living a life free of crime, these companies also benefit from employing these ex-felons. Goodwill Industries in Tulsa is one of the main participants in the Prisoner Reentry Initiative Program, and Goodwill Industries of Tulsa is one of the biggest providers of job training for former inmates, as well. Incentives are given to the companies that are willing to hire former inmates.

Something that would be beneficial for this issue would be for the government to ease the restrictions on former inmates for getting licensed in certain fields, such as nursing, other health care jobs, or working with children, just to name a few. Also, for inmates who were convicted of non-violent crimes or who were put in prison for self defense in domestic violence cases, it would be beneficial for them to not be barred from so many career paths, especially when so many inmates are in prison for non-violent offenses. There should be more done in order to insure that ex-inmates are able to support themselves after release from prison and are not at risk for recommitting crimes and ending up back in prison.

Inner-City Beauty; Neighborhoods, Trust and Life

2011-03-05T11:57:00.000-08:00

"When psychologist Frances Kuo finds in her research that adding trees and lawns to housing projects in Chicago leads local residents to feel greater calm, focus, and well-being, and crime rates drop, she is testing hypotheses that trace back to Muir's transformative experiences of awe" ( 252, Dacher Keltner, Born to Be Good; The Science of a Meaningful Life).

Inner-city neighborhoods are aesthetically-disfunctional zones, in need of assistance, attention and progressive programs that cultivate, nurture and produce healthy, productive people. The broken infrastructures and lack of access to areas of natural beauty directly lead to a sense of loss, disenfranchisement and marginalization. Racialised populations disproportionately face trauma and distressful situations, many of which must be negotiated with a (faked) smile; there has always been a lack of social capital in the American inner-city. A lack of inspirational vistas and access to experiences that produce feelings of awe and humility lead a diminished sense of "cultural citizenship." Further, high-stress environments such as "projects" and "ghettos" or other sociooeconomically-marginalized neighborhoods do not offer practical, convenient or effective-enough tools or opportunities to increase personal--and socio-cultural--agency, or to reduce levels of chronic distress. Criminalized populations are not born, they are created by a society who has forsaken them, too busy consuming popular media to think about issue of social justice, or think about shadowy hidden mental schema that may be operating unintentionally.

Dr. Gabor Mate asserts that all addiction is caused by early childhood distress. There is now evidence that elevated levels of prenatal stress harm developing babies. Researcher Claude M. Steele relates how, in a stressful situation "though Blacks reported no more anxiety than Whites during the diagnostic test, their blood pressure in that condition increased dramatically from it's baseline levels and was higher than that of al participants in all of the other conditions, all of whom experienced blood pressure drops from baseline. These findings have implications for understanding racial differences in hypertension" (400, Steele, Contending with Group Image: The Psychology of Stereotype and Social Identity Threat, from Advances in Experimental Social Psychology). Often the physiological and psychological effects of meta-stereotypes--archetypes operating within the collective social unconscious--remain mysterious and hidden because they operate on sub-unconscious levels, and are extremely difficult to measure scientifically. Keltner has found that anonymous naive participants are able to "thin-slice"--make instantaneous and accurate judgements--of individuals' Socio-Economic-Status (SES) simply by observing body language, and other "off-the-record" markers of social engagement or disengagement; he further noted that non-European participants tended to display more clues of inter-personal engagement, which was then reflected by their partners in the study. More specific studies are needed to investigate the implications of these findings on a meta-social level. We are starting to uncover the testable ugly socio-economic and inner psychological realities that minority populations face; it is time for individuals to join and take (inter)personal responsibility for their contributions to social justice. The meta-social collective unconscious must undergo a paradigm shift, so that at risk populations are no longer seen as archetypal criminals; one's expectations may have a more drastic effect than previously realized. Experiments in quantum physics demonstrate the inherent affect-ability of scientific research, and subjectivity of observation. It is likely that subtle--sub-unconscious--off-the-record indicators such as micro-facial expressions (largely-uncontrollable flashes of emotion showing on the face, that reflect true inner states-of-being) send messages that operate below levels of conscious cognition, but are clearly interpreted on deep levels of the human psyche. The solution is to foster and promote environments and situations that cultivate elevated levels of social trust. In the words of Steele, "underperformance appears to be less rooted in self-doubt than in social mistrust" (52, Steele, Thin Ice; "Stereotype Threat" and Black College Students, from The Atlantic Monthly, August, 1999). Trust can not be realistically or convincingly faked by those who are not professional actors or politicians, so we'll have to all have to invest heavily in activities that encourage meaningful, connected lives, and manifest pro-sociality.

How to improve the situation for incarcerated pregnant women?

2011-03-03T23:25:00.000-08:00

While giving birth is considered, in developed countries at least, as one of the most important and beautiful events of a woman's life, it seems as public opinion pays little attention to numerous incarcerated women who are shackled during delivery and separated from their new born a few minutes or a few hours later.

Many cases throughout the country have shown how shackling during delivery is cruel and dangerous for the mother and the baby's health. The consequences can be dramatic for the mother as well as for the new born: Shawanna Nelson, incarcerated in Arkansas for a non violent crime, was shackled during labor and immediatly after delivery. She suffered later from severe physical injuries and sued the Arkansas Department of Correction for violating the Eight Amendment's protecting against 'cruel and unsual punishment'. Women can be shackled in wheelchairs, while breastfeeding and giving neonatal care. Apart from Illinois, California, Vermont and New Mexico, where shackling pregnant women is prohibited, other states have no legal restriction to this practice, leaving this authority to incarceration facilities.

According to Human Rights Watch, several women in detention are pregnant due to sexual abuse that occured in their home country or while crossing the border. In that case, shackling appears even more cruel since pregnant women are considered and treated as criminals while they are actually victims. Overtly many female inmates pregnant state to have had a hard childhood that led them to drug abuse, lack of economic resources and incarceration. Looking at the socio-economic background of pregnant incarcerated women, who committed for the majority non-violent crimes, it appears that they have to live their pregnancy as another burden and often without the support of their family. Where society praises motherhood and familial support of pregnant women, why then are incarcerated women consequently isolated?

Although it is debated that all women have natural attachment to their new born, in the case of incarcerated women, it seems as their desire to be with their baby is remarkably strong, which explains their profound sadness that follows the delivery when the new born is taken away. Incarcerated mothers are allowed to hold their babies for a minutes to a few hours before their are taken to fostercare. This brutal separation causes tremendous amount of pain for the mothers who quickly have to return to the prison and confront other inmates as if nothing had happened. Several incarcerated women argue that they strived during pregnancy to fight their feeling of attachment to their babies, however, when confronting the reality they were overwhelmingly humiliated by lack of privacy and depressed to be separated to the life they carried for months. The strengh of these women is stunning. Above their attachment to their babies, they are conscious about the limited possibilities to have parental rights and are very concerned about the future of their babies.

Besides the post partum consequences for incarcerated women, we know little about the consequences for children to the abrupt separation from their mother. In New York, a nursery has been created to allow incarcerated women to be with their new-born who sleep in the cell with their mother, next to their bed. If this experience gives satisfactory results, we should hope that many more correctional facilities develop nurseries and possibilities for incarcerated mothers to stay in contact with their children. Therapy sould as well be increased for female inmates who wish to talk about their difficulty to be separated from their children, especially when we consider that 70% of female inmates in the US are parents.

The goal to achieve here is to humanize pregnant incarcerated women because their deserve better care and more attention. As well as other detainees, but maybe more, pregnant incarcerated women should have the right to claim more privacy and control over their own body, especially during delivery, and receive psychological support post partum.

Respecting Inmate Culture

2011-03-03T17:17:00.000-08:00

When convicts enter into a prison they are expected to all conform to the same standards. Issues arise, however, when inmates have cultural or religious beliefs that hinder them from conforming in the way that the facilities demands they do. Religious and cultural practices often keep individuals from eating certain foods or altering their appearance in specific ways. When a convict arrives in prison, they are required to shave their head regardless of their religious or cultural beliefs, unless they have prior legal arrangements made. The more public cases regarding the forced cutting of inmates' hair typically involved the Native American population. The Washington Post discusses the issue that Rastafarian inmates face regarding policies on length and style of the hair of inmates.
In Virginia, over 30 inmates were moved to a maximum security facility for "non-compliance." All of these men were moved for not complying with standards that require hair to be above one's shirt collar and beards to be completely shaven. A number of these inmates were Rastafarians whose religious views include growing their hair. Several of these inmates spent more than a decade in solitary confinement for their unwillingness to comply. Just recently, these isolated inmates were moved to a different facility in southwestern Virginia and put in a program that rewards inmates with privileges with the hopes of getting them to cut their hair or beards. Several inmates have left this program and instead have chosen to return to segregation.
Many studies in prisons have shown the destruction that solitary confinement can do to an inmate, causing them to actually go crazy with hallucinations and the like. While it must be difficult to monitor who actually has religious or cultural reasoning for their behavior, demanding that one go against their religion is crossing a serious line. One comment on the article proposes that all of these men be grouped together in a specific wing or building rather than being subject to isolation. This is a much better option as it would not cause the self-destruction that solitary confinement does, and the religious or cultural values of the individuals are not violated. Ensuring that the religious and cultural needs of prisoners probably doesn't seem necessary to a lot of individuals who believe that prison should be a place of punishment and the individual needs of inmates should not be catered to. However violating something that is so central to who a person is can break them to the point of severe self-destruction, as well as should be considered a violation of basic human rights which still need to be preserved whether incarcerated or not.
Articles:
Rastafarian inmates moved in Va.
48 Va. inmates isolated because of hair

Shifting inmates from state to county facilities is not saving taxpayers money

2011-03-03T10:25:00.000-08:00

Oregon lawmakers are being confronted by a growing number of county sheriffs who are opposing the change in the way our state incarcerates inmates in county and state facilities. This change would allow county jails to house inmates for up to 2 years instead of the 1 year maximum. The sheriff’s concerns are due to the state’s struggle to meet budget concerns with voter concerns. In June 2010 Governor Kulongoski proposed a package that included “incentives for counties to manage offenders and reduce their rate of committing new crimes”. This package, which is fueled by Senate Bill 726, which “requires counties to assume responsibility for criminal offenders sentenced to term of incarceration of 24 months or less” as lawmakers are trying to find cheaper solutions in the way we incarcerate.

This news article mentions that there are an “estimated 1000 unused beds in county jails” and that by shifting certain state inmates back to counties that this would allow the state to meet the demands of Senate Bill 726. In this case, the benefits I could see is a cost saving from not having to transport inmates from the county to state facilities and the ability to keep offenders in connection with their families as they would stay in the county (possibly) where they reside but this may not be the case if the offender committed a crime in an different county than where they and their family resides.

Yet I find it troubling that we do not eliminate these excess beds in county jails as a way of scaling back our budget as it is mentioned in the article that a county jail can cost our state $110 a day to house an inmate versus the $84.43 it costs to house them in a state facility. What I find equally confusing about this savings is that programming usually happens in state facilities, like treatment programs, GED, vocational rehab as well as more access to resources such as better health care and yet it costs less than the facility that does not offer these options. How could our state be charged more for fewer services? And how does this save money?

My concern is that this change will not do what the governor intended in reducing the rate of recidivism as one of the sheriff’s interviewed in the article states that “many of these inmates have problems with alcohol and drug abuse and stay in county jails…some are arrested for new crimes”. This statement demonstrates that county jail does not have the programming necessary to address the issues that cause recidivism. The shift of inmates from state to county beds that cost more is not a cost savings and further more can put burden on counties that may have fewer resources than others. The shifting in numbers is not a reduction of those incarcerated, which is what our state should be focused on. In order to do this though, it will take investment as well as a commitment to rehabilitation and prevention work.

Racial Justice System

2011-03-02T23:20:00.000-08:00

Race has been a compelling and confusing topic in America since before I was even born. Racial discrimination is present, whether or not people believe it or not, its alive and well in our society today. Not surprisingly, racial discrimination is also active in our criminal justice system that affects many Americans. Race affects every part of the criminal justice system, ranging from how police treat people and handle their responsibilities, how juries are selected, and how sentences are handed down to individuals. Unequal treatment of minority group members pervades every stage of criminal justice system. Racial profiling, street sweeps, buy and bust operations and other police activities have targeted people in street level retail drug transactions in low-income communities of color. Blacks and Latinos are victimized by unfair treatment by police

An article that demonstrates this well in the Dever Post, “Racial Caste System Redesigned as Criminal Justice System” by Electa Draper. Draper starts off by quoting a civil rights lawyer, Michelle Alexander, who states, “America’s racial caste system didn’t disappear- it’s just be redesigned as the criminal justice system.” Meaning that even though there is not suppose to be any racial segregation or discrimination, there is! This is shown in the staggering facts of the huge inflation in prison population. In the past 30 years, the U.S. prison population has exploded from 30,000 to 2 million. Nonviolent crimes, like drug abuse, are the biggest increase in the incarcerations. Why is harsher punishment targeting drug abuse more than violent crimes? Wouldn’t society agree that violent crimes such as rape, murder, and abuse are much more important to focus on stead of people abusing drugs and alcohol, and probably aren’t hurting any one but themselves? The prison population increase and non-violent crime chargers are much related to each other, because wouldn’t you agree it is easier to charge and accuse someone of a crime like drug use and abuse than it would be for murder? Except, federal sentencing denies the fact that the harsher punishment for drug possession has anything to do it affecting black males. Michelle Alexander calls it, “selective prosecution” which is what is leading to a huge amount of African Americans in the prison system. The U.S. Department of Justice reports that boys born in 2001 face the following odds of going to prison: 1 in 17 for whites; 1 in 6 for Latinos; and 1 in 3 for African-Americans. These staggering statistics aren’t because blacks and Latinos are just born into being criminals and bad people, it is the product of racial bias and radicalized social control.What needs to be done is society and communities to come together and acknowledge explicitly this problem and fight explicitly for the solution. We need to educate people about this crisis and strike up a hunger for the solution!

The Time Is Now: How Can We Change Prisons

2011-03-02T17:24:00.000-08:00

The prison system in the United States needs to change now! It seems as though too many people are being put in to prison as a way to deal with what society deems as deviant behavior from what we believe to be social norms. Or people are being locked up for periods of time that seem a bit harsh (does the punishment really fit the crime?). For over a hundred years, the U.S. has followed one prison system, one format without questioning whether it needs to change, though the world around prisons has so dramatically changed during the same period of time. So now I ask, how can we change prison systems? Will there ever be a day when prisons are obsolete? I hope so.

