Ian WhiteThe Prison-Industrial Complex
December 28th 2010 18:45
Category: No Category
"If crime is going up, then we need to build more prisons; and if crime is going down, it's because we built more prisons -- and building even more prisons will therefore drive crime down even lower."-Steven R. Donziger, the National Criminal Justice Commission
The logic of the beast. Many people wouldn’t dare to think of challenging the prison system, probably for fear of being thrown into it. Also the story tells us that it keeps us safe from the murderers and rapists, right? The police catch the bad guys and they go away out of sight forever, right? Sorry, but you'd be gravely mistaken and naïve; merely enablers for the politicians tasked to drive up support and create legislation to keep filling the prisons and consequently, a lot of wallets. Once again, sinister profiteers have hijacked an institution and are using it to oppress citizens while personally thriving. Let's first look at the state of our prisons:
California now has the biggest prison system in the Western industrialized world. Over the past 20 years, it has built twenty-one new prisons, added thousands of cells to existing facilities, and increased its inmate population eightfold. What caused this very profitable boom? It stunningly coincides with the war on drugs, as the rapid spike in prisoners are non violent offenders. In fact, the number of drug offenders imprisoned in California today is more than twice the number of inmates who were imprisoned for all crimes in 1978. Think about it this way, the state holds more inmates in its jails and prisons than France, Great Britain, Germany, Japan, Singapore, and the Netherlands combined. Most of the prisons are operating at least double the capacity, thus without a mass prisoner release, a minimum of one new prison a year is required to be built.
In total, the US imprisons over 2 million people, more than any country on earth, including autocratic China. During the past two decades roughly a thousand new prisons and jails have been built in this country, while the inmate population increased by over 60,000 per year. You'll be led to believe that violent offenders are rampant, but actually not only has violent crime seen a drop off, so has the convictions. In 1980 about half the people entering state prison were violent offenders; in 1995 less than a third had been convicted of a violent crime. It's because people are being arrested for offenses that would be deemed worthy of community service, fines, or drug treatment -- or would not be considered crimes at all in other countries. However, the solution drummed up is to throw them all in jail, which is fine for the profiteers, but bad for the citizens and society.
Eisenhower had grown concerned about such a thing during the 1960 campaign, when he expressed fears of a "missile gap" with the Soviet Union were fabricated by politicians, the press, and defense contractors hoping for increased military spending. Eisenhower knew that no missile gap existed and that fear of one might lead to a costly, unnecessary response. Well two decades later, his fears would take shape. Behold, the prison-industrial complex -- a set of bureaucratic, political, and economic interests that encourage increased spending on imprisonment, regardless of the actual need. A special thank you to Nelson Rockefeller, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Regan for helping to make this all possible.
Around $35 billion a year is spent on corrections with no regard to the taxpayer, only to the contractors that will be benefitting off of it. Support from Liberals and conservatives alike are garnered by making you believe it's for your own safety. However, since 1991 the rate of violent crime in the United States has fallen by about 20 percent, while the number of people in prison or jail has risen by 50 percent.
About 70 percent of the prison inmates in the United States are illiterate. Over 200,000 of the country's inmates suffer from a serious mental illness. The insanity plea is now reserved for crime dramas. Instead of getting them mental help, they are shipped to regular prison where they will be incapable of recovering and eventually put back out on the streets. 60 to 80 percent of the American inmate population has a history of substance abuse. Meanwhile, the number of drug-treatment slots in American prisons has declined by more than half since 1993. Drug treatment is now available to just one in ten of the inmates who require it.
The biggest victims of this system have been minorities, specifically African American men. The number of black men jailed for drug related offenses over the past decade has tripled. Despite illegal drugs use among white men being the same as among black men, black men are five times as likely to be arrested for a drug offense. So to paint a picture, close to half the prison population is black, meaning 1 out of every 4 black man in America is likely to go to jail at some point in their life. Even women have suffered during this prison gold rush. Of the roughly 80,000 women now imprisoned, about 70 percent are nonviolent offenders. Nearly 75 percent have children.
Drug abuse is a public health matter. Illegal drugs actually do considerably less damage than the legal ones, especially when matching marijuana with alcohol and tobacco. This country has a policy of self-serving hypocrisy, as well as punishing the victims. Prisons should be reserved for actual criminals: murderers, rapists, pedophiles, bankers. And when violent criminals and sexual offenders get there, the focus should be on reforming them. Give violent convicts education, groom them for society, and set them up upon release with honest work. The way it's designed currently, prisoners are probably more adversely affected by their stints, and upon release are black balled by employers, thus leading them to commit crime for survival, and the circle continues. Sexual offenders are still rampant because nothing is being done to prevent the behavior, since tossing them temporarily out of sight hasn't solved anything.
Building more prisons for essentially drug users are only going to make this society suffer. It's time people stood up to these bureaucrats. Profiteers are threatening civilizations worldwide, and to prevent a near apocalyptic collapse, they must be brought down.
The logic of the beast. Many people wouldn’t dare to think of challenging the prison system, probably for fear of being thrown into it. Also the story tells us that it keeps us safe from the murderers and rapists, right? The police catch the bad guys and they go away out of sight forever, right? Sorry, but you'd be gravely mistaken and naïve; merely enablers for the politicians tasked to drive up support and create legislation to keep filling the prisons and consequently, a lot of wallets. Once again, sinister profiteers have hijacked an institution and are using it to oppress citizens while personally thriving. Let's first look at the state of our prisons:
California now has the biggest prison system in the Western industrialized world. Over the past 20 years, it has built twenty-one new prisons, added thousands of cells to existing facilities, and increased its inmate population eightfold. What caused this very profitable boom? It stunningly coincides with the war on drugs, as the rapid spike in prisoners are non violent offenders. In fact, the number of drug offenders imprisoned in California today is more than twice the number of inmates who were imprisoned for all crimes in 1978. Think about it this way, the state holds more inmates in its jails and prisons than France, Great Britain, Germany, Japan, Singapore, and the Netherlands combined. Most of the prisons are operating at least double the capacity, thus without a mass prisoner release, a minimum of one new prison a year is required to be built.
