tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/jails-6847/articlesJails – The Conversation2023-07-27T12:25:16Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2028242023-07-27T12:25:16Z2023-07-27T12:25:16ZI’ve taught in prisons for 15 years – here’s what schools need to know as government funding expands<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536669/original/file-20230710-36093-htveov.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=53%2C0%2C6000%2C3943&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In the U.S., almost 2 million people are in prison.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/barbed-wire-against-sunset-sky-background-royalty-free-image/1296193766?phrase=prisoners+&adppopup=true">Rizky Panuntun/Moment via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In spring of 2023, I taught a class on memoir at the <a href="https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/facility-locator/ciw/">California Institution for Women</a>, a medium-security facility, in Chino. </p>
<p>The course focused on autobiographical writing. Each week, students were asked to draft narratives focused on their life story and its larger social context. </p>
<p>In addition to writers-in-custody at the prison, the class enrolled University of Southern California students. Every week, my colleague and I drove 12 USC undergraduates out to the prison to join their incarcerated peers in class. Both populations received college credit for their work.</p>
<p>After the class ended, I received a thank-you note from one of our incarcerated students. Jaime – I’ve changed her name for privacy – wanted to let me know that she was writing more than ever to prepare for her release. She said the USC students were a model for her, and she could see herself being friends with them on the outside.</p>
<p>I have taught in prisons and jails for 15 years, both as a volunteer and as the director of <a href="https://dornsife.usc.edu/pep/">USC’s Dornsife Prison Education Project</a>. My teaching and writing focus on how everyday speech can find its way and <a href="https://poems.com/poem/well/">make lyric expression</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536671/original/file-20230710-16328-wgqxtn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Standing before a whiteboard, a female instructor talks to three prisoners seated at a table and dressed in orange jump suits." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536671/original/file-20230710-16328-wgqxtn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536671/original/file-20230710-16328-wgqxtn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536671/original/file-20230710-16328-wgqxtn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536671/original/file-20230710-16328-wgqxtn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536671/original/file-20230710-16328-wgqxtn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536671/original/file-20230710-16328-wgqxtn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536671/original/file-20230710-16328-wgqxtn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Education for inmates leads to lower rates of re-offending after release.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/woman-talking-to-inmates-royalty-free-image/86501547?phrase=prison+classroom&adppopup=true">Jupiterimages/Stockbyte via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<p>USC’s Dornsife Prison Education Project offers courses for enrichment and college credit to people within California correctional facilities. The program organization also sponsors projects like criminal record <a href="https://www.nacdl.org/content/expungement-clinics">expungement clinics</a>, during which law school and community volunteers help people clear their criminal records. </p>
<p>Jaime’s note wasn’t the first I’ve received since beginning to teach in prisons, but it was one of the most meaningful. This was the first semester my university made an important investment by granting incarcerated students credit for their work. Until this point, PEP’s courses were offered solely for enrichment. </p>
<h2>Cost of incarceration</h2>
<p>Today, there are over <a href="https://doi-org.libproxy1.usc.edu/10.1177/0093854820977587">2 million people</a> in jail or prison in the United States, and annual spending on incarceration exceeds <a href="https://nicic.gov/weblink/economic-burden-incarceration-us-2016">US$80 billion</a>. </p>
<p>This $80 billion may underestimate the true economic picture. Larger social costs associated with mass incarceration exceed <a href="https://ijrd.csw.fsu.edu/sites/g/files/upcbnu1766/files/media/images/publication_pdfs/Economic_Burden_of_Incarceration_IJRD072016_0_0.pdf">$500 billion annually</a>. Most Americans believe <a href="https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000161-2ccc-da2c-a963-efff82be0001">the goal of incarceration should be rehabilitation</a>, but because of the <a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/2018/03/01/the-everyday-chaos-of-incarceration">climate of violence</a> in most prisons, very little <a href="https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-criminol-030920-112506">actual rehabilitation takes place</a>. Recidivism rates support this: <a href="https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/recidivism-prisoners-released-34-states-2012-5-year-follow-period-2012-2017">Seven out of 10 people will be arrested again within five years of their release</a>. </p>
<p>Both spending and rates of incarceration have increased sixfold over the last 50 years, reaching <a href="https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/correctional-populations-united-states-2012">a peak in 2009</a> and dropping slightly since then with little to no effect on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/715100">re-offense rates</a> or <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511616167.005">public safety</a>. Mass incarceration has proved somehow to be both extraordinarily expensive and preposterously ineffective. </p>
<p>But research shows that one of the most effective ways to make real change when it comes to mass incarceration is by expanding access to education. As soon as a person who is incarcerated steps into a classroom, <a href="https://doi.org/10.7249/RR266">their likelihood to re-offend decreases</a>. With each educational milestone achieved, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/07418825.2021.2005122">those rates continue to go down</a>. </p>
<h2>Opportunities slowly growing</h2>
<p>Participation in higher education programs increases critical thinking and raises <a href="https://blogs.worldbank.org/developmenttalk/education-leads-higher-earnings">potential future earnings</a>, with the benefits extending beyond the individual to the community as well. </p>
<p>Despite these clear benefits, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12290">most prisons only offer access to high school equivalency classes and testing</a>, and some vocational classes. Few offer post-secondary educational opportunities. <a href="http://doi.org/10.1177/0032885518776376">Only approximately 202 credit-bearing college programs exist</a> in U.S. prisons. These are mostly offered to men imprisoned on the East and West coasts, even though <a href="https://www.ncja.org/crimeandjusticenews/six-times-more-female-inmates-than-there-were-in-1980">women’s incarceration rates have increased by 525% since 1980</a>.</p>
<p>Over the last decade, I’ve witnessed incredible growth of prison education. When I began this work in 2006, only a handful of institutions granted Bachelors of Arts degrees to incarcerated people. But recently, director and project manager positions were posted by schools like <a href="https://sites.northwestern.edu/npep/program_team/">Northwestern</a>, <a href="https://www.wesleyan.edu/cpe/">Wesleyan</a> and <a href="https://prisonsandjustice.georgetown.edu/programs/scholarsprogram/">Georgetown</a> universities. In the next five years, I expect these programs to multiply.</p>
<p>Driving this expansion is the fact that in December 2022, Congress restored access to <a href="https://fsapartners.ed.gov/knowledge-center/library/dear-colleague-letters/2023-03-29/eligibility-confined-or-incarcerated-individuals-receive-pell-grants">Pell Grants for incarcerated students</a>. In July 2023, an estimated <a href="https://www.vera.org/publications/restoring-access-to-pell-grants-for-incarcerated-students">463,000 incarcerated people will become eligible for federal student aid</a>. </p>
<p>This increased accessibility to federal money for incarcerated students has created a new revenue stream for colleges and universities. Many schools will look to compete for these federal dollars, and incarcerated people will have more choices when it comes to their education. </p>
<figure>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Seven inmates earned associate degrees from the University of New Haven.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A heavy lift</h2>
<p>But these new opportunities bring new potential problems. </p>
<p>First, more money creates renewed motivation for predatory institutions to exploit an already vulnerable population. I regularly meet students who have several degrees from <a href="https://doi.org/10.14288/ce.v10i13.186525">pay-to-play degree mills</a>. Many of these students are the first in their families to attend college and are navigating the process alone – a reality that makes them susceptible to exploitation. With the increase of federal dollars, I expect more for-profit universities to offer incarcerated people degrees with nominal utility. </p>
<p>Beyond bad actors, many smaller regional universities and colleges are facing what’s been dubbed the “<a href="https://nscresearchcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/CTEE_Report_Spring_2023.pdf">enrollment cliff</a>,” or a drop in the population of traditional students beginning in 2025 <a href="https://www.bestcolleges.com/news/analysis/looming-enrollment-cliff-poses-serious-threat-to-colleges/">due to a declining U.S. birth rate</a>. As a result, they are looking for nontraditional students to fill the gap, including incarcerated people. </p>
<p>I fear a massive onslaught of new players rushing to meet this need will lead to careless program design and speedy implementations. </p>
<h2>Hard to do well</h2>
<p>This is a concern because prison higher education programs are incredibly difficult to administer. Space within prisons is at a premium. Moving students from one area to another presents logistical challenges. </p>
<p>Best practices within prison education have been notoriously difficult to define because of how site-specific programs are. Even within large, well-funded correctional systems like California’s, I’ve observed massive cultural differences between facilities that are across the street from each other. </p>
<p>Classes are frequently canceled due to the day-to-day operations of the prison, making it difficult to deliver good instruction. For example, if a typical course requires a certain amount of instructor-to-student contact hours and classes are regularly interrupted due to prison trainings, audits and security concerns, how does the program make up those missed classes? </p>
<p>Students often need different levels of support services due to varying, and often low, <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci11020077">literacy levels</a>. These services are available on campus, but creating them in a prison is next to impossible. </p>
<p>Further, students may be transferred from one prison to another where the programs they’ve begun are no longer available. </p>
<p>Persuading faculty to teach in prison in addition to their usual class load at the university adds yet another barrier. </p>
<p>Managing a program that offers higher education in prison necessitates the active management not only of law enforcement bureaucracies, but of complex university ones that are slow to adapt to change. Yet unlike on a college campus, one miscommunication in prison – like someone missing an email – can put a class on hold for an indeterminate amount of time. </p>
<p>I’ve observed institutions enter prisons and then abruptly disband programs after problems arise, abandoning students already distrustful of the system.</p>
<p>Jaime’s letter proves the power of these programs on the individual. A <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0264550517699290">review of prison research</a> concludes the same thing. </p>
<p>As more colleges invest in these populations, I’d argue these new programs must deeply invest in this population and commit to providing the opportunities they create. It’s important to offer incarcerated students the same support systems that traditional campus students receive, while being fully aware of the challenges they face. </p>
<p>Otherwise, these programs may in fact disappoint students like Jaime rather than inspire them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202824/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicholas De Dominic does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Only 218 programs offer credit-bearing college programs in prison. That’s about to change.Nicholas De Dominic, Associate Professor of Writing, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and SciencesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2089492023-07-24T20:10:09Z2023-07-24T20:10:09Z‘They weren’t there when I needed them’: we asked former prisoners what happens when support services fail<p>When Geoff* left prison after his sentence ended, he was told he would be provided with help to return to the community and get on with this new chapter in life. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>They promised a lot. Like you know transitioning to housing, even help with you know finding work and that, but […] none of those promises were met.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The result was sadly predictable. Geoff was unable to access public housing due to a lengthy wait list and he soon found himself rotating between staying with friends or at hostels and living on the street. </p>
<p>Geoff’s story is not uncommon, as we discovered when we <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0955395922003413">interviewed</a> 48 people formerly incarcerated in Victoria (33 men, 15 women) for a <a href="https://www.unsw.edu.au/research/csrh/our-projects/identifying-factors-that-improve-the-health-of-people-newly-released-from-prison-who-inject-drugs">study</a> on post-release pathways among people who inject drugs. All had a history of drug use.</p>
<p>We wanted to know more about how they were supported to find housing and work, obtain medical care or, for those wanting to do so, access help to get off drugs. Getting this kind of pre- and post-release support can drastically reduce the risk of the person re-offending.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0955395922003413">analysis</a>, published in the International Journal of Drug Policy, reveals how services can play a crucial role in post-release success for people leaving prison.</p>
<p>Systemic failures can ultimately perpetuate the “<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-social-determinants-of-justice-8-factors-that-increase-your-risk-of-imprisonment-203661">revolving door</a>” of incarceration.</p>
<h2>System failure</h2>
<p>In 2019‑20, <a href="https://www.pc.gov.au/ongoing/report-on-government-services/2021/justice">46%</a> of prisoners released in 2017-18 had returned to prison within two years.</p>
