How we treat our prisoners says a lot about our country. None of it is good.
There are a lot of things I like about my country, our country. But we have many failures. Some are egregious. We’ve failed to humanely treat our domestic and foreign prisoners. We must re-examine our prison policy. It has increasingly been characterized by neglect, abuse, and outright dehumanization. This article examines just a few of the failures of our nation to adequately care for our prisoners, and also examines some of the causes behind this negligence.
But before we examine the system, it’s important to understand how rampant our culture of inmates has become. About one in every one hundred U.S. adults is currently in prison at a growing cost of sixty billion dollars a year. For blacks, the number is one in ten. The United States houses a quarter of the entire world prison population, and internationally we rank number one in most inmates, beating out China (2.3 million to 1.2 million, and keep in mind they have four times more people than us). Worse than the sheer number of prisoners is our treatment of them, and if how we treat our prisoners is any indication of our morality as a nation, we are in need of a brutal self examination. Here are several issues that policy makers must address.
Guantanamo Bay
A recent editorial entitled “Time for Iran to show mercy and free two U.S. hikers” noted that Mr. Bauer and Mr. Fattal, two hikers who accidentally stumbled into Iran’s borders, were neither charged of any crime nor offered general counsel. I absolutely agreed with the analysis that the author provided. The treatment of Mr. Bauer and Mr. Fattal has been horrible. Sadly, what has happened to them happens every day in America (well, technically, Cuba). Numerous court decisions finding that the prisoners in Guantanmo Bay have a writ of habeas corpus. Yet over the past decade we have held hundreds indefinitely, without being charged of any crime, without any counsel, and subject to what should most definitely be considered torture. Wikileaks has released documents that indicate that nearly 255 of those in Guantanamo Bay are there based on shaky evidence offered by only eight prisoners. These documents, along with research done by McClatchy, provides evidence that like the two hikers, many Guantanamo detainees were in the wrong place at the wrong time and are being detained on shaky evidence. Even the government has inadvertently admitted the weakness of their case. Of the 779 detained over the past eight years, in only 34 cases has a suspect been charged. Of those, only 3 have resulted in a conviction. The Iranian hostage situation is regrettable, yet for cases of vile injustice, we need look no further than the actions of our own government.
Natural Disasters
We treat our prisoners subhumanly. We see this when a natural disaster comes around.
The ACLU documented the failure of the government to adequately care for those in Orleans Parish Prison (OPP) in the aftermath of Katrina: “As floodwaters rose in the OPP buildings, power was lost, and entire buildings were plunged into darkness. Deputies left their posts wholesale, leaving behind prisoners in locked cells, some standing in sewage-tainted water up to their chests.”
Recently, we New Yorkers saw the same blatant disregard for prisoners during hurricane Irene. Even while citizens of surrounding islands were evacuated, the prisoners of Rikers Island, obviously at risk, were ignored.
Flood Evacuation Zone
When a reporter asked Bloomberg the plans about Riker Island, he simply stated that “we are not evacuating Rikers Island.” This is probably because, as the New York Times reports, “According to the city’s Department of Correction, no hypothetical evacuation plan for the roughly 12,000 inmates that the facility may house on a given day even exists.” This complete failure to prepare in advance any contingency is not unprecedented. As the ACLU report found in OPP, “Prisoners went days without food, water and ventilation, and deputies admit that they received no emergency training and were entirely unaware of any evacuation plan.” Rikers Island, built on a landfill, is more vulnerable to natural disasters.
Prison Rape
Perhaps the most unreported tragedy in prison is the prevalence of rape. The United States Department of Justice recently released, for the first time, estimated prison rape statistics. In 2008 alone, 216,600 inmates were victimized. The report found that most of these rapes were not committed by prisoners, but instead by corrections workers, who instead of protecting inmates, perform the ultimate act of dehumanization. Most prisoners who are victimized will be raped multiple times each year and will be too afraid to report the crimes committed against them. The Prison Rape Elimination Act was passed in 2003, but the standards it required the Justice Department to write and implement were not released until 2008, and Attorney General Eric Holder rejected them as being too expensive. The Alabama Department of Corrections decided to not implement the standards but instead change the definition of rape, which artificially reduced the number of reported cases. There are an estimated 600 prison rapes every day, and the results are horrifying and traumatizing. Marilyn Shirley, while serving time for a drug charge, was raped by a corrections officer. The officer who raped her was eventually convicted because of Shirley’s courage, but most prison rapes will go unreported. But the rape still haunts Shirley,
Now that I am out of prison, I am left with the devastating impact of the rape. I have paralyzing panic attacks. I can’t even hold my grandbaby because I’m afraid of having a panic attack and dropping her. I can’t do some of the basic things, like watch certain TV shows, or go over high freeway overpasses because I start to panic.
