The United States is the most incarcerated country in the world, and we have been so for quite some time. As a matter of fact, the incarceration rate in the U.S. has increased by over 700 percent in the past 40 years.
However, there is hope; albeit slight, there is hope nonetheless.
Over the past three years, America’s federal prison population has decreased, due in large part to President Barack Obama’s Department of Justice. Former Attorney General Eric Holder is also credited for the reduction in this country’s federal prisons, as it was under Holder’s direction that mandatory sentences, which are generally more severe than the crime warrants, were avoided for low-level, non-violent drug offenders.
There is more progression from the federal government to acknowledge.
Recently, Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates announced the Justice Department’s decision to phase out private detention facilities.
Private prisons became an integral part of America’s corrections system in the 1980s — a time when government instituted tougher sentencing for drugs and violent crimes. It was also around this time that many Americans felt the assault on African-American males became more prevalent, as that demographic in particular received more severe punishments for crimes that generally resulted in slaps on the wrists of their white counterparts who’d committed the same crime.
Currently the federal government uses 13 private American facilities as contractors to house inmates and immigrant detainees, the latter representing 70 percent. Those 13 facilities are run by only three for-profit companies. Two of the three aforementioned companies had $3.3 billion in revenue in 2014, a significant increase over years past. Revenues in the the billions are proof of something very telling: The facilities were run as cheaply as possible to maximize profits. If the facilities are run at such a low standards, the quality of treatment of inmates as well as pay for employees are deplorable. That’s not just my option, either. A study by a coalition of advocacy groups determined that private-run facilities were violent and dysfunctional. The study also noted that detention centers provided “subpar” care at the facilities and resulted in an increased number of “in-custody deaths.”
Closing private prisons is an admirable start toward correcting the United States’ broken criminal justice system, but there is more effort to be made, which is why I stated earlier that this initiative offers only slight hope.
Why is the hope slight? Largely due to the fact that 90 percent of this country’s prisoners are housed in federal and state facilities that are supervised by the government.
The only way to have more hope is to begin dismantling the crooked, unjust, biased and inhumane prison system that subjects people to deplorable conditions and treatment.
America has the concept of prison all wrong. Rather than rehabilitating inmates, a prison stay generally results in the degradation of prisoners. There is only a modicum of job training offered at America’s correctional facilities, and access to mental health care is virtually nonexistent. In addition, the programs and treatment that many offenders receive from staff often result in heightened aggression and depression. Very little is done “on the inside” of prisons that helps offenders be more productive, law-abiding and confident individuals when they return to the “outside.”
Now is the time for private prisons, and even state and local facilities, to stop making money off the backs of inmates. We have to effectively address the challenges and issues regarding mass incarceration.
The time is now.