<p>People who inject drugs are disproportionately more likely to return to prison. This suggests a systemic failure; something is going wrong in the way we provide services to this group of people.</p>
<p>For this analysis, “service providers” include actors such as:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>the state correctional authority (specifically, prison programs staff such as those responsible for pre-release planning and identifying support needs following release)</p></li>
<li><p>prison health staff</p></li>
<li><p>community service providers (such as housing providers and Centrelink)</p></li>
<li><p>mental health, alcohol and other drug services, as well as pharmacies; and </p></li>
<li><p>non-government organisations.</p></li>
</ul>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535251/original/file-20230703-146989-lezsaf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535251/original/file-20230703-146989-lezsaf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535251/original/file-20230703-146989-lezsaf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535251/original/file-20230703-146989-lezsaf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535251/original/file-20230703-146989-lezsaf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535251/original/file-20230703-146989-lezsaf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535251/original/file-20230703-146989-lezsaf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535251/original/file-20230703-146989-lezsaf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Systemic failures can ultimately perpetuate the revolving door of incarceration.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We found experiences within the first day or two of release can dramatically shape a person’s post-release pathway.</p>
<p>For example, when Jidah got out of prison, he needed crucial medication for his opioid dependence. Unfortunately, his prescription was not transferred to his community pharmacy: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>When I got released, I was on the Suboxone and I thought everything was
going to be fine in regards to me going straight to my chemist and picking up my dose. And I’ve gone there and nothing was sent through. And I was that frustrated that it caused me to relapse and get back on the heroin. </p>
<p>I felt like I was just left to fend for myself and to be in a vulnerable place, especially when you get out of jail, ‘cause you are relying on these organisations. […] I done what was asked of me, but they weren’t there when I needed it, so it caused me to be in a bad position, in a bad place.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Khish told us he was given some support in getting set up for post-prison life but the help was limited.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Well, they [prison-based staff] made sure that I would be getting Centrelink payments, so they organised for that, for me to talk to people from Centrelink, so that the day of release I would have some money to get a place to stay and stuff like that. That was the only thing that they actually did, yeah.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Trust is key</h2>
<p>Being able to trust a service provider is crucial and can enable a smoother transition to community. </p>
<p>However, being honest with a service provider could be a lucky dip for many of our interviewees; in some cases it could lead to necessary support, while others felt it risked reincarceration.</p>
<p>Parole officers can play a crucial role but people’s experiences varied. Dan had a positive experience, saying: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>they just try to coach you through it and try to keep you out of jail, which is good, because that’s not helping anyone anyway.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Ben, however, didn’t find his parole officer “useful”, saying:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>They’re not really there to help you. They’re just there to discipline you and make sure you do it properly, I suppose. They’re there to watch over you, but they say they can help.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Getting the right support can be ‘life-changing’</h2>
<p>We did hear some success stories. Anthony told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I’ve always re-offended, relapsed quite hard and everything, but the difference this time was […] even the staff, the corrections staff, down to the magistrate, I can’t explain the level of empathy and effort they put into me is just huge. Yeah, it has been life-changing.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Overseas examples also show what’s possible. A recently adopted philosophy in the US state of Maine (referred to as <a href="https://www.maine.gov/corrections/mmc#:%7E:text=This%20operating%20philosophy%2C%20known%20as,to%20rebuild%20and%20transform%20lives.">Maine Model of Corrections</a>) has involved overhauling the way the system supports people during incarceration and preparing for release. The primary goal of the new philosophy is to “rebuild and transform lives”.</p>
<p>Under this new philosophy, Maine’s prisons focus on rehabilitation and growing respect between correctional officers and people who are incarcerated. In these prisons, the words “prisoners” and “inmates” are replaced with “<a href="https://www.maine.gov/corrections/sites/maine.gov.corrections/files/inline-files/WE%20%282022%29%20-%20Destigmatizing%20Corrections.Language%20Matters%20%28MDOC%29.pdf">residents</a>”. Drug dependence is treated as a matter of <a href="https://www.maine.gov/corrections/sites/maine.gov.corrections/files/inline-files/MDOC%20MSUD%20Year%20Three%20Report%20%282022%29.pdf">health priority</a>, with all clinically eligible residents given access to medicines for substance use disorder, regardless of their release date. </p>
<p>In contrast to Jidah’s experiences above, the Department of Corrections in Maine has a <a href="https://www.maine.gov/corrections/sites/maine.gov.corrections/files/inline-files/MDOC%20MSUD%20Year%20Three%20Report-2022.pdf">multi-disciplinary team</a> to ensure continuity of care for residents receiving medicines for substance use disorder prior to release.</p>
<p>Most people leaving prison face an uphill battle of service navigation that is too often deficit-focused, intentionally seeking out the failures of the individual and centred on punitive responses.</p>
<p>Communities of justice-involved people and people who use drugs have been clear about what they need when exiting prison: help with the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njTVEBehDjQ">exhaustion</a> associated with re-entering the community, help to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oNT7u3vJ98">build and retain trust</a>, and help from a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70Ctgo-rkGw">competent workforce</a> that can improve people’s post-release chances.</p>
<figure>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Identifying factors that improve the health of prisoners who inject drugs – Exhaustion. UNSW Community.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A culture of respect and prioritising health needs associated with opioid dependence will help many ex-prisoners transition back into community and break the “incarceration treadmill”. </p>
<p>It can help reduce the chances the prison system is simply reproducing disadvantage and replicating the problems it is ostensibly supposed to solve.</p>
<p><em>Names have been changed to protect identities. If you or someone you know needs help with exiting prison, you can find a list of resources <a href="https://www.crcnsw.org.au/get-help/">here</a>. The NSW Users and AIDS Association (NUAA) PeerLine on 1800 644 413 may also be helpful.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208949/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lise Lafferty does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Carla Treloar has received funding from the NHMRC.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kerryn Drysdale does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Most people leaving prison face an uphill battle of service navigation that is too often deficit-focused, intentionally seeking out the failures of the individual and centred on punitive responses.Lise Lafferty, Senior research fellow, UNSW SydneyCarla Treloar, Director, Centre for Social Research in Health, Social Policy Research Centre, UNSW SydneyKerryn Drysdale, Senior Research Fellow, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2040202023-05-11T19:05:56Z2023-05-11T19:05:56ZMore than 60 per cent of incarcerated women are mothers — Listen<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525515/original/file-20230510-21-dajgjd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=114%2C68%2C3697%2C2011&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Many women who are incarcerated were just trying to make ends meet for their families. Here an image from a rally to demand the release of people held in jails, outside the Riverside Correctional Facility in Philadelphia, May 2020. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/109799466@N06/">Joe Piette/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><iframe height="200px" width="100%" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://player.simplecast.com/56eabf14-e95f-4a00-9938-5e9f9361e2eb?dark=true"></iframe>
<p><em>The fastest growing prison population in Canada is racialized women. The trend may be connected to rising poverty rates and the criminalization of attempts to cope with poverty.</em></p>
<p>Mother’s Day is just a few days away. It can be a complicated day. For some, it could mean a bouquet of flowers or a breakfast in bed. For others, it can mean mourning the loss of a loved one or dealing with a haunted past. And still — for others — like the <a href="https://www.oci-bec.gc.ca/cnt/rpt/annrpt/annrpt20212022-eng.aspx">66 per cent of incarcerated women in prison who are mothers,</a> it can mean something else entirely.</p>
<p>Despite a <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-630-x/11-630-x2015001-eng.htm">reduction in crime in the last 20 years in Canada</a>, many women attempting to make ends meet for their families end up colliding with the prison system. </p>
<p>In Canada, women’s prisons are filling up. In fact, <a href="https://www.criaw-icref.ca/images/userfiles/files/P4W_BN_IncarcerationRacializedWomen_Accessible.pdf">the fastest-growing prison population in Canada is racialized women</a>More than <a href="https://www.oci-bec.gc.ca/cnt/comm/press/press20200121-eng.aspx">one in three women in federal custody are Indigenous.</a> And the percentage of South Asian women and African Canadian women in custody is also disproportionately high.</p>
<p>One of the reasons the women’s prison population is rising, experts say, is <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/archive/ca/entry/women-poverty-to-prison-pipeline_ca_5cd55166e4b07bc72976ead9">poverty</a>.</p>
<p>Amidst a financial downturn and ballooning economic inequality, criminalizing attempts at survival is staggering. And the effects on families are devastating. </p>
<p>Adding to this is the complexity that <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/abuse-trauma-leads-women-in-prison-to-cry-out-for-help-1.2891680">87 percent of all women</a> in federal prisons in Canada have experienced physical or sexual abuse and many also live with mental health issues.</p>
<p><a href="https://dont-call-me-resilient.simplecast.com/episodes/66-per-cent-of-incarcerated-women-are-mothers">On this episode of <em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em></a>, we are joined by Rai Reece, professor at Toronto Metropolitan University who researches prisons and feminist criminology. Lorraine Pinnock also joins us. She is the Ontario Coordinator for the <a href="http://wallstobridges.ca/">Walls to Bridges program</a> which helps women with education when transitioning out of the system. It’s a transition she has made herself. In 2011, Lorraine was incarcerated at the Grand Valley Institution for Women in Kitchener, Ont. She has two children.</p>
<h2>Listen and Follow</h2>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525512/original/file-20230510-19-5ofdrb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525512/original/file-20230510-19-5ofdrb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=761&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525512/original/file-20230510-19-5ofdrb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=761&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525512/original/file-20230510-19-5ofdrb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=761&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525512/original/file-20230510-19-5ofdrb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=956&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525512/original/file-20230510-19-5ofdrb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=956&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525512/original/file-20230510-19-5ofdrb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=956&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The Grand Valley Institution for Women in Waterloo, Ont.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Geoff Robins</span></span>
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<p>You can listen to or follow <em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em> on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/dont-call-me-resilient/id1549798876">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS9qZFg0Ql9DOA">Google Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/37tK4zmjWvq2Sh6jLIpzp7">Spotify</a> or <a href="https://dont-call-me-resilient.simplecast.com">wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts</a>. </p>
<p><a href="mailto:DCMR@theconversation.com">We’d love to hear from you</a>, including any ideas for future episodes. Join The Conversation on <a href="https://twitter.com/ConversationCA">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheConversationCanada">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/theconversationdotcom/">Instagram</a> and <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@theconversation">TikTok</a> and use #DontCallMeResilient.</p>
<h2>Resources</h2>
<p><a href="https://yellowheadinstitute.org/resources/carceral-redlining-white-supremacy-the-incarceration-for-indigenous-and-black-peoples/">Carceral Redlining: White Supremacy is a Weapon of Mass Incarceration for Indigenous and Black Peoples in Canada</a> (Policy Brief: Yellowhead Institute Report) by Rai Reece</p>
<p><a href="https://nonprofitquarterly.org/what-is-abolition-feminism-and-why-do-we-need-it-now/">What Is Abolition Feminism and Why Do We Need It Now?</a> (<em>Nonprofit Quarterly</em>)</p>
<p><a href="https://demeterpress.org/books/patricia-hill-collins-reconceiving-motherhood/"><em>Patricia Hill Collins: Reconceiving Motherhood</em></a> by Kaila Adia Story</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.17645/si.v4i1.444">“Wholistic and Ethical: Social Inclusion with Indigenous Peoples”</a> by Kathleen Absolon</p>
<p><a href="https://www.universityaffairs.ca/news/news-article/university-prison-partnership-brings-hope-to-incarcerated-learners/">“University-prison partnership brings hope to incarcerated learners”</a> by Bruno Vompean (<em>University Affairs</em>)</p>
