Our country currently has the highest rate of people incarcerated in the entire world. Those numbers do not include large amount of people held military facilities, U.S. territories, or U.S. immigration and customs enforcements detention centers which would more than double the numbers. The justice and prison systems have been known to have many issues regarding the way they are structured and how they function. The Kalief Browder Story, a six-part documentary series shares Kalief’s story through the many injustices he had to face and that are being done by this country’s correctional and justice system.
QUOTE (I lost my childhood, I lost my happiness) Kalief Browder was just a 16-year-old, African American youth, when he was wrongfully arrested
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for a robbery he did not commit. Although Kalief was innocent for the robbery, our justice system decided to put him on hold until someone could post his bail, or until the cased was resolved. They sent Kalief out to Riker’s Island, known for its reputation of abuse, violence, and neglect of inmates. There he spent over 1,000 days with more than 700 of those days being put in solitary confinement. He spent those days being brutally beaten by guards and inmates. Being neglected and toyed around with. Being deprived of basic human rights and ultimately being robbed of his childhood and part of his life. But not only does our poor correctional system rob African Americans of their life and sometimes of their childhood or youth like Kalief Browder, so does our society. Our country unfortunately doesn’t extend the necessary elements of childhood to black boys and girls. Black children are just not given the same presumption of innocence as white children, this can be especially seen in life-or-death situations. Multiple, unjust situations, as it was with Tamir Rice, Treyvon Martin, and Kalief Browder. QUOTE (WE DROVE HIM TO PSICHOSIS AND THEN KICKED HIM OUT THE DOOR AND BASICALLY SAID, “DEAL WITH IT ON YOUR OWN”.) Although Kalief suffered through so much physical violence, such as being brutally beaten and starved, this documentary goes beyond to also explore mental health. They show what solitary confinement can do to a person’s mental state, not just throughout confinement but how that also carries over after people like Kalief are released. A United Nations expert has said that Indefinite and prolonged solitary confinement in excess of 15 days should also be subject to an absolute prohibition as the effects of such torture would leave great mental damage (ksaska). Yet people all over this country are subjected to torturous long intervals of solitary confinement every single day. Paranoia, anxiety, panic attacks, and becoming suicidal are only a few of the long-lasting effects solitary confinement can have on a person and we see that through the way Kalief explains that he feels even after being released from Riker’s. Our correctional and justice systems don’t just need to be examined and fixed. They also need to add programs that actually work and that supply resources for people that are released and meet their mental health needs. Like it was explained in this series Kalief like many other people are released and expected to deal with the aftermath of everything as if nothing ever occurred. They are expected to pick up their lives where they were left off and reenter the community and society and transition back seamlessly. Basics needs need to be met not just throughout imprisonment but also throughout release and as a society we have to assume some responsibility and ensure that those needs for treatment and care are being met. Otherwise great consequences like Kalief’s death will keep occurring within our broken systems. QUOTE (You don’t want the truth.
The truth is messy. Because if he’s right, you got to look at the police. You got to look at the prosecutor. Got to look at the court. You got to look at this jail system. You got to look at solitary confinement.) We have stuck to an outdated corrupt method, that counter produces what all of us in this society want, safer communities. And every time someone takes a plea because of ineffective council, all it does is set a cycle that defines our failing criminal justice system. Because, throughout the history in our country, black people have been and are subjected to different systems of racial and social control that don’t die. However, black children and youth should not be labeled as a danger to society or should be defined by those actions of youthful indiscretion such as Kalief’s previous encounter with the law because of a joyride with his friends on a truck.
We need to question why our justice system spends so much money to keep people in jail for so many years rather than reinvesting that money into people and our communities. And it’s pivotal that our justice system recognizes the power of opportunity as opposed to the wrath of the criminal justice. So, we need to work with the people affected by our broken criminal justice system and make sure that people inside the justice system and programs produced by the justice system work with them to prevent that they are put in a position where they wouldn’t feel the need to
re-offend. The justice system needs to change lives instead of ruining them. Because as a byproduct this country ends up spending close to 80 billion dollars on a prison industry, when that money could be reallocated into education, into substance abuse treatment, mental health treatment, into our communities. We need to demand better from everyone that takes part in our justice system, because the people suffering from how broken it is deserve it, because we deserve it and ultimately, we are all part of one society and everyone in our society deserves it.
The killings of unarmed black men have increased tremendously with different races to blame for. In January 2011, the life of Justin Patterson was snatched from him and his family by Mr. Neesmith, who only served in prison for one year. How do you think the community of Toombs County and Justin's family feel about him only serving one year in a detention center? Many people protested that the racial issues behind his travesty caused an upstir in the world, including the murder of Trayvon Martin that just recently happened in Florida during that time. However, Justin Patterson's murder did not make national news or even in the papers because most people thought he was just another dead man.
