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Essay on the birth of mass incarceration
Essay on the birth of mass incarceration
History of the penitentiary system
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Injustices in the Justice System: Prison Policy Initiative Mission Statement The Prison Policy Initiative is a very successful organization with members who believe that there are negative effects to mass incarceration. The PPI is a non-profit organization that composes research to expose the harmful effects of mass incarceration and starts support groups to create a more informed society. “The Prison Policy Initiative challenges over-criminalization and mass incarceration through research, advocacy, and organizing. We show how the United States’ excessive and unequal use of punishment and institutional control, harms individuals and undermines our communities and national well-being.” (Wright) The PPI was founded in 2001 by co-founders Peter …show more content…
Wagner, Stephen Healy and Sarah Kowalski. At the time these college students wanted to bring awareness to the criminal justice system.
Now, the PPI compiles extensive research to inform the public on incarceration issues concerning the individuals that are incarcerated, the general public, and the government. Mass incarceration, discrimination in the justice system, inmate’s wellness and Census miscalculations at local and state levels are just some of the issues the Prison Policy Initiative highlights on. The PPI uses different tools to get their views across to the public such as multimedia, social media, news press and even publishing their own books. Influences in the Media Multimedia is one of the most productive ways to bring an issue to light. We can upload text, pictures, graphs, videos, audio and more to bring our point across to the public in a very visual way. “Mass Incarceration: The whole Pie” is a very descriptive pie chart and explanation on exactly how many people are incarcerated in the United States and groups …show more content…
them into age groups and types of charges. For example, in this country there are “2.4 million people in 1,719 state prisons, 102 federal prisons, 2,259 juvenile correctional facilities, 3,283 local jails, and 79 Indian County jails. There are also a number of military prisons, immigration detention facilities, civil commitment centers, and prisons in the U.S. territories.” (Wright) This information was put together by the PPI, but various web sites and news centers post this information onto their own sites. Word Press, Readers Supported News, Justice Center and News Genius are just some of the multimedia that posted “Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie” to their websites. The NAACP also used the PPI’s research and added to their own fact sheet that “today, the US is 5% of the World population and has 25% of world prisoners.” (NAACP) Also, “African Americans now constitute nearly 1 million of the total 2.3 million incarcerated population.” People tend to comprehend things better if you use both visual and auditory techniques. Using the multimedia to express a certain issue can really bring the information into life by the use of dramatic pictures, videos, and key words. Key words, for example, can also be saved from a website and integrated into the search engine so that when specific words are searched on the internet, the key words will cause the site to pop up as a choice, making the website more obtainable to the public. The PPI’s Influence in the News New York Times News posted information on their website and in their newspaper about the PPI's claim that there are unfair phone charges for inmates. The claim that they were referring to was based off of the PPI’s research that states that inmates that were able to use the phone to call family more frequently, were more able to fit back into society once released. The information the PPI put out into the media through their own website and communication with the New York Times News brought unfair phone charges to light. The issue was pushed by several news stations, interest groups and even the public. Finally, the Federal Communications Committee ruled that the phone rates and fees could not include “commission payments” that providers pay directly to the prisons. It also set a set price for interstate calls at “25 cents per minute for collect calls and 21 cents per minute for prepaid calls.” (Board) News broadcasting is important in grabbing the attention of varies types of viewers. This is the result of powerful, and informative research and broadcasting. The majority of local news viewers are adults. Adults, wealthy and more educated people are the most likely to take their time to vote on certain issues. Most people watching the news want to be informed because they hold some type of political position. The PPI’s research informs these people and gives them a better chance at bringing their political view into the government. Fox News Live covered the 1/16 GOP primary debate on January 26, 2012, where the PPI’s research was cited. Juan Williams, a journalist and political analyst for Fox News, states that the PPI’s research has found that “blacks who are jailed at four times the rates of whites in South Carolina are most often convicted on drug offenses.” (News) He then proceeded to ask the candidates if they feel like this was a problem, and if so what they were going to do about it. The PPI’s research had so much impact that the Fox Reporter was able to use the research at a government level. The PPI’s Influence in Social Media Posting research on a website is one way to get bigger corporations and news stations attention, but posting information onto social media sites like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, is better able to connect with regular public media viewers. PPI worked with Hank Green of Vlog Brothers in April 2014 to produce a video explaining mass incarceration that was uploaded onto YouTube. The video is very visually stimulating, and informative, but also very troubling. One of the most disturbing attributes to the video is a cartoon character of an adolescent boy who is standing behind bars crying. They quote, “children as young as 13 years old have been sentenced to die in prison.” (Green) It also portrays a man fully clothed being not only stripped of his clothes, but also his rights as a United States citizen. Sometimes bad things happen to good people. Convicted felons have a hard time not only finding jobs when they get out but, in most cases, they also do not qualify for food stamps, public housing or school grants. These correctional facilities show allow for redeemed felons to have some sort of government assistance to aid them into their transition back into society. So far the video has been watched over a million times in just one year. The PPI’s Influence in Literature Many authors have taken information that the PPI has compiled and have used that information into their own writing.