Scott Howard-Smith was repeatedly raped and forced into prostitution by a white supremacist gang during his time in Colorado prison for tax code violations.
“I continue to have various medical problems stemming from this abuse. I have nightmares, suffer from paranoia, inability to eat at times and I take various medications for blood pressure, cardiac palpitations, and other anxiety-related problems.”
These stories could be prevented with stricter standards, but the government has stood strong against passing them, because they are worried about the high cost. The New Mexico Corrections Department released the following statement:
“A simple cost-benefit analysis shows that when weighed against the twelve million dollar cost of compliance, non-compliance would be much cheaper. To be clear, the Department has every intention of complying with whatever standards are ultimately approved, but the fact remains that compliance with the currently proposed standards would be very expensive.”
For those not paying attention, what the government of New Mexico is saying is that 12 million dollars is too high a cost to prevent what happened to Shirley and Howard-Smith.
These problems with American prisons stems from two sources. First, there’s The Dark Knight syndrome. For those who haven’t watched The Dark Knight (first, what the hell have you been doing?) there is a scene where two boats, one full of prisoners, and one full of civilians, are loaded with explosives. Only one can be saved. Those on the boat of civilians would say things like “they had their chance” or “they made their choice.” This is the attitude most Americans take when they hear about cramped living conditions or prison rape. They don’t care. Many prisoners, though, have committed non-violent crimes like check fraud or recreational drug use. Only 22 percent or prisoners are serving time for violent crimes. Rikers Island houses those still waiting for trial (and those who haven’t been convicted), juvenile offenders, and the mentally ill. Yet, because it is a prison, in our minds we ignore the plight of those who should be considered innocent until proven guilty. In order to understand how we all fall subject to this fallacy, imagine I framed the question differently. Instead of saying “Mayor Bloomberg, what are you doing about the island full of criminals?” and instead said “Mayor Bloomberg, what are you doing about the island full of mentally ill people and children?” If we believe that people have “had their chance” we don’t care about their fate. The problem is, the people in prison could just as easily be us. Harry Silverglate, a defense lawyer for Boston’s Zalkind, Rodriguez, Lunt & Duncan LLP estimates that the average American commits three felonies a day completely unintentionally. One of the prisoners in OPP was in prison for unpaid parking tickets. Another was a young girl named Ashley George:
Ashley George, a 13-year-old girl housed in OPP’s Youth Center, who was moved to an area adjacent to an adult male holding area where the men watched her use the toilet. As the building began to flood, Ashley spent days in water up to her neck. Adult prisoners rescued Ashley and the other children from the waters. After being taken to the bridge for evacuation, Ashley was lucky enough to be given a bag of potato chips and water. She reports again being forced to relieve herself publicly and that pregnant girls received no assistance or treatment.
Our foolish belief that prisoners for some reason deserve their plight, or that prisons are “too easy” leads us to turn a blind eye on abuse and violence. We label inmates as “criminals” instead of “fathers,” “mothers,” “husbands,” “wives,” or “children.” The Dark Knight syndrome is why Governor Rick Perry callously tossed away a memo that could have saved Cameron Todd Willinham’s life. The Dark Knight syndrome is also why politicians who are tough on crime end up being so successful.
The second source of our inmate culture is political. In California, one’s third offense, no matter how petty, will result in an extended prison sentence, which means that 3,700 inmates who have committed non-violent, non-serious crimes are serving life sentences. In Alabama, a man named Jerald Sanders is currently serving a life sentence for stealing a bike. Our laws on sex offenders are even worse. Many know about the rape and murder of Megan Kanka. This spawned the famous “Megan’s Law” sex offender registry. But very few know about William Elliot, a young man that was killed by a vigilante who used the registry to find and kill sex offenders. Elliot was on the list for statutory rape. At age 19, he had sex with his 16 year old girlfriend, three months away from the age of consent in Maine. Because we so want to prevent crimes that we cannot, we pass increasingly tough laws after horrific instances. “Caylee’s Law” followed the Casey Anthony case and would have made it a felony for parents to fail to report a child missing after 24 hours, and a child dead in one hour. This will not save a single child, but it may put innocent parents in prison. The writer of the law, Michelle Crower, admits that she did not consult any experts before arbitrarily creating the deadline. But anecdotes like Megan and Caylee get laws in the books that can’t be easily removed. Politicians want to appear tough on crime so the laws stay, and innocent people are hurt. That means unjust laws stay on the books for years. Laws get more and more strict, and Americans prison population slowly drifts upwards.
