Importance Of Human Rights In Prisons

US Prisoners Should Have Basic Human Rights

This essay explores the question of whether prisons in the United States of America should be more enforced to grant basic human rights. The following essay will lie out the core aspects of the problem and show why it is essential for America to make sure every inmate held in every prison is given the most basic rights they deserve as people.

Before going into the main points, the definition of human rights are given as followed. Human rights are basic rights that people are entitled to regardless of sex, religion, nationality, what language one speaks and their social status. Human rights include civil and political rights, such as the right to life, liberty and freedom of expression;

and social, cultural and economic rights including the right to participate in culture, the right to food, and the right to work and receive an education1. Human rights are protected and upheld by international and national laws and treaties. Although in America you give up your rights when you violate the rights of others, the federal court has decided that prisoners still have their basic human rights, the Prisoner's Rights Law protects these rights.
Of course in this case the biggest point of the argument is morality. We've put people into prisons so they won't terrorize the society but because of the system we have currently, the prisoners are often terrorized within prison walls themselves. A federal judge in 1999 concluded that Texas prisons were pervaded by a “culture of sadistic and malicious violence.”2 In 1995, a federal judge found a stunning pattern of staff assaults, abusive use of electronic stun devices guns, beatings, and brutality at Pelican Bay Prison in California, and concluded the violence “appears to be open, acknowledged, tolerated and sometimes expressly approved” by high ranking corrections officials.2 In recent years, U.S. prison inmates have been beaten with fists and batons, stomped on, kicked, shot, stunned with electronic devices, doused with chemical sprays, choked, and slammed face first onto concrete floors by the officers whose job it is to guard them. Inmates have ended up with broken jaws, smashed ribs, perforated eardrums, missing teeth, burn scars—not to mention psychological scars and emotional pain. Some have died. How does that differentiate US prison guards from terrorists? Does it make sense that we are so blindly fighting the terrorists outside our country that we have ignored the terrorism that has been going on within America for decades? Even slaughterhouses treat animals with more respect than prison guards treat human because at least the animals get a clean death. It goes against everything America claims it believes in and it is simply a devaluation of humanity.
Secondly, apart from the obvious moral point of the argument, prisons are supposed to be places where one can learn from their mistakes so when they are done with their time they can go out into the society and become a normal citizen again.

However, even detained children and youth are not immune from staff brutality and abuse. They too are kicked, beaten, punched, choked, and sexually preyed upon by adult staff. The Maryland State Police recently filed criminal assault charges against staff at a youth facility in Maryland because of an incident in which one guard restrained a youth while three others kicked him and punched him in the face.3 In January 2004, the U.S. Department of Justice reported on terrible conditions at Arizona’s juvenile detentions centers, including sexual abuse of the children by staff members and fellow inmates that occurs “with disturbing frequency”2 and a level of physical abuse that is ”equally disturbing.” One may argue that criminals in prisons are hopeless and even if they didn't spend time in prison being tortured they would still do no good to the society. But these are teenagers, children, and the young generation of America. Given that they are exposed to such inhumane treatment at such a young age, what would become of them when they grow up? The answer is either they become someone who will always be afraid of everything, criminals that gave up completely on their lives, or the most disturbing, psychopaths who mutilate and kill people for

fun and as a distorted way to "heal" their wounds. If America doesn't do something to change its prison treatments fast we'll be looking at a future where a successful youth who only made one mistake will be completely changed into America's next top criminal.
Readers may find this paper to be only talking about how the inmates can benefit from the improvements but not the government.

So in the last point in this paper states that improving the prisons can help to improve our nation as a whole. It would create a positive effect on economics. “A year in prison can cost more than a year at Harvard" each U.S. resident is paying about $260 per year on corrections, up from $77 per person4. So what do we get from it? Nothing. Our system doesn't build fit minded workers out of the jail yard so they can pay back to society and live the rest of their lives as normal citizens, our system locks them up and claims that they are given treatment and decent food and hygiene supplies but where does our money really go? Nobody knows. However given that inmates are abused within prisons walls and how they are treated it's highly doubted that all the money we pay for them is actually used on them. If the federal government looks into the case we might be able to end up with improved workforces, decreased taxes and solve corruption in some government branches. Apart from that, the US government should be able to live up to its laws and standards. Inmates have the right to be free from discrimination while imprisoned. This includes racial segregation, disparate treatment based on ethnicity or religion, or preferences based on age, among others5. But, most cases prove that prison guards wouldn't let prisoners pray or practice any religious ceremonies.

Every inmate has the right under the Eighth Amendment to be free from inhumane treatment or anything that could be considered “cruel and unusual” punishment5. Just this January, videotape at a California facility captured two officers beating and kicking two inmates. One officer struck an inmate approximately twenty times in the face; another officer is shown kicking a handcuffed inmate in the head2. When Florida inmate Frank Valdez died in 1999, every rib in his body was broken, his corpse bore the imprint of boot marks, and his testicles were badly swollen; guards admitted having struggled with him, but denied they had used excessive force. They claimed most of his injuries had been “self-inflicted.”2 If this does not pass for cruel and unusual, what does? Inmates have a right to be free from sexual harassment or sex crimes, like being raped or molested while in custody. This applies to crimes or harassment from both inmates and prison personnel5. Both men and women prisoners—but especially women—face staff rape and sexual abuse. Correctional officers will bribe, coerce, or violently force inmates into granting sexual favors, including oral sex or intercourse. Prison staff have laughed at and ignored the pleas of male prisoners seeking protection from rape by other inmates2. These examples are only a small part of all the damages inflicted upon inmates. Many prisons use their action to contradict how the law states a prison should be. Other nations will look at our prison system and laugh if even American cannot follow American laws.
In conclusion, the federal government should be doing their utmost to improve prison conditions not only because it's the correct and moral thing to do but also because it gives people second chances, strengthens the USA and most importantly lets the American government live up to its word in protecting human rights, showing the world that America is not all talk but actually takes actions to protect what it believes in.