<p><a href="https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2018/dpb-pbo/YN5-152-2018-eng.pdf">Update on the Costs of Incarceration - The Parliamentary Budget Office, 2018</a></p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmqr.2022.100189">Advocates’ perspectives on the Canadian prison mother child program</a> (<em>Qualitative Research in Health</em>)</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1656094559972085761"}"></div></p>
<h2>From the archives - in The Conversation</h2>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-need-to-reclaim-the-original-intent-of-mothers-day-116798">We need to reclaim the original intent of Mother’s Day</a>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/women-need-health-and-dental-care-to-stay-out-of-prison-84897">Women need health and dental care to stay out of prison</a>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/prisons-are-not-the-answer-to-preventing-crime-123575">Prisons are not the answer to preventing crime</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204020/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
For Mother’s Day, we look at the fastest growing prison population in Canada — racialized women, many of whom are mothers. Experts connect the trend to rising poverty and the attempts to cope with it.Vinita Srivastava, Host + Producer, Don't Call Me ResilientBoké Saisi, Associate Producer, Don't Call Me ResilientLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2000412023-03-02T13:23:59Z2023-03-02T13:23:59ZUnderstanding mass incarceration in the US is the first step to reducing a swollen prison population<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513014/original/file-20230301-30-1c9olo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=238%2C157%2C2573%2C1823&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">People incarcerated at a county jail in North Dakota gather together. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/174524045/photo/oil-boom-shifts-the-landscape-of-rural-north-dakota.jpg?s=1024x1024&w=gi&k=20&c=FaIkb2CLNjUOxOoWX521IPpa5BfsgYTnAMVCQrDFXnI=">Andrew Burton/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/08/16/americas-incarceration-rate-lowest-since-1995/">The incarceration rate</a> in the United States fell in 2021 to its lowest levels since 1995 – but the U.S. continues to imprison a higher percentage of its population than almost every <a href="https://www.prisonstudies.org/highest-to-lowest/prison-population-total?field_region_taxonomy_tid=All">other country</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/correctional-populations-united-states-2021-statistical-tables">The U.S. incarcerates</a> 530 people for every 100,000 in its population, making it one of the world’s biggest jailers – <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/el-salvador-begins-transfers-mega-prison-amid-gang-crackdown-2023-02-24/">just below El Salvador</a>, <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/262962/countries-with-the-most-prisoners-per-100-000-inhabitants/">Rwanda and Turkmenistan.</a> </p>
<p>The U.S. actually had the greatest percentage of its population imprisoned until 2019. This followed steady growth in prison and jail populations in the 1970s, after a wave of <a href="https://www.owu.edu/news-media/from-our-perspective/tough-questions-for-tough-on-crime-policies/">“tough on crime” laws</a> and policies swept the nation. </p>
<p>While there has been a <a href="https://newjimcrow.com/,">growing recognition</a> of the need to reduce <a href="https://joebiden.com/justice/#,%20https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2015/07/15/president-obama-our-criminal-justice-system-isnt-smart-it-should-be">mass incarceration</a>, experts <a href="https://newjimcrow.com/">do not</a> agree on <a href="https://www.city-journal.org/rafael-mangual-discusses-new-book-criminal-in-justice">what caused the ballooning prison population</a> or the best path to reducing it.</p>
<p>As a former prosecutor and a researcher who studies the <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=VxvW--wAAAAJ&hl=en">criminal justice system</a>, I have found that understanding how the U.S. incarceration rate grew over the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Mass-Incarceration-Nation-Jeffrey-Bellin/dp/1009267558/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0">last few decades</a> is the key to understanding its root causes – and what it will take to return to lower rates. </p>
<p>As I <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/law/criminal-law/mass-incarceration-nation-how-united-states-became-addicted-prisons-and-jails-and-how-it-can-recover?format=PB&isbn=9781009267557">show in my new book</a>, “Mass Incarceration Nation, How the United States Became Addicted to Prisons and Jails and How It Can Recover,” people tend to talk past one another when they discuss crime and punishment in the U.S. I think the public debate can improve if people develop a better understanding of how mass incarceration arose – and its tenuous connection to crime. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513012/original/file-20230301-2409-xqwaw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A person wearing a bright orange outfit is seen walking into gates towards a beige building." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513012/original/file-20230301-2409-xqwaw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513012/original/file-20230301-2409-xqwaw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513012/original/file-20230301-2409-xqwaw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513012/original/file-20230301-2409-xqwaw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513012/original/file-20230301-2409-xqwaw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513012/original/file-20230301-2409-xqwaw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513012/original/file-20230301-2409-xqwaw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">While the U.S. prison population has dipped recently, the rate remains higher than those of most countries.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/539898510/photo/usa-crime-overcrowding-of-california-prison-system.jpg?s=1024x1024&w=gi&k=20&c=iXtRdZscYW5liMp5Li6ez7mWwHU94JASFEYl2rO7Lus=">Ted Soqui/Corbis via Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>A growing prison population</h2>
<p>The growth in mass incarceration began with a crime spike. Homicides, which averaged around <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_20/sr20_006acc.pdf">5,000 per year in the 1960s</a>, <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/187592/death-rate-from-homicide-in-the-us-since-1950/">shot up in the 1970s,</a> reaching over 24,000 in 1991. </p>
<p>The crime spike sparked a bipartisan wave of punitive laws, the hiring of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1990/10/03/nyregion/dinkins-on-crime-dinkins-proposes-record-expansion-of-police-forces.html">thousands of police officers</a> and a <a href="https://daily.jstor.org/rethinking-prison-as-a-deterrent-to-future-crime/">“tough on crime” mindset</a> that permeated every aspect of American criminal law. The system became more punitive, generating longer sentences, especially for repeat and violent offenses, as I show in my book. </p>
<p>Over time, this led to today’s <a href="https://nicic.gov/projects/aging-prison">aging prison population</a> and many people being held long past the time they would have been released in other countries and at other times <a href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2018/02/20/aging-prison-populations-drive-up-costs">in this country’s history</a>. </p>
<p>The number of people 55 or older in state and federal prisons increased 280% from 1999 to 2016, <a href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2018/02/20/aging-prison-populations-drive-up-costs">according to Pew research.</a> </p>
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<span class="caption">Men incarcerated in Washington, D.C., participate in a computer science program in September 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/1243186427/photo/students-from-the-brave-behind-bars-program-an-introductory-computer-science-program-for.jpg?s=1024x1024&w=gi&k=20&c=lVKEnRJ9FBQ5GZSwwxMcHCV3HaKvXpvDudkR9vMMDWw=">Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post via Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>Different kinds of crime</h2>
<p>But longer sentences are only one factor in America’s supersized incarceration rates. </p>
<p>There has also been a <a href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/issue-briefs/2022/02/drug-arrests-stayed-high-even-as-imprisonment-fell-from-2009-to-2019">dramatic expansion of the kinds of crimes</a> for which U.S. courts imprison people. </p>
<p>After the 1970s, more and more people went to prison for drug crimes and other offenses that rarely used to lead to prison time. </p>
<p>Serious violent crime, meanwhile, went <a href="https://pricetheory.uchicago.edu/levitt/Papers/LevittUnderstandingWhyCrime2004.pdf">back down in the 1990s</a>. The crimes – like armed robbery and murder – that had sparked the march toward mass incarceration plummeted. </p>
<p>But prison populations didn’t drop. </p>
<p>As a prosecutor in Washington, D.C. in the early 2000s, I saw this change firsthand. Our caseloads were increasingly dominated by drug sales, drug possession and gun possession cases – cases which, not coincidentally, are typically the easiest to detect and prove. These changes were happening on a national level.</p>
<p><iframe id="A7bZk" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/A7bZk/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>The number of people incarcerated in state prisons for homicide increased by over 300% between 1980 and 2010, reflecting the temporary spike in homicides and longer sentences for those convicted of that offense. </p>
<p>But the scale of the increases for other offenses, like drug crimes, is even larger – rising 1,147% over this time frame.</p>
<h2>Speaking the same language</h2>
<p>While prison populations are finally starting to go down, progress is slow. At the current rate, it will take decades to reach the low incarceration rates the U.S. had for most of its history. </p>
<p>This dip is partially <a href="https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/impact-covid-19-state-and-federal-prisons-march-2020-february-2021">because of the COVID-19 pandemic</a>, which prompted some states to release prisoners to avoid overcrowding and health risks. It is not clear that these recent reductions in the incarcerated population will continue. </p>
<p>I think that substantially reducing prison and jail populations will require better understanding of the link between incarceration and crime. It is not simply the case that incarceration goes up because people commit crime; instead, the story is much more complicated. That is because we use incarceration for two purposes: to obtain justice on behalf of victims and to try to change people’s behavior. </p>
<p>This distinction results in two kinds of cases flowing into this nation’s criminal courts.</p>
<p>First, there are cases that involve the most serious harm to individuals, like crimes of sexual violence and murder. Second, there are cases like drug offenses and weapons possession, which are not typically about obtaining justice for victims but are supposed to further policy goals like preventing drug use.</p>
<p>Changes in how we treat both kinds of cases contributed to the nation’s sky-high incarceration rate. American mass incarceration is a result of <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/12/06/u-s-public-divided-over-whether-people-convicted-of-crimes-spend-too-much-or-too-little-time-in-prison/">increasing sentence lengths</a> for people who commit serious violent crimes. But it is also a product of a stunning expansion of the system’s reach in the form of more and more crimes leading to prison and jail. </p>
<p>Substantial progress at reducing the incarcerated population will require reversing both trends. First, returning sentence lengths for all offenses, including serious violent crime, to their historical norms. And second, resisting this country’s growing habit of relying on incarceration as a tool for achieving policy goals.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/200041/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jeffrey Bellin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Experts still disagree about why the US prison population has grown so much over the last few decades. But crime is only one part of the problem.Jeffrey Bellin, Mills E. Godwin, Jr., Professor of Law, William & Mary Law SchoolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1982022023-01-30T13:13:10Z2023-01-30T13:13:10ZWhy are there prisons? An expert explains the history of using ‘correctional’ facilities to punish people<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505667/original/file-20230120-6022-zao2ux.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=3%2C6%2C2105%2C1408&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cells at Alcatraz, a famous former prison on an island off the coast of California.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/alcatraz-cellhouse-in-san-francisco-royalty-free-image/10070645?phrase=alcatraz&adppopup=true">Andrea Pistolesi/Stone via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><figure class="align-left ">
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<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/curious-kids-us-74795">Curious Kids</a> is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to <a href="mailto:curiouskidsus@theconversation.com">curiouskidsus@theconversation.com</a>.</em></p>
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<p><strong>Why are there prisons? – Andrew H., age 8</strong></p>
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<p>When people are found guilty of committing a crime, a judge will decide how they should be punished. Sometimes they are allowed to live in their own homes and they have to pay a fine or serve their communities, but sometimes they are incarcerated, which means they are ordered to live in a jail or a prison. During this time, they cannot leave and they have to follow the rules of the facility.</p>
<p>Jails and prisons are called correctional facilities because they are meant to help correct the person’s behavior so that person does not commit any more crimes. But as <a href="https://www.uml.edu/fahss/criminal-justice/faculty/long-joshua.aspx">a criminologist</a> – someone who studies crime and prisons – I often wonder how people decided that incarceration was a good way to “correct” people.</p>
<p>There is <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-oxford-history-of-the-prison-9780195118148?cc=us&lang=en&">a long history</a> of using jails and prisons as punishment for breaking the law, and to keep communities safe. But there is also debate about how well those systems work, how fair they are and how to improve them.</p>
<h2>Jail vs. prison</h2>
<p>Although jails and prisons are similar, they usually have <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/jail-vs-prison-difference">different purposes</a>. Most of the people living in jail have not been convicted of a crime yet and are waiting for the court to decide if they are guilty. A person who is found guilty can be sent to live in the jail as punishment, but they typically stay for less than one year.</p>