You may wonder why prisons need to change or be abolished one day. You might ask yourself “But aren’t prisons a good thing? They punish those who have committed crimes.” Though this may be true, it seems that the treatment and conditions of prison more often than not overly punish those who commit crimes, especially victim-less crimes. Today, many states have mandatory minimum laws, where certain offenses require a strict minimum of how much time will be served for the offense. This doesn’t leave room for variations in the crime committed or the fact that ever case is unique and quite possibly all cannot deserve the exact same punishment.

Once people are sentenced and sent to prison, the conditions and situations faced in prisons need to change greatly. Something that is not attached to your sentence of imprisonment is the violence you will be exposed to in prison. The judge does not announce that you will be sentenced to 10 years in prison and weekly beatings by prison guards or other inmates. Yet, that is what is expected when you are an inmate. This violence can lead to people being seriously injured or death. Shouldn’t this wave a red flag that something needs to change? Along with the violence inmates are subjected to, the health care they receive in prison is often times less than adequate. People have human rights that should be maintained and medical care is one of them. Many times in prison, inmates are wrongly diagnosed or outright mistreated and do not received the proper care they deserve. This also needs to change. Along with medical treatment and violence these are other areas where I think the prison system needs a makeover: living conditions, visitation rights (especially with inmates children) and the threat of sexual assault or rape (for both men and women in prisons). But how would these changes take place and what would it look like?

Instead of having minimum and medium security prisons, institute rehabilitation centers where people can go to learn how to be productive members of society. Instead of being locked up in cells all day, inmates could have freedom to move within the facility, interact with others and have a more trusting, not violent relationship with the staff. There they would have to take part in community service, possibly therapy and drug treatment. This would be a better way of helping those convicted of lesser and nonviolent offenses. Also, have programs in these rehabilitation centers for job training and helping the inmates be successful in society once they are released. In the current prison system, there isn’t a great amount of attention towards rehabilitation and helping people transition to life on the outside, causing ex-cons to re-offend in greater numbers.

Then there is the question for violent offenders and maximum security prisoners. Because of these high risk inmates, it makes me question if it is truly possible for prisons to be abolished. But, I do think they can be reformed. With minimum and medium security prisons abolished and instead turned into rehabilitation facilities, prisons could be a lot smaller and only for those convicted of terrible crimes such as murder and rape. With the prisons being much smaller, there could be better attention paid to the inmates at an individual scale. Even if they are harmful for society, I think a change needs to be made for prisoners in maximum security prisons. If the prisons are smaller, there could be more attention and care towards living conditions, health care and rehabilitating the inmates. By focusing on rehabilitation instead of violence, prisons could become safer places where violence is not longer the norm and what is to be expected.

Though all these suggestions may seem like ideals, I do believe change in the prison system is possible. Like all great movements of the 1960s and 1970s, it takes people to create this change. Our government and lawmakers won’t change anything unless citizens demand change. One way to demand change is for people who believe in this change to pass along there information and share with the country why prisons in our society are harmful and what can be changed to allow for prisons to change, which in turn could make our society better as a whole.

Here are a list of articles that discuss how and why prisons should be abolished or changed:

http://www.realcostofprisons.org/writing/abolition.html
http://blog.timesunion.com/alicegreen/time-to-abolish-prisons/

Mentall Illness and Murder

2011-02-28T17:15:00.000-08:00

I don’t know much about the specifics of the laws regarding mental illness and crime. However, I came across an article that infuriated me. The Dallas Morning News featured an article (the link is at bottom) on February 24^th, 2011 about Juan Seghelmeble, a man from Richardson, Texas that killed a woman by stabbing her 33 times. He did not know this woman prior to the attack. For his crime, Seghemble was sentenced to life in prison. This all makes sense: it was a random attack and was extremely violent. However, the situation is seen in a whole new light when considering Seghemble’s history of mental illness.

According to the article, he had long ago been documented as a paranoid schizophrenic, with a long history of being extremely mentally ill. He had trouble sleeping and remembering to eat and to take his medication. He had a strong belief that he was cursed and had apparently reported to have been hearing voices in his head. What complicates the situation even further is the fact that his mental illness came from being a victim of crime himself. A few years prior while working in a restaurant, he was robbed, tied up and left in a bathroom. His schizophrenia stemmed from this traumatic event. Even still, he had no previous criminal record.

Now this situation is extremely tragic in its irony: the victim of a violent crime is led to commit an even more violent crime, earning himself a life sentence. However, the situation is also complicated. If you look at the facts, yes, he did murder a woman with a significant amount of overkill. The murder of any innocent person certainly deserves some sort of action. However, according to the article, when the police found him with the victim, he was repeatedly claiming that the woman he killed was his wife and was cheating on him even though in actuality he had never met her. This goes to show that he was clearly not mentally sane. It begs the age old question of whether or not he should be tried and sentenced in the same way as someone who was not mentally ill that committed the same crime. I personally think that he should receive some kind of treatment instead of just incarceration. What good will it do to incarcerate this person that had no previous record and apparently is prone to extreme violence at random times? Won’t this worsen his condition?

I suppose part of the answer to the first question can be found in the comments on the article that were posted by readers. One reader writes: “[I] am thrilled to know that he will not be out on the streets murdering more innocent people. Thank you Judge.” The reason to incarcerate this person is apparently to please the public that sees him only as a violent criminal, instead of a severely traumatized and mentally ill victim in need of help.

(This is the referenced article)

The first woman sentenced to death in Oregon since 1984

2011-02-25T10:08:00.000-08:00

On February 24th, 2011, Angela Mc Anulty was sentenced to death for the 'torture murder' of her 15-year-old daughter. She is the first woman in Oregon to receive capital punishment since its restoration in 1984.

Mc Anulty was accused of 'aggravated murder' related to beatings and food deprivation that led to her daughter's death. The Register Guard summarizes elements of the trial but also gives background information on Mc Anulty's personality. According to Mc Anulty's relatives, her mother was stabbed when she was a young child, and she was then beaten and food deprived by her father. Although this childhood background nor explain neither justifiy Mc Anulty's act, it proves that no one is born criminal, and that in many cases, many factors such as molestation, sexual abuse, poverty, and racism among others are triggers for individuals to become criminals.

Acoording to the Register Guard, the jury 'took only about six hours to decide the case'. The jury's emotional reaction contrasted with their need to clarify the term of 'threat to society of future criminal acts of violence'. In result, all jurors did not agree that Mc Anulty represented a threat according to the judge's definition, although they debated only in six hours of Mc Anulty's sentence.

This case suggests that not only jurors but any individual should be able to have an opinion on a case based on more knowledge related to the judiciary system, especially when it involves death sentence. Beyond the 'human' and emotion reaction to a crime that contained so much violence, there must be rational knowledge about background information on the criminal's life in addition to a substantive knowledge of judiciary concepts.

Since death sentence was restored in Oregon in 1984, no woman has been executed yet because, according to the Lane County District, 'women so rarely commit horrific crimes'. This suggests to consider how society pressures women to raise their children well and how this has led jurors to see Mc Anulty's as abnormal and 'horrific'.

There's No Place Like...Cell?

2011-02-24T17:04:00.000-08:00

Browsing through past New York Times databases, I stumbled upon the unusual headline “…Toddlers Serve Time With Mom.” In Mexico City 53 children under the age of six live in the Santa Martha Acatitla prison with their mothers “who are serving sentences for crimes from drug dealing to kidnapping to homicide.” At first reading, this struck me as an equally great but also horrible idea: could childhood in prison be healthy for anyone? Even if you spend it with your mom?

In the 1990’s the Mexico City government decided children born in prison must stay with their mothers (instead of other relatives or foster parents) until age 6. The purpose is three-fold: caring for children in prison without many resources is extremely difficult and teaches mothers responsibility, but conversely, the “children [have] a calming effect on the rest of the inmates”, and allow mother-child bonds to develop. By having connections with their children, many mothers are motivated to learn skills, cultivate personal responsibility, and give up drug or other criminal habits. The presence of children also maintains peace among the non-mothers in Santa Martha Acatitla and has significantly reduced violence.

Clearly the children benefit the mothers, but how can prison be beneficial for a child? The prison provides school from 8:30am to 2:30pm with three teachers, and gives some medical care; however, mothers struggle keeping their children healthy “in the damp, drafty cells.” Children also know their cells as home but are separated from their mothers and prison (likely the only home they’ve ever known) at age six. This separation devastates mothers and children alike, especially if mom is serving a long sentence and/or the child is left with strangers. I’m not sure how any child could prepare or recover from complete and abrupt separation from their mother and home.

While I admire Mexico City’s boldness in allowing children to stay with their mothers, it also raises questions of what is appropriate regarding kids and incarcerated mothers. Is the United States completely unethical and barbaric when taking babies born in prison from their mothers? Is Mexico City doing more harm than good by keeping mother and child together at first, only to painfully separate them later? Both situations are bleak and highlight one of the many complicated vulnerabilities women (and their children) face in prison.

Revenge and Masculinity Intersect

2011-02-21T14:52:00.000-08:00

Life is hard. We all try to do the "right" thing by our families and ourselves

whenever possible, but at what point do we draw the line... Robert Grajeda Canchola

is on trial for the murder of his cellmate, Julian Joseph Barajas, who happened to

be the man guilty and convicted for his brother’s murder.

Robert, a known gang member and his younger brother by 14 months, Tony Canchola, grew up in the suburbs outside of L.A. until their parents divorced. Moving into Maravilla housing projects, one of East L.A.'s many dangerous areas, Tony flourished in school and played on the football team. Robert on the other hand was seduced by the rough nature of the streets and landed himself in prison at an early age. Tony remained "the good kid" of the two, but after H.S. at the age of 19 Tony got caught up in the party scene. One party night Tony and his friends decided to leave early, and walked into trouble on the street. Tony's crew was confronted, ending in a car chase and a shot through Tony's heart. Barajas was identified as the shooter, but was not caught until 3 years later, then sentenced 25-to-life. Barajas only served 7 of those 25 years.

Upon hearing the news of Tony's death in 1993, Robert was just short of parole. Once released, his mother took him directly to Tony's grave to say goodbye. Robert promised to change his ways, but crime was seemingly too seductive to stay away and Canchola ended up in prison for Armed Robbery. Taking on a hyper-masculinized role as the “Psycho” Canchola furthered his rep as someone not to mess with, causing lots of trouble and many transfers, as did Barajas.

According to Canchola, he had little details about his brothers' murderer, but the chances that his brothers' murderer would end up in the same cell are INCREDIBLY low. The high inmate population in California makes the chance of these two men meeting, let alone being cellmates, astronomical. Canchola’s gang affiliations beg the question, how much did Canchola really know about his brothers’ murder? How did he know where Barajas was in order to “track” him down? If there is so much control over prison populations and their histories, how did they not know that Canchola’s brother was murdered and that the convicted would be in serious danger? This story demonstrates prisoner’s abilities to manipulate the system to achieve their ultimate goals. All they have, with extended prison terms, is time. The festering of the pain they can’t share becomes unhealthy, then violent and often brutally fatal, as it had for Barajas. The sadistic nature of Barajas murder illustrates this. The “no snitching” clause of the prison code, on the part of other prisoners AND guards is highly suspicious here. The approval to move these inmates to the same cell, from three officers, none of which caught this vitally important information, are equally responsible for Barajas death.

http://prisonmovement.wordpress.com/2010/10/03/editorial-how-did-pollo-end-up-with-psycho/

Communication and Dialogue

2011-02-20T16:32:00.000-08:00

On PBS’s new website, an article (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/23/us/23sentence.html?_r=1&ref=prisonsandprisoners) speaks to the lack of coverage for non-mainstream news. This happens to include positive articles about prisoners gaining privileges, which mainstream may not agree with. So PBS reported on the following: using technology in an nontraditional way, to help prisoner’s blog their stories and works of writing.

Because prisoners are not allowed access to Internet, this innovate program named, “Between the Bars” crafted by “MIT master’s student and Center researcher Charlie Detar,” allows prisoners to write letters to a physical address where the works are then posted online through the program’s blog website. The program even goes as far as to document any posted comments in response to the original posts, and then these responses get sent back to the prisoners who wrote the letter originally. What this does is allow prisoners some type of access to media, and allows them to be involved with communication outside of prison walls.

Ultimately, this type of access is essential to the understanding of rehabilitation, not only within the prison itself, but also rehabilitation to the sometimes extremely different world after prisoners leave. Allowing communication through media before their sentences are over undoubtedly helps prisoners in this process. Furthermore, it allows prisoners who may never even have the chance to interact with the outside world on an everyday basis, the ability to have some kind of human interaction during life sentences, or before their sent to death row.

Although we’re far from where we should be, in the aspect of communication and discussion about imprisonment, people are making steps (even if small) towards a greater goal, whatever that goal may be; even as we continue to cage human beings in what seems an attempt to strip them of their humanity, some progress is being made.

What this points to is an ongoing commitment to a social movement aimed at deconstructing the devastating consequences of prisons. Most importantly, it stands out as a program determined to rid, or at least, decrease the treatment of prisoners as outside the spectrum of humanity and society as a whole. To include incarcerated individuals in media is a great step forward to understand how the inner workings of our environment put us in situations to commit crimes, in the first place.

This opens up dialogue and allows everyone to be on an equal footing. Well, at least a step towards, equal footing. We, as a society, are beginning to see imprisoned people as equivalent to us, even if it just were in the aspect of civil rights. Hopefully, the rest can come later.

What I question is what OTHER rights we may be able to give prisoners, such as the right to wear “street clothes,” with limitation of specific items. Does allowing street clothes or access to online blogs, make their punishment any less? Or does it allow them to have some of their humanity back?

The challenge here would be to come to an agreement on what is, and what isn’t appropriate. Though an agreement may never occur, the discussion itself opens a whole new prospect of community awareness about incarceration.

Native American Woodcarver Killed by Seattle Police Officer

2011-02-19T11:31:00.000-08:00

As I was catching up on news, I came across a story about a protest up in Seattle about a prosecutor's decision. As I further read the story, I noticed how much of a resemblance it had to what we were discussing in class the other day, specifically in regards to the beating of the burglary suspect in Houston.

As the story goes, Seattle Police officer Ian Birk was on patrol when he had stopped at a light and saw a Native American man, John T. Williams cross the street. As Mr. Williams was crossing the street carrying a board and minding his own business, Officer Birk jumps out of his car and yells, "Hey, put the knife down!" Officer Birk yelled this twice more and then shot and killed Mr. Williams. Minutes later, a squadron of police patrol cars and bikes swarm the scene, as if they were getting ready to head into a shootout with dangerous, and highly armed suspects.