Soledad brother tells how unfair the system and white police officer was unfair with black , how they think that being black mean being the same.I understand that soledad was not the perfect kid,Because young has he was even before being in prison soledad already went to jail one time and escape form jail by taking someone else 's identity.Now going back to prison for a small offense”$70” soledad plead guilty for stealing and have to spend a year in prison . A year become years and soledad have to spend 10 years of his life in prison just to stealing $70.Being in jail educated himself,take classes,and try to not be part of any gang. Soledad became a leader over the years he had spent inside talking about politic,racism,our justice system
Land of the Unfree: Mass Incarceration and Its Unjust Effects on Those Subjected To It and American Taxpayers
Many changes are made inside the justice system, but very few have damaged the integrity of the system and the futures of citizens and prisoners. Although the story seems to focus more on lockdown, Hopkins clearly identifies the damaging change from rehabilitation in prisons to a strategy of locking up and containing the prisoners. To the writer, and furthermore the reader, the adjustment represented a failure to value lives. “More than 600,000- about 3 times what it was when I entered prison, sixteen years ago. In the resulting expansion of the nation’s prison systems, authorities have tended to dispense with much of the rehabilitative programming once prevalent in America’s penal institutions” (Hopkins 157). The new blueprint to lock every offender in prison for extended sentencing leads to an influx in incarcerated people. With each new person
Some could argue that his claims seem to be over the top of maybe even misinterpretations, thus he addresses this counter argument by explaining that he isn't the only black male who has been misjudged. “Such episodes are not uncommon. Black men trade tales like this all the time”(Staples 143). The fact that he adds the stories of other black men, such as the story of the young reporter being dragged violently out of his car at gunpoint; mistaken as a criminal(Staples 143), demonstrates that his arguments are not solely based on himself. The fear and uneasiness that an African American can experience who has not done anything around a police officer, a person who is suppose to help them in emergencies and who should provide a sense of tranquility, is alarming. There have been too many unarmed black men and women who have been misinterpreted, striped from thier rights and even their lives. The fact that people cannot trust law enforcement shows the negative effects that racial profiling has on society and it shows how nothing has changed since 1986, for a country like America, who is suppose to be the dream land this is disappointing. Staples is identifying the problem with societal views, he has not written a sob story with exaggerated experiences, he is shedding light onto a problem that is usually swept under the
The current criminal justice system is expensive to maintain. In North America the cost to house one prisoner is upwards of eighty to two hundred dollars a day (Morris, 2000). The bulk of this is devoted to paying guards and security (Morris, 2000). In contrast with this, community oriented programming as halfway houses cost less than the prison alternative. Community programming costs five to twenty five dollars a day, and halfway houses although more expensive than community programs still remain cheaper than prison (Morris, 2000). Tabibi (2015c) states that approximately ninety percent of those housed in prison are non-violent offenders. The treatment of offenders in the current system is understood to be unjust. By this, Morris (2000) explains that we consistently see an overrepresentation of indigenous and black people in the penal system. Corporate crimes are largely omitted, while street crimes are emphasized (Morris, 2000). This disproportionately targets marginalized populations (homeless, drug addicted and the poor) (Tabibi, 2015c). The current system is immoral in that the caging of people is highly depersonalized and troubling (Tabibi, 2015c). This is considered to be a barbaric practice of the past, however it is still frequently used in North America (Morris, 2000). Another moral consideration is with the labelling of youth as offenders in the criminal justice system (Morris, 2000). Morris (2000) argues that we should see youth crimes as a social failure, not as an individual level failure. Next, Morris (2000) classifies prisons as a failure. Recidivism rates are consistently higher for prisons than for other alternatives (Morris, 2000). The reason for this is that prisons breed crime. A school for crime is created when a person is removed from society and labeled; they become isolated, angry
Many people claim that racism no longer exists; however, the minorities’ struggle with injustice is ubiquitous. Since there is a mass incarceration of African Americans, it is believed that African Americans are the cause of the severe increase of crimes. This belief has been sent out implicitly by the ruling class through the media. The media send out coded messages that are framed in abstract neutral language that play on white resentment that targets minorities. Disproportionate arrest is the result of racial disparities in the criminal justice system rather than disproportion in offenders. The disparities in the sentencing procedure are ascribed to racial discrimination. Because police officers are also biased, people of color are more likely to be investigated than whites. Police officers practice racial profiling to arrest African Americans under situations when they would not arrest white suspects, and they are more likely to stop African Americans and see them as suspicious (Alexander 150-176). In the “Anything Can Happen With Police Around”: Urban Youth Evaluate Strategies of Surveillance in Public Places,” Michelle Fine and her comrades were inspired to conduct a survey over one of the major social issues - how authority figures use a person’s racial identity as a key factor in determining how to enforce laws and how the surveillance is problematic in public space. Fine believes it is critical to draw attention to the reality in why African Americans are being arrested at a much higher rate. This article reflects the ongoing racial issue by focusing on the injustice in treatment by police officers and the youth of color who are victims. This article is successful in being persuasive about the ongoing racial iss...