<p>If the judge sentences someone to be incarcerated for a longer period of time, that person is normally sent to a prison in another part of the state. Sometimes the prison is far away from their home, and it can be difficult for their families to visit. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man in an orange top puts his head in his hands as a woman makes a heart sign with her hands." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505964/original/file-20230123-7791-312baj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505964/original/file-20230123-7791-312baj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505964/original/file-20230123-7791-312baj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505964/original/file-20230123-7791-312baj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505964/original/file-20230123-7791-312baj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505964/original/file-20230123-7791-312baj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505964/original/file-20230123-7791-312baj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sometimes people visiting loved ones in prison must talk on a phone, with a piece of glass separating them.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/male-prisoner-sharing-love-with-wife-in-prison-royalty-free-image/1250157575?phrase=%22prison%20visit%22&adppopup=true">South_agency/E+ via Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>Prison then vs. prison now</h2>
<p>In the past, people were not sent to jails and prisons as a legal punishment. Instead, these places were used <a href="https://daily.jstor.org/the-invention-of-incarceration/">to contain people</a> who were suspected of a crime, to keep them from escaping before their punishment was decided.</p>
<p>If they were found guilty, sometimes they were punished with physical pain, such as being whipped. Sometimes they were forced to work without pay or for very low wages. Others might be sent far away from their communities and not allowed to come back. The most serious punishment was execution, and many people were killed for their crimes.</p>
<p>Over time, most countries decided that these types of punishment were cruel or ineffective, so they <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/23307878">started using jails and prisons</a> as places where people could be punished by losing their freedom for a specific amount of time. Judges could give some people longer sentences if their crimes were more serious, and shorter sentences if their crimes did not deserve a long punishment. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A black and white sketch shows a grumpy-looking man in stocks." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505730/original/file-20230122-22-g57pbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505730/original/file-20230122-22-g57pbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505730/original/file-20230122-22-g57pbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505730/original/file-20230122-22-g57pbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505730/original/file-20230122-22-g57pbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505730/original/file-20230122-22-g57pbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505730/original/file-20230122-22-g57pbm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Stocks were an old-fashioned form of punishment where someone had to sit with their legs sticking through the holes for a while.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/man-in-stocks-from-the-illustrated-library-shakspeare-news-photo/188005368?phrase=stocks%20punishment&adppopup=true">Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>People expected that some prisoners would learn a lesson from their prison experience. If they were scared of going back to prison, hopefully they would be less likely to break the law in the future. Some prisons tried to “rehabilitate” people by giving them an education, job training or therapy that might help them prepare to return home.</p>
<h2>Longer sentences</h2>
<p>In the 1970s, there was <a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/americas-faulty-perception-crime-rates">an increase</a> in the number of crimes reported in the United States, and many people were scared. They thought that society would be safer if more people were <a href="https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/correctional-theory/book244021">sent to prison</a>. The size of the prison population increased from <a href="https://www.vera.org/reimagining-prison-web-report/american-history-race-and-prison#:%7E:text=The%20numbers%20are%20stunning.,it%20had%20grown%20to%20481%2C616.">around 200,000 people</a> in the 1970s to <a href="https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2022.html">around 2 million people</a> in recent years.</p>
<p>People started spending very long periods of time in prison, and more people were given <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/03/02/life-sentences-growing/">life sentences</a>, meaning that they could never return home. Before, those punishments had been reserved for very serious crimes, but new laws passed during this time made them more common.</p>
<p>Prisons <a href="https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2020/12/21/overcrowding/">became overcrowded</a>, which <a href="https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/wajlp22&div=24&g_sent=1&casa_token=7UULMYy7JzUAAAAA:k3niXJcHR0c3X3Uz-ck8mC8vWQgxN9GE9QfJauy7CNVq-Ox3oTUYfNEORYMxnnM4qR1YWkA&collection=journals">spread resources more thinly</a>, including programs to help prisoners prepare to return to society. More people wound up <a href="https://global.oup.com/ushe/product/the-warehouse-prison-9780195330472?cc=us&lang=en&">committing crimes again</a> after they returned home. </p>
<h2>Improving prisons</h2>
<p>People who study correctional facilities, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=k14M84kAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">like me</a>, have found many problems to fix. Some have to do with the large number of people in prisons. Many nondangerous people <a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/how-many-americans-are-unnecessarily-incarcerated">wind up serving time there</a>, when they could serve a different punishment and receive therapy in their communities instead.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A few men sit at classroom desks in a simple room with a blue floor." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505968/original/file-20230123-5967-zduwlb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505968/original/file-20230123-5967-zduwlb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505968/original/file-20230123-5967-zduwlb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505968/original/file-20230123-5967-zduwlb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505968/original/file-20230123-5967-zduwlb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505968/original/file-20230123-5967-zduwlb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505968/original/file-20230123-5967-zduwlb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Prisoners in France wait to receive computers they will be allowed to keep in their cells to do schoolwork.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/prisoners-wait-to-get-a-computer-in-the-prison-of-news-photo/1232073840?phrase=degree%20prison&adppopup=true">Olivier Chassignole/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another major problem is <a href="https://newjimcrow.com/">racial discrimination</a>. Many researchers have found that Black, Hispanic and Native American people are <a href="https://www.ussc.gov/research/research-reports/demographic-differences-sentencing">more likely to be sent to prison</a> than people from other racial and ethnic groups, even if they were convicted of the same crimes. This can cause a lot of serious problems for their families and communities.</p>
<p>Societies might always need to incarcerate some people who have committed serious crimes or who pose a danger to others. Perhaps the system can become safer, fairer and more successful in punishing crimes while rehabilitating.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joshua Long does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Prisons and jails have a long history, but they weren’t always used for the same kinds of punishment.Joshua Long, Assistant Professor of Criminology and Justice Studies, UMass LowellLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1584072021-05-07T12:44:05Z2021-05-07T12:44:05ZUS prisons hold more than 550,000 people with intellectual disabilities – they face exploitation, harsh treatment<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399053/original/file-20210505-15-1fhl6wk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=18%2C9%2C6211%2C4138&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The rate of intellectual disabilities is disproportionately high among incarcerated populations.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/prisoner-at-the-bolivar-county-correctional-facility-waits-news-photo/1315034536?adppopup=true">Spencer Platt/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Prison life in the U.S. is tough. But when you have an <a href="https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/intellectual-disability/what-is-intellectual-disability">intellectual, developmental or cognitive disability</a> – as hundreds of thousands of Americans behind bars do – it can make you especially vulnerable.</p>
<p>In March, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the federal agency tasked with gathering data on crime and the criminal justice system, <a href="https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/drpspi16st.pdf">published a report</a> that found roughly two in five – 38% – of the 24,848 incarcerated people they surveyed across 364 prisons reported a disability of some sort. Across the entire incarcerated population, that translates to some 760,000 people with disabilities living behind bars.</p>
<p>Around a quarter of those surveyed reported having a cognitive disability, such as difficulty remembering or making decisions. A similar proportion reported at some point being told they had attention deficit disorder, and 14% were told they had a learning disability.</p>
<p><iframe id="aZQHB" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/aZQHB/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>As a <a href="http://catalog.college.emory.edu/department-program/faculty.php?YToxOntzOjI6ImlkIjtzOjM6Ijc5MyI7fQ==">scholar who has researched disability</a> in prison and conducted in-depth interviews with several adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the criminal justice system, I’m all too aware of the problems that incarcerated people with disabilities face. Prisoners with these disabilities are at greater risk of serving <a href="https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/An-Estimate-of-the-Prevalence-of-Autism-Spectrum-in-Fazio-Pietz/c9423ebfa2f6fbff89b1370b4d7f7b0f26ff831b">longer</a>, <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0032855597077004002">harder sentences</a> and being exploited and <a href="https://law.asu.edu/sites/default/files/pdf/academy_for_justice/Reforming-Criminal-Justice_Vol_3.pdf">abused</a> by prison staff or other incarcerated people. </p>
<h2>Stigma and crimes of survival</h2>
<p>The rate of both physical and intellectual disability among the prison population is disproportionately high. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/disabilityandhealth/infographic-disability-impacts-all.html">26% of Americans</a> report any kind of disability. Of those, 10.8% reported a cognitive disability.</p>
<p>This is less than half of the proportion of those in prisons. And rates appear to be on the rise – in 2011-2012, <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/disabilityandhealth/infographic-disability-impacts-all.html">32% of people incarcerated in prisons reported a disability</a>, with 19% stating a cognitive disability.</p>
<p>High as they are, these rates are likely to be an underestimate. They are based on self-reports, and research has shown <a href="https://doi.org/10.1352/2009.47:13-23">many people fail to report a disability</a> – particularly an intellectual or cognitive disability – to avoid stigma or because they simply don’t know they have one. </p>
<p>The Bureau of Justice Statistics has also found that people with cognitive, intellectual and developmental <a href="https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/dpji1112.pdf">disabilities are more prevalent in jails</a> – where people are sent immediately after arrest, to await trial or to serve a sentence of one year or less – than prisons. Jails tend to be associated with what have been called “<a href="http://humantollofjail.vera.org/legal-perils-of-homelessness/">crimes of survival</a>,” such as shoplifting and loitering. These offenses are linked to unemployed people and people experiencing homelessness – communities in which <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2788.2010.01366.x">rates of disabilities are higher</a>.</p>
<p>As a result, a <a href="https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2017/08/23/disability/">disproportionate amount of people with disabilities</a> enter America’s criminal justice system. I see this in my research on intellectual and developmental disabilities – diagnoses like autism, fetal alcohol syndrome, ADD/ADHD, Down syndrome, and general cognitive impairment are common in our criminal justice system.</p>
<h2>In jail, no one listens</h2>
<p>Between 2018 and 2019, I <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2021.100122">interviewed 27 people with these disabilities</a> about their interaction with the criminal justice system. Eighteen reported having been arrested and/or incarcerated.</p>
<p>Many spoke of the harm and difficulties they face throughout the criminal justice system, from courts to being behind bars.</p>
<p>One man I interviewed who had various learning and attention-related disabilities and was in special education as a child told me: “I was in jail one time [because] when I didn’t understand the questions the judge was asking me, and she sentence me to three months in [county jail] because I didn’t understand.” Officially, this was for disorderly conduct. </p>
<p>Confusion in prison and jail can lead to <a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/2020/11/02/prison-is-even-worse-when-you-have-a-disability-like-autism">violence or danger</a>. Needing time to process instructions, particularly in high-stress situations, can be interpreted as obstinacy by staff and officers in charge. One middle-aged man who experienced incarceration on a few occasions told me that if you can’t process instructions, sometimes you are physically forced to comply. He provided the example of seeing someone with mental health needs not going to the shower when requested: “In jail, they don’t have time for that. They’ll just throw you in the shower. They’re not supposed to, but I’ve seen that before.” </p>
<p>Further, being seen as obstinate can lead to disciplinary reports in prison or jail, which could result in added time to someone’s sentence or the removal of certain privileges. It could also <a href="http://jaapl.org/content/38/1/104">result in solitary confinement</a> – something known to exacerbate and create <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/696041">mental health concerns</a> and which has been labeled as torture by the <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2011/10/392012-solitary-confinement-should-be-banned-most-cases-un-expert-says">United Nations</a> and <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2012/06/18/us-look-critically-widespread-use-solitary-confinement#">human rights groups</a>. One <a href="https://www.nyaprs.org/e-news-bulletins/2018/11/30/study-over-4-000-prisoners-w-serious-mental-illness-are-held-in-solitary-confinement">study from 2018 found</a> that over 4,000 people with serious mental health concerns were being held in solitary confinement in the U.S. Again, this is likely to be an underestimate.</p>