In the video, officer Birk fired about 5 shots; 5 shots into a man who had a board and switch-blade knife that was not open. What is more interesting is that the family and friends of the man have indicated he had a hard time hearing and had difficulty understanding what people said to him because he often was inebriated. Williams was known to have issues with homelessness, something that plagues many Native American's not only in the Seattle area but all over the United States. He was a First Nations of Canada Totem Carver, which may explain why he had a wooden board and knife on him when he was crossing the street that day.

5 shots? It would seem very excessive to shoot in the first place, but to shoot 5 times? Could murder possibly be in the question here? I think this is beyond police brutality, this is the slaying of another person. Yet however, with the power of the Police, there could be multiple explanations, such as that in the initial reports from the Police. Police had said that Williams advanced on officer Birk with the knife, causing him to fire upon Williams. Soon thereafter however, the department issued a statement saying there was no way of determining if that actually happened. What about asking officer Birk if that was what happened? I can't possibly think of any reason for a Native American woodcarver to advance on a Seattle Police officer with a knife; well except for the anger he/she may have from white people forcibly taking all their land from them.

The protest in Seattle was about the prosecutor, Dan Satterberg's decision NOT to prosecute Ian Birk; Birk has now resigned from the Seattle Police force.

The video of the shooting is included in the link, but I do warn you that it is very angering and frustrating to watch. I've also included a few articles about the shooting in a timeline, so you can kind of gauge the events as they unfolded.

September 1st, 2010

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012784234_copshooting02m.html

December 17th, 2010 (video of shooting released)

http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2010/12/17/the-video-the-shooting-of-john-t-williams

February 18th, 2011 (activists ceremony in Seattle after Dan Satterberg's decision not to prosecute)

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2014272420_forum19m.html

February 18th, 2011 (Seattle protesters calling for justice)

http://www.katu.com/news/local/116523793.html

Texas to let "foreigners" out of jail

2011-02-18T14:34:00.001-08:00

Whoa. Texas of all places considers early prison release for nonviolent foreigners. Surprising for Texas, if you know their history (guess where Miranda Rights came from eyyy??)

Not surprisingly, it's financial constraints that pushed them into this bind. Turns out they'll save more than $54 million a year, trying to bounce back from a $15 billion shortfall. Not enough to cover the shortfall but a good start I guess.

However, things aren't exactly what they appear to be… "foreign" doesn't exactly mean Europeans overstaying their visas. Quite the opposite. The goal is to rid themselves of undesirables: the brown, the undocumented, the Mexicans...

And while releasing sex offenders and non-violent prisoners would seem like a progressive move, this is one more move against people of color ( AZ banned "pro-Islam" and "anti-Christian" textbooks, Mirranda rights came from AZ…)

"The big fear has been that the Mexican nationals would come back into Texas, but we could make it a condition of their parole that if they came back, they would go back to prison.." said John Whitmire, chairman of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee.

Because they are financially cornered, they are using this as an opportunity to rid the state of their dispensable population. ""My guess is we'd never see these people again." Whitmire continued. He doesn’t even try to cover up the racism behind his words. Embarassing

See link: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/02/17/texas-considers-early-prison-release-nonviolent-foreigners/

Let's Talk About: Censorship in Prisons! [Wait, people still read? Don't they know about YouTube? Tweeting? Facebook?]

2011-02-16T21:00:00.000-08:00

As someone who highly values the printed word in an age of technology--as a means of escaping, educating, or exploring--I was left wondering about the access prisoners have to books while incarcerated. Do they have libraries? Do they read to pass the time? What sorts of books, if any, do they have access to? In my initial searching, I found that in the Standard for Adult Correctional Institutions’ Libraries there is a Bill of Rights and Resolution on Prisoner’s Right to Read (1982). Basically, this Bill of Rights states that prisoners have the right to read while incarcerated--however, this didn’t tell me what prisoners read or were allowed to read. I later found that: “In general, prison libraries, using the Standards as a guide, aim to provide materials and services for the educational, informational, cultural, vocational, and recreational needs of prisoners” (Censorship and Prison Libraries). Though this sounds like it covers a wide variety of written material for prisoners, censorship has become a major issue within prisons, depending on state and institution. Prison authorities are attempting [and succeeding without retribution] to limit or violate prisoners right to read. With the closing or down-sizing of prison libraries, access to libraries as a “privilege” within prisons, and the growing restrictions on what books are allowed, prisoners are facing great difficulties in finding materials. According to one article, librarians face a great deal of restriction when trying to introduce books into their libraries. Some of the rules included:
“No graphic novels because some show skimpily dressed women and it may affect sex treatment programs.
No hardback books, because it is easy to hide contraband in spine of these books.
No ethnic materials or programs because it means they would have to provide for every ethnic group that demands materials.
Mail room has a 20 page list of materials that are not allowed.
They have faith-based programs and want materials that support those programs.
They tear out sections of magazines that have what they consider inappropriate before sending them to the library or to the inmates who have subscriptions.” These rules alone can be dissected and the injustice will shine through. Not allowing ethnic material [which presumably would include books on different cultures, religions, histories, oppression, information on different movements, activists, and much more] because they would have to “provide for every ethnic group that demands materials” is simply an excuse not to allow books that would raise consciousness in prisoners about their oppression and mistreatment. Advocating for materials that support faith-based programming and not allowing books that go against this faith-base doesn’t allow prisoners to gather information for themselves--it takes away their ability to decide their best form of recovery/treatment/education. Not only that, but it infringes upon our separation of church and state [as do the programs themselves… But that’s an entirely different discussion]. Regardless, censorship within prisons seems to point to prison authorities’ intense fear of prisoners’ agency. It seems to be another tool to keep the masses of prisoners under the thumb of authority. It takes away their ability to adequately defend themselves [if they are using the libraries to research for their case], educate themselves, find treatment support, improve their literacy, gain skills, or entertain themselves. This is a gross injustice on the part of incarcerated individuals. What are you going to do to make sure everyone has access to the written word?

Censorship and Prisons: http://olos.ala.org/columns/?p=100

Prisoners and Powder Pals

2011-02-15T19:43:00.000-08:00

It is important for inmates to be given skills they can utilize upon their release from prison. Too often, inmates are not rehabilitated but rather left high-and-dry without any job possibilities, and in a situation where they could potentially recommit a crime and end up in prison once more. So when I found this article, I thought it seemed like an incredible opportunity for many inmates. This article talks about a new program called Powder Pals that was put into action in the fall of 2010. In Baker City, Oregon, this newly instituted program is comprised of inmates in the Powder River Correctional Facility, which houses minimum-security inmates, helping to retrain dogs that have been rescued so that they will be eligible for adoption in the future. New Hope for Eastern Oregon Animals is the non-profit organization that will help to place the dogs after they have been retrained by the inmates.

A large incentive for New Hope to begin working with the Powder River Correctional Facility is because the average person does not have ample time to help retrain rescued animals. It takes a lot of time and dedication to retrain an animal, and inmates, incidentally, tend to have the time it would take to help out these animals and get them ready for adoption. In addition to all this, there will be volunteer trainers who will come out to the correctional facility and teach the inmates how to use positive training with the dogs.

An incredible plus side to this seems to be that the inmates will gain useful skills in the process of retraining these dogs. The inmates will be expected to wake up at a certain time every day in order to stick to a training schedule, and they will also need to learn extreme patience in handling the animals. I feel these crucial skills will greatly benefits the inmates once they have been released from prison. They could help inmates find jobs and become financially stable without turning to illegal methods of monetary gain.

Moreover, they are not only gaining important skills, but they also may feel they have a purpose while they are serving their time. Many prisoners might feel that they do not have a purpose while they are in prison, but taking care of an animal and forming a close bond with it might help the inmates feel a degree of satisfaction and accomplishment. For inmates, being able to help rehabilitate an animal might help themselves become rehabilitated, as well. I feel it is extremely important for inmates to feel that they are human and feel they deserve to be treated as such. Being given the opportunity to aid in retraining rescued dogs could be very beneficial for both the dogs and the inmates. It will help give both the dogs and the inmates a second chance at having a free and successful life.

http://www.kboi2.com/news/local/100942029.html

Prison Art

2011-02-14T23:53:00.000-08:00

My interest in art created by prisoners peaked when I stumbled across a bulletin posting on the website prisonofficer.org. This post (which I have linked to) was trying to generate interest in artwork created by Oregon inmates. The display is currently on view at the Bandon Public Library as well as the Sage Gallery in Bandon, Oregon. In March the exhibition will do a tour through the entire state. The exhibition is managed by a former prisoner, Victoria Tierney, who is said to have lacked any incentive to show prison artwork until her son, an artist, was sentenced.

One incredibly important point this bulletin post touched on was that prisoners lack many of the activities and time-consuming projects that non-incarcerated people do every day. Because of this though, portals into the artistic world can easily be opened and explored. I think this post, though short, can bring important ideas into conversation about the rehabilitation process. One man mentioned in the post, Paul Tice, is quoted saying, ‘Some will develop art careers and some will just use it as a coping mechanism while they're in there’. Deconstructing this idea would reveal that probably more prisoners than not use art as a form of coping. I believe that art can help channel emotions into something positive and creative. I think art should be a required form of rehabilitation in some way or another. This can range from painting and drawing – more traditional styles – to music and theatre programs.

In order to successfully launch these programs though, we must understand why they don’t already exist. First, it is an accepted truth that everyone in prison deserves to be there. Second, it is also an accepted truth that justice means a lack of any stimulation. These two factors contribute greatly to the lack of proactive programs in the prison system. Although most people would believe prisoners deserve to be void of all outlets and “humane” activities, the truth is that these outlets would aid in rehabilitating prisoners with higher hopes of reducing the amount of re-offenders. In prison especially, if you can give a person purpose and something to mark their identity as an individual, they will have a better chance of healing and reflection.

If the system’s goal is to create angry, bitter, and jaded people, then it’s succeeding. If however, we shifted our focus, time, and tax dollars, to aiding in the rehabilitation and stabilization of the inmates who really need it, we could hope for a better future for them and their contribution to society. Not only does the humanitarian win, but the government also profits from another happy member of the workforce. But if we deny these opportunities to prisoners and stifle their individuality while they are serving time, we can all but welcome re-offenders with open arms.

http://www.prisonofficer.org/prison-art/13655-oregon-prison-art-exhibits-2011-a.html

Race and the U.S. Prison Crisis: Rehibilitation

2011-02-14T19:49:00.000-08:00

While reading Authors such as Parenti, Diaz-Cotto, Mauer, and Sobo I found myself consistently concerned with the re-entry and rehabilitation of prisoners. Regardless of race, class, or sex these men and women incarcerated and the majority will at some point be released. Now what do we do? The U.S prison crisis illustrates a failed criminal system based off a reactive model, a model that does not allow for potential treatment, only strict punishment. So what do we do when we have already incarcerated and punished these prisoners? Generally, we offer them $40.00 and a bus ticket. No practical skills to get a job, no resource to get a job, no money, no housing, no treatment. How can we as a society expect these men and women to be successful on the outside when they are often dropped right back into the same situation that led them to incarceration. Several opinion pieces in the New York Times offered some insight about prisoner re-entry, rehabilitation programs, and ideas of crime I found quite compelling. On the one hand the article titled “Removing the Roadblocks to Rehabilitation” accurately acknowledges that our system has failed prisoners. Failed prisoners because of political agendas, lack of resources, and lack of re-entry programs but fails to recognize the role race, policing practices, and demographics come into play. Illustrating this Rosenberg says, “Those who couldn’t go home did significantly better at avoiding future incarceration than those who lived in neighborhoods where they could and did go home”. What struck me was it is not that these men and women are more likely to reoffend than anyone else, but rather they are positioned in a place that is racially segregated and highly patrolled by police, so it is more likely that their illegal activity is going to be noticed and deemed criminal. Another piece by Rosenberg, titled “For Ex-Prisoners, a Haven Away From the Streets” discusses what men and women need to do once they are out of prison and mentions, “They need to start hanging out with people who think about consequences of their actions, who value legitimate jobs, sobriety, and family”. It is this exact mindset that continues to criminalize juveniles and people of color as well as shaping a narrow-minded ideology about crime. This mentality is marginalizing prisoners into an inhumane category. If someone values family, sobriety, and legitimate jobs they could not possibly be a criminal, right? Wrong! Second of all what classifies a “legitimate job”? Some people do not have the privilege to have what some may consider a “legitimate job” or can I say “white job”. By continuing to define deviance in a sociological context, cultural norms will always determine crime.

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/17/for-ex-prisoners-a-haven-away-from-the-streets/?emc=eta1

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/21/removing-the-roadblocks-to-rehabilitation/?emc=eta1

What does racial profiling look like?

2011-02-13T17:42:00.001-08:00

Well for me at least, I have found a very vivid description of it, particularly through my experience with the Portland Police last Friday.

I first off want to describe what I was wearing. A red Cincinnati Red's baseball fitted New Era cap, black Nike zip-up hoody, grey Levi's jeans, and black and white Vans. Here is the story.

I was at a Japanese restaurant eating with a few friends of mine at around midnight near the Portland State University area. As we were finishing up, 2 of my friends live right near PSU, and wanted to get dropped off first, plus my brother's girlfriend works at this restaurant and needed a ride home, so, I decided to take my 2 friends home first, and then come back and get my brother, his girlfriend, and 1 of our other friends.

As I walked out of the restaurant first, I noticed a cop car pull up adjacent to where I was standing. I began walking to my car, which was almost directly in front of them, and noticed that they did not begin the turn after their required stop at the stop sign. As I entered my car, they still were posted at that stop sign. I waited for my 2 friends to come out, and we pulled off. This cop car then made a left, and I began driving my friends home, which was about 6-8 blocks away. On this drive, another cop car pulled up behind me and followed me all the way to my friends apartment, where I had dropped them off. The cops that were following me then drove slowly passed me as my friends were getting out of the car, they made a left and I began driving back to the restaurant. As I drove back to the restaurant, I noticed another cop car getting behind me. Right when I was turning onto the block to head up towards the restaurant, they flashed their lights.

