US reaches record high in number of incarcerated (and other shocking details of our prison system)
(posted by Paige)
Already the world leader in numbers incarcerated, the US can now boast (or cringe
in horror) that more than 1 in 100 Americans are living in prison, according to a Pew report cited today by the AP:
“For all the money spent on corrections today, there hasn’t been a clear and convincing return for public safety,” said the project’s director, Adam Gelb. “More and more states are beginning to rethink their reliance on prisons for lower-level offenders and finding strategies that are tough on crime without being so tough on taxpayers.” The report said prison growth and higher incarceration rates do not reflect a parallel increase in crime or in the nation’s overall population. Instead, it said, more people are behind bars mainly because of tough sentencing measures, such as “three-strikes” laws, that result in longer prison stays. “For some groups, the incarceration numbers are especially startling,” the report said. “While one in 30 men between the ages of 20 and 34 is behind bars, for black males in that age group the figure is one in nine.”
Here’s to being tough on crime. The staggering costs of holding this many inmates is motivating some state lawmakers to explore alternative justice options. I, for one, have no problem seeing rapists, murderers, wife beaters, and child abusers put behind bars for long periods of time. But these latest stats remind me that a ridiculous number of inmates are non-violent offenders. Not that all non-violent offenders should get out of jail free. If someone is embezzling money from soccer clubs, churches, etc. then obviously they need a little help from the law to restrain their own impulses/greed. But it enrages me to think how many people are in for drug use, who could possibly benefit much more from rehab and from cooperative assistance from community agencies to help them get their feet firmly planted on the road to a better life, ending the revolving door syndrome that so many are caught up in and freeing up cells for the truly scary. Also, I’ve frequently come across articles on the plight of the mentally ill in the prison system. It’s sad that it takes shrinking budgets for lawmakers to start listening seriously to those advocating for viable alternatives, such as specialized drug courts, but I’m glad that more states are now feeling the need to tighten the belt and explore options other than incarceration.
In my search for more info on our failing prison system I stumbled across the following site, and I have to say that I am surprised by what it claims. My immediate reaction was denial (I thought this stuff only happened at Gitmo or Abu Ghraib…I guess I’ve just been indulging in blissful ignorance…wanting to maintain at least some shred of self respect as an American). Apparently, BBC commissioned a documentary to be made on our prison system and alleged abuses against inmates. Here is an excerpt from an article by Deborah Davies, who helped create the documentary, describing the footage caught on surveillance cameras within several prisons:
The prison guards stand over their captives with electric cattle prods, stun guns, and dogs. Many of the prisoners have been ordered to strip naked. The guards are yelling abuse at them, ordering them to lie on the ground and crawl. ‘Crawl, motherf*****s, crawl.’
If a prisoner doesn’t drop to the ground fast enough, a guard kicks him or stamps on his back. There’s a high-pitched scream from one man as a dog clamps its teeth onto his lower leg.
Another prisoner has a broken ankle. He can’t crawl fast enough so a guard jabs a stun gun onto his buttocks. The jolt of electricity zaps through his naked flesh and genitals. For hours afterwards his whole body shakes.
If you’re wondering where the videos came from (was BBC given free access to our prisons?), here’s the explanation (and one instance where I can say surveillance is just fine by me):
In many American states, prison regulations demand that any ‘use of force operation’, such as searching cells for drugs, must be filmed by a guard. The theory is that the tapes will show proper procedure was followed and that no excessive force was used. In fact, many of them record the exact opposite. Each tape provides a shocking insight into the reality of life inside the U.S. prison system – a reality that sits very uncomfortably with President Bush’s commitment to the battle for freedom and democracy against the forces of tyranny and oppression.
In fact, the Texas episode outlined above dates from 1996, when Bush was state Governor. Frank Carlson was one of the lawyers who fought a compensation battle on behalf of the victims. I asked him about his reaction when the Abu Ghraib scandal broke last year and U.S. politicians rushed to express their astonishment and disgust that such abuses could happen at the hands of American guards. ‘I thought: “What hypocrisy,” Carlson told me. ‘Because they know we do it here every day.’