<p>Incarcerated people with intellectual, developmental and cognitive disabilities <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14789949.2015.1062994">risk being exploited</a> by both officers and fellow inmates. One person I interviewed who had experienced incarceration said officers look for those who have a disability by noting who only watches TV and never reads, marking them for exploitation. He went on to say that “some of the corrections officers, they be doing things they ain’t got no business doing. So they’ll slide up onto the disability boy and use him, you know, because he’d making him feel like ‘This is my dog. This is my boy right here. Come and do this for me.’ And they’ll run and do it. So I think people with disabilities are used more by deceptive corrections guards than people that read.”</p>
<p>Rates of these disabilities are even higher among incarcerated women, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics report. This might be related to the fact that women have much <a href="http://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17051725">higher histories of abuse and trauma</a>, or because they are <a href="https://ramh.org/guide/gender-differences-in-mental-health">more willing to report these disabilities</a>.</p>
<p>One woman with cerebral palsy and unidentified intellectual disabilities I spoke with said that in most jails she’d report her disability, but no one would listen to her.</p>
<h2>Hidden behind bars</h2>
<p>The disproportionate rates of cognitive, intellectual and developmental disability in U.S. prisons and jails have rarely formed part of the conversation on reforming our police and prison system. When discussing mental health in prison, often the <a href="https://www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org/evidence-and-research/learn-more-about/3695">focus is on psychiatric disabilities</a>, like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. There is good reason for this – people with these kinds of disabilities are also at <a href="https://www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org/evidence-and-research/learn-more-about/3695">high risk for incarceration</a>.</p>
<p>But, I believe, it has meant that the needs of incarcerated people with intellectual and developmental disabilities have been neglected. At present, there is <a href="http://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2017.12.036">little support for people with these disabilities</a> in incarcerated settings. Prisons and jails could ensure staff are better trained to interact with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.</p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>We could also explore strategies to divert people with intellectual, learning and cognitive disabilities away from the criminal justice system. Cities are increasingly exploring alternatives to police for responding to mental health crises, like the <a href="https://whitebirdclinic.org/cahoots/">CAHOOTS model in Oregon</a> in which a medic and mental health expert are deployed as first responders. Additionally, there could be more attention to these disabilities in <a href="https://bja.ojp.gov/sites/g/files/xyckuh186/files/Publications/CSG_MHC_Research.pdf">mental health courts</a>, which combine court supervision with community-based services. They have been shown to be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2010.11.003">somewhat effective at reducing recidivism</a>, but which <a href="http://doi.org/10.1007/s10979-010-9250-4">seem to focus on people</a> with schizophrenia, bipolar, major depression or PTSD.</p>
<p>But before that, awareness about the presence of disability in incarcerated settings needs to be higher. The plight of incarcerated prisoners with intellectual disabilities has long been an issue lost amid America’s sprawling prison network.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/158407/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennifer Sarrett does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A quarter of prisoners report a cognitive, intellectual or developmental disability. But the true figure could be even higher.Jennifer Sarrett, Lecturer, Center for Study of Human Health, Emory UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1585922021-04-20T12:28:41Z2021-04-20T12:28:41ZNo visits and barely any calls – pandemic makes separation even scarier for people with a family member in prison<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395483/original/file-20210416-13-1nurhn3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5362%2C3274&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A Texas woman shows a picture of her 21-year-old son, who has been incarcerated during the pandemic. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/VirusOutbreakPrisonerVaccines/40ab859b11d7497dbbea99c4d50ee05c">AP Photo/LM Otero</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Jails and prisons in the United States had a coronavirus infection rate <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/04/10/us/covid-prison-outbreak.html">three times greater than the general population</a>, with an average of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/04/10/us/covid-prison-outbreak.html">1,400 new COVID-19 infections and seven deaths every day</a> over the past year. </p>
<p>America’s correctional facilities are notoriously bad for <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/002214650804900105">spreading infectious diseases</a>. <a href="https://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/appi.ajp.2008.08030416">Millions of people constantly cycle in and out</a> of them every year and they have limited medical staff and supplies. People in prison also spend extended periods in crowded indoor spaces, with <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-soc-073014-112326?utm_source=TrendMD_Collection&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Understanding_Health_Equity&utm_content=Stress&casa_token=SvH9YY3qGH4AAAAA%3AD5f6nPApQmU4tY3YnJ_FeqLuVYsz2Bi3438erPXTkQrvWXiybzGHZa5fu0ZBRgBews26MAtMMXx7tg">poor air circulation and ventilation</a>. </p>
<p>For many people who are incarcerated, either awaiting trial in jail or imprisoned after conviction, being locked in a <a href="https://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/-the-fear-is-real-prisoners-at-high-risk-for-contracting-covid-19-81913925649">pandemic hot spot has been terrifying</a>. And for the 6.5 million Americans who have a <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2378023119829332">family member incarcerated</a>, COVID-19 has made an already <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3953802/">highly stressful situation</a> much worse, according to our criminology research.</p>
<p>Throughout summer 2020, <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Z12O3vTA1yqco7kGLTmN8IF0uUfdlDxZQTTzETRbEmY/edit?usp=sharing">we surveyed</a> more than 500 people who have a family member incarcerated in Texas – <a href="https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-texas-prisons-0cd4abba679ac501ad3cb567dc7509c2">a state with the country’s worst COVID-19 outbreaks</a> in correctional facilities. Nearly 200 provided personal statements about having a loved one incarcerated during the pandemic. </p>
<p>People conveyed deep concern about the conditions of their family member’s confinement and struggled to cope with new pandemic restrictions on visits and other communication. Many feared their family member would die of COVID-19, alone, in prison – as <a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/2020/05/01/a-state-by-state-look-at-coronavirus-in-prisons">2,564 incarcerated people in the U.S. have already done this year</a>.</p>
<h2>‘We don’t incarcerate, we torture’</h2>
<p>With more than <a href="https://txdps.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/dce4d7da662945178ad5fbf3981fa35c">34,000 positive COVID-19 cases in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice</a> so far, infection rates in Texas prisons are <a href="https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/bitstream/handle/2152/83635/Profile%20of%20COVID%20deaths%20in%20custody.pdf?sequence=6&isAllowed=y">40% higher than the national prison population average</a>. Texas has recorded some of the <a href="https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/bitstream/handle/2152/83635/Profile%20of%20COVID%20deaths%20in%20custody.pdf?sequence=6&isAllowed=y">highest number of COVID-19 deaths of incarcerated people nationwide</a>: <a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/2020/05/01/a-state-by-state-look-at-coronavirus-in-prisons">187 deaths as of April 16, 2021</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395474/original/file-20210416-19-k3pinu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Photo of the TDCJ headquarters with a sign outside painted like the flag of Texas" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395474/original/file-20210416-19-k3pinu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395474/original/file-20210416-19-k3pinu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395474/original/file-20210416-19-k3pinu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395474/original/file-20210416-19-k3pinu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395474/original/file-20210416-19-k3pinu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395474/original/file-20210416-19-k3pinu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395474/original/file-20210416-19-k3pinu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Texas Department of Criminal Justice, based in Huntsville, runs nearly 100 detention facilities, including 50 state prisons and dozens of jails.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/with-afp-story-by-chantel-valery-us-justice-execution-news-photo/171090061?adppopup=true">Chantal Valery/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Our study participants belonged to the <a href="https://tifa.org/">Texas Inmate Family Association</a>, a nonprofit organization that provides support to people with family incarcerated in the state. The survey was conducted anonymously, so we include only limited personal details about the respondents and their family members here and have not verified their assertions.</p>
<p>Our survey showed that people with a family member incarcerated during the pandemic experienced extreme distress. Seventy-nine percent were very concerned that their loved one would contract COVID-19 in prison. The vast majority were women with a child or spouse incarcerated. </p>
<p>“My son has been locked in a cell with temperatures over 100 degrees for up to 23-plus hours a day for weeks on end now due to COVID,” one 74-year-old woman who lives near San Marcos told us. “I fear he will either perish from the conditions or somehow take his own life.” </p>
<p>Many Texas prisons <a href="https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/failing_grades.html">lack masks, soap and hand sanitizer</a>. Yet family are not allowed to bring sanitizer into prisons: It is <a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/2020/03/06/when-purell-is-contraband-how-do-you-contain-coronavirus">considered contraband</a> in <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/05/us/coronavirus-prison-hand-sanitizer-contraband-invs/index.html">federal prisons and state prisons</a> in over a dozen states.</p>
<p>One father compared the conditions his child was experiencing in prison “to a concentration camp.” </p>
<p>Even before the pandemic, a mother told us, having a child in prison was stressful because of “the disregard the Texas Department of Criminal Justice system, in general, has for the well-being and rehabilitation of the inmates. Living conditions are deplorable, the food is not nutritious, dental and medical care is too difficult to access, [and] there are too many extended lockdowns.” </p>
<p>“We don’t incarcerate, we torture,” she said. </p>
<p>The Texas Department of Criminal Justice has been sued in the <a href="https://www.npr.org/2016/09/12/493608371/with-no-air-conditioning-texas-prisoners-live-in-cruel-conditions-suit-alleges">past over prison conditions</a> and <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/03/30/texas-inmates-sue-prison-over-coronavirus-practices/">recently over its coronavirus policies and practices</a>.</p>
<h2>‘We have lost a part of us’</h2>
<p>Incarceration always physically separates family members; that’s part of the punishment. And during COVID-19, it is a particularly harsh punishment. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395475/original/file-20210416-17-1mxqqyp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Guard opens the gate for a person in a high chain link fence topped with barbed wire" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395475/original/file-20210416-17-1mxqqyp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395475/original/file-20210416-17-1mxqqyp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395475/original/file-20210416-17-1mxqqyp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395475/original/file-20210416-17-1mxqqyp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395475/original/file-20210416-17-1mxqqyp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395475/original/file-20210416-17-1mxqqyp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395475/original/file-20210416-17-1mxqqyp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The Robertson Unit maximum security prison facility, outside Abilene, Texas.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/guard-on-duty-at-the-robertson-unit-maximum-security-prison-news-photo/71441701?adppopup=true">Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images)</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>A woman in San Antonio told us, “The hardest part of this pandemic is not having my husband…by my side.”</p>
<p>Her husband has been incarcerated for 11 years. </p>
<p>In Texas prisons, all types of contact with the outside world – including <a href="https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/article/Hundreds-of-COVID-cases-surface-at-state-jail-in-15407169.php">video and phone calls</a> – were severely limited and visitation <a href="https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/coronavirus-texas/269-38e0b2c8-3cdc-4afd-acfb-5ab12ca39566">barred completely</a> on March 13, 2020, when Gov. Greg Abbott declared a state of disaster. That included juvenile facilities.</p>
<p>“Phones have been disabled during COVID and [the] few calls are only 5 minutes,” said a Houston woman whose son is incarcerated at the Huntsville Penitentiary in Texas. “It is all so hard on inmates, but so, so hard for families.”</p>
<p>Texas <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/03/09/texas-prisons-visitation/">reopened jails and prisons to visits</a> on March 15, 2021.</p>
<p>But the separation will have already taken a high toll on once-intimate relationships, our research shows.</p>
<p>“We have lost a part of us being separated for so long. We are not the same people,” said one 49-year-old woman last summer, whose incarcerated fiancé had been unable to communicate with her. </p>
<p>“My fiancé has lost hope and is struggling, and it breaks my heart.” </p>
<h2>‘Worried sick’</h2>