For instance, the “Prisons, Politics and the Census” by Gary Hunter and Peter Wagner in Prison Profiteers: “Who Makes Money from Mass Incarceration”, is one of the books that the PPI’s research had great influence in. The co-founder of the PPI, Peter Wagner, was also titled the co-author in this book, because of all his compelling information he brought to the book. This book outlines the prison’s cost on running a facility in low income urban neighborhoods, the effects of building prisons in small towns, and health care in these facilities. The private prison industry, the prison health care industry, the prison manufacturing industry and the prison telephone industry, are just some of the ways this book highlights the prison’s effect tax payer’s dollars. Prisons are a huge money maker for so many people. The Prison Legal News posted the book on their website, October 15th 2015, leading with the quote, “Each year federal, state, and local governments spend over $185 billion in tax dollars to ensure that one out of every 137 Americans is imprisoned” (Herivel) which helped put this money injustice into the limelight. The News Press and The San Diego Union Tribune also claimed it to be “impressive…a thoughtful, comprehensive and accessible analysis of the money trail behind the prison-industrial
complex.” Current Developing Projects The Prison Gerrymandering Project is one the most important aspects of the Prison Policy Initiative. Most prisons are housed in rural areas, but the incarcerated come from various areas, with most of them being urban neighborhoods. Counting the number of incarcerated people in the towns where they are currently confined, and not originally from, changes the census for not only those local areas, but also the entire state as a whole. Incarceration does not change a residence, according to the State Constitution. The Supreme Court requires districts to have exact counts of population to give them equal access into the government. Counting prisoners as residents where they currently reside is wrong because they are still not allowed to vote and are not a part of the community where they are incarcerated. When legislatures count the incarcerated people together with the regular population, this gives that district more say in the government. For example, in the state of Florida, “in Calhoun County, 48% of the people in District 4 were incarcerated at the Calhoun Correctional Institution. As a result, the actual residents of District 4 were given almost twice as much political clout as people elsewhere in the county.” (Initiative) This is a huge problem that has caught a lot of attention. The PPI’s research is so impacting that it has caught the attention of the public news outlets such as New York Times, the Washington post and even attracted government officials. Maryland, New York, Delaware, and California are just some states that will change the form of the census count starting in 2020. Successful Interest Group The Prison Policy Initiative is a strong effective interest group focused on change in the many areas of the prison system. The PPI’s website is well informed and attracts many news outlets and political persons to use this information to persuade the government into a new direction. Executive Director Peter Wagner, speaks out to the public, organizations, college campuses and meets with government officials to bring the issue of the prison system to the forefront. Many lobbyist in the government do not have time to do the research themselves and so, they rely on interest groups like the PPI to inform them on these issues at hand. The PPI has dominated the web as being the number one site for research on the prison system. The research is so compelling it has made its way to Washington DC and has influenced government officials and states to change how they are counted within the county they are housed and most importantly, change laws on how the imprisoned are treated in and out of the system.