It’s time for America to stop imprisoning non-violent drug offenders and reduce the time served for petty crimes. It’s time for a sensible policy on sex offenders. It’s time to make policy based on data instead of fear. It’s time to stop indefinitely detaining and torturing foreigners. But most importantly, it’s time to treat our prisoners like they deserve to be treated. They are human, and while they may have committed crimes (or may not have) that does not mean they aren’t entitled to human decency. How we treat our prisoners says a lot about our society. Right now, we treat our prisoners like shit. And you know what they say: you are how you treat.
Sources:
Chart - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:U.S._incarceration_rates_1925_onwards.png
U.S. v China - http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/23/world/americas/23iht-23prison.12253738.html
Number of U.S. citizens in prison - http://www.economist.com/node/16640389
Cost - http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0608-05.htm
Wikileaks - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/wikileaks/8471907/WikiLeaks-Guantanamo-Bay-terrorist-secrets-revealed.html
McClatchy - http://www.mcclatchydc.com/detainees/
ACLU - http://www.aclu.org/prisoners-rights/aclu-report-details-horrors-suffered-orleans-parish-prisoners-wake-hurricane-katrin
Evacuation Map - http://www.mockpaperscissors.com/2011/08/26/why-isnt-the-rikers-island-jail-being-evacuated-for-hurricane-irene/
Rikers Details - http://solitarywatch.com/2011/08/26/locked-up-and-left-behind-new-yorks-prisoners-and-hurricane-irene/
Prison Rape Statistics - http://reason.org/news/show/rape-factories
Alabama Department of Corrections and Marilyn Shirley, Scott Howard-Smith stories - http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/sexist/2010/04/27/we-know-the-way-to-end-prison-rape-is-it-too-expensive/
Violent Crimes - http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/pji02.pdf
Three Strikes California - http://www.economist.com/node/16636027
Megans Law - http://reason.com/archives/2011/06/14/perverted-justice
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
Um, why don’t you put them all up at a 4 star hotel? I mean we don’t want to hurt the feelings of criminals. We wouldn’t want any rapists, killers or child molesters to have a rough time while in prison.
Sean are you planning on going to prison? Might as well make your stay there enjoyable right?
Hahahaha, let’s do them a favor and service them with liquor, prostitutes and yoga classes while we’re t it.
Sean, why don’t you go give them all a hug and kiss to feel better? They apparently deserve it right?
Well, I might as well go to prison, what you’re saying is better then my living conditions and all for free.
I already have to pay taxes so criminals can be contained, why do I want them to live nicer than me?
Thanks for the comments,
Judging from the comments, I think my argument may have been misconstrued. I’m not arguing four star motels, liquor service, and prostitutes, I am arguing for a basic human decency. That means that in the case of a natural disaster, we should at least consider the prisoners. My article cites a thirteen year old girl trapped in a prison cell with water to her neck. Further, the assertion that I want to give posh living conditions to rapists is patently false. I explicitly argued that the majority (78%) of prisoners are non-violent offenders, not rapists. This is a perfect example of the Dark Knight Fallacy (so much so, that I originally thought it was comic irony), wherein the author ignores the plight of prisoners because they are for some reason lesser human beings. Many criminals, including those who have been raped or abused were serving time for offenses like drug possession (which should not result in a prison sentence) or tax fraud, not rape. As for the cost of prison reform, reducing rape could be done pretty easily, as my article noted, further, we as Americans have the largest prison population of any country, and that is in absolute numbers, not in proportion. Even China doesn’t put a finger to us. We could be saving massive amounts of money by using alternative methods like parole and rehabilitation instead of incarceration.
Thanks again for the stimulating discussion,
Are you serious?
The funny thing is that you actually took the time to argue for something like this among all the real crises our country is facing.
And “stimulating discussion?” You repost what the ACLU has been saying for years, everyone says you’re nuts, and you call that stimulating discussion?
Whether or not I agree with this article, the quality just isn’t there. With particular attention to the conclusion and the section about Guantanamo Bay, there were few (if any) supports used and very little evidence given. What you ended up doing is regurgitating a poorly worded amalgamation of what your (far too many) sources said. You end up coming across as being a brainwashed, mindless follower of a rather popular activist cause–someone who merely picked which trendy cause he’d support to make himself well-rounded, rather than someone who actually cares about it. I’d like to think that’s not the case, but judging solely on this article, I’m not so sure. I love the Lewis Review like I love Justice Scalia’s brain, and this article is a serious embarrassment to its normally high standards.
