The Cavalier Daily
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MINK: We need an anti-incarceration revolution

The American prison system is in crisis and needs fundamental change

As Americans, we take pride in our freedoms. But the patriotic moniker “Land of the Free” rings hollow when we find America has the second highest per capita rate of imprisonment in the world and holds a quarter of the world’s prison population. Prisons still only house a small portion of the population, but the disproportionate representation of African-Americans and other minorities behind bars is a major cause of the social and racial tension we are currently seeing.

Whatever the ultimate purpose of the prison system — punishment, deterrence, ensuring the safety of citizens — its root function should be reducing crime, which so far it has been unable to do. One of the major problems with our prison system is the incredibly high rate of recidivism among prisoners — the likelihood that a prisoner will return to jail after being released. In the U.S., two-thirds of released inmates return to prison within three years, a number that rises to almost 77 percent after five years.

It’s easy to explain these statistics with the belief that prisons hold criminals unwilling to live law-abiding lives — a straightforward line of thinking that has merit. But it’s also true that states have different recidivism rates depending on the nature of their prisons. The prison systems that focus on rehabilitation, caring for and assisting inmates in adjusting to the outside world are the ones that reduce the number of prisoners who return to jail.

Many states have seen lower recidivism rates due to new practices that emphasize individualized case planning, graduated sanction options and the continuation of care for people with mental health needs after release from prison. These states have had significant victories. North Carolina experienced an almost 20 percent reduction in recidivism, while Colorado generated millions of dollars in savings that they invested in mental health and substance abuse treatment programs. The common principle behind these successful practices was an emphasis on evaluating each inmate on an individual basis and forming a plan to ease their reentry into the community before their release.

The penal system may not affect many of us directly, but it is an important causative agent behind the racial inequality we see today. There are more African-American men in jail, on probation or on parole then there were in slavery in 1850. In 2013, there were 745,000 black men in prison, a number greater than the total prison populations of India, Argentina, Canada, Japan, Germany, Finland, England and Israel combined. Furthermore, these numbers are not explained by higher crime rates among African-Americans, but by the justice system’s unequal treatment of them. This injustice is especially noticeable in drug crimes. For example, whites and Hispanics constitute two thirds of the crack-cocaine users in the United States, yet 80 percent of those prosecuted under federal crack cocaine laws are black. In fact, African-Americans serve almost the same amount of time for a drug offense as whites do for a violent one.

The consequences of imprisonment go far beyond the individuals jailed. They affect prisoners’ families and communities. And the difficulties faced by prisoners do not end after release from prison. Many released prisoners face barriers to their reintegration into society, broken relationships with family members and troubles finding employment, all factors that can push them back into a life of crime. Sadly, many individuals leave prison in the same circumstances in which they entered it.

This doesn’t have to be the case. Instead of the years behind bars serving as a pointless exercise in boredom, they could be put to good use in preparing inmates to return to society. Currently, federal prisons offer GED programs, vocational training and substance abuse treatment on a limited basis. Practices like these should be encouraged, expanded and copied in state and local prisons. Psychological treatment options should also be made widely available to address the fact that 24 percent of jail inmates have symptoms consistent with psychotic disorders, a factor that no doubt contributed to their criminal actions.

Despite the problems facing our justice system, it would be a mistake to forget its necessity or the part it plays in protecting us. But it is also important that even people who have committed crimes are given a second chance and the opportunity to move beyond past indiscretions. For too many people in and out of prison, their debt to society is a weight that is never lifted.

Alex Mink is an Opinion columnist for The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at a.mink@cavalierdaily.com.

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