Young, white, upper-class males who engage in crime are significantly less likely to serve jail time or even be arrested, than their black male counterpart. That being said, lower class white males are more likely to be arrested than their upper-class white counterpart. Is money truly the root of all evil? NO, it’s not. It is however what drives both sides of the criminal justice system. Of course, those with a higher SES or less likely to be arrested in general but there is more to it. In class, we discussed the issues of privatized jail and the revenue they make only when filled to capacity. The “If you build it, they will come!” mentality is fully functioning in the prison part of the criminal justice system. Many police forces are set up with numbers in mind, and in order to be successful a certain amount of arrest must be made. The War on Drugs spurred this ideology as the higher amount of arrest led citizens to think that crime was being lowered. Additionally, those with high-class status can afford to be represented properly in the criminal justice system and do not have to fear the extra fines placed on prisoners or even those just convicted of crimes. VICE – Fixing The System showcased stories of returning citizens who faced the stigmas of jail, the fines of the court, and were lead back into a life of crime just to make ends meet. This vicious cycle leads back into the criminal justice system with these returning citizens being rearrested or by violation of parole/payment, due to financial
Much like the adage, prevention is better than cure many African American parents hoped to prevent an incident in which their child would be disciplined by America. In this attempt the parents would make certain that their child is disciplined beforehand. The method used was physical discipline, a lower wrong than the discipline of America. While reminiscing of the first time his father disciplined him physically, Coates recalls that “Maybe that saved [him]. Maybe it didn’t” (16). As a child one cannot fully grasp the gravity and pain of a parent beating their child. It is only once Coates becomes a parent himself that he understood the complexities of being a parent of a child of color. Coates articulates, “Now I personally understood my father and the old mantra— ‘Either I can beat you or the police.’ I understood it all… Black people love their children with a kind of obsession. You are all we have and you come to us endangered” (82). Coates, now an adult understood both the love and fear in which his father had when beating him. Additionally, Coates, from his experiences in his childhood understood the growing up as an African American male in America is dangerous and unforgiving. Police brutality is the strong arm in which America uses to discipline young African American teen who fail to comply with their requests. Cooper makes note of this use of brutality by America when she discusses the death of Michael Brown at the hands of police officer Darren Wilson. Cooper
In todays society the United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world. This high incarceration rate is due to the growing phenomena known as mass incarceration. This phenomenon has led to massive increase of people being placed in prison and the amount of money being used for these prisons. The book, Race to Incarcerate by Marc Mauer, focuses on mass incarceration as our default social policy because of the weak welfare state in the U.S. In the book Mauer discusses the causes and the problems with this policy.
The past two decades have engendered a very serious and historic shift in the utilization of confinement within the United States. In 1980, there were less than five hundred thousand people confined in the nation’s prisons and jails. Today we have approximately two million and the numbers are still elevating. We are spending over thirty five billion annually on corrections while many other regime accommodations for education, health
The Sandra Bland case, unfortunately, is not unique. Near the end of July, a teenager named Kindra Chapman was arrested in Homewood, Alabama and was subsequently found dead in her jail cell. The deaths of both Bland and Chapman have sparked the much needed debate on not only police brutality, but mental health issues in the black community. Footage of Bland’s arrest led to further questions on how she may have been received and treated during her time at the Waller County jail. We will go in depth and discuss what issue drove this seemingly
Overcrowding in our state and federal jails today has become a big issue. Back in the 20th century, prison rates in the U.S were fairly low. During the years later due to economic and political factors, that rate began to rise. According to the Bureau of justice statistics, the amount of people in prison went from 139 per 100,000 inmates to 502 per 100,000 inmates from 1980 to 2009. That is nearly 261%. Over 2.1 million Americans are incarcerated and 7.2 million are either incarcerated or under parole. According to these statistics, the U.S has 25% of the world’s prisoners. (Rick Wilson pg.1) Our prison systems simply have too many people. To try and help fix this problem, there needs to be shorter sentences for smaller crimes. Based on the many people in jail at the moment, funding for prison has dropped tremendously.
America locks up five times more of its' population than any other nation in the world. Due to prison overcrowding, prisoners are currently sleeping on floors, in tents, in converted broom closets and gymnasiums, or even in double or triple bunks in cells, which were designed for one inmate. Why is this happening? The U.S. Judicial System has become so succumbed to the ideal that Imprisonment is the most visibly form of punishment. The current structure of this system is failing terribly. To take people, strip them of their possessions and privacy, expose them to violence on a daily basis, restrict their quality of life to a 5x7ft cell, and deprive them of any meaning to live. This scenario is a standard form of punishment for violent offenders, although not suitable for nonviolent offenders.
Since 1980, the number of detainees in the United States dramatically multiplied; the state jail population nearly has expanded by about 299%, the government jail population has expanded by 417%. The United States presently has the second most national rate of imprisonment in the world. Currently imprisonment rates continue to rise, where 5% of the population will more than likely to serve time in a government or state jail throughout their lifetime. At about 2 million individuals in the United States are in jail on any given day; a year ago, 600,000 detainees were discharged from state and government jails, noticing a 353% expansion since the early 1980. (Freudenberg) Men constitute the biggest possibility of being imprisoned; however the