Prison Reform

When you hear the word, “prison”, what comes to your mind? Is there a sudden negative connotation associated with the word? For many Americans like myself, prison is not an experience I’d like to take on, however,  many Americans are imprisoned daily. The orange jumpsuit, chains on wrists and ankles, and jail cells are the common picture that correlates with the idea of prisons and penitentiaries.

Prison is a punishment for an illegal crime committed. Because of this many believe prisoners do not deserve the same rights and respects as people in everyday society, and prisoners are being stripped of their rights by guards and prison staff every day. Prison reform is becoming a large-scale controversy in today’s America. Yet, I did not recognize this problem until I attended this year’s KYA trip, which shed light on the subject of prison reform for the first time. I decided to research and speak on the topic due to a recent situation with a well-known friend of mine, whose father will most likely be spending many years in jail. However, it came to my attention that prison reform has been a controversial topic for multiple years now, and frankly if President Trump speaks on that matter, it must be important. Prison reform is essential in regard to the implementation of rehabilitation programs and increased healthcare systems inside prisons.

The main idea of prisons and prison-like situations is to force the detainee to evaluate their decisions and punish their actions. However, the goal is to hopefully integrate the prisoner back into society upon release. In many instances, this is not the case. Recidivism, the act of repeated questionable behaviors regardless of punishment,  is outstandingly common among released felons. But, it's not necessarily their fault. Without the aid of recovery and rehabilitation programs, it is extremely hard to integrate back into society, as the label “felon” is essentially stapled to their backs. Between 1984 and 2006, California had built twenty-one new prisons during its “war on drugs.” During this time, the prison population grew tremendously from 34,000 to 173,000. Also during this time, they removed their rehabilitation programs and found that within a matter of three years, 66% of parolees, prisoners released on parole, had returned to prison. Many prisoners feel the need to resort to illegal ways to make a living upon release, and without the help and guidance of professionals, these prisoners quickly find themselves behind bars once again.

I read a story about a 45-year old man named Bart Cantrell who had used drugs since he was 14 years old. He had been in and out of state and county prisons and had previously lived in a half a million dollar home. However, that quickly changed. Cantrell lost his house, his wife, and essentially his life to drugs. Yet, while serving in a county jail he had the opportunity to attempt to change his life. California admitted a realignment program at New Life Recovery and Training Center in California. This program allows low-level felons that have served time in the county jail, which previously had a 70% recidivism rate, to rent a room at the New Life Center. The prisoners must wear ankle monitors and remain under GPS tracking, yet it begins their integration back into society. Many other prisoners, including Cantrell, have participated in this so-called “virtual jail,” and because of its success, they have expanded to create a GED course and drug program, as well as classes on domestic violence and food safety.

These programs focus on rehabilitation of prisoners in hopes that they do not again return to prison. According to researchers at Stanford Law School’s Criminal Justice Center, only 15% of the counties $11 million in state funds were set aside in 2011 and 2012 to finance these programs. This shows the availability of these programs across the United States.

Disease. Think about it. Prisoners each year are diagnosed with psychiatric disorders, HIV infection, tuberculosis, hepatitis B and C, sexually transmitted diseases, skin diseases, malaria, malnutrition, and more. These sound nasty and unpleasant, correct? These prisoners are not given proper healthcare, whether they were imprisoned already obtaining Medicare.  In many cases, prison health services are severely under-funded, understaffed, or non-existent. Pete Gallagher served 14 years in a California Prison, he said men died from miserable healthcare, anything from an abscessed tooth to hepatitis C. California was severely overcrowded and showed extreme lack of attention to prisoner’s healthcare, due to this they saw one death every week inside prisons.

On February 14th, 2006, a district court judge appointed a federal receiver to take over inmate healthcare. This showed the number of negligent doctors and clueless administrators in charge or prisoner’s well-being. One doctor was even said to have refused to treat an inmate with chest and abdominal pain because he believed that most prisoners took advantage of the system. The inmate died two weeks later.

According to White House Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett, the United States spends about $80 billion a year on incarceration. This allows for an increase in spending on medical staff and training to provide the proper healthcare prisoners have the right to.

Change is now. The implementation of proper healthcare and rehabilitation programs into prison facilities will drastically increase prison life. Prisoners are being denied healthcare leading to an increase in deaths in facilities, while an issue of overcrowding is occurring due to increased rates of recidivism. This can and will change with legislation and alotted spending of state funds.

Thank you.

Bibliography

DuVernay, Ava, director. 13TH. Netflix Official Site, 7 Oct. 2016, www.netflix.com/watch/80091741?trackId=13752289&tctx=1%2C0%2C006b4eeb576037448bd7ebf99e22d2cc79702bd3%3A266ee8a96727fae13d01352be3396f031ed11b5e%2C%2C.

Goettel, Diane, and W. Everett. “What Is Prison Reform?” WiseGEEK, Conjecture Corporation, 7 Nov. 2018, www.wisegeek.com/what-is-prison-reform.htm.

iulia.lazar. “United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.” Integrity in the Criminal Justice System, www.unodc.org/unodc/en/justice-and-prison-reform/prison-reform-and-alternatives-to-imprisonment.html.

NEWS, GUYANA TRUSTED TELEVISION HEADLINE, director. PRISON REFORM, A GEORGE GONSALVES INTERVIEW. YouTube, YouTube, 18 July 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqlb4RNSHD8.

STELLOH, TIM. “California’s Great Prison Experiment.” Nation, vol. 296, no. 26/27, June 2013, pp. 31–34. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,uid,cpid,url&custid=s1176192&db=a9h&AN=87999269.