Sunday, March 13, 2005
Editorial: Turning the spotlight on prison conditions
Americans should take off the blinders and realize that how inmates are treated on the inside influences how they act when they get out.
From the RoundTable blog
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Most people have little knowledge of the more than 1 million inmates sexually assaulted in U.S. prisons over the past 20 years. Or the 11 prisoners who died in restraints during the 1990s. Or that inmates committed more than 34,000 assaults against other prisoners in a 12-month period spanning 1999 and 2000.
By no means should the incarcerated be pampered, but the prevalence of violence in U.S. prisons should shake Americans from their indifference about what happens to criminals after they are led away in shackles.
Almost all 2 million inmates eventually leave the prison and jail system. When they do, public safety can only be better served if they have not been subjected to an abusive and inhumane system, coming out more hardened than when they went in.
To examine conditions inside the nation's prisons and jails, a high-level, privately appointed panel this month launched a yearlong study of violence, sexual abuse, crowding and inhumane treatment in the nation's lockups.
The task of the commission, headed by former U.S. Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach, has garnered the attention of national lawmakers and the Justice Department.
After holding several public hearings around the country, the commission - organized by the New York group, the Vera Institute of Justice - plans to recommend prison reforms from local to federal levels.
Only Pennsylvania, New York and Illinois have independent boards responsible for reporting prison conditions, and even they lack the authority to enact change.
Another alarming statistic cited by the panel: The number of prisoner assaults against corrections officers during a 12-month span in 1999 and 2000 was 27 percent higher than in the previous 12 months. "Despite these numbers and some compelling evidence of abuse and safety failures," Katzenbach said, "there is little public knowledge about the nature and extent of the problems and how to solve them."
As insightful leaders such as Katzenbach and the panel seek reform of the prison system, politicians such as Virginia attorney general hopeful Steve Baril are undermining it with shortsighted, politically expedient proposals. Baril recently pitched the myopic idea of tougher sentencing guidelines for nonviolent offenders, saying they get out of jail too soon.
Virginia has numerous examples of how less-costly alternatives to hard time have benefited nonviolent offenders.
Even Martha Stewart, who spoke out for federal sentencing reform before she was released from prison recently, shed light on women she met who were serving long sentences for their roles in criminal activities masterminded by their husbands or boyfriends, but who received harsh penalties as well.
America's prison system staggers under the weight of growing challenges. The panel's spotlight on prison conditions marks a vital step in closing the gap, as Katzenbach said, "between our cherished ideals about justice and the realities of the prison environment."
