The topic below was originally posted in my blog, the Intrepid Liberal Journal.
Citizens across the political spectrum are preoccupied by numerous high stakes issues such as Iraq, Afghanistan, corruption, corporatist greed, genocide, global warming and healthcare to name a few. There is also the ongoing rule of an administration subverting the Constitution and undermining our democracy. As a result, some topics of importance have dropped off our radar screens. One subject meriting renewed scrutiny is the prison industrial complex.
The prison industrial complex are entities or organizations that have a stake in construction of correctional facilities, such as prison guard unions, construction companies and vendors specializing in surveillance technology. Just as sectors in the military industrial complex are more concerned with profit than national security, players inside the prison industrial complex are more concerned about making money than actually rehabilitating criminals or reducing crime rates.
It should also be noted that some prisons supply free or low cost labor for state and municipal governments as well as jobs for organized labor. The building and maintenance of America’s prison system on both the federal and state level is a multi-billion dollar industry benefiting private industry, lobbyists and politicians who have the power to award contracts.
In December 1998, Eric Schlosser wrote perhaps the definitive article on the topic for The Atlantic Monthly (subscription required) and observed,
“The prison-industrial complex is not only a set of interest groups and institutions. It is also a state of mind. The lure of big money is corrupting the nation’s criminal-justice system, replacing notions of safety and public service with a drive for higher profits. The eagerness of elected officials to pass tough-on-crime legislation — combined with their unwillingness to disclose the external and social costs of these laws — has encouraged all sorts of financial improprieties.”
Ultimately, the incarceration industry helped keep much of American society, especially young black men, in a cycle of despair. For example, my home state of New York operated under the Rockefeller Drug laws for over thirty plus years and incarcerated non-violent offenders of drug possession for ridiculously long sentences. Meanwhile, more violent criminals were paroled and their recidivism rates were high.
Sadly, in New York the issue remained largely un-addressed as Governor Mario Cuomo fed the correctional facilities construction beast with more money and contracts. His successor, George Pataki promised to repeal the Rockefeller laws when he took office in 1994 but he didn’t deliver until 2004.
The issue seemed to peak politically during the last years of the Clinton Administration as Schlosser’s article helped garner coverage for public figures who spoke about it such as the Reverend Jesse Jackson. Since then some organized opposition emerged. A political interest group called Critical Resistance formed to raise public awareness about moral failures in the corrections industry and,
“build an international movement to end the Prison Industrial Complex by challenging the belief that caging and controlling people makes us safe. We believe that basic necessities such as food, shelter, and freedom are what really make our communities secure.”
Two states worth watching are California and New York. On February 19th, Neal Peirce of the Hampshire Gazette profiled both states in his article, “Growth of the US Prison Industry.” His article was posted in the The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog.
Peirce reports that Governor Eliot Spitzer wants a commission to consider the merits of closing some of New York State’s dozens of prisons. This was also covered on February 5th in the New York Times (subscription required). New York’s prison population peaked at 71,000 inmates in 1999 but has dropped by 8,000 the past eight years.
Crime reduction in New York City is the major cause as well as reform efforts to find treatment for non-violent offenders. No doubt the corrections industry will lobby Albany hard to maintain the status quo but Spitzer has demonstrated his fondness for picking fights.
Meanwhile, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is pressing for $11 billion in bonds to add 78,000 beds to California’s expanding prison population. Currently, California has 173,000 inmates costing the Sunshine state $8 billion. Peirce quotes a California senior prison official warning that overcrowding and threats of riots are,
“an imminent and substantial threat to the public.”
Peirce also notes that,
“Thirty years ago California’s prison system was hailed as America’s best, providing education and psychotherapy for offenders.”
Critical Resistance posted the following about California on their website in January:
“Dear Friends,
Last year, we helped defeat plans to build 140,000 new prison and jail cells. While we have collectively made it very difficult for the state to build entirely new large state prisons, the Governor has responded by couching prison expansion in the guise of prison reform. But, we know that expansion is NOT reform. We know that reform lies in reducing the number of people in prison. So, we are back. This time fighting the Governor’s plan to build 78,000 new prison, jail and juvenile detention beds and once again, we need you.
The more we make expansion impossible, the closer we get to real moves to reduce the number of people in prison!”
New York of course endured the shameful Attica prison riot of 1971 that resulted in the aforementioned Rockefeller drug laws. The legacy of those laws, widely replicated in other states, were expanding prison populations for possessing or selling even small amounts of narcotics.