<p>As <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=wCnDQNgAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">criminologists</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=R7p6oW8AAAAJ&hl=en">who</a> study the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0002817719308396">health consequences of incarceration</a>, we know that <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/D/bo5485741.html">worry over the well-being of an incarcerated loved one</a> is a common and severe stressor. Studies show that having a family member incarcerated is detrimental to the psychological and physical <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953620304834?casa_token=QBet58jx-UIAAAAA:PPFPZzBXr2d9Zh8g9frj_FZSx1N_3Kg2mczNa-UDKNW47cAV_GV2ggcHk5AlkSNQFyCqMjpZIgw">health of parents</a>, <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0003122411436234?casa_token=6m1AF6q_Qs8AAAAA%3AO8weNSL3bgzBVYYbYmKc9XGSfmeRvar9QonQDT_z337SW8Dmc6a3yQF4e32vtccWuzhLCv-ov7d_4A">spouses</a> and <a href="https://academic.oup.com/epirev/article/40/1/146/4964052?login=true">children</a>. </p>
<p>The stress of knowing an incarcerated family member could become ill with a deadly virus adds to existing fear they will be mistreated or assaulted in prison. </p>
<p>Several family members of the people we interviewed did indeed contract COVID-19. One woman, whose husband had recently tested positive, said she had difficulty getting in touch with nurses to update her on his condition. </p>
<p>“I am worried sick,” she said. </p>
<p>[<em>Over 100,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletter to understand the world.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=100Ksignup">Sign up today</a>.]</p>
<p>Some people said they were kept in the dark about their family member’s illness.</p>
<p>“I did not even know he had contracted COVID-19 until several weeks after,” said one woman of her husband. </p>
<p>“He was on lockdown, and couldn’t call home.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/158592/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alexander Testa receives funding from Aging Research in Criminal Justice Health Network (ARCH), National Institutes of Health, and Bureau of Justice Assistance</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chantal Fahmy received funding from the Aging Research in Criminal Justice Health (ARCH) Network, National Institutes of Health and from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Institute of Justice. </span></em></p>For the 6.5 million Americans who have an incarcerated family member, COVID-19 has made an already stressful situation much worse by drastically limiting communication and raising fears of death.Alexander Testa, Assistant Professor of Criminology & Criminal Justice, The University of Texas at San AntonioChantal Fahmy, Assistant Professor of Criminology & Criminal Justice, The University of Texas at San AntonioLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1437302020-08-06T12:31:45Z2020-08-06T12:31:45ZAs the coronavirus rages in prisons, ethical issues of crime and punishment become more compelling<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351175/original/file-20200804-16-13pf01y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=104%2C27%2C3548%2C2414&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A 1970 image of prisoners in cell blocks at Rikers Island Prison.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/rikers-island-new-york-prisoners-in-cell-blocks-at-rikers-news-photo/515297520?adppopup=true">Bettmann / Contributor/Bettmann via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Across the United States, prisons and jails have become <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html#clusters">hot spots</a> for COVID-19. Governments at the state and federal level are being pressed to release inmates before the end of their sentence in order to minimize the spread of the disease.</p>
<p>So far more than 100,000 of them <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200708121423.htm">have been infected</a> with the coronavirus, and at least 802 inmates and several correctional officers have died. </p>
<p>New Jersey’s correctional facilities have been hit particularly hard. With 29 deaths for every 100,000 inmates, they have <a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/2020/05/01/a-state-by-state-look-at-coronavirus-in-prisons">the highest COVID-19-related death rate</a> in the nation.</p>
<p>In response, New Jersey has already <a href="http://d31hzlhk6di2h5.cloudfront.net/20200410/c0/64/ce/2c/0ef068b5d2c6459546c33a46/EO-124.pdf">released more than 1,000 inmates</a>, and Gov. Phil Murphy on April 10, 2020 authorized a case-by-case review of prisoners who are at greater risk. Additionally, the state legislature is <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/30/nyregion/New-jersey-inmate-release-Covid.html">considering</a> a bill to authorize release of about 20% of its prison population. </p>
<p>As a scholar who <a href="https://nyupress.org/9780814762479/life-without-parole/">has studied penal policy in the U.S.</a>, it is clear that the coronavirus requires Americans to think hard about what is unjust and disproportionate punishment. It is a question that ethicists have tried to tackle for millennia, but has been given added urgency during the pandemic. </p>
<h2>Overcrowding, infections and deaths</h2>
<p>Social distancing is <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/RuleOfLaw/OverIncarceration/ACLU.pdf">impossible</a> in correctional facilities and, as a result, so is COVID-19 prevention. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/In-California-s-crowded-prison-system-COVID-19-15273236.php">California</a>, for example, where 109,000 prisoners are housed in facilities with a maximum capacity of 85,000, the <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/healthiest-communities/articles/2020-06-29/prisons-are-coronavirus-hotbeds-in-california-despite-billions-spent-on-inmate-health">infection rate</a> in June for the state’s jails and prisons was about 40 per 1,000 inmates – more than seven times the rate for the state’s population as a whole. </p>
<p>In New York City’s jails, <a href="https://www.legalaidnyc.org/covid-19-infection-tracking-in-nyc-jails/">it was was more than 7%</a>, compared to just over 2% for the city’s population. </p>
<p>Inmates fear for their lives. One California prisoner, who is serving an eight-year sentence for causing injury while driving drunk, <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-04-25/i-dont-deserve-a-death-sentence-says-inmate-with-coronary-disease-in-chino-coronavirus-prison-hotspot">told the Los Angeles Times</a>: “I don’t deserve a death sentence.” </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351178/original/file-20200804-14-15cqv7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351178/original/file-20200804-14-15cqv7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351178/original/file-20200804-14-15cqv7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351178/original/file-20200804-14-15cqv7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351178/original/file-20200804-14-15cqv7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351178/original/file-20200804-14-15cqv7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351178/original/file-20200804-14-15cqv7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Overcrowding in prisons: Inmates at the Mule Creek State Prison in a gymnasium that was modified to house prisoners in Ione, California.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/inmates-at-the-mule-creek-state-prison-interact-in-a-news-photo/76479839?adppopup=true">Justin Sullivan/Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>Justice in punishment</h2>
<p>Philosophers since Aristotle have debated what justice in punishment requires. For him, punishment is governed by the requirements of what he <a href="https://www.amazon.com/ethics-Aristotle-2-Aristotle/dp/B0037CFD3W">called</a> “corrective justice.” By this he meant that when someone is injured, the offender should be punished by inflicting comparable harm. </p>
<p>Aristotle‘s idea that punishment is a deserved and proportional response to an offense provides a building block for <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Punishment_and_Retribution.html?id=5go7I84EGI0C">retributive theories of punishment</a>, which embrace some form of “an eye for an eye” as a way to do justice. </p>
<p>Those theories insist, as 18th-century philosopher Immanuel Kant <a href="https://antilogicalism.files.wordpress.com/2018/04/kant-practical-philosophy.pdf">noted</a>, that punishment “can never be inflicted merely as a means to promote some other good for the criminal himself or for civil society. It must always be inflicted upon him because he has committed a crime.” In other words, just punishment must give people what they deserve, nothing less and nothing more.</p>
<p>Thus, Kant <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3505232?seq=33#metadata_info_tab_contents">suggested</a> that the amount of punishment should be governed by a principle of proportionality. </p>
<p>Many contemporary theorists of punishment embrace this idea. As legal scholar <a href="https://www.law.columbia.edu/faculty/bernard-e-harcourt">Bernard Harcourt</a> recently <a href="https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1667&context=faculty_scholarship">said</a>, punishment “should be proportional to the amount of harm caused by the offender.” </p>
<h2>Prison conditions</h2>
<p>To determine whether the risk of being exposed in prison to sickness or death from COVID-19 is disproportionate punishment requires paying attention to prison conditions. One question to ask is whether the harsh conditions of life behind bars are part of a criminal’s punishment or merely a collateral consequence of their sentence. </p>
<p>Throughout most of American history, a criminal sentence was thought to be the full measure of the punishment inflicted – jail and prison conditions, as bad as they might be, were not regarded as part of the punishment. </p>
<p>In 1992, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/503/1/#tab-opinion-1958937">observed</a>, in a case brought by an inmate who had been beaten by a guard, that the prohibition on cruel punishment found in the Constitution’s Eighth Amendment did not apply to any “deprivations” or “hardships” during incarceration. </p>
<p>Two years later, Thomas <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/511/825/#tab-opinion-1959529">reiterated</a> his view that the overcrowding, disease or violence which are often part of confinement “are not punishment in any recognized sense of the term.” </p>
<p>But Thomas’ view has not prevailed.</p>
<p>In a series of recent cases, the United States Supreme Court has <a href="https://law.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/heaps.pdf">held</a> that what happens in jails and prisons is in fact part of an inmate’s punishment and must be considered in deciding whether their treatment is just. </p>
<p>As Justice Lewis Powell <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/452/337/">said</a> in a 1981 case challenging prison overcrowding, such conditions are part of the punishment and are “subject to scrutiny under the Eighth Amendment standards.” </p>
<p>Those conditions “must not,” he said, “involve the wanton and unnecessary infliction of pain, nor may they be grossly disproportionate to the severity of the crime warranting imprisonment.” </p>
<p>In 2011, the Supreme Court <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/563/493/#tab-opinion-1963501">reaffirmed</a> the view that jail and prison conditions were very much part of the punishment. The court upheld a lower court order directing the state of California to reduce the size of its prison population so as to reduce overcrowding and provide better medical treatment for inmates. </p>
<h2>Protecting prisoners</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351176/original/file-20200804-14-14d07je.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351176/original/file-20200804-14-14d07je.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351176/original/file-20200804-14-14d07je.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351176/original/file-20200804-14-14d07je.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351176/original/file-20200804-14-14d07je.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351176/original/file-20200804-14-14d07je.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351176/original/file-20200804-14-14d07je.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A family enters a women’s prison in New Jersey to visit their mother.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/family-enters-a-womens-prison-in-new-jersey-to-visit-their-news-photo/539606566?adppopup=true">Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the coming weeks, courts <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/21/politics/covid-19-supreme-court-prisoners-rights/index.html">will be handling</a> a number of pandemic-related cases involving prisoners, and legislatures <a href="https://www.wbur.org/news/2020/05/05/prisoner-release-coronavirus-massachusetts-bill">will be considering</a> proposals to let large numbers of inmates leave confinement. </p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>As they do so, it is important for them to acknowledge that when the government puts someone behind bars and deprives them of the capacity to provide for their own care and protection it has, what law professor <a href="https://law.ucla.edu/faculty/faculty-profiles/sharon-dolovich">Sharon Dolovich</a> <a href="https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1020&context=facpub">calls</a> “an affirmative obligation,” a duty to act to protect them from harm. </p>
<p>Judges and legislators will need to consider both whether being exposed to COVID-19 in prison is a disproportionate and unjust punishment and also how to discharge the government’s responsibilities to the incarcerated.</p>
<p>Doing so should, I believe, lead them to release as many inmates as possible from the dangers to which COVID-19 is exposing them every day.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/143730/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Austin Sarat does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Infection rates of COVID-19 have soared among prisoners in the US. An expert on penal policy considers what is ‘unjust and disproportionate’ punishment at this time.Austin Sarat, Associate Provost and Associate Dean of the Faculty and Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science, Amherst CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1431782020-07-23T02:55:35Z2020-07-23T02:55:35ZWhy prisons in Victoria are locked up and locked down<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349019/original/file-20200723-30-m7w7q5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=10%2C2%2C988%2C495&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/prison-interior-jail-cells-shadows-dark-1118920109">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>This week <a href="https://www.corrections.vic.gov.au/covid19">revealed cases</a> of coronavirus infection in a Victorian prison guard and a prisoner in quarantine on remand. Now <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-21/victoria-coronavirus-cases-rise-by-374-as-three-more-people-die/12471912">six Victorian prisons</a> are in lockdown. </p>