The officer first said "You know you have expired tags right?" I replied, "Did you not notice the trip permit I have in the back window, its expiration date is 3/3/2011." She then said, "Well you looked lost and didn't know where you were going. Can I see your license and registration please." So, I gave her the documentation, and she went back to her car, with another white male police officer. They did not come back for about 10 minutes. Then, she comes back up to the car and says, "Do you have any drugs, guns, knives, or any kind of weapons on you or in this car?" I replied, "No, I don't." She said, "Did you know this is a high-drug area?" I said, "Really? I had no idea." Then she said, "Do you mind if we search your car for any drugs, guns, or weapons?" I said, "No, feel free, I have nothing like that in my car."

After about 15 minutes of rummaging through my car, they came up with nothing. The officer said, "I am going to let you off with a warning this time, just be careful while driving around. It is nothing against you, we are making sure."

It is not like this has never happened to me before, as I've been pulled over and let go multiple times growing up in Northeast Portland. This time however, was different, I was angered because of the knowledge that I have accumulated about race and incarceration in our nation, and policing practices. I think back and wish I would have said, "Hey officers, do you two have a few moments for me to talk to you about our growing prisons in America, what the War Against Drugs has done to our country, racial profiling and police practices in arresting criminals, what crime really is, and possibly your contributions to a system that locks more people up than any other country in the world?"

So I ask these questions: is this what racial profiling looks like? How often do you think this happens? And what would change/be different if I were African-American or Hispanic, or white for that matter?

Prison Rape in Men’s Institutions

2011-02-10T18:45:00.000-08:00

Rape in male prisons is a highly discussed topic in regards to incarceration in the United States. Although sometimes going unnoticed, rape of young men in prison is a very common occurrence and a dangerous one at that. Most often this topic is referred to as “Prison Rape”. Scott L. Anderson a former prison guard at a Minnesota Prison discusses the reasoning behind prison rapes and some interesting facts regarding the topic. Overall there is a total of 196,000 cases of men being raped in prison each year. Out of the 196,000 cases, 40,000 are juveniles being raped in adult prisons (Anderson). Although these are shocking statistics, most rapes go unnoticed and accounted for, so in reality there are most likely many more cases. Moreover, it is estimated that most rapes occur against young men who are white, middle class and physically small. From this group, 56% of rapes are committed by black men raping white men (Anderson). The majority of rapes by men are estimated to be done by black gangs within the prison system, this is largely because white young males lack solidarity within the system and are in fact the minority group among the prison population (Anderson).

Furthermore, Anderson describes three common groups that are involved or are the typical victims of prison rape. The first group is commonly known as “the predators”, also known as the jocks. The second group is called “the jailhouse queens,” this group tends to be those men who have feminine characteristics and identities within the prison. The last group is “the punks” also known as the inmates who are younger and weaker (Anderson).

Overall, the argument discussing prison rape and the problems that go with it is not only violence and violation, but it is a discussion of physical and mental health as well. It is estimated that 15.4 inmates commit suicide to every 100,000 prisoners, with the exception of California which has an estimated 179 suicides to every 100,000 inmates (Anderson). Moreover, considering the lack of contraception in the prison system the average rate of HIV and AIDS is six times the national average in prison (Anderson).

Ultimately, Anderson describes many shocking statistics regarding the violence and abundance of male rapes in prison. Through this action there are many cases of deaths because of AIDS and suicides. The mental health of a prisoner who has suffered numerous rapes can be very difficult to overcome once released from ones sentence. TJ Parsell is an example of this difficulty, which, he discusses in his memoir “Fish: a Memoir of a Boy in Man’s Prison” about being a young man (17-21) serving a sentence for armed robbery. In his experience in Jackson Prison in Michigan, Parsell now an adult discusses the psychological trauma he faces after his prison rape experiences. Ultimately, he discusses the struggles he faced being constantly raped in prison and the experience he went through in overcoming that trauma after being released.

Lastly, prison rape in men’s prisons is from what we can see a common occurrence. From these rapes leads to mental and physical instability and ultimately, trauma. How can we lower these risks, and help these men to overcome negative experiences once released from prison?

Links

http://www.loompanics.com/Articles/RapeInPrison.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTjBk6A_zfQ

Meditation in Prisons

2011-02-09T19:29:00.000-08:00

Violence is a prominent issue in the prison system. Whether it is violence amongst inmates or between inmates and prison staff, it is something that is very difficult to avoid or ignore. One would think that prison administrators would want to implement programs or courses that would reduce the existence of violence, but the truth is that does not happen very often. It can be said that our culture is one of violence. That being said, when we confine the people who are perceived to be the most violent in our society into a small and isolated space, the aforementioned violence in going to increase. Most inmates do no enter prison as violent people, but once they are imbedded in prison life they become violent and some can never reverse the process once on the outside. There is not much that is being done to reduce the amount of violence within prisons that does not involve violence itself. The solution to inmate violence should not be authoritative violence or solitary confinement, but rather an effort should be made to help these people understand why they are violent and relearn social skills that they did not have the opportunity to learn prior to incarceration.

In the article entitle, “Meditation class helps lower violence at AL prison,” Jay Reeves describes the way in which a Buddhist meditative practice has allowed some prisoners at William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility outside Birmingham, Alabama to learn how to control their emotions and reduce their potential for violence. The meditative practice called Vipassana helps prisoners to relearn how they react to their emotions by changing the relationship between the person and their thoughts. Instead of reacting to negative emotions, prisoners are taught to observe their emotions. This practice allows a person to reduce their impulsivity which in turn can help to reduce the chance of that person reacting violently when put in a negative situation such as prison life. Warden Gary Hetzel, who was skeptical of the effectiveness of such a course, stated, “It works. We see a difference in the men and in the prison. It’s calmer.” One prisoner, who is a convicted murderer serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole, stated that the course helped him to take responsibility for his crime and better understand himself. This course offers prisoners a new perspective of their behavior that can in turn lead to a change in their violent behavior.

The unfortunate reality of this article is that this is the only correctional facility that offers this course. It was offered at a few other correctional facilities, but did not last due to lack of funding and space. Prisons are a violent place, plain and simple. More courses like the above mentioned would help to reduce the exaggerated violence of prison life, but there is a lack of interest in such programs by administrators. Prisons are supposed to be a place of rehabilitation, but very little is being done to rehabilitate any of the people who are incarcerated in these facilities. Lack of funding is a poor excuse for not having more programs like Vipassana in correctional facilities. Programs that actually focus on the rehabilitation of inmates would help violence within prisons and would allow for inmates to reduce their possibility of recidivism due to the new social skills that are learned. Interest and implementation of programs similar to Vipassana are vital to the reduction of violence in prisons.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/02/AR2011020201052_pf.html

Incarcerated Women's Children May Not Get Services They Need

2011-02-03T16:42:00.000-08:00

The article titled "Incarcerated women's children may not get services they need," brought up a lot of difficult issues that desperately need to be addressed to end the perpetuating cycle of incarceration that is experienced by many families involved in the prison system. This article focuses on how the children of incarcerated women are often shuffled around and therefore do not receive the care that they need (counseling, mentoring, medication, etc.). Because they are often forced to move among family members or with social services, these children do not have one specific person looking out for their well-being. The article was focused on incarcerated women in Oklahoma, but we see these issues playing out across the country. Linda Terrell, executive director of the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy said, "People that have trauma typically move to behavior that they’re trying to use to cope with their issues — alcohol, other drugs, early sexual promiscuity, eating disorders, things like that — to self-medicate through those trauma issues." So not only are the children of these incarcerated women subject to self-harming behavior, they are also subject to ending up in the prison system themselves. The Department of Corrections claims that it is not their responsibility to keep track of the children. Social services are too overwhelmed to keep track of the fact that the parents of specific children are incarcerated. Who is left to remember that these kids carry around a special set of issues?
Amy Smart is one specific example provided whose father was imprisoned when she was 9 and again at age 18. Amy found herself starting down the same path as her father, and is now incarcerated at a women's facility. Amy also has two young boys who may very well walk down that same path as their mother and grandfather.
Social services needs to provide a special outlet for children of incarcerated mothers and fathers, as they deal with a specific set of issues that differ from many other kids. Whether the kids are living with foster parents or with other family members, they need to have access to their parents if possible, or at the very least, special support, counseling, and mentoring so that they can hopefully end the cycle of incarceration within their families. Children whose parents are incarcerated are more likely to be incarcerated themselves. Lets put a stop to that right now by providing these children with the guidance they need to succeed and not walk down the doomed path of imprisonment.

Read the article here.

10 days for "cheating" the system

2011-02-02T16:25:00.001-08:00

We are taught in many areas of our lives that education is the way to build the strength to lift ourselves up by our bootstraps to end an impoverished, marginalized existence. For most, this is a contradiction to the reality that exists in attempting to change your circumstances, especially for women of color. Kelly Williams-Bolar, a single mother of two, teaching assistant, and part time night student had the misfortune of seeing this first hand. Only 12 credits away from finishing her teaching certificate, she is found guilty on felony charges of falsifying residency records to give her children access to a school in her father’s district, instead of their own, and was sentenced 10 days in jail. Her hard work, and future livelihood, now in jeopardy as the judge refused to knock the charge down to a misdemeanor.
Ms. Williams-Bolar lives in a slightly less than impoverished, predominately black neighborhood in Akron, Ohio that neighbors a wealthier, predominately white neighborhood, where her father happens to live. In his district the schools would be the safe space they are meant to be, offer her children a better education and chance for success, and hope of evading the negative aspects that often come with urban schools.
Why she is living in a poor neighborhood to start with? She is a woman, who will throughout her life receive less pay for equal work. She is African American, where she is more likely to be in prison (African American women make up 50% of the women incarcerated) or unemployed, due to racial stereotyping, than her white counterpart. On average is considerably less educated due to disproportionate funding to communities of color for education, and represents the majority of the women of color working in the service industry, with pay usually below the poverty line. Next, let’s look at the reasons why anyone would want to send their children to a different school; too dangerous, unequipped teachers, severely underfunded, and little hope for college. Williams-Bolar is aware of the difference education makes and chose prosperity, but housing restrictions keep districts segregated for “size control”, but more often than not, becomes “race control”, increasing the chances of being underfunded and lacking resources for students. Can I also point out the ridiculous nature of this whole thing because it’s a public school! PUBLIC EDUCATION is FREE!!! “The education received here is better than the education where they were “supposed” to go, therefore the service is more valuable, and deemed repayable for the difference in putting you up.” Am I the only one hearing this?
Of all the things to spend school budgets on, court cost? What about schools mission statements to educate to the best of their abilities? Taking what the school spent on sending her to jail, the district could have paid for the cost of the students previous attendance and offered them, at minimum, a contingent place in the school district, since taxes are being paid by her father.
What a spectacle to make an example of one hard-working black woman, socially disadvantaged, simply trying to climb the ladder of success, trying to evade the road blocks institutions and social constructions have created. She was used to make an example out of, for would-be falsifiers and to remind us of the deviant nature that blacks have, the dishonest practices only they share, and that deviance and dishonesty must be punished severely. A white woman would never do this for her child. Ha, Laughable! It’s only that a white woman is less likely to be tried for such a petty crime, if even reprimanded, and certainly not sent to jail for 10 days with 6 months to 3 years of probation to serve. Why was this woman criminalized so severely for a “crime” of social mobility? Why did she need to be the example when she was the minority of the guilty group? Can we ever see a world where we look at, not only the surface factors in cases of disparities, but also the history of racist, classist, sexist institutions that hold all people of color back socially, leading them into the arms of the criminal justice system?
http://abcnews.go.com/US/ohio-mom-jailed-sending-kids-school-district/story?id=12763654&page=2

Incarceration rates amongst Hispanic Youth

2011-02-02T13:35:00.000-08:00

With the Hispanic population in Oregon being the fastest growing population, incarceration trends are proving the same. According to the ACLU, statistics on youth incarcerated in Oregon, “Hispanics or Latinos representing 15% of Oregon’s total population Age 10-17, make up 20% of those on probation, 25% of those held in close custody and 22% of those on parole.” While it is clear that the number of Hispanic/ Latino youth are incarcerated in disproportionate numbers, I feel it is necessary is to look at the ways we can address this issue, beginning with prevention. Prevention is a word we hear of often, but what is considered prevention work? How can our policy makers address investment in prevention work when the disinvestment in funding for education is happening at the same time?

For example, the ACLU reported that “Hispanic or Latinos represented 13.87% of the total high school student population and 24.12% of the dropouts.” While funding for education is constantly being cut, we risk the chances of youth disengaging with society. What is relevant to this topic is that according to the Partnership for Safety and Justice, “for every $1 invested in youth services, we can gain $24 in public benefits”. Common prevention methods include investment in education, after school activities, summer youth employment programs, etc. The realm of prevention work is also addressing issues of gang violence.

I would encourage our state to explore and invest in methods of prevention that may not be so common but are part of the norms that are consistent amongst youth who have been invested in. Such as more programs that facilitate the production of art in a manner that will not incriminate youth. By providing space for art, youth can move beyond the criminal aspect of graffiti and move into the direction of a muralist. Many well-known muralists have existed throughout history, providing art for the public that serve as historic pieces, interpreting the times the artist is living in. But for many youth, with little resources and space for such art, will create art even if it is just spray paint on the wall, which becomes a criminal act of property crime.

Preservation of the family unit and culture are critical to preventing youth from being involved in criminal activities. Yet, for adults incarcerated in Oregon, statistics do not stray far from youth stats. Hispanics make up 11% of Oregon’s population (2008) yet make up 13% of prison population. Prevention work should also encompass that for many youth who have a parent incarcerated, that having their missing parent in their life could be the component that prevents inter-generational incarceration.

Rehabilitation for Youth

2011-02-01T21:06:00.000-08:00

An important issue facing the prison institutions in the United States is gangs and gang violence within prisons. It has been studied by sociologists that in the prison world, prison guards do not have sole power within the prisons. The line of power between inmates and guards has been blurred through the organization of prison gangs. Because the division of power is divided between both guards and those prison gangs, gang violence in prisons is a very serious matter that can lead to quite serious consequences for other prisoners or even guards.

Prison gangs have been seen to develop over racial lines that are extensions of gangs in the outside world. By the development of prison gangs along racial lines, the gangs become very segregated and territorial. Not only is racism and segregation fueled by gang wars within the prison, but racism by prison officials fuels these rival gangs to build up against one another. By allowing prison gangs to establish dominance within prisons it gives them power to control what goes on in the prison and leaves the door open to violence against inmates and guards.

But the question has always been: is prison about rehabilitation or punishment, or both? If a goal of being placed in prison is to be rehabilitated to become a functioning and active member in society, allowing prison gangs and gang violence in prison to continue defeats the purpose of rehabilitation. Yet, it seems that most states in their attempt to be “tough on crime” have focused more on building prisons, having mandatory minimum sentences and creating harsher crime bills. But since around 95% of inmates will be released eventually, creating programs for them to be better citizens instead of fueling their prison violence should be important.

