Crossposted from my new blog in the unknown reaches of the internet.
In 2009, the United States of America had 7.2 million (PDF) of its citizens incarcerated, on parole, or on probation. That’s more than the population of the above-mentioned country, and in fact, this figure was down from previous years! In an age of mandatory minimums, tough-on-crime campaigns and politicians, and an alarmingly high rate of recidivism, the prison population in every state has ballooned, in most cases beyond capacity. In a time of budgetary crisis, more prisons are being constructed at enormous expense. To put it lightly, the system is deeply broken.
In the 19th century, Whigs and women social activists like Dorthea Dix made the United States on the most enlightened countries in the world in regards to prisons- America became progressive regarding debtors’ prisons, imprisonment of the insane, and ending public executions.
But various crime waves, both real and imagined, have created a society that values law and order above common sense. Prisons in America do not rehabilitate, they harden those that are not already of a criminal mindset into likely repeat offenders. Gangs and drugs run free. Overcrowding and substandard healthcare occur to the point where California’s prison health system is now in federal recievership (PDF). And there is the epidemic of violence and rape in the inmate population, which clearly constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.
I am neither optimistic nor nihilistic about the prison situation- I believe willpower exists, but that certain long-standing trends stand in the way. The financial crisis in fact, has been a blessing to prison reform organizations- the high price of corrections in many states has led states like Pennsylvania and Georgia to consider alternative programs for nonviolent offenders, treatment programs, and moratoriums on prison construction.
7.2 million is a lot of people- over 2% of the country’s population in fact. But it’s the highest rate of correctional supervision in the world, and if we really are an exceptional country, we must do better than locking our own citizens up and throwing away the key.