Unlock the Cages: Why Prisons Need to Go

Prison is a second-by-second assault on the soul, a day-to-day degradation of the self, an oppressive steel and brick umbrella that transforms seconds into hours and hours into days.

~ Mumia Abu-Jamal

Imagine living in a dark, dingy cage. Imagine following a rigid, monotonous schedule that consists of only eating, sleeping, maybe exercising. Imagine having near-tonone human contact. Every interaction is monitored. Every movement is traced. Every action is watched.

No friends. No family. No sex. No privacy. Several years pass. You don’t know when you’re going to be released. You’ve lost your name; you’re just a number. Court cases never end. It’s overcrowded. Absolutely no personal space. What does your daughter’s face look like? Some more years pass. No control of what you’re doing. Many elections have passed, but you weren’t allowed to vote. You still don’t know when you’re going to be released. More years gone. You’re finally let out. But everywhere you go, all people see is ‘ex-offender’. As if that word is tattooed across your head. Eyes judge you everywhere. No job. No future. No purpose. No second chances. And maybe, if you’re lucky, you’ll stay out. But in most cases, you won’t.

Isn’t such a life bound to damage your mental health? There are several psychological studies that prove the link between prison conditions (such as overcrowding, violence, unpredictability) and psychiatric disorders (including anxiety, depression, trauma). Many researchers have theorized the Post-Incarceration Syndrome, meaning that the trauma from your time in prison haunts you throughout your life. Once you’re in prison you’re no longer treated as a human. The damage is permanent.

But criminals deserve it, you might say. The United States holds around 2.3 million people in prison or jail. That’s roughly 20% of the world’s prison population, even though the United States' entire population constitutes only 5% of the world’s population. The majority of those in jail haven’t been convicted, they’re awaiting their trial. Most of them are in prison because of petty crimes, such as theft or drugs. Do you really believe these 2.3 million people deserve to be stripped of their dignity, deprived of their fundamental rights and needs, and have their humanity taken away from them? Are all of these people truly bad individuals? Are they truly “criminal?”

It wasn’t always like this. The incarceration rate only increased significantly when President Nixon declared that drug abuse was the “number one public enemy” and launched the “war of drugs” campaign in 1971. This initiative sought to punish anyone who used or dealt drugs. But it was inherently problematic and affected lower income communities and communities of color the most. Recreational drugs that were common amongst people of color were criminalized. The prison population continued to increase and doubled between 1994 and 2009. Today, Black people are four times more likely to be put behind bars for possession of marijuana than White people, despite comparable usage rates. They are specifically targeted. Arrested because of their skin color or economic background. And lives are forever ruined.

But what about the rapists and murderers, you might ask. Prisons are inherently violent institutions and putting individuals in oppressive and cruel conditions cannot be a solution to violence. More importantly, prisons play absolutely no role in reducing violent crime. Research shows that long prison sentences have little impact on crime, and in fact, sometimes, they make a person more likely to commit crime. The root causes of violent crime often lie in patriarchy, capitalism, and class disparity. Addressing these root causes through restorative justice is more effective in averting crime. Furthermore, the cycle of sexual assault and violence continues in prison cells. In 2007, the Bureau of Justice Statistics reported over 70,000 cases of sexual abuse in prison cells. In fact, violence is so rampant in prison that many experts have described it as a “graduate school for crime.” Criminologist Alfred Blumstein explains, “Incarceration can move the prisoner to a more serious level of criminal activity due to association with other more serious offenders.” Do you really believe that locking people behind bars reduces brutal crimes?

But why abolish prisons? You’re still not convinced of my argument. We can reform the criminal justice system, you argue. Make it like Sweden. Improve prison conditions, focus on rehabilitation. But, unfortunately, the United States is not Sweden. The justice system in the United States is much more problematic. The argument for prison abolishment in this country does not simply lie in treating inmates with more compassion and humanity. The argument also lies in advocating to end systematic racism and inequality which form the foundation of the justice system in America. The incarceration rate for Black Americans is 5 times the incarceration rate for White Americans. There are more young Black people in jail than in college. This data reflects the legacies of slavery and segregation that form the moral and social fabric of this country. Implicit biases disproportionately harm Black people, Latinx individuals, , and other racially oppressed groups in the justice system. Reforming the criminal justice system does not solve the structurally racist implications of prison. New Jersey, which is often applauded for its efforts in reversing mass incarceration and prison reform, managed to lower its prison population by 26% but yet, people of color are 12 times more likely to be imprisoned than white people. Moreover, according to the Prison Population Forecaster, which enables users to see how different approaches to prison reform affects the prison population, reforming the prison system doesn't do much to reduce the racial disparity of convictions. So, do you genuinely think that prison reform reduces systemic inequalities and achieves justice for all?

But what can we have instead of prisons? There isn’t any other solution, you argue. But there is. There have been numerous attempts at facilitating dialogue between victim and offender through restorative justice programs where the victim and the offender reach a consensus on the best way for the offender to repair the damage they have caused. Even though this may sound idealistic, these attempts have actually been met with success. However, understandably, there are some instances where restorative justice may not work. But there are other solutions too.

House arrest enables offenders to retain their humanity and avoid the dangers of prison, while punishing them. Community policing lets law enforcers work with the community to prevent crime by addressing its root causes rather than waiting to respond after the crime occurs. Do you still believe prisons are the only option?

Imagine if instead of responding to crime with crime, we educate. Imagine if our money was invested in helping victims of bias, instead of a racist training system. Imagine if we forgave and rehabilitated, reintegrated instead of abused. Prisons need to be abolished. The justice system needs to be rebuilt from scratch. And we need to demand a more ‘just’ justice.

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