Sean,
First of all, I am absolutely ashamed at the comments people have left in response to your article. They have been arrogant, rude, and essentially ill-informed. The sheer hatred for prisoners exhibited by the previous posters shows exactly how timely and important your article is. Hannah’s comments were particularly absurd and I am surprised (and impressed, in a way) that you haven’t torn through the fallacies she’s used and the wild accusations she’s made against you. You are a far more grace-filled person than I.
I can’t even tell you how impressed I am with what you’ve done, here. I thoroughly enjoyed the article and it was very informative. And who cares if it is basically a summary of your sources? You’ve found reliable material, synthesized it, and made it presentable to your readership. Essentially, you’ve done the work for us, and I’m so glad that you did.
I especially appreciated your comments about how we refer to prisoners. It is so important, especially as Christians, that we learn to name things correctly and speak with discipline. We have to recognize that, for all human beings, the most determinative description is always the Imago Dei. And that goes for you and I, as well as for people who have committed crimes. So, very well done on that front.
I’m curious, and this isn’t a criticism, as to why you excluded Scripture references such as Matthew 25 or Psalm 69. There is a strong theology of care for prisoners in the Scriptures and I think those passages could bolster your argument even more. (That is not to say that Scripture is for the purpose of “bolstering arguments,” but I think you see my point). Also, it would show your harsh critics how their attitudes toward prisoners are not only ignorant, but they are fundamentally opposed to the gospel itself. Of course, I don’t know you that well, so perhaps you’re not a Christian an I am just making an assumption.
Either way, thanks again. As a Lewis man, I am so proud that we’ve featured your article in the Lewis Review.
Sean, on one hand you declare prison rape to be a tragedy but then go on to say that sex offenders outside of prison should not be treated so harshly. Are rape and sexual assault only a tragedy in prison? Why shouldn’t drug possession result in imprisonment? Not all drug users are silver spooners who can afford what they want when they want it. There is an increasing number of them who commit crimes to support their habits. Let’s not forget the countless acts of stupidity done while on drugs that result in damage and injury to innocent victims. As for Caylee’s Law, any parent who doesn’t report a child missing within 24 hours or deceased within one hour deserves what they get. As for your statement that reducing prison rape could be done pretty easily, that may work in the land of rainbows and unicorns but it has no basis in reality. In a pilot program California has instituted some new policies regarding prisoners. Since the majority of the violence is committed by gangs they are keeping the gangs segregated in the prison. The thinking being that if they are amongst their own their will be less viloence. It’s all too easy to be a liberal when you have nothing at stake. Once you are older, have children and have lived life outside of the comfines of mommy and daddy’s house or TKC I would like to see if your opinions are the same.
Mr. Gruber,
Thank you for your input.
I did not intend my statement on sex offenders to be misconstrued to say that I only believe rape is a tragedy in prison. My argument was that sex offender has actually been applied to loosely to the detriment of society. I presented the example of a young man who had consensual intercourse with his girlfriend of 16 and was put on a sex offender registry and later killed by a vigilante. There are numerous cases of such consensual sex being considered a sex offense and people have had their lives and careers destroyed by laws like the sex offender registry and laws which prevent sex offenders from living near public buildings. Tightening our laws to better define sex offense would serve to better protect society and prosecute real criminals.
Your argument is a fallacy. Essentially, your argument is that often drug users will commit crimes to obtain drugs, which may well be true, but we should prosecute them for the crime they have committed not the one we assume they may commit. This is the equivalent of not allowing individuals to buy guns because we fear they may commit a crime with the gun. Further, a recent study from the RAND Corporation puts in doubt claims that marijuana causes crime. They found that dispensaries are actually correlated with lower rates of crime. While this does not establish a causal link, it does call the argument that all drug users will commit crimes into question. In addition, my argument referred to non-violent drug offenders, those who committed no crime other than possession of drugs. Finally, I would argue that much of the violence that surrounds drugs is actually caused by the prohibition of drugs.
As for the argument that people do foolish things while on drugs, this is also true of alcohol, which is currently legal. In that vein, the United Nations Council on Drug Policy released a report recently which argued that governments fail to take into account the relative strength and potency of different narcotics when formulating regulations and prohibitions, and it accompanied an interesting graph (which I hope to publish soon). Their recommendation, which I support, is to make drug use a public health, and not a criminal justice issue.