<p>This is not the first time there has been a positive COVID-19 test for prison personnel in Australia; <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/the-people-keeping-covid-19-out-of-prison-20200515-p54tg6.html">three justice health staff</a> in New South Wales tested positive earlier this year.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1285557373801660418"}"></div></p>
<p>Public health and prison officials look fearfully at the toll coronavirus has taken on incarcerated populations <a href="https://www.ussc.edu.au/analysis/how-bad-is-coronavirus-in-jails">around the world</a>. They recognise Australian prisons are also at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/mar/19/australias-overcrowded-prisons-could-struggle-to-control-coronavirus-expert-says">high risk</a> for coronavirus outbreaks. </p>
<p>Many have <a href="https://croakey.org/a-croakey-exclusive-timely-call-for-action-to-protect-prisoners-during-pandemic/">pushed for</a> proactive measures to prevent this. Now the adequacy of the implemented measures is being tested. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-why-prison-conditions-can-be-a-perfect-storm-for-spreading-disease-134106">Coronavirus: why prison conditions can be a perfect storm for spreading disease</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Why are prisons and prisoners at increased risk?</h2>
<p>Prisons and prisoners are at <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-prisoners-are-at-higher-risk-for-the-coronavirus-5-questions-answered-136111">increased risk</a> of coronavirus for many reasons, including:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Prisoners and staff (who come and go into the community) are in close contact. So it is easy to see how transmission could occur between the community and prison populations, and back again.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/may/24/security-at-risk-as-number-of-prisoners-jumps-by-40-leaving-cells-overcrowded">Overcrowding</a> means prisoners cannot self-isolate.</p></li>
<li><p>Hygiene standards are <a href="https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/debbie-kilroy-has-recovered-from-covid-19-is-concerned-for-those-in-our-overcrowded-prisons/">poor</a> and there have been <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-03/coronavirus-restrictions-spark-inmate-unrest-in-nsw-jails/12113820">reported shortages</a> of personal protective equipment (PPE) for both staff and prisoners. National Cabinet agreed <a href="https://www.pm.gov.au/media/update-coronavirus-measures-050520">in May</a> supplying PPE to corrections facilities should be a priority “if COVID-19 cases are confirmed in the sector”, so it is not clear if this has happened.</p></li>
<li><p>Prisoners have higher rates of <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/2e92f007-453d-48a1-9c6b-4c9531cf0371/aihw-phe-246.pdf.aspx?inline=true">social disadvantage</a> and many are <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/2e92f007-453d-48a1-9c6b-4c9531cf0371/aihw-phe-246.pdf.aspx?inline=true">medically vulnerable</a> due to lifelong difficulties accessing health care; mental health and substance abuse problems; violence; and unhealthy prison conditions.</p></li>
<li><p>Indigenous Australians are <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20Subject/4517.0%7E2018%7EMain%20Features%7EAboriginal%20and%20Torres%20Strait%20Islander%20prisoner%20characteristics%20%7E13">significantly over-represented</a> in the prison population. While coronavirus has been <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/05/19/indigenous-australians-avert-coronavirus-outbreak-for-now-aboriginal/">kept out of</a> Indigenous communities, there is every reason to believe Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, like other First Nations people, are at <a href="https://www.ussc.edu.au/analysis/covid-19-the-big-questions-why-are-racial-minorities-and-first-nations-communities-more-impacted-by-covid-19">increased risk</a> from coronavirus infection and death.</p></li>
<li><p>There is <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-06-14/australias-booming-prison-population-in-three-charts/8616876">significant churn</a> in the justice system as people are taken into custody, bailed, jailed and released.</p></li>
<li><p>There is <a href="https://apo.org.au/node/174881">little data</a> to assess the adequacy of health-care facilities in prisons. But prisoners have an inherent health-care disadvantage as they cannot make their own decisions about their health care, <a href="https://insightplus.mja.com.au/2017/27/call-to-include-prisoners-in-medicare-and-pbs/">or access</a> Medicare and medicines under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>What’s happening in prisons during the pandemic?</h2>
<p>There is little information about what is happening to protect Australian prisons from the pandemic. </p>
<p>One <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/mar/19/australias-overcrowded-prisons-could-struggle-to-control-coronavirus-expert-says">media report</a> in March outlined some measures individual states and territories have taken. All jurisdictions have limited prison visits and most, <a href="https://www.corrections.vic.gov.au/covid19">including Victoria</a>, have instituted a 14-day quarantine for new prisoners. </p>
<p>There has been some testing in some prisons, but the extent is not known. A <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/covid-19-testing-rolled-out-to-prisoners-and-prison-staff-20200507-p54qng.html">media report</a> in May stated Victoria would increase testing in prisons after three inmates returned inconclusive tests that were later found to be negative.</p>
<h2>Should we be releasing prisoners?</h2>
<p>Australian governments have faced <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/hundreds-of-experts-sign-open-letter-calling-for-release-of-prisoners-to-avoid-coronavirus-deaths">renewed calls</a> to urgently release some prisoners into the community. This would cut the number of people held in prisons and other places of detention, particularly <a href="https://changetherecord.org.au/covid-19">Indigenous people</a> and others at increased risk. </p>
<p>Governments <a href="https://www.ussc.edu.au/analysis/how-bad-is-coronavirus-in-jails">in some states</a>, have responded by introducing legislation to allow for this, although we don’t yet know the extent of any releases.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/for-first-nations-people-coronavirus-has-meant-fewer-services-separated-families-and-over-policing-new-report-139460">For First Nations people, coronavirus has meant fewer services, separated families and over-policing: new report</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>However, release into the community is only a safe option if people have appropriate housing and support services. There <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/mar/26/coronavirus-is-a-ticking-time-bomb-for-the-australian-prison-system">are concerns</a> that releases — which are based on risk to the community, the safety of victims and access to accommodation — will be culturally biased against those most likely to benefit such as Indigenous prisoners. </p>
<p>Many Indigenous communities are closed to visitors and no-one can return until after a 14-day isolation period. This presents difficulties for those prisoners who do not have accommodation options outside their communities.</p>
<h2>We need to avoid what’s happening overseas</h2>
<p>The clear lessons from the second outbreak of coronavirus in Victoria and from the <a href="https://croakey.org/public-health-lessons-from-the-worlds-leader-in-incarceration/">disastrous situation</a> of rising coronavirus cases in prisons in the United States is that swift, concerted actions are needed to curtail spread of the virus. </p>
<p>The only way to know what is happening is rapid testing of prisoners and staff, whether or not they show symptoms, and effective isolation of anyone possibly infected. </p>
<p>At the same time, the human rights of this vulnerable population must be protected and their physical and mental health needs addressed. Already most prisoners are unable to have visitors and <a href="https://www.corrections.vic.gov.au/covid19#property">in Victoria</a> they are unable to receive needed supplies such as toiletries, books, food and clothing. </p>
<p>Families <a href="https://croakey.org/stand-with-us-and-clean-out-prisons/">are reportedly</a> “sick with worry” they will not be notified if a family member falls ill.</p>
<p>The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/03/1060252">said</a> that during a global pandemic,
the consequences of neglecting the prison population was “potentially catastrophic”.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-a-history-of-pandemics-in-prison-136776">Coronavirus: a history of pandemics in prison</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In Australia, <a href="https://staffportal.curtin.edu.au/staff/profile/view/Hannah.Mcglade/">Hannah McGlade</a>, academic, human rights lawyer and a member of the UN Permanent Forum for Indigenous Issues, <a href="https://indigenousx.com.au/covid-urgency-and-calls-for-release/">said</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Prison is the most unsafe place that Aboriginal people can be in a pandemic.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The Victorian government is already on notice. A <a href="https://croakey.org/supreme-court-rules-victorian-government-breached-duty-of-care-to-person-in-prison-in-their-response-to-covid-19-pandemic/">recent decision</a> of the Victorian supreme court found it had breached its duty to take reasonable care for the health of people behind bars during the coronavirus pandemic. </p>
<p>It is imperative that in the days ahead coronavirus infections in prisons and other correctional facilities are accepted as a public health problem for everyone.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/143178/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lesley Russell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Coronavirus infections in prisons are a public health problem for everyone, not just prisoners and sfaff.Lesley Russell, Adjunct Associate Professor, Menzies Centre for Health Policy, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1374552020-05-14T12:03:47Z2020-05-14T12:03:47ZWhat the coronavirus crisis reveals about vulnerable populations behind bars and on the streets<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/333735/original/file-20200508-49550-ud4oca.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=142%2C95%2C7797%2C4404&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Inmates work in the laundry room at Las Colinas Women's Detention Facility in Santee, California, on April 22, 2020.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/inmates-work-in-the-laundry-room-at-las-colinas-womens-news-photo/1210676403?adppopup=true">Sandy Huffaker/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The notion that COVID-19 is an <a href="https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2020-04-08/coronavirus-racial-disparity">equal opportunity killer</a> has <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/2020/04/coronavirus-disproportionately-impacts-african-americans/">crumbled</a>. The health and economic fallout from the crisis has disproportionately hit lower-income areas and communities of color. Nowhere is this discrepancy more evident than in prisons, jails and homeless shelters – made up <a href="https://qz.com/1233966/new-data-clearly-illustrate-the-poverty-to-prison-pipeline/">disproportionately of poorer</a>, <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/04/30/shrinking-gap-between-number-of-blacks-and-whites-in-prison/">black and Latino men and women</a>. </p>
<p>Here, COVID-19 cases have <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/26/world/americas/coronavirus-brazil-prisons.html">mushroomed</a> due to <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/03/13/nation/city-officials-scramble-stop-potential-spread-coronavirus-among-homeless/">dormitory-style living conditions</a> and the inability of people, often with underlying health issues, to practice social distancing. As the virus rages on, comprehensive COVID-19 testing for these populations remains elusive. </p>
<p>As <a href="https://socialwork.wayne.edu/profile/ao1692">experts on jails</a>, <a href="http://medpeds.med.wayne.edu/profile/ar3897">health disparities</a> and <a href="https://clasprofiles.wayne.edu/profile/gr2312">how to help former prisoners reintegrate into society</a>, we believe that missteps in how we transition incarcerated individuals back to the community would only put this vulnerable populace at greater risk of getting and transmitting COVID-19.</p>
<p>Health officials agree that incarcerated individuals and correctional staff are at <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/3/17/21181515/coronavirus-covid-19-jails-prisons-mass-incarceration">high risk of contagion</a> due to crowded settings. But while both prisons and jails have curtailed visitations, they have fared differently amid the pandemic. </p>
<p>In prisons, where diversion and early release are often elusive, inmates with COVID-19 are quarantined in <a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/2020/05/07/the-cruel-irony-of-social-distancing-when-you-re-stuck-in-solitary">solitary confinement</a>. However, this measure, more commonly used as punishment, may spur individuals with symptoms to skirt testing and <a href="https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hblog20200324.784502/full/">avoid these conditions</a>.</p>
<p>Though prisons have also become <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/07/us/coronavirus-cases-prisons-nursing-homes/index.html">hot spots for COVID-19</a>, they should be better placed than jails to limit exposure to outside diseases. That’s because they are efficient at confining their populace, and the flow of individuals in and out of prisons is tightly monitored. Prisons have larger medical units, more comprehensive assessment and release planning protocols including parole supports for <a href="https://www.prisonpolicy.org/virus/virusresponse.html">individuals returning to their communities</a>. </p>
<p>Jails are not designed for long-term stays. And they have flexibility with releasing individuals due to special circumstances like overcrowding. Thus, they have been a focus of calls for decreased admissions and the release of nonviolent inmates to keep incarcerated numbers low <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/05/05/850513762/as-covid-19-fears-grow-10-000-prisoners-are-freed-from-overcrowded-philippine-ja">amid COVID-19</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/333736/original/file-20200508-49573-481k9l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/333736/original/file-20200508-49573-481k9l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333736/original/file-20200508-49573-481k9l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333736/original/file-20200508-49573-481k9l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333736/original/file-20200508-49573-481k9l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333736/original/file-20200508-49573-481k9l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333736/original/file-20200508-49573-481k9l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Signs pleading for help hang in windows at the Cook County jail complex on April 9, 2020 in Chicago, Illinois.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/signs-pleading-for-help-hang-in-windows-at-the-cook-county-news-photo/1217892115?adppopup=true&uiloc=thumbnail_more_from_this_event_adp">Scott Olson via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Michigan’s 81 jails, for example, with 20,000 beds, <a href="https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/03/26/advice-jails-michigan-coronavirus/2919375001/">have decreased incarceration levels</a> by more than half due to reductions in bookings, posting of bonds and <a href="https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/03/19/bay-area-courts-authorities-ramp-up-release-of-inmates-to-stem-covid-19-risks-in-jails/">limiting bookings to violent offenders</a>. Other measures such as eliminating bench warrant arrests – typically issued when an individual fails to make a fine payment or appear in court – and the early release of individuals at risk of COVID-19 <a href="https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/04/25/coronavirus-cases-michigan-prison-surge-widespread-testing-prisoners/3002811001/">have also helped</a> bring down the populace.</p>