In total, the US imprisons over 2 million people, more than any country on earth, including autocratic China. During the past two decades roughly a thousand new prisons and jails have been built in this country, while the inmate population increased by over 60,000 per year. You'll be led to believe that violent offenders are rampant, but actually not only has violent crime seen a drop off, so has the convictions. In 1980 about half the people entering state prison were violent offenders; in 1995 less than a third had been convicted of a violent crime. It's because people are being arrested for offenses that would be deemed worthy of community service, fines, or drug treatment -- or would not be considered crimes at all in other countries. However, the solution drummed up is to throw them all in jail, which is fine for the profiteers, but bad for the citizens and society.
Eisenhower had grown concerned about such a thing during the 1960 campaign, when he expressed fears of a "missile gap" with the Soviet Union were fabricated by politicians, the press, and defense contractors hoping for increased military spending. Eisenhower knew that no missile gap existed and that fear of one might lead to a costly, unnecessary response. Well two decades later, his fears would take shape. Behold, the prison-industrial complex -- a set of bureaucratic, political, and economic interests that encourage increased spending on imprisonment, regardless of the actual need. A special thank you to Nelson Rockefeller, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Regan for helping to make this all possible.
Around $35 billion a year is spent on corrections with no regard to the taxpayer, only to the contractors that will be benefitting off of it. Support from Liberals and conservatives alike are garnered by making you believe it's for your own safety. However, since 1991 the rate of violent crime in the United States has fallen by about 20 percent, while the number of people in prison or jail has risen by 50 percent.
About 70 percent of the prison inmates in the United States are illiterate. Over 200,000 of the country's inmates suffer from a serious mental illness. The insanity plea is now reserved for crime dramas. Instead of getting them mental help, they are shipped to regular prison where they will be incapable of recovering and eventually put back out on the streets. 60 to 80 percent of the American inmate population has a history of substance abuse. Meanwhile, the number of drug-treatment slots in American prisons has declined by more than half since 1993. Drug treatment is now available to just one in ten of the inmates who require it.
The biggest victims of this system have been minorities, specifically African American men. The number of black men jailed for drug related offenses over the past decade has tripled. Despite illegal drugs use among white men being the same as among black men, black men are five times as likely to be arrested for a drug offense. So to paint a picture, close to half the prison population is black, meaning 1 out of every 4 black man in America is likely to go to jail at some point in their life. Even women have suffered during this prison gold rush. Of the roughly 80,000 women now imprisoned, about 70 percent are nonviolent offenders. Nearly 75 percent have children.
Drug abuse is a public health matter. Illegal drugs actually do considerably less damage than the legal ones, especially when matching marijuana with alcohol and tobacco. This country has a policy of self-serving hypocrisy, as well as punishing the victims. Prisons should be reserved for actual criminals: murderers, rapists, pedophiles, bankers. And when violent criminals and sexual offenders get there, the focus should be on reforming them. Give violent convicts education, groom them for society, and set them up upon release with honest work. The way it's designed currently, prisoners are probably more adversely affected by their stints, and upon release are black balled by employers, thus leading them to commit crime for survival, and the circle continues. Sexual offenders are still rampant because nothing is being done to prevent the behavior, since tossing them temporarily out of sight hasn't solved anything.
Building more prisons for essentially drug users are only going to make this society suffer. It's time people stood up to these bureaucrats. Profiteers are threatening civilizations worldwide, and to prevent a near apocalyptic collapse, they must be brought down.
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Comment by Norm
Consumption Malfunction
Equal and Opposite
Arses and Elbows
Footy Power
Great piece, again.
Comment by ski guy
Skiing Reviews
Bargain Value
skiingreviews.net
EL CHEAPO
PRO DEATH POLITICIANS
behind bars to help prisoners successfully
transition back into society. Virginia based
Prison Fellowship helps prisoners hook up
with a church family. Volunteers from the
various churches throughout the country,
help to secure employment and housing
for prisoners upon release.
A step in the right direction, at least.
Comment by nightlydvdreview
Nightly DVD Review
Cinema Voyage
Green and Healthy
The Writer's Nook
Personal opinion is this:
1. Prison is for violent offenders only and those who take or destroy the property of others.
2. If they are caught dealing drugs, instead of jail, they no longer qualify for any government assistance programs. No subsidized housing. No medicaid. No welfare. BECAUSE, NO ONE MADE THEM DEAL DRUGS. If they need money, do what everyone else does. Get a job or recycle aluminum. If they are a user, give them help the first time. Get them clean. Help them relocate to another area to start fresh. If they die from overdose after that, well, no one put that crack-pipe in their mouth or that needle in their arm but them.
3. People who did not pay child support should not go to jail. That's not a violent offense. Instead, they do not qualify for government assistance of any sort, (including a tax refund).
4. If you are a banker and have stolen money, you are not eligible to receive ANY bonus and only eligible for 60% of your pay (or $40,000 yr whichever is greater) until the amount you stole is re-paid.
5. Sex offenders (not child molesters) have about a 40% repeat offense rate.
I think they know what "no" means. They just decided to take anyway. Repeat offenders get no second chance AFTER they have went through a rehabilitation program. (Perhaps there should be a required program on the outside. They could shave 3 years from their sentence for 10 years in that program. Just a thought.