As for Caylee’s Law, Radley Balko has written extensively on this for the Huffington Post, and I draw extensively from his critique. He argues that first, it is nearly impossible for coroners to pin the time of death accurately enough to enforce the law. Second, parents often cannot tell when to call the police, they may assume, for example, that their child is at a friend’s house, or biking around the neighborhood. One hour is nowhere near enough time for them to establish whether this is an emergency or a misunderstanding. Further, the criminal justice system already has mechanisms in place to deal with these issues, so more legislation is not necessary. Finally, the law has been proposed without any input from the relevant police and legal experts.
My statement that prison rape can be reduced easily is based on sources which I cited, including one prison in New Mexico which reported that to bring their prison in line with the recommendations would cost 12 million dollars. This, in relation to state and federal budgets is miniscule. If there is disagreement on this point, I would be happy to list off less worthy programs that could be cut. Also, it seems illogical to believe that merely because reducing prison rape is hard, it should not be pursued.
I won’t be responding to the last sentence, or any other personal attacks levied against me (or my style of prose, which has apparently infuriated some).
Thank you,
P.S. I find it interesting that my detractors criticize me for my use of too many, and then too few sources in the same sentence.
P.P.S. Thank you Eric. Also, the scripture references are useful, and while I am hesitant to use scripture references in political discussion, I think this may be a case where it is appropriate.
I believe in the types of cases you use as examples the law is clear. Sex, consensual or otherwise, with a person under the legal age of consent is a crime. If you believe that to be wrong then the proper course of action is to fight to have the age of consent changed, not to arbitrarily dismiss the law because you disagree with it.
I never stated that all drug users commit crimes. You state that the RAND study makes a reference to marijuana, so in that context your argument should be for the legalization of marijuana and not for the decriminalization of drug possession. Each drug, including alcohol, has its own effect on the human brain and they cannot be dealt with as a whole. They need to be dealt with on an individual basis. I agree with the UN Council on Drug Policy in that respect. However, your argument cited drug possession, not marijuana possession specifically. While there should be a public health component to the drug problem, unless it is legalized it must remain a criminal justice issue. I would not agree to the legalization of all drugs.
The one hour time limit as I onderstand it refers to having a deceased child in your presence and not a missing child. No parent should wait that long to call authorities upon discovering their child dead. The 24 hour limit deals with children at a friend’s house or biking around the neighborhood. If any law passes without due diligemce then the lawmakers should be held accountable, not the person who proposed the law. It is the responsibility of our elected officials to vet the law before passing it. If they are not performing their duties in that regard in an effort to gain popularity then it is our job to remove them from office.
I never said that we shouldn’t attempt to reduce prison rape, I inferred that it is not going to be easy. How many law enforcement agencies and judicial agencies were involved in the creation of the report you cite? I have heard a lot of talk about prison reform in my life but cannot remember ever hearing anyone saying it would be easy. I agree with your last statement that change should not be abandoned because of a high degree of difficulty. I proved that every day at Kings and it eventually got me terminated. I do not agree that it will ever be easy to reduce/eliminate rape in prison.
I still stand by my last sentence. It wasn’t meant as an attack, just a poorly phrased observation. I have known many people who were more liberal than I until someone stuck a gun in their face or they came home to find their home burglarized. Being a victim has a way of changing most people’s political mores. If you’re still writing 20 years from now I would like to see which way you’re leaning at that time.
Thanks for an interesting debate.
Sean,
Thanks for this very thought-provoking article. In light of a recent NYTimes article on Guantanomo Bay (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/08/opinion/sunday/my-guantanamo-nightmare.html?src=tp&smid=fb-share), it seems this may very well be a time to reform our prison system.
I must agree with Eric: I’m a little dismayed by many of the flippant comments. Surely the command to love our enemies suggests we should be concerned about abuses, even against prisoners.
And even for those who don’t care about the gospel, you should take these arguments more seriously: you’ll be seen as rather boorish and irrelevant by most in academics & politics if you so easily dismiss these arguments. Things change when you’re not surrounded by your conservative friends at a conservative school. Learn to address arguments with arguments, even if you don’t like them.
~kt
Sean,
I heard about this recently, and was told that it has caused quite a disturbance. It seems to have been an understatement. I wholly appreciate this article in its entirety. One part of this that your critics have wholly dismissed is that of Guantanamo Bay’s detainees. I personally believe that this is an area that absolutely requires our attention as Americans, but even more so as Christians. As much as I’d love to partake in defending the position that you have written about, I must instead tell you that you have done a great job here. Keep it up.
Sean, thank you for caring enough about fellow human beings to research and write this. To some of you others: You’re blowing hot air and you know it. What if your wife or daughter or young son were subjected to abuse in jail or prison? What if you were? It is not only the guilty who find themselves in prison, you know. As for the guilty, they are there to be isolated from society, not to be treated like subhuman waste.