Rehabilitation for youth in the juvenile facilities that may be caught up in the prison violence or prison gangs should be seen as very important and necessary. Rehabilitation for all inmates to become active members in society is a goal that state legislatures should really focus on. Rehabilitation so they can learn how to thrive in society instead of taking part in things that could return them to prison. For youth because they are young, rehabilitation programs geared toward education and learning how to be a good community member would be greatly beneficial for them so that they only have interaction with the criminal justice system once as a youth and not later in life as an adult when the consequences can be much harsher.

An article I recently read touches on this subject of rehabilitation centers and programs for youth instead of placing all youth in dangerously violent juvenile detention centers. The article “Whither Young Offenders?” in the Bay Citizen, a nonprofit news organization in the San Francisco area, questions whether rehabilitation or continued use of the state juvenile justice system is best for the state of California. A new proposal by Governor Jerry Brown to eliminate California’s Division of Juvenile Justice, where in recent years there have been accusations of abuse and neglect. By getting rid of the state juvenile justice system, young, violent offenders would be sent to programs at the county level where they could still be close to their families and have access to rehabilitation programs. By confining the youth to county detention and rehabilitation centers it would break up the violence and gangs developing in state detention centers. Yet for these programs to work as suggested by the article, there must be strong programs and steady funding from the state to support these programs. This proposal by the state of California to eliminate the juvenile justice system as a way to cut spending and improve how youth offenders are dealt with is a good start to changing how the criminal justice system runs. If more states begin to start programs that promote rehabilitation instead of fueling money into building prisons and trying to fill the prisons with more people which leads to prison violence, offenders would not be subjected to violence as much and have the chance to rehabilitate. Hopefully, if this proposal passes other states will see the importance of programs like this and there will be a reduction in prison violence when there is more of a focus on rehabilitation.

AIDS in Prison

2011-02-01T13:27:00.001-08:00

An article In the New York Times discusses the AIDS epidemic in the Mexico prison. The police officials and the law states that there is not sex between males or females during their duration in prison. Although this is the law, there is evidence that things are going on “behind the doors” that isn’t being put on the record or being dealt with. Sex among males and females, males and males, and females and females is actually very frequent and unsafe, meaning they are having unprotected sex. Not only is unprotected sex going on in the prison, but the prisoners are uneducated about unprotected sex and about AIDS, so they don’t even know the damage and the detrimental affects they have because of it.

Prison authorities and guards seem to be aware that unprotected sex is in fact going on, they just don’t want to bring forth the reality of the problem to the public because they simply don’t want to deal with all the implications it comes with.

After reporters talked with 11,300 prisoners about the truth behind bars there was evidence that what police officials thought wasn’t going on, was actually going on. They confessed about how there was not only unprotected sex happening in the prison, but there are drugs passed through syringes. There are so many “illegal” activities going on inside the prison, wouldn’t you think that it would be leeked to the officials and guards of the prison so they can stop it? In fact, there are prisoners who bribe underpaid guards to keep the secret of the “illegal” acts from getting out to the public.

The risks got so high that an American organization set up an AIDS program inside the Mexico prison to help educate the prisoners and reduce the amount of unprotected sex in prisons. Having the American organization come into the prison was a big deal mainly because the warden, Ruben Fernandez did not believe that this was that big of an epidemic and did not want it to be published and made into a bigger deal than it was. While the American organization was there it made the instructors really open their eyes to how oblivious the prisoners were. One prisoner quoted, “ I don’t know if I have it or not because I don’t wear condoms”.

The prison and AIDS epidemic in Mexico is a great example of how blind prison guards and officials can be in regards what is going on behind the jail bars. What are these “criminals” living conditions like, and how does that justify what they “deserve”? Being put into an environment of unprotected, unwanted sex is not a way to learn from the mistakes made by the prisoners. The education though that was put there after the fact was a good idea because some of those prisoners aren’t educated at all and so giving them access to that education and to help prevent and reduce the amount of individuals that get AIDS is a good place to start in cleaning up the prison.

Parole for the Elderly

2011-01-31T17:24:00.000-08:00

In an article entitled “Number of Life Terms His Record,” Solomon Moore points out that mandatory sentencing laws have played a large role in the overcrowding of prisons that is experienced today. Many states have versions of the three strikes law which requires extensive sentences even for non-violent crimes. While many states do offer parole as an option for some prisoners serving life sentences, many states, such as California, do not offer parole even if the prisoner is not being incarcerated for a violent crime. This becomes problematic because the actual number of life sentences being assigned has increased in recent years. More people being sentenced plus longer sentences without the possibility of parole equals a far larger prison population. Although this information might conjure images of prisons full of large, violent inmates, the reality is that there are an increasing number of elderly inmates. These inmates are some of the most expensive to maintain because as they age, they require far more medical services and attention than younger ones.

Moore states that inmates over 50 in age cost the state up to $138,000 per year, in comparison to the average younger inmate, which costs about $35,000 annually. While not noted in Moore’s article, I would imagine that as technological advances have led to increased life expectancies in the general population, by living longer, inmates serving life sentences will actually be serving more years, meaning there will be more prisoners at any given time. It seems that if an elderly prisoner is costing so much more per year than younger offenders because their health is deteriorating, the same prisoners are probably unlikely (and unable) to commit a significant amount of crime if they were released (especially not enough to justify spending the huge sum of money keeping them locked up).

The reality is that prisons are swallowing a huge portion of our country’s money and that something needs to be changed. Although recently more and more prisons have been built each year to house the growing prison population, the economic crisis has taken its toll and funds are running dry. Many argue that the best option would be to reduce incarceration of people guilty of nonviolent crimes such as drug possession and dealing. However, support by voters is crucial to making a change and it doesn’t seem likely that voters will agree to law enforcement being soft on people involved in the drug trade because drugs are so demonized in the media. However, maybe increasing the opportunity for parole for the elderly might seem less threatening to voters or the public in general.

I think that all states should increase the number of people for which parole will be an option. If rehabilitation is actually the goal of incarceration, then elderly criminals who are found to have indeed been rehabilitated should be released so that more money and focus can be put on more the dangerous inmates. The problem that I fear is that incarceration is not actually about rehabilitation, but is instead about making offenders suffer and easing the minds of the public. If this is truly the case, combating the prison industrial complex will be far more difficult.

5 Years for Wanting a Better Future for your Children

2011-01-31T16:48:00.000-08:00

I stumbled upon this story while reading my Twitter news feed from @ColorLines about a week ago, and was shocked to my amazement of what unfolded in front of my eyes. An African-American woman in Akron, Ohio was sentenced to 5 years in prison for sending her kids to a school in a district in which she does not live; a much better performing school than their neighborhood school and one in which she knows her children will have a much better chance at graduating, and matriculating onto college. She was accused of lying about where her children lived, supposedly using their grandfather's address (which was within the district where the better public school was). Instead of just sending her kids back to their bad schools, officials charged the woman, Kelly Williams-Bolar with 2 felonies. Officials said that because she sent her kids to a school in a district where they did not live, she was defrauding taxpayers of over $30,000. When they asked her to pay that money, she refused, and thus resulting in her felony charges.

I am happy to say that Judge Patricia Cosgrove suspended all of her sentence but 10 days, yet still this story brings up multiple issues that we face in America. I think that the first obvious one is how can a woman be sentenced to 5 years in prison for putting her children in a better performing school? This raises questions about not only our policies and laws, but our sentencing practices as well. Regardless of the charge that she defrauded taxpayers of over $30,000, it comes down to a mother wanting the best for her children. If you are a parent waking up everyday knowing you are sending your child into a failing school, you eventually want to change that, and you will do whatever you can so that you know their future can be secure. How then does such an act that any mother would pursue become criminalized? In this case, through the idea of "stealing money" from the rich. Her kids were receiving an education that they were not paying for, but the people who were living in the wealthy district were paying for, therefore in a sense she was getting something that she did not pay for and regardless of the circumstances, it is the "law" and will be punished. This then raises the issue of race and class; poor people, and particularly poor people of color live in neighborhoods that too often have failing schools. They are limited in choices of where they can send their children, and thus creates a situation where the cycle of poverty persists. Their children are forced to go to the same failing schools that they went to, and continue to live in poverty. White mothers are often times not faced with this situation because they are either already living in a district where there is a good school or can afford to send their kids to a good school. Poor people, and poor people of color in particular, thus get punished for a history of oppression by white supremacists in America, a recurrent theme in Race and Incarceration studies.

The poverty that kids in low-income neighborhoods get circulated in also directly correlates with the incarceration rates. As kids continue to not have schools in which they are succeeding in, teachers that are vested in their achievement, and programs to keep them out of reach of Police officers, they are more likely to go to prison. A majority of our prison populations are people of low-income and in poverty, which many have not had access to a equal and just education as that of their peers in wealthier neighborhoods. America has created education as the key to success; so why is it that we don't have an equal education? Why has this been an issue ever since public education began? Why are our nations schools still continuing to fail our kids at staggering rates? I think these questions lead to my next observation and that is of the education system.

Why must a woman have to send her kids to a school outside of her district for them to have a good education? Should she not be able to rely on the public school in her district? Why is that school failing in the first place? There are so many ways to approach these questions, but one way should be focused on the fact that eventually, America is going to run out of black men to incarcerate. What part then does our public education system have in curtailing that? Laws, policy, and policing among many others are ways of curtailing it, but how does education fit into that equation? How can we fix these schools so that a woman like Kelly Williams-Bolar wouldn't have to falsify her children's school district just to get them a better education? It is a very difficult question, because there are so many factors that go into why schools fail, including internal and external reasons. However, I think it is critical that we add public education into the realm of ways to curb our incarceration rates of black and Latino men and women in America, as often times the education that is provided to them is like that of Williams-Bolar's kids.

This is another article about the story, with a heading "Sentence intended as deterrent."

http://abcnews.go.com/US/ohio-mom-jailed-sending-kids-school-district/story?id=12763654&page=2

Felony Conviction for Changing Schools

2011-01-31T14:51:00.000-08:00

The organization Color of Change is working to lobby for clemency from Ohio Governor John Kasich for single mom and teacher's aide Kelley Williams-Bolar. Williams-Bolar used her father's address to enroll her children in a better school district. For this heinous crime, she has been given a felony conviction that originally came with a five-year prison sentence. Although the sentence was reduced, her felony conviction will prevent her from earning her teaching certificate. The full story and what you can do to help Williams-Bolar is here. For more, check out this story from the Beacon Journal.

Reforms in Indiana Extended on a National Level?

2011-01-26T20:37:00.000-08:00

In a recent New York Times editorial, the author examines the liberal and groundbreaking prison reforms urged by Republican Indiana governor Mitch Daniels. Daniels advocates a “smart on crime” approach implementing shorter and more flexible sentences for nonviolent offenses, and restructuring a more organized parole system. Motivation behind these reforms comes from two sources: 1) They are socially effective in reducing crime (more on this later), and 2) they are cost effective. From my interpretation, Daniels is primarily motivated by the need to find an alternative for Indiana’s exorbitant prison budget.

On January 19, 2011 he blogs “in December 2004, I was told we would need to build at least one new prison a year starting immediately,” (http://www.nationalreview.com/blogs/print/257495). Following the trend of a prison a year would mean over $1.2 billion in just the next 5-6 years. This phenomenon of prison expenses engulfing state budgets is not unique. Oregon is one of 5 states to spend more on prisons than education, with Indiana nearing that condition.

On a side note, why has our governor (previous and/or current) not considered serious prison reforms similar to Daniels’? Perhaps it has something to do with the lack of popular interest in prisons. People feel content as long as criminals get locked up. An average voter probably would not inquire on how their taxes are being used for law enforcement so long as they feel dangerous people are out of the public sphere. Because this is likely the case in Indiana, Governor Daniels employs studies through the Council of State Governments Justice Center to gain political and public consensus on why liberal reforms are necessary. By pinpointing the root of Indiana’s prison population growth—41% between 2000 and 2009—the study identified solutions for leveling and minimizing the prison population. The increase is caused by drug addicts and low-level nonviolent offenders. The proven solution for reducing re-offenses and recidivism for these types of offenders is treatment, job training, and more flexible personalized parole. Daniels writes “if we can get our legislature to go along, we will soon be matching the place of incarceration more closely to the offender’s true danger to society, reducing recidivism, and saving a bundle of money on new prisons we don’t have to build and staff.”

Although I believe Daniels’ reforms originate from a fiscal position, rather than justice/humanitarian sentiments, I agree that his policies are “smart on crime” and should be passed by legislators. They are supported from economic and social standpoints and would serve well if established as nationwide policies. What suggestions do we have for effectively marketing ideas such as these? What methods might a lobbyist or politician use to pass these reforms? How can prison policy become an issue or public interest? These are crucial questions when thinking about further steps in how to handle the U.S. prison crisis. We know what works, so why isn’t it happening yet?

Unemployment and Jobs for Ex-Cons

2011-01-24T17:54:00.000-08:00

A current article in the New York Times addresses the importance of unemployment within an economy, and stresses the need for change, one way or another. However, what this article highlights is the strategy used to help change the reality of the situation. California, Michigan and New York are using employment to help ex-cons find jobs in a continually weak economy. The point here is to help ex-cons get a job, and therefore lower their chances of reincarceration.

In saving almost $200 million annually solely by reducing its prison population by 7,500 Michigan and states alike are beginning to see the benefits of social services. Politicians on both sides of the spectrum are advocating for programs such as these and are promoting them on the basis of lower state expenditure. With jobless rates of ex-cons over 50% 9 months to a year after release, it’s no wonder politicians are finally giving this long term issue the attention in needs and deserves.

What remains problematic is the reason behind these programs as a function of increased state budgets for different things besides imprisonment. Though beneficial indeed, finding jobs for ex-cons is not solely a matter of higher government savings. With the state of the Union Address approaching it is more than likely that the U.S. prison population will not be a topic of discussion. But why? Simply because politics have and always will be a matter of popular control. What kind of political impression would President Obama give, if our first black president addressed a problem that revolved around race?

And don’t get too excited about states such as New York, and Michigan expanding re-entry programs, when other states such as Kansas are reducing them. Their reason: reduced federal funding to their state. Have we not already established that cutting back social programs actually reduces stage budgets even further by allocating those new funds right back into the prison system? I guess not.