Thankfully, Governor Spitzer appears determined to aggressively reform New York’s correction system. However, many communities have an economic interest in preserving the status quo. As State Sen. Elizabeth Little, whose Adirondacks district includes 12 prisons told the New York Times,
“There are over 5,000 corrections officers living in my district. In most of these communities, the prisons are the biggest employer.”
Left unsaid by too many legislators such as State Senator Little and other politicians, is that white constituents are benefiting from union jobs while minorities are incarcerated with punishments not appropriate to the crimes or offenses committed. This is not justice and reflects badly on our national character. One governor, even in a state as large as New York isn’t enough. This issue merits activism among civil libertarians across the political spectrum. Does anybody care?
A nearby community established a “drug court” a couple of years ago as an alternative to incarceration. I’ve been hearing some very positive results from those involved. Maybe this is a way we can relieve some of the misery you mention. Its difficult, but certainly not impossible to turn this trend around. As you say, Megabuck$ Corp. has a huge vested interest.
can you provide a little more information? I’d be curious to read about it.
I became aware of this program through a friend who’s son had been arrested several times for drug & alcohol related offenses. He was looking at doing some serious prison time as a habitual offender, but was afforded the opportunity to enter the drug court program, which was fairly new at that time. He completed the requirements and has remained clean & sober for a couple of years now, has a good job in telecommunications and seems to be relatively happy.
Some information from the probation perspective
More from the county prosecutor’s office.
The idea seems to be catching on across the country. Here are references from over 40 states and a 2001 study from an Iowa county program (pdf).
Changes requires an analysis of “whose ox gets gored”, in other words, who stands to gain or lose if there is a change in the status quo.
In this case the police sector (not just prisons, but cops, prosecutors, defense lawyers, social workers, drug growers and distributors and politicians) like the current system, at least in general. They make their living from it.
To change it (say by legalizing drugs or replacing incarceration with treatment or support) would benefit only those at the bottom while damaging those at the top. Those at the bottom have little economic power, can’t vote in many cases and are disorganized and poorly educated. Where is the push going to come from to counter the institutionalized power on the other side?
Knowing what’s wrong and how it should look if corrected is the easy part. Getting from point A to point B is where reform ideas (of any kind) tend to be weakest.
is the easy part in this. It’s the hard part. The easy part on policy is quite clear. The politics however is tough terrain because a culture of exploiting the issue of crime has existed in this country for a long time. Hence, the first step is to raise awareness and motivate people.
Before you can establish what you’re for, you have form consensus on what to be against. Right now a consensus doesn’t exist in America to be against the prison industrial complex. So, I respectfully disagree with your analysis that the politics is the easy part of this. It’s not, and raising the issue is certainly not gratitutious.
Afterwards, I think the direction of reform is clear: prison reform, treatment and transitioning the corrections labor force as part of a new infrastructure for helping troubled souls such as drug users become actualized members of society.
First things first though. Does anybody care? It’s a question that is worth asking.
consisting of a vigorous market with high wages and secure sources of health care, housing, and retirement income can soften the armed and imperious advocacy that now props up the incarceration industry. That propitious climate would include hopes for high job satisfaction, shortened working hours, and well-founded expectations for advancement.
Otherwise, the hangers-on lower-middle class will do anything to retain their sense of superiority over the abused losers in the dungeon.
I think you may be right that there is still a large group of people that look at incarceration as punishment or retribution and don’t want any reform.
In that case getting things to change is even more difficult.
To understand the mindset of those who favor authoritarianism and its consequent attitudes toward crime and punishment, you may be interested in the new book by psychologist Robert Altemeyer. He is the one who provided John Dean with the material for his recent book “Conservatives without Conscience”.
He’s published his own book and put it online for free. You can read it here:
The Authoritarians
Understanding those who believe in a hierarchical social structure with strong leaders at the top is the first step to influencing public opinion.
interested in reading that book. BTW, I crossposted this diary on European Tribune because I was curious about the perspective and experience of Europeans regarding penal administration. One Eurotribber posted an interesting comment about the Finnish system. You might want to check that thread out (Click Here).
If any of us are ever going to solve this, we’ve got to find another way to launder money besides through the sales of illegal narcotics.
Once we can provide this “alternative”, the path to eliminating an imprisoned citizenry will be much smoother.
Pax
Geez, ain’t that the damn truth.