US: First of all, this is not about a simple baseball game. This is about the most important thing of all, the game of life. The Three-Strikes law (mandatory sentencing for three felony convictions) came into being through fear, manipulation and, yes, full-blown prejudice.
The popular image of the African-American male as a predator continues to fuel this absurd trend, and is hardly likely to be arrested in the short term, that is, save a miraculous transformation of the media, the economy, black male collective organizations and public opinion.
Ever since the 1968 presidential campaign of Richard M. Nixon, the African-American male image has been a useful mobilizer for white votes. With the focus on street crime completely saturating the media through both entertainment and news, or a combination of both, it is not surprising that 90 percent of the American public agrees that crime is a very "serious" problem.
In the August 1995 issue of American Demographics, Cheryl Russell writes that the obsession of the media with providing the "gory" details of crime has increased the public's fear of crime. This is particularly true in regard to the largest "inner-city" areas of the nation, like Los Angeles. It is also well known that Gallup Polls rank cities according to their perceived danger of crime.
In the aftermath of the decline of the military-industrial complex as a result of the end of the Cold War and the rusting of America's industrial heartland, the business of imprisonment looms more importantly. Many, many people realize crime (or the perception of it) is profitable for a wide spectrum of firms. More than two in five Americans have additional locks on their doors, and slightly less than one in five have residential security systems or alarms.
Again, according to Russell, gun sales, Mace and other devices designed against crime have also fueled the tremendous growth of the private security industry. Today, well over $50 billion per year is spent in an industry that employs over 2.5 million guards and consists of over 22 thousand firms.
Private firms now own prisons and utilize inmates as a source of cheap labor. Prisons also represent new jobs and the infusion of new money into some rural communities previously suffering from economical depression. In addition to jobs, prisons fuel a variety of high- and low-tech industries, including surveillance and electronic monitoring, food service, medicine, supplies, health care, drug treatment programs, telecommunications, lenders, architectural firms, and the construction trades (including masonry, fencing, barbed wired, etc.) as the prison industry continues to boom.
The Origins of Three-Strikes Law
Many have traced the popularization of mandatory minimum laws to the Rockefeller Drug Law, enacted in 1973 under West Virginia's then-Gov. Nelson Rockefeller. These laws began the downward spiral of removing the discretion of judges from sentencing.
The Rockefeller Drug Laws incarcerate offenders for 15 years to life for possession of four ounces, or the sale of two ounces, of select controlled substances as Class A felony crimes. These laws provide an individual with the same sentence for possession of a few ounces of illegal drugs as someone convicted of murder, kidnapping or rape.
Enacted in the same year in New York state was the Second Felony law, which adds time onto sentences for second felony offenses, regardless of whether violence was involved. In New York, African Americans and Latinos comprise 93 percent of those incarcerated for drug felonies, while making up only 23 percent of New York's population.
Annually, 35,000 individuals are locked up in New York State for drug felonies. Also, while the Rockefeller and Three-Strikes law impacts society on the state and local levels, federal mandatory minimums have also had a negative impact throughout the country.
In actuality, the Three-Strikes law in California was designed for the most brutal criminals, and as is the case of federal and Rockefeller Drug Laws, meant to get the "kingpins." Instead, these laws are penalizing ordinary offenders with draconian punishments.
Over 65 percent of those imprisoned under Three-Strikes in California are non-violent offenders. According to the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR) and Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund, African-American males sentenced in state courts on felonies receive prison sentences 52 percent of the time, while whites just receive them 34 percent of the time.
The rapidly increasing number of women being locked upnow the fastest growing proportion of America's prison populationis also seen as a cause for alarm.
By Otis L. Cavers posted 26 April 05
Related:
US incarceration rate climbs
The US penal system, the world's largest, maintained its steady growth in 2004, the US Department of Justice reported. The latest official half-yearly figures found the nation's prison and jail population at 2,131,180 in the middle of last year, an increase of 2.3 per cent over 2003.
Unlock the Box:
Unlock the Box is a product of many years of struggle to shut down the Security Housing Units in California. During this time, the United Front to Abolish the SHU was created as a forum to coordinate the actions of everyone involved in this campaign.
ACLU Report: U.S. Drug Laws Harm Women
NEW YORK - America's war on drugs is inflicting deep and disproportionate harm on women - most of them mothers - who are filling prisons in ever-rising numbers despite their typically minor roles in drug rings, the American Civil Liberties Union and two other groups contend in a major new report.