What does remain important are those who do recognize what a big difference jobs can do for ex-cons. Non-profit organizations such as, “70 Times 7 Life Recovery” evaluate prisoners and place them into a job that fits them. Managers have stated how these new employees are some of the best workers they’ve had, “These guys will do whatever it takes…their attitudes are second to none.”

All that remains is the alteration of the attitude of politics, which instead of seeking the expansion of re-entry programs to save money, should promote it because it’s the right thing to do.

Amending the System

2011-01-20T00:52:00.000-08:00

In William Fischer’s article “U.S. Overflowing Prisons Spur Call For Reform Commission” he addresses many flaws in the prison industrial complex that currently exists in the United States. Perhaps the action from which all these flaws derive is what is known as racial profiling. This act of targeting individuals or areas based on race has resulted in astounding numbers of minorities locked up and charged for offenses. The question remains whether this prejudice and racism is internalized or conscious? I believe it to be a little of both. While there are certainly individuals within law enforcement who show blatant racism by targeting those who are not white, racism within the system is also heavily internalized and subliminal. Tracing the history of prisons back to slavery shows that prisons gained popularity after Emancipation, thus becoming a new way to house blacks and the underclass. This long and complicated history makes it difficult to identify exactly what issues began and when. Because it is almost possible for us to point blame at any one factor, we must interpret the situation as it is currently and attempt to fix it. Fischer notes the formation of a congressionally appointed commission called “the National Criminal Justice Commission”. Their goal is to amend the prison system as it currently exists in the United States. Groups like this are important because they give agency to a cause that is often times overlooked by citizens living in fear of inmates and crime. They also speak out as a voice for all the prisoners who cannot otherwise make themselves heard. And while brushing the problem under the rug and walking away may be convenient, we are kidding ourselves if we think incarcerating people is going to providing any real security.

I instead propose the alternative of rehabilitation. When most people hear the term, they only view it as an alternative to incarceration. And while this is partly true in my case, I am proposing it as not only an alternative, but also as an addition to. For nonviolent crimes or offenses that don’t question the mental capabilities and socially contributing factors of a person, rehabilitation should be the absolute. During this period patients will be treated for their compulsions or problems and can continue to lead a normal, contributing life. For violent crimes, assaults, and other crimes that warrant indefinite incarceration, rehabilitation should be worked into the prison system as much as possible. Emphasis on expressing emotion, events leading prisoners to where they are today, and exercising the ability to be an individual (and feel like one) should all be heavily encouraged. Inmates can then begin to feel as if they are still respected as human beings and as individuals. This could contribute greatly to less aggravation among prisoners and possible release with benefits to society and the individuals involved. I believe in order to fix the system today we must identify the issues and factors that create them. If we could eliminate racial profiling, decrease the duration of sentences, and conjure up alternatives to blatant incarceration for nonviolent crimes (such as rehabilitation, treatment programs, and therapy), the system could begin to uphold the ideals that this nation was built upon.

What to Expect When You're Expecting [In Prison]

2011-01-19T21:37:00.000-08:00

Let’s talk about women in prisons. Firstly, let’s keep in mind that people of color are the disproportionate majority of prisoners—a multitude of factors merge to cause this, including history, policies, political figures and climates, class and popular images of what it means to be a “criminal.” In discussing women in prisons this is an important thing to remember, as so much of our actions are fueled by our imaginations of who a prisoner is, and so much of these imaginations have been shaped by the popular images, racist policies and political climates. While men have higher rates of incarceration than women, the rate of incarceration for women is rapidly climbing. There is this (mis)conception that if a woman has landed in prison—she’s not a real woman, whatever that means. No nurturing, domestic, motherly, quiet and/or subservient person could end up in the slammer—and since our culture still views men and women in this essentialist, “inherent” manner, this person means woman. If a woman has ended up in prison, she has somehow deviated from what is deemed appropriate behavior for women in our society. And while the image depicted so often is of a hard, callous, drug-using “prostitute,” many women in prisons leave behind families, particularly children. The idea of a pregnant inmate is rarely imagined, but so often women enter the system pregnant, or end up pregnant (Hm. Let’s think on that one for a minute) during their sentence. Despite the guaranteed horror of giving birth while incarcerated and having your newborn immediately whisked away from you without so much as a peek, and the detrimental affects this causes on both child and mother (or the medical effects the baby might have without the mother’s breast milk, being put into governmental care, or creating a mother-child bond with another family member), prison policies leading up to the birth are just as terrifying.

According to Pregnant, in Prison, and Denied Care, an article on Women + Prison: A Site for Resistance, prisons routinely deny pregnant women access to prenatal care, ignore women’s assurances that they are in labor (who then end up giving birth in their cells, either alone or with the assistance of a prison nurse), allow pregnant women to be in dangerous/violent situations (being beat by guards, other inmates), or, when a woman miscarries, wait until an emergency to take her to a proper medical facility. On top of this, any irregularities in the pregnancy are ignored, which can lead to miscarriage, illness or death. This, as the article states, “surely violates the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.”

However, I have to link this treatment back to the overall treatment of the prison system in America. While it is absolutely unacceptable that we as a society allow this kind of treatment of pregnant women, it really is unsurprising when so much wrong is done within the criminal justice system that we simply ignore. Does our conception of what a woman prisoner is interfere with our ability to see any woman inmate as an expecting mother? Do we somehow believe that she deserves less medical care because she is an inmate—that somehow her life and the life of her baby/ies are worth less than “free” individuals? Despite the small gains that have been made for pregnant inmates, such as the practice of shackling women in labor (yeah, we went there. For a long time too) being deemed unconstitutional, there is still so much work to do for incarcerated pregnant women (and mothers in prison, in general). The ball is in your court—their lives in your hands. What will you do to ensure proper care of expecting mothers and their unborn children?

The Effects of Mass Incarceration on Black Communities

2011-01-17T18:36:00.000-08:00

Laura Davis' Blog Post #1-The Effects of Mass Incarceration on Black Communities

Paul Street’s article “History is a Weapon: Race, Prison and Poverty” discusses the profound impact of the disproportionality of race within the prison system. His argument states that the overwhelming amount of blacks in prison has an increasingly negative effect on black communities and creates a biased view of the criminal justice system in the United States (Street). Street references literature that points to the fact that institutional racism and segregation are causes for both inner-city violence and crime (Street). Furthermore, Street argues that blacks are a target to multiple forms of biases and racist segregation in the criminal justice system including being stopped by police and execution (Street).

The overwhelming number of blacks in the prison system compared to that of whites is an obvious example of racism within the criminal justice system. As mentioned earlier, Street argues that not only does bias in the system perpetuate racism within the institution but also that it furthers criminality in society. Michel Foucault’s discussion of delinquency as an institution is similar to that of Streets’ argument of criminality in communities as a result of racial bias within the prison system. Also, delinquency as being prominent in the social world as well as prisons is contributing to a majority of black youth in inner-city neighborhoods having criminal records.

Ultimately, how do we eliminate the growing racial disparities within the prison system? And how can we lower the crime rates that are being caused by the disproportionality of races in prisons? Many black inner city communities consider criminality and criminal records “a normative life experience,” this could explain the growing rate of racism in prisons. Society understands that prisons are where “delinquents” go, and that those who are in prison know they are delinquent for being in prison. This double consciousness is perpetuated not only through delinquency in prisons (Foucault), but throughout black communities and inner-city neighborhoods.

The discussion of mass incarceration of blacks is also referenced to the criminal justice system adding to the disadvantage of black underclass groups. The high number of men of color being incarcerated is also adding to the unemployment rate of African Americans (Street). Later, Street discusses how “The war on drugs” is a strong cause to the number of minorities incarcerated. The growing drug economy leads to underclass minorities dealing drugs, and ultimately puts them back into prison. Once out of prison, an overwhelming forty eight percent of black ex offenders return for similar offenses (Street).

Throughout Street’s interpretation of the increase of African Americans in prison having a negative effect on black communities raises new forms of bias and racism by further separating people racially. Because of the double consciousness theory communities of color add to the growing population of minorities in prison by the rate of crime that happens in their neighborhoods. In order to end bias in the criminal justice system, and the high number of blacks in prison, society must work to make the system less racially segregated and end racial inequality.

Link: http://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/streeracpripov.html

Educational Prisoners

2011-01-17T12:55:00.000-08:00

In an effort to challenge juvenile incarceration and racial injustice the American Civil Liberal Union (ACLU) reveals the fusion of two systems designed to incarcerate; education & the criminal justice system. The “ School-to-prison pipeline” according to the ACLU is a combination of policies and practices designed to funnel our youth, particular colored youth from the walls of our public schools to the walls of our prisons. Policies and programs such as, Zero-Tolerance, No Child Left Behind, policing school hallways, alternative disciplinary schools, and Juvenile detention all push students along this pipeline. All such policies demonstrate how this country continues to prioritize incarceration over education. A report published recently in the Philadelphia Inquirer illustrated how such policies leave little room for interpretation and reasoning, while continuing to criminalize students.

Life Sentences for Juveniles for Crimes other than Murder

2009-11-08T10:11:00.000-08:00

A New York Times article on two cases going before the U.S Supreme Court to decide whether it is constitutional to sentence juveniles to life in prison for crimes in which no one dies. Currently over 100 people are serving life sentences for such crimes that they committed while under 18. All are in the United States, and 77 are in Florida. They are overwhelmingly Black, according to one of the article's multimedia sidebars. Of course, race doesn't enter into the article's analysis of why these sorts of sentences are given, but we all know that that Blacks and other people of color statistically always receive harsher sentences than whites in U.S. courts.

New Challenge to the Death Penalty in Ohio

2009-09-18T08:53:00.000-07:00

After a failed execution by lethal injection, a man whose execution has been rescheduled will first be deposed for a different court challenge to Ohio's method of execution. The man will give testimony on the experience of going through Ohio's lethal injection procedure, presumably to build evidence as to its cruelty.

Decriminalization in Portugal Leads to Decreased Drug Use

2009-09-17T06:33:00.001-07:00

The Economist reports that, according to a recent study, a controversial strategy in Portugal of decriminalizing (or depenalizing) all forms of drugs from marijuana to heroin has had interesting results. The article is worth reading for anyone interested in drug policy.

Portugal's drug policy: Treating, not punishing | The Economist

Shared via AddThis

The original study can be found here.

HIV, Hepatitis, and Medical Care in NY Prisons

2009-09-15T08:47:00.000-07:00

According to the New York Times, the prison system is the state's largest provider of treatment for HIV. And yet, prison medical officials are balking at a proposed bill to require them to meet State Department of Health standards. The article is here.

Did Texas execute an innocent man?

2009-09-02T15:53:00.000-07:00

A heartbreaking and infuriating (if overly long) article from the New Yorker on the execution of a man for arson and the murder of his three children in Texas. (Spoiler Alert: all of the "scientific" forensic evidence presented to convict him turned out to be flawed and no one in the justice system cared.)

Shameful Treatment of Youth with Cognitive Disabilities

2009-08-15T10:25:00.000-07:00

An excellent article on the gradual trend since the 1970s to shift the burden of dealing with mentally ill young people from mental hospitals (not that the treatment there was all that great) to juvenile prisons (from the frying pan to the fire).

The article credits one psychologist with saying that "some detainees appeared to be held [in the Los Angeles County Central Juvenile Hall] for no reason other than that they were mentally ill and the county had no other institution capable of treating them."

Also of note, the Los Angeles County Jail is the nation's largest residential mental institution.

New Ways to Imprison Immigrants

2009-08-15T10:08:00.000-07:00

The Obama administration has announced some slightly marginal improvements for immigrant families being imprisoned due to immigration violations, according to this article in the New York Times. Rather than sending families to prison, they will be sending them to "civil detention centers." Of course, building a vast new network of civil detention centers assumes the permanence of Bush-era practices of imprisoning immigrants and their families. Once you build a detention center and staff it, you have to continue to use it or else you have "wasted taxpayer dollars." (Here is a bit more on the planned changes.)

One wonders whether "civil detention centers" might be the new "concentration camps" . . .

California Prisons Must Cut Inmate Population

2009-08-05T12:40:00.000-07:00

From the New York Times, an article on the court order directing California to reduce the size of its prison population by more than a quarter.

Those interested in the court order itself can go here. Even the new target population lies well over the design capacity for California's prison system, as one can see in the following Times illustration:

2009 Prison Conference Posters

2009-04-30T10:49:00.001-07:00

If you click on them you can see an enlarged version.

In response to the private prison article (GEO Group Inc.):

2009-03-15T13:19:00.000-07:00

In response to the private prison article (GEO Group Inc.):

It is both surprising and not as a shocker to find that the government has been funding a private prison. First of all, the large amount of money, which is sent to the GEO Group Inc, is what is surprising. I think it is unfortunate that government official have still hot yet realized the harm being done by over funding prisons in general. As our guest speaker spoke about in class last Tuesday, by funding other pubic things such as schools, we can slowly create a lower need for these prisons. The amount of money given to this group is incredibly unnecessary. Although the change will not be as drastic, over time we will be able to statically see the change of the population in prisons. This article was not as a shocker when I first read it, because it reminded me about the millions of dollars given to the automotive industries a few months ago. It is unfortunate, yet I have become accustomed to see the government fund organizations that realistically do not need the funding as much as other pubic groups. As the term, “economic crisis” is thrown around today; I feel a large amount of money is continuously being given to corporations who see little negative effects by this “economic crisis.” While smaller groups are having to make budget cuts, and suffer employment decrease. As our guest speaker said, maybe in the following months the government will see the damage being done by this reckless funding, and make a change.

Despite a Crashing Economy, Private Prison Firm Turns a Handsome Profit | Immigration | AlterNet

2009-03-13T19:58:00.000-07:00

Despite a Crashing Economy, Private Prison Firm Turns a Handsome Profit Immigration AlterNet

PA Judges Got Cash to Lock Up Teens, Revealed a Broken Justice System | Rights and Liberties | AlterNet

2009-03-13T19:39:00.000-07:00

PA Judges Got Cash to Lock Up Teens, Revealed a Broken Justice System Rights and Liberties AlterNet

A Timely Article on the Courts

2009-03-11T09:53:00.000-07:00

Just a day after we talked about conservative domination of the federal courts, the New York Times published a good article on the subject, focusing on the Circuit Appeals Courts and Obama's chances of changing them. Disappointingly, it would appear that he does not plan to restructure them as aggressively as did Reagon and Bush II.