Land of the Unfree: Mass Incarceration and Its Unjust Effects on Those Subjected To It and American Taxpayers
Most black Americans are under the control of the criminal justice today whether in parole or probation or whether in jail or prison. Accomplishments of the civil rights association have been challenged by mass incarceration of the African Americans in fighting drugs in the country. Although the Jim Crow laws are not so common, many African Americans are still arrested for very minor crimes. They remain disfranchised and marginalized and trapped by criminal justice that has named them felons and refuted them their rights to be free of lawful employment and discrimination and also education and other public benefits that other citizens enjoy. There is exists discernment in voting rights, employment, education and housing when it comes to privileges. In the, ‘the new Jim crow’ mass incarceration has been described to serve the same function as the post civil war Jim crow laws and pre civil war slavery. (Michelle 16) This essay would defend Michelle Alexander’s argument that mass incarcerations represent the ‘new Jim crow.’
The United States of America has the world’s highest incarceration rates, for several reasons. The United States of America doesn’t necessarily possess any unique strict laws in comparison to other countries of the world, yet we still have the highest incarceration rate in the world. More federal level and state level prisons are built in order to control and hold more prisoners because most are reaching its full capacity. The United States of America’s “crime rates” increased about 40 years ago when there became a new focus in the areas of crime. The President of the United States of America at the time Richard Nixon used the term “a war on drugs” in order to shed light on public health due to substance abuse. Initially, these policies created
“FREEZE! Get on the ground”! All the words someone running from the police hears. He fears their presence because he knows that if he is caught he will be sent to one of the many overpopulated prisons in America. There he will struggle with doing everyday tasks due to the enormous numbers located within the prison walls. Prison overpopulation should be an utmost priority on every individuals concerns due to the fact that with this massive increase it negatively affects our legal, social, and economic environment.
It is easy to turn a blind I when there is no direct personal experience. Mass incarceration is an issue that influences other issues within the correctional system. The more people under correctional supervision means, the more individuals who can potentially be sexually victimized or placed in solitary confinement. Both are issues within the correctional system. Moreover, studies have shown that sexual victimization and solitary confinement have adverse side effects on inmates. If any of these variables are going to change for the better, then policy needs to change. Those in society, especially those with power who can affect policy in the penal system need to see these issues as a major problem. Some of the proposed solutions to reduce the incarceration rate and not new ideas, but a change in approach. Heroux (2011), suggested possible policy solutions to reduce the mass incarceration. Some of these solutions are earlier release, a change in mandatory minimums, transfer to non-institutions facilities, the diversion from institutional facilities, and doing away with mandatory minimum laws. This could be the next step towards reducing mass
Disproportionate Incarceration of African Americans The disproportionate numbers of African Americans in the prison system is a very serious issue, which is not usually discussed in its entirety. However, it is quite important to address the matter because it ultimately will have an effect on African Americans as a whole. Of the many tribulations that plague Americans today, the increase in the number of African American men and women in prisons is unbelievable. It would be nave to say that the increase is due to the fact that more African Americans are committing crimes now than before.
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 overpopulation in the prison system in America has been an on going problem in the United States for the past two decades. Not only does it effect the American people who are also the tax payers to fund all of the convicts in prisons and jails, but it also effects the prisoners themselves. Family members of the prisoners also come into effect. Overpopulation in prison cause a horrible chain reaction that causes nothing but suffering and problems for a whole bunch people. Yet through all the problems that lye with the overpopulation in prisons, there are some solutions to fix this ongoing huge problem in America.