Most women 'should not be jailed'
The Howard League for Penal Reform said jail should be reserved for women who commit serious or violent offences and remain a danger to the public.
Deaths in isolation as prison segregation increases
The use of segregation of prisoners as punishment has been increasing recently in Australia, the US, and the UK. Segregation can be used for protection or punishment, but in both cases it results in extreme psychological stress. An indication that segregation is being over-used is the appearance of deaths in custody from suicide of those placed in segregation.
Unlocking the System
Four young people died in California's youth prisons last year, including Durrell Feaster, 18, and Deon Whitfield, 17, both of whom committed suicide by hanging themselves with bedsheets. In April of 2004, the release of a "Rodney-King-style" security video that showed prison staff restraining and viciously beating youth - punching one 28 times in the face - and later spraying them with chemicals, made national news. Since then, young men and women have also filed suit for sexual assault by prison staff.
US Challenges of Parole Denials rejected
The California Supreme Court decided Monday to limit sharply the ability of inmates to challenge parole denials, ruling that the parole board has the right to keep a convict in prison simply because of the nature of the crime that sent him there.
He Did Time, So He's Unfit to Do Hair
She has managed to turn life in federal prison into a nifty career move. Her company's stock is soaring, and she has plans for not one but two television shows. It almost makes you wonder why the Enron types are fighting so hard to stay out of jail.
New Strategies for Curbing Recidivism
US: State and federal lawmakers are finally realizing that controlling prison costs means controlling recidivism - by helping newly released people establish viable lives once they get out of jail.
Prison System Fails Women, Study Says
State policies designed for violent men make female offenders' rehabilitation difficult, an oversight panel finds. "If we fail to intervene effectively in the lives of these women and their children now, California will pay the cost for generations to come," said Commissioner Teddie Ray, chairwoman of the subcommittee that produced the report.
Child Offenders on Death Row
The U.S. Supreme Court will soon address the constitutionality of the death penalty for 17-year-old offenders based on scientific research that shows the human brain, particularly for males, continues to evolve in adolescence, reaching biological maturity at 21 or 22. The last regions to develop govern the mental ability to control impulses, planning, consideration of consequences, abstract reasoning and most probably moral judgement.
Race-Based Prison Policy Is Under Justices' Scrutiny
US: WASHINGTON, A California prison policy of temporarily segregating all new and newly transferred inmates by race came under attack at the Supreme Court on Tuesday in a case that pits the justices' tradition of deferring to prison administrators against their dislike of government policies that classify people by race.
Despite Drop in Crime, an Increase in Inmates
US: The number of inmates in state and federal prisons rose 2.1 percent last year, even as violent crime and property crime fell, according to a study by the Justice Department released yesterday.
DNA Evidence of Bipartisanship
Last week the U.S. Congress passed the Justice for All Act, which includes provisions of the Innocence Protection Act. As of this posting, the legislation has not yet been signed by President Bush. Attached is an analysis of the legislation prepared by the Justice Project.
How Denying the Vote to Ex-Offenders Undermines Democracy
For starters, hundreds of thousands of people who are still eligible to vote will not do so this year because they will be locked up in local jails, awaiting processing or trials for minor offenses.
Abu Ghraib, USA
When I first saw the photo, taken at the Abu Ghraib prison, of a hooded and robed figure strung with electrical wiring, I thought of the Sacramento, California, city jail.
Restorative Justice and the Law
To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe."-- Marilyn vos Savant.
Restorative Justice Practices
Restorative Justice Practices of Native American, First Nation and Other Indigenous People of North America. This is part one in a series of articles about restorative justice practices of Native American, First Nation and other indigenous people of North America. The series is not intended to be all-inclusive, but rather a broad thematic overview. A related eForum article, "The Wet'suwet'en Unlocking Aboriginal Justice Program: Restorative Practices in British Columbia, Canada," can be read at:
From Terrell Unit in Texas to Abu Ghraib Doesn't It Ring a (Prison) Bell If the president wasn't so forthright about his disinterest in the world, it would have been hard to believe him Wednesday when he said the abuse in Abu Ghraib prison "doesn't represent the America I know."
The Long Trail to Apology
Native America: All manner of unusual things can happen in Washington in an election year, but few seem so refreshing as a proposed official apology from the federal government to American Indians - the first ever - for the "violence, maltreatment and neglect" inflicted upon the tribes for centuries.
Judged Forever- The Orange County Register
California's largest job-placement program for parolees will be shut down May 31 after an Orange County Register investigation found that ex-convicts were sent to questionable jobs and that the state was charged for placements that did not occur.