Future Comrades

2009-03-10T19:46:00.000-07:00

As the term and our readings for class come to a close, I notice more practical ideas coming out through texts like Angela Davis’ Are Prisons Obsolete? and in the talk today about the Portia Program. Thinking back to the beginning of term when we introduced ourselves and explained what had drawn us to the course, I wonder how many of those reasons have shifted and changed. One of my driving interests in studying the Prison Industrial Complex has to do with public education in the US (which needs as much of an overhaul as the PIC) and where I will be working in a few years time. My intention is not to “keep kids out of prison” in a condescending way, but to experiment with whether providing stimulating education and focusing on literacy for all can by itself reduce the numbers of young people becoming incarcerated. I want it to. It would be easiest for me to focus my energy completely on one task and to have the results extend out in multiple directions- but if I believe folks like Angela Davis, that is not the case. Education, then, isn’t going to change the prison system without developing a conscious link between the two and among multiple other branches of empowerment and healing.
Public education is still a venue with direct influence in communities and lives, and I feel schools do have the potential to be spaces for radical thought. Personally, I split my days on campus between education classes and ethnic studies classes, and the things I hear coming out of the mouths of future teachers in my ed classes are truly terrifying. So my final posting on this blog is also a plea for comrades, for other ethnic studies-educated teachers to join with in the public school system.

Taking it all in and trying to put something out

2009-03-10T14:48:00.000-07:00

I don't know if it's appropriate to just ramble about myself here, so please forgive me if this is annoying. :) I think a lot of us are struggling with how to apply ourselves to make a difference once we're out of this class, away from school and "out in the world." I know there is a huge debate over whether "reactive" (they like to call it "bandaid") work really makes a difference in the long run compared to the "proactive" long drawn out fighting in the courts and the universities and campaigning and arguments to convince power and Rush Limbaugh to change their minds. But I also know that I can't do the political or legal work necessary to fight this fight because it drains the soul right out of me. It's very important work and needs to be done, but not by me. Maybe I'll gain patience in my old age and things will look differently but I'm getting to the point where all I hear is noise, and I think the answer for me is to pull away somewhere where I can help people get their immediate needs met because that is tangible to me. Something has to be done to balance all this hopelessness and negativity right here and now. While I'm aware that no matter how many people are helped, a broken system is going to create more victims over and over, I can't ignore this feeling I have that simple, reactionary, person-to-person compassion is not wasted in this fight.

That's all I wanted to say.

prison reform?

2009-03-10T11:54:00.001-07:00

I believe that while needed the prison abolition movement will never achieve its goals. Much Like Nonprofits, organizations like this are not meant to succeed nor should they as that could possibly mean the end of a struggle. The politics that surround prisons are so vase and all encompassing that prisons are created not only as a social survival mechanism, but also as an economic institution and as Western and Beckett (1999) suggest a market force that will persist in the existent of a free market.

Prison reform is the most realistic goal we can have. I believe in prison reform. Yet I am unsure of what it could or would look like. As long as man has existed, he has been persecuting the underprivileged. Why as the US penal system and death penalty continued to persecute its poor in the face of global trends? Simply overstated, it is about the money. The United States could not function as it does with our a work class, the working poor and homeless, the hungry and convicts. Prison reform would demand that we change everything that we believe in and or benefit from. I don’t know if the United states as a collective is willing to do this, or able to do this. But it is evident that it has not change.

10+Texts = a Memorable Experience

2009-03-10T10:51:00.000-07:00

It s seems our society has become accustomed to use prisons as a form of punishment. Does this actually help those who are imprisoned, and “rehabilitate” people to function in the outside world? Many people give little thought on the effects of the foundation of prisons and how they are more a course for grater problems. We sometime ask our self’s what can we do in order to feel safe? Placing someone in a cell, within a complex filled with other “criminals” is a cure for both parties. The thought of feeling safe is not the only motive behind imprisonment; discrimination is an important fact which is over looked which imposes laws, regulation and the treatment of inmates. This course has been an interesting experience that has really open my eyes. I have gone through my life so far, know very little about the men and women in prison and never questioning if they really belong there. Reading the book from Assata, Peltier and the other prison experiences, changes a person understanding on how well the legal system and prison can be bias and be influence by stereotypes. It was very impressive how Peltier has been extremely active with the outside world, not allowing his borders limit his drive. Out of the several books read over the term, Peltier’s was the novel that shined light of the complexity of prison, which was uncomplicated and allowed the reader to use their own discretion. Compared to the other readings, Peltier wrote the text in such a way which he invited the reader to listen to him, while never glorifying his work. I am pleased to be able to say I have gained many skills and a greater understanding from this course. As before, I had never gave any deep thought about prisons and their productivity. Critiquing history, and recognizing the wrong helps us all see how we need to improve. Remembering the class a few weeks ago when Prf. Hanes-Garcia was absent, and the comments of the other student. Do we stop here? Do we just end this term and sweep this knowledge under the carpet? I think by continuing to study and reading text about minorities in prison, and then spreading the knowledge is a simple way in which we can continue the work of the authors of the texts. It would be great to do much more, but for starters, remember how these books were written is a starting point for change.

is this where we stop?

2009-03-10T02:48:00.000-07:00

Once this class over, where do we begin to continue to progress towards prison abolition? Throughout the course and readings, I kept thinking this is all historical and radical. Can prison abolition truly be accomplished? The prison-industrial complex has become so normalized, making seem as if it is permanent. And it is scary and overwhelming to learn all the discrimination and injustices that occurs inside and outside of prisons. And sometimes I feel nothing can be accomplished from a society so occupied around the idea of criminalizing individuals and locking them away only to deserve extreme experiences of hate.
It seems oppressive forces are using the same tactics as they have in history. Somehow, things become stereotyped and normalized. Why is it so much harder to create positive discourse for reformation? Historically, rallies, marches, and sit-ins were successful and common. But, time has changed so what do we do in order to get better immigration policies, universal healthcare, rehabilitation centers among all the other solutions we discussed? I believe education is the first step. By becoming aware of the prison-industrial complex, we have tools necessary to carry knowledgeable spaces and conversations for positive discourse. These classes are important and social injustice should be implemented earlier in the education system. Too often students are limited to exposure of oppression and have naive ideas that the U.S. and the rest of the world is better. So as we grow up, we grow up naive. When youth become more aware, society grows up to be educated on issues that relate to political policies. When it comes to the prison abolition movement, youth and adults alike can openly talk about it and combat people in favor of prisons. We think prison abolition is far-fetched, but perhaps slaves had the same mindset until individuals came together to do something about it. We can say the same thing for segregation or even immigration policy today. Nearly everything changes over time and prison abolition is a slow, but sure process if we utilize our skills. Begin with educating youth instead of waiting until we are adults.

Looking Towards the Future

2009-03-10T00:37:00.000-07:00

The past 9 weeks have taught me about the many problems with the prison system and the justice system. I learned about the many groups that they target, oppress and abuse. And even with all this knowledge, the question of where to start still remains a difficult one. The many solutions we thought of in class all seemed very positive, but addressing all of them is difficult. It makes prison abolition seem almost unimaginable because of the many obstacles that exist. But I feel that that shouldn't stop us from working towards improving other things that can decrease incarceration rates. This is one thing that I feel President Obama can help achieve.

One of the best places to start would be addressing the institutions that cause many people to commit crimes that are often non-violent. Universal health care would be a big step because often people are forced to steal to afford medical treatment for themselves or someone they care about. Improving immigration policy could also be very beneficial in decreasing the amount of undocumented citizens who are incarcerated. Ending racial profiling is another one of President Obama’s goals and I feel that it could do a lot to ending police brutality and unjustified arrests. The police force has been given a lot of power by our society and the mindset that most people of color are criminals or will become criminals. Diversity training for police officers could help increase tolerance and decrease the criminalization of minorities. Education reform could also be very effective in creating better opportunities for young kids to avoid getting involved with drugs and gangs. Access to higher education could also give them an opportunity to do something that most of them never even consider as an option. Obama provides hope for all these institutions which affect incarceration rates. The best we can do is continue to push the government to act on these issues and hope that they eventually lead to the abolition of prisons.

Though all of this is easier said than done, I feel that we all have the knowledge now to spread to others. One of problems is that many of these issues are unknown to the public which has caused the acceptance and naturalization of prisons in our society. If the queer community was more aware of the homophobia within prisons, it could be an issue that they also include in their movement. If the feminist movement was aware of the rapidly increasing incarceration rate of women, it is also something that I believe they would strive to fight. Many problems with the prisons affect multiple groups which is why I feel it is necessary for all oppressed groups to oppose these issues. Action on the issue of prisons is difficult, but at the very least, we can still educate others about what we have learned. What we choose to do beyond that is our choice.

Routes of Action

2009-03-09T19:06:00.000-07:00

Our class was asked to come up with a list of considerations or routes of action when advocating for prison abolition. We came up with items along the lines of "universal healthcare", "drug rehabilitation/assistance", "better schools", "gun control", etc.

We were asked to do the same thing again, but this time advocating for the elimination of segregation about 50 years ago. This list included items such as "civil disobedience", "court challenges", "media", etc.

Even though both exercises had us fighting seemingly permanent institutions, our approaches were of completely different directions. The majority of our actions against prisons come in the forms of smaller policy changes which together would hopefully render prisons obsolete. Against segregation, on the other hand, our measures were much more confrontational and outright. They were methods of having voices be heard and of achieving change rather than actual policy changes themselves.

I don't mean to be criticizing our class or anything, I just don't know what or if that's saying anything about us or our time. Are we too comfortable to reach a higher level of transcendence, one that will motivate us to speak up and act out? Are we expecting government to provide the solutions take care of the problem itself? Or are we just taking a more rational approach, working with our institutions to facilitate change rather than instigating change through resistance?

I feel as though I'm not qualified to answer questions like this that are so concerned with action. I'm not at any sort of point where I can claim what needs or doesn't need to be done when it comes to prison abolition movement. The most I feel like I can do is just become more informed of issues and actions surrounding the debate.

Is that enough?

The Road Ahead

2009-03-09T18:39:00.000-07:00

The election of President Obama is an historic event for the U.S and its racial history even in the year 2008. A President of Color would’ve seemed unheard of in the U.S even fifty years ago with the lingering presence of overt racism and legalized segregation. However, that radical unimagined idea is now a reality. Will the abolition of the current Racist U.S justice system be another triumph over the legacy of racial discrimination in the next fifty years?
One thing that is for sure is progress cannot be accomplished without struggle. Direct and effective action needs to take place in order to overturn the current U.S prison system. But now that we all have the facts, what’s next? Will you continue your daily routine as usual or will you recognize your own privilege and oppression? How can you be free if you live in a country where your race and socioeconomic status are the greatest predictors of your freedom? I hope that the election of our first African American President will not deter us from continuing the work that our ancestors have started for us. If we choose to walk away from confronting the injustices that leaves a substantial amount of low income and communities of color oppressed we may as well pause time because our next fifty years will look exactly as it does now! As a country we have come a long way from the racist attitudes of the 1950-60s, yet, with the increasing incarceration rates of all low-income and communities of color we have a long way to go. What are you prepared to do?

Concluding Thoughts

2009-03-09T18:28:00.000-07:00

Taking Ethnic Studies 407 this term opened my eyes to a lot of the harsh realities that I didn’t know existed within our incarceration system. I learned that prisons were built in hopes of reforming those who broke the law, but now it is used solely for punishment of those who have broken the law. I have learned that the Prison Industrial Complex is a racist, dehumanizing, retributive system that leaves inmates stripped of their sanity and morale upon departing. It creates people who are not able to function in the “free world” because of their exposure to such cruelty and monotony within the walls of these institutions.
I learned that police brutality is something that is swept under the rug but is by no means only a minor problem. Many police officers incorporate sexism and racism into supposed crime fighting and make many minorities a primary target; especially when it comes to drug charges. From some of the readings from class we got an understanding of how inmates create systems of hierarchies in prisons and in a sense, form their own society. This hierarchy consists mainly of hyper-masculinity and violence.
The most important knowledge I have gained from this course, is awareness that there is a possibility for an alternative to prisons. It seemed so unlikely before this course but I have read and discussed many different things that could lead to alternatives. I really believe in the reformation of prisoners so I feel that an alternative would really have to emphasize this area. I feel that the most successful cases of people who have broken the law will be those who have been able to go down a soulful, heart-wrenching, reformation of themselves. An alternative would be great for our society and will help end a lot of institutionalized racism, but I don’t know if America is ready to welcome this challenge.

hope for the future

2009-03-05T11:18:00.000-08:00

I was really glad to see what people are doing in order to help our society. For much of our ethnic studies classes, we are continuously learning about oppression and discrimination historically and presently. And although, it is absolutely necessary to gain knowledge and education about oppression and discrimination to correctly fight it. We need more tools in order to actually fight and counteract the oppression. And I believe the Mother's Reclaiming our Children (ROC) is a perfect example of how we can turn our knowledge and education into positive reformation and activism. We have ready about individuals whom, in one's eye, may seem radical, such as Assata Shakur. Yet, ROC seems to take less radical and positive steps as a community. The ROC not only hold meetings that help aware and educate others in the community, they fight in the courtroom. They become familiar with the judicial system, that way when they enter the courtoom and battle with bias judges among other authorities, they are able to intelligently engage in debates and conflicts. It is great that we have a group such as the ROC that is presently rehabilitating at-risk children and/or people that have been treated inequally. Much like last week's discussion and this week, we can finally take our education and turn into reformation.

2009-03-04T14:44:00.001-08:00

While doing research on political prisoners, I came across a powerful quote...

"First they came for the Communists, and I didn't speak up, because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up, because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up, because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak up for me."
--- Rev. Martin Niemoller (1945)

It reminded me of the importance of being active and involved. Send letters of encouragement to political prisoners, write to government officials and explain your stance, talk to friends and family to educate them...

Speak up.

Are Prisons Obsolete?

2009-03-03T11:10:00.001-08:00

This book is important not just for those who are unaware of the prison industrial complex, but for all those activists who are involved in some aspect of prison reform. The very notion of prison reform implies that prisons should remain. A common theme for prison reformist is to seek “better conditions” for inmates. I cannot disavow the relief aspects of these efforts (especially with the physical/sexual abuse incorporated in Female correctional facilities), nor do I believe that to be Angela Davis’s point. Part of her argument is that these strategies are only engaging with prisons and not the prison industrial complex, thus the economic and social conditions will not change, the disproportionate incarceration of men and women of color will increase, the corporations will continue to profit, and the expansion of prisons will continue.