Over the past several decades, the number of prison inmates has grown exponentially. In 1980, prison population had numbers around half a million inmates. A graph of statistics gathered from the U.S. Bureau of Justice shows that between 1980 and 2010, the prison population grew almost five times, topping out at nearly 2.5 million. According to an article in The New York Times, the average time spent in jail by prisoners released in 2009 increased by 36% compared to prisoners released in 1990. Many people, such as those at Human Rights Watch, believe that the increase of these numbers has been because of tough-on-crime laws, causing prisons to be filled with non-violent offenders. This rise in crime rates, prison population, and recidivism, has led politicians as well as ordinary citizens to call for prison reform.
Today, half of state prisoners are serving time for nonviolent crimes. Over half of federal prisoners are serving time for drug crimes. Mass incarceration seems to be extremely expensive and a waste of money. It is believed to be a massive failure. Increased punishments and jailing have been declining in effectiveness for more than thirty years. Violent crime rates fell by more than fifty percent between 1991 and 2013, while property crime declined by forty-six percent, according to FBI statistics. Yet between 1990 and 2009, the prison population in the U.S. more than doubled, jumping from 771,243 to over 1.6 million (Nadia Prupis, 2015). While jailing may have at first had a positive result on the crime rate, it has reached a point of being less and less worth all the effort. Income growth and an aging population each had a greater effect on the decline in national crime rates than jailing. Mass incarceration and tough-on-crime policies have had huge social and money-related consequences--from its eighty billion dollars per-year price tag to its many societal costs, including an increased risk of recidivism due to barbarous conditions in prison and a lack of after-release reintegration opportunities. The government needs to rethink their strategy and their policies that are bad
The most problematic conclusion about Mass Incarceration, whatever the causes or practices, is that currently America has had the highest national prison rates in the world; furthermore, the rates of minorities (particularly African Americans) are extraordinarily disproportionate to the rates of incarcerated Caucasians. Despite the overall rise in incarceration rates since the 1980s, the crime rates have not been reduced as would be expected. Researchers, activists, and politicians alike are now taking a closer look at Mass Incarceration and how it affects society on a larger scale. The purpose of this paper is to examine the anatomy of Mass Incarceration for a better understanding of its importance as a dominant social issue and its ultimate relation to practice of social work. More specifically the populations affected by mass incarceration and the consequences implacable to social justice. The context of historical perspectives on mass incarceration will be analyzed as well as insight to the current social welfare policies on the
Overcrowding of prisons due to mass incarceration is among one of the biggest problems in America, mass incarceration has ruined many families and lives over the years.America has the highest prison population rate , over the past forty years from 1984 until 2014 that number has grown by four hundred percent .America has four percent of the world population ,but twenty-five percent of the world population of incarcerated people Forty one percent of American juveniles have been or going to be arrested before the age of 23. America has been experimenting with incarceration as a way of showing that they are tough on crime but it actually it just show that they are tough on criminals. imprisonment was put in place to punish, criminals, protect society and rehabilitate criminals for their return into the society .
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.
The first issue that I would like to address is the overcrowding issues in prisons. In my opinion, overcrowding issues are the biggest issues in our correctional system that concerns every citizen. Running a prison required money, resources and manpower, with overcrowding issues, the government would have no choice but to increase the number of correctional facilities, privatized prisons and increasing manpower. According to (Levitt, 1996), “The incarceration rate in the United States has more than tripled in the last two decades. At year-end 1994 the United States prison population exceeded one million. Annual government outlays on prisons are roughly $40 billion per year. The rate of imprisonment in the United States is three to four times greater than most European countries.” (p.1). Overcrowding issues are not only affect prisons but the society as a whole as well. The reason is simply because prison population directly refl...
The case study titled Fighting Crime: The Case for Emptier Prison demonstrates some of the major problems facing the U.S government in controlling prisons and prisoners. The first problem that the text reveals is the amount of money that has been spent on the prisons and criminals in the past years and how it will rise in the future, and the unfair punishment that faces non-violent criminals, which will lead to a growth in the number of prisoners. These issues contributed in the increase of the spending budget on the crime bill and the fact that prisons have become overcrowded.