Angela Davis argues for a new framework; a framework that encompasses the intricate structure of the prison industrial complex. So where is one to begin the struggle against our prison systems? It’s not easy to grapple with, but to uproot the prison industrial complex will require us to understand the ideological work that prisons perform. As Angela Davis articulates, “The prison therefore functions ideologically as an abstract site into which undesirables are deposited, relieving us of the responsibility of thinking about the real issues afflicting those communities from which prisoners are drawn in such disproportionate numbers. This is the ideological work that the prison performs—it relieves us of the responsibility of seriously engaging with the problems of our society, especially those produced by racism and, increasingly, global capitalism.” (Davis 16) We’ve tried to condense all the problems of society into a solution that is in actuality impeding our way to progress. Over the last 20+ years these problems have worsened, and our prisons have rapidly expanded in order to cover them up. Now many of us have peaked under the prison curtain, seen the societal mess and thought prison abolition is unimaginable, our problems with society are too great. Unfortunately, history is not on your side. The end to slavery was once thought of as being unimaginable, just as the knocking down of the Berlin Wall was once viewed as impossible. However, today most of us have a reverse view on these events. We find it hard to imagine that those events could happen in the first place. Once we begin to see beyond its ideological work, the unimaginable becomes feasible.

The Power of Imagination

2009-03-03T10:27:00.000-08:00

Throughout "Are Prisons Obsolete?," Angela Davis mentions the inability to imagine alternatives as a roadblock to change. Likening our inability to challenge the permanence of prisons to our prior inability to challenge the permanence of slavery, she reminds us that wide acceptance of something that is wrong to the core can legitimize it regardless of its merit (or utter lack thereof). The “abolition” of slavery, finally achieved during a bloody civil war that was fought for many other reasons, was still followed by generations of segregation, state supported violence, lynchings, and a pervasive acceptance of a divine racial hierarchy that persists to this day.

I am guilty of being hampered by a lack of imagination. If I imagine prisons being abolished this week, I imagine ex-prisoners suffering the same type of resentful rejection, discrimination, scapegoating, and targeting for violence and hateful behavior that “free blacks” received. I imagine websites set up by concerned parents listing known criminals, “educating” us so we can “keep our kids safe” – I imagine them being chased out of neighborhoods and barred from businesses or being forced to sit in certain sections away from the rest of us. I imagine conservative politicians pushing thru laws so that care professionals can deny them services based on “moral objections,” and choking people who assist them with layers of forms and fees the way we do for places that provide services to undocumented persons. I imagine these same politicians trying to overthrow the government so that we can return to the “good old days” and I imagine a lot of redblooded americans going for it. I feel like the hearts of the people have to change for prison abolition to really work, and that is something I have a hard time imagining.

But I think I’m going about this all wrong. Maybe imagination is not an act of ‘creative logical predictions,’ but one of pure will in which we claim possibilities in order for them to be born. That seems much simpler, but much harder to do.

women and prisons, shifting family values?

2009-03-03T09:50:00.000-08:00

“Masculine criminality has always been deemed more “normal” than feminine criminality. There has always been a tendency to regard those women who have been publicly punished by the state for their misbehaviors as significantly more aberrant and far more threatening to society than their numerous male counterparts.”
Angela Davis 2003

In her book, Are Prisons Obsolete?, Angela Davis seeks to examine the question of prison reform or prison abolition. Is life without the death penalty hard to imagine?
Davis educates the reader to the expansion of the prison system, with facts that 2million of the world 9million prisoners are incarcerated in the US. There are more people in prison with mental illnesses than there are in hospitals. Why such a surge in prison population? One answer often given is economic. With the building of prisons came promised economic stimulants, such as jobs and increased state and local revenue, Davis insists that these benefits have not occurred.

Why then the surge of Prisons? Like many, I suppose, I believed that prisons (although inhumane) have served not only as a state run tool of proper socialization but also as an industry that produced economic stimulation to local and state governments. No one can deny that there is a large amount of industry that surrounds prisons, but who exactly receives the economic benefit from incarcerating members of poor and colored communities?

In her book Davis also examines the role of gender in prisons. Referencing what some call “state sanctioned sexual assault” others refer to as strip searching (internal searching) she asks the question If the goal of female prisons it to teach women the importance of the domestic female?

With a queue from my counterpoints on the right, I ask the question, could the increase of female prisoners in the United States be a result of shifting family roles (ie, more female headed house holds)?

Impute crime to color

2009-03-03T07:43:00.000-08:00

By 1883 Frederick Douglass had already written about the stigma in which criminalized the man of color. I knew that people of color were often used as scapegoats for criminal activity, but I was under the impression that it was only in terms of simply throwing around accusations in which the accuser wasn’t allowed to fight back (in terms of the law). By no means did I realize that there were “upstanding”, white citizens who actually painted their faces darker shades in order to make it seem as if they were a person of color who was committing the crime. I don’t know if instances like this were made public but I feel like if they were they would combat the perceived idea that people of color were more likely to lean towards a ‘life of crime’ versus white people.

A great example of how the idea of color is transcribed into a focal point for crime and criminal activity are ‘routine’ traffic stops. The rate at which people of color are stopped (and given some type of violation) in comparison to white people is outstanding; this signifies they idea that our society has come to believe that there is something inherent about people of color in which causes them to commit traffic crimes (as well as other types of criminal violations) at a higher and more frequent rate than white’s. Obviously this idea is outrageous. There is absolutely nothing predisposition about any one type of person that would cause their racial group as a whole to be more prone to criminal activity. This idea of translating crime into a color issue really seems to be the heart of what Angela Davis is speaking to. Though each of the chapters has a specific topic, they all rotate around the same idea of the links in how race and more specifically, color play an impacting role on the likelihood of incarceration.

More Spending on Prison than Almost Anything Else

2009-03-03T07:07:00.000-08:00

Another NY Times article bemoaning the high costs of prisons at time when nearly every other aspect of state services has been cut. Even the right-wing Heritage Foundation spokesperson in the article advocates more use of sentencing alternatives. There's also an interesting interactive map showing state spending on prisons. Oregon doesn't come off very well.

The prison as a U.S. white supremacist institution

2009-03-03T01:30:00.000-08:00

Davis' "Are Prisons Obsolete?" brings to light staggering connections between today's prison system and the "peculiar institution" of slavery that continues to haunt this nation's history. In her call for the abolition of the contemporary prison system, Davis identifies a pattern of U.S. white supremacist institutions, beginning with slavery. Following the passage of the 13th Amendment and the resulting abolition of slavery, lynching was instituted to carry on the tradition of oppressing and exploiting people of color while preserving and protecting white supremacy. Lynching was inevitably replaced by a system of racial segregation that relegated people of color to the lower echelons of society and again maintained and patrolled white privilege. Today, the U.S. prison system plays this role, and it does so very well. Through Davis' exploration of U.S. white supremacist institutions, we see the prison not as a form of social control or punishment, but as a modern form of slavery that serves to legally maintain systems of power that claim to have been overcome.

Davis identifies key historical links between slavery and the penitentiary system, noting that prison regulations and slave codes share a common framework. Both subordinate subjects to the will of others and force subjects to depend on others for basic human needs, isolate subjects from the general population, and force subjects into labor. Davis further argues that punishments associated with slavery were incorporated into the prison system, with the whip, the lash, and the chain serving as emblems of servitude for both slaves and prisoners.

It is important to recognize the ways in which the transition from slave codes to black codes necessitated the funneling of newly "freed" slaves into the prison system. Because the 13th Amendment failed to abolish slavery in its entirety and instead left a gaping loophole legalizing slavery as a punishment for crime, black codes were enacted. Crimes for which only black people could be convicted, black codes criminalized universal human behaviors and effectively forced former slaves into prison and back into involuntary servitude. The convict lease system further extended regimes of slavery, subjecting "convicts" to exploitation and punishment precisely because they were still perceived as slaves. As a result of the growing number of people of color in the prison system, the racialization of crime and the criminalization of race perpetuated the belief that people of color are inherently criminal, thus justifying their incarceration.

Davis implores her readers to call for an abolition of the prison system under the unchallenged premise that racist institutions should be abolished. Because she so successfully argues that the prison system is inherently racist, it then becomes impossible for the reader to avoid agreeing with her stance: the prison system must be abolished.

Can you imagine?

2009-03-03T00:32:00.000-08:00

In Angela Y Davis book Are Prisons Obsolete she quotes from Arthur Waskow, who expresses his idea and alternative to the abolition of prisons, he states that “the only full alternative is building the kind of society that does not need prisons 105”. He obviously takes a radical approach by not mentioning a rehabilitative alternative, thus holds society as a whole accountable for the creation of ‘criminality’. What would a society look like without prisons? Would there be forced drug rehabilitation and adequate access to housing, jobs, and education? If so, do we agree that criminalized behavior is determined by these issues and lack of resources? What about adequate health care programs for the mental ill and disabled persons? Is there really a way to ’fix’ all of societal ills that are perceived as deviant? Will other issues that society finds too hard to handle arise? Will other institutions used to attempt to control all of societal abnormalities replace prisons? These are all relevant issues that have to be discussed in detail before the abolishment ofprisons can become a centralized and urgent issue on the agenda of the greater public. I feel as if all great changes in society are always perceived as radical, yet they all have the potential of becoming a reality when a theorized idea can be bought as a reality.

Decarceration

2009-03-02T16:39:00.000-08:00

"In his words, '[The lawbreaker] is thus no longer an evil-minded man or woman, but simply a debtor, a liable person whose human duty is to take responsibility for his or her acts, and to assume the duty of repair'" (Davis 114).

I believe that this is a great start to the process of decarceration and a better way of reforming people who have committed a crime instead of subjecting them to the inhumane solution of prison confinement. I think that these people having to continue their lives in the "free world" and face the people or things that they have wronged would be a much better form of bringing about justice in our society. Having the option of being able to talk to someone you have wronged and to exlpain to them why you did it and the circumstances that led you to do it would be extremely tough, but would eventually spead awareness in our country about racial and economic inequality, thus bringing about awareness of why many people of color seem more prone to being incarcerated.

I feel that the example Davis used about Amy Biehl, her murderers, and her parents was very amazing and thought provoking. It gave me new hope for the future of our society. The courage of those men who killed Amy to ask to be forgiven by her parents and for them to accept their apologies and run a foundation with them shows the power of humane reformation. This shows us that people don't need to be locked up in cells like animals and punished beyond belief to ackwoledge their mistakes and change, but how long will it take for the people of America to realize this? Or will prisons always be the only option towards reformation?

"Study: 1 in 25 adult Ohioans in prison, on parole or probation"

2009-03-02T08:39:00.000-08:00

I think this story leads ideally into Angela Davis's imagining of a society without prisons. Its interesting to note that article quotes some of the same rhetoric of why prisons are absolutely without a doubt necessary. It makes me think of how common sense is constructed, and how with critical analysis, often common sense isnt "good sense," which comes from David Harvey's discussion of neoliberalism that can certainly be applied to this article and this discussion.
I think the headline of the article is a good example of why mass incarceration isn't common sense, it looks like just a big waste of money.
-Danaan

Prison labor...exploitative or beneficial?

2009-03-01T20:55:00.000-08:00

I was motivated to write this blog after recently reading a very relevant article for another class, PS 399, titled "'Made on the Inside,' Destruction on the Outside: Race, Oregon and the Prison Industrial Complex."
Since the article focused on the history of the prison system within Oregon, our own state, I found this interesting in the context of our broader studies, which have tended to focus on the PIC (prison industrial complex) at the national level rather than state-level.
The article discussed the expansion of prisons in Oregon as a result of the national "war on crime" (such as the Federal Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968) but state measures as well, such as Measures 11 and 49, passed in 1994 and 1997. These measures increased mandatory minimum sentences and required all eligible Oregon inmates to work, respectively.
The article got especially interesting when it discussed the growth of a popular prison labor industry in the Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution, located in Pendleton: Prison Blues garments, whose motto is "made on the inside, to be worn on the outside." It went on to critize this industry as well as the state measures which promote prison labor, for various reasons, one of which was most questionable for me was the inequality of labor "inside" versus "outside." The article also said proponents of inmate labor claim that it gives prisoners "new found job skills and a work ethic," and used the Prison Blues as an example to show that in an increasingly globalized economy garment-making, as well as other "valuable job skills" prisoners learn are jobs often exported to other countries and therefore not sustainable living options.
While I agree that there is a current problem with increasingly exploiting prisons for labor and profits, I disagree somewhat with the authors' very enthusiastic defense of prisoner's worker rights and criticism of the use of prison labor overall. I do think there should be basic standards for prison labor in which they are entitled to all of their basic human rights, such as decent health care. But, to pay them unemployment, "vacation time," sick leave? I mean, these people did commit a crime after all, and while there are many flaws in the prison system, I still feel they do need to be punished somehow.
A while ago I was talking to my aunt about this course, and she told me that the hospital (where she works) contracts with prisoners at the state prison in Salem to do their laundry. While I realize that health care and hospitals themselves are a whole other story, turning into increasingly profit-driven enterprises themselves, it made me wonder why prison labor can't be used as a form of rehabilitation to benefit both the prisoner and the public. I think a more beneficial solution to the whole problem of prison labor and corporate exploitation would be to just shift the prisoners' labor efforts to nonprofit organizations or victim's restitution/support groups, in an effort to try to better fit the punishment to the crime.
But it is true that first there needs to be a significant reform in prison labor, so that prisoners are taught valid job marketable skills on one hand, or are performing labor that benefits nonprofit or public institutions as opposed to benefiting just the pockets of private corporations.

And Another, Short Article on Immigration and Identity Theft Laws

2009-02-26T10:18:00.000-08:00

The Supreme Court is hearing a case on whether or not "identity theft" laws can be used against undocumented immigrants who provide false identification numbers. It is important, of course, that numerous states (including Oregon in its last election) and the federal government have imposed significant mandatory prison sentences for "identity theft" in the past decade. The New York Times takes a strong stand against using the laws against immigrants in its editorial.

Economy Proves Too Much for Death Penalty

2009-02-26T10:14:00.000-08:00

According to a new article in the New York Times, many states are finally considering repealing their death penalty laws. Although the risk of injustice in its application gets a slight mention (in terms of innocent people being sentenced to die, not in terms of its racially disparate application), the main reason for this policy rethink is the high cost of pursuing the death penalty.

Interestingly, similar economic arguments are also being made for releasing nonviolent offenders early and/or pursuing other kinds of sentences for nonviolent offenders.

YouTube Video about Wounded Knee & Peltier

2009-02-26T09:51:00.000-08:00