<p>Still, it’s important to recall that individuals who are jailed differ from those in state prisons in that they are often coming straight from the street. Many are experiencing <a href="https://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/89/9/10-082842/en/">financial, health and behavioral health issues</a>. Others may be navigating substance misuse issues like withdrawal symptoms and intoxication. Scores suffer from <a href="https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hblog20140401.038180/full/">psychosis or depression</a>. </p>
<h2>Jail diversion and public health</h2>
<p>This poses a problem for states: Where will individuals with these behavioral health needs, with few financial and social resources, and possibly COVID-19, go?</p>
<p>In Michigan, inmates are being released with a signed, written promise to not engage in illegal activities and to appear in court when mandated. But these promises are hard to keep when you are <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/05/05/850513762/as-covid-19-fears-grow-10-000-prisoners-are-freed-from-overcrowded-philippine-ja">struggling with addiction</a> or mental health problems. </p>
<p>It is dangerous to release people into the community without first testing them for COVID-19 and providing them with access to public health and treatment services. <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0887403403255064">Our research</a>, informed by the <a href="https://www.samhsa.gov/gains-center">Gains Center</a>, which expands access to services for those with mental health and substance abuse disorders, shows that extensive transition planning, led by multidisciplinary teams, results in better outcomes for those reentering society. That includes giving them access to detox beds, housing and connections to day treatment. </p>
<p>The pandemic, however, has upended all norms. It has resulted in skeleton social service crews, restricted access to medical facilities and remote care requiring access to technology that homeless and recently incarcerated people often lack. People in jails have limited access to <a href="https://www.the-hospitalist.org/hospitalist/article/220860/coronavirus-updates/life-jail-made-worse-during-covid-19">mental health services</a>. This might make it harder for inmates to continue receiving the same medications when they leave jail, especially when it comes to treating psychiatric and <a href="https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hblog20200331.557887/full/">opioid use disorders</a>.</p>
<p>In worst-case scenarios, individuals attempting to stave off withdrawal may obtain drugs without <a href="https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/recovering-from-addiction-during-a-time-of-uncertainty-and-social-distancing-2020040319381">maintaining social distancing</a>. We have anecdotal evidence of suicide rates increasing among opiate addicts awaiting treatment. Other <a href="https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/coronavirus/2020/04/24/nj-coronavirus-recovering-substance-abuse-amid-virus-outbreak/2998309001/">substance abusers</a> are refusing treatment all together. </p>
<p>Similarly, individuals with <a href="https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hblog20191022.281887/full/">mental health disorders</a> who need medications and housing need to be connected with providers who can assist them. But <a href="https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/a-tale-of-two-epidemics-when-covid-19-and-opioid-addiction-collide-2020042019569">COVID-19 has disrupted</a> many of these services. The result is <a href="https://mentalillnesspolicy.org/consequences/homeless-mentally-ill.html">often homelessness</a>. </p>
<h2>Homelessness in the age of COVID-19</h2>
<p>To beat COVID-19, we believe it is essential to secure housing for the homeless. “Staying at home,” for instance, is impossible when you don’t have one. And how do you social distance when you live in a shelter with <a href="https://www.wvxu.org/post/its-impossible-keep-social-distance-homeless-shelters-so-groups-ask-help#stream/0">no access to private quarters</a>? </p>
<p>Cities like <a href="https://sf.curbed.com/2020/4/15/21221245/san-francisco-covid-coronavirus-hotels-homeless-sf">San Francisco</a> and <a href="https://ny.curbed.com/2020/4/13/21218888/nyc-coronavirus-homeless-hotel-rooms-shelters">New York</a> are attempting to reduce the homeless population by using hotel rooms. Other communities are erecting <a href="https://www.citylab.com/equity/2020/04/homeless-shelter-coronavirus-testing-hotel-rooms-healthcare/610000/">tent cities</a> or getting people into permanent housing.</p>
<p>Despite these efforts, individuals in unstable housing are <a href="https://apnews.com/43720a6c5d49e8c62950a2aab9e00ec2">vulnerable to the coronavirus</a> as well as food insecurity, violence and victimization. Some homeless people visit emergency rooms for health care and social needs – warmth, food, shelter and human touch. This renders them susceptible to contracting COVID-19 in the ER if they are negative or transmitting it if they are positive. </p>
<h2>A coordinated national strategy</h2>
<p>A coordinated and structured strategy, through a health equity approach, would likely interrupt the significant <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/racial-ethnic-minorities.html">impact on marginalized communities</a>. </p>
<p>For instance, while <a href="https://www.journalofhospitalmedicine.com/jhospmed/article/220018/hospital-medicine/keep-calm-and-log-telemedicine-covid-19-pandemic-response">telehealth holds promise</a>, it’s not ideal for people without access to technology. And <a href="https://www.wfyi.org/news/articles/public-health-agencies-struggle-to-find-covid-19-resources">social service providers</a> do not have adequate staff, technology or finances. Consequently, they lack the capacity to plan for care during this unprecedented crises – because they are always operating in crisis mode. </p>
<p>The inability to plan, coupled with <a href="https://qz.com/1848836/funding-public-health-schools-could-help-us-covid-19-response/">disinvestment in a robust public health</a> and social safety net infrastructure, magnify health disparities. These shortfalls remind us that the structural and social health determinants for vulnerable populations need to be addressed. To not do so suggests that the value of life is not equally distributed.</p>
<p>[<em>You need to understand the coronavirus pandemic, and we can help.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=upper-coronavirus-help">Read The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/137455/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephanie Hartwell received funding from NIH 2012-2014 to study prisoner reentry.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sheryl Kubiak receives funding from Michigan Department of Health and Human Services; Foundations, SAMHSA. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ijeoma Nnodim Opara does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, missteps in transitioning the incarcerated back to their communities places this already vulnerable populace at greater risk of getting and transmitting the virus.Stephanie Hartwell, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Professor of Sociology and Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry, Wayne State UniversityIjeoma Nnodim Opara, Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Wayne State UniversitySheryl Kubiak, Dean and Professor of Social Work, Wayne State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1380992020-05-08T12:16:57Z2020-05-08T12:16:57ZMothers behind bars nurture relationships with visitors in this unusual prison garden<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/333439/original/file-20200507-49546-578ebh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=563%2C0%2C6495%2C4320&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The design called for plants and play spaces – big improvements over brick and razor wire.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Iowa State University student design team</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Leaves are rustling. You can hear the sound of children kicking a ball, plinking the keys of a toy xylophone. People are laughing and talking.</p>
<p>Are you picturing a prison? My colleagues and I did – and we turned these visions into reality. The garden and playscape we created at the Iowa Correctional Institution for Women (ICIW) is changing the way incarcerated women spend time with their children, family and friends.</p>
<p>“Home” is not a word typically associated with prison environments, but that’s one way respondents in our recent study <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10509674.2020.1733165">described the new outdoor area</a>. Our design-build team made up of <a href="https://www.design.iastate.edu">Iowa State University design students</a> and incarcerated women and staff at ICIW created a space where incarcerated women can forget their identity as inmates and step back into their roles as mothers or grandmothers, sisters or aunts.</p>
<h2>Hard to maintain connections with home</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/333445/original/file-20200507-49558-150wjvc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/333445/original/file-20200507-49558-150wjvc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/333445/original/file-20200507-49558-150wjvc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333445/original/file-20200507-49558-150wjvc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333445/original/file-20200507-49558-150wjvc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333445/original/file-20200507-49558-150wjvc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1007&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333445/original/file-20200507-49558-150wjvc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1007&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333445/original/file-20200507-49558-150wjvc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1007&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The outdoor space before renovation was far from child-friendly.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Julie Stevens</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>People living inside prisons must endure isolation, tight spaces, loss of identity and separation from loved ones. Prisons are typically stark and void of color and living plants. Visits from loved ones can ease this difficult situation, but prison visits are complicated.</p>
<p>Many incarcerated people find it difficult to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16625-4">maintain connections with loved ones</a>, <a href="https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/89601/parent-child_visiting_practices_in_prisons_and_jails.pdf">especially children</a>. These bonds can be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/a0020279">a critical component of successful reentry</a> back to their home and community after release. Though often cold and condemning, the prison visiting room may be the place where mothers and children first face one another after the traumatic events that led to incarceration – with security officers and other incarcerated people and visitors within earshot.</p>
<p>And that’s only if children make the difficult trip. It is often financially and logistically impossible for those caring for the children of incarcerated parents to make a visit happen. Caregivers <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854815613528">might be worried about the conditions</a> they’d be bringing children into.</p>
<p>Why is this important? Because <a href="https://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/6148/">more than 5 million children</a> in the U.S. have seen a parent sent to prison. Forty-eight percent of women in federal correctional facilities and 55% in state prisons <a href="https://www.aecf.org/resources/a-shared-sentence/">are mothers of children under the age of 18</a>. Children of incarcerated parents <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10509674.2020.1733165">are at increased risk of</a> themselves becoming incarcerated, struggling with mental health and performing poorly in school. They also tend to display behavioral issues and feelings of shame and abandonment.</p>
<p>When my students and I started working with the Iowa Correctional Institution for Women in 2011, our task was seemingly simple: beautify the grounds. The warden wanted calm inmates. These goals were linked – and I can happily say <a href="https://doi.org/10.3368/lj.37.1.55">we’ve achieved both</a>.</p>
<p>But from the start, one project felt most significant to me – creating a nurturing outdoor space where mothers could build and maintain those incredibly important relationships with their children.</p>
<h2>Adding nature within prison walls</h2>
<p>Research suggests that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/0272-4944(95)90001-2">natural environments can</a> <a href="https://plantsolutions.com/documents/HealthSettingsUlrich.pdf">help mitigate stress and</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15122668">offer other psychological benefits</a>.</p>
<p>The original outdoor visiting space consisted of brick and razor wire. As landscape architects, my team used <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916589215001">environmental psychology</a> and <a href="https://www.workman.com/products/therapeutic-gardens">therapeutic landscape</a> theories to carefully design active and passive spaces surrounded by gardens. Our aim was to employ the benefits of nature to improve connections between an incarcerated individual and her loved ones.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/333579/original/file-20200508-49584-bvf965.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/333579/original/file-20200508-49584-bvf965.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/333579/original/file-20200508-49584-bvf965.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333579/original/file-20200508-49584-bvf965.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333579/original/file-20200508-49584-bvf965.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333579/original/file-20200508-49584-bvf965.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333579/original/file-20200508-49584-bvf965.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333579/original/file-20200508-49584-bvf965.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">We took participatory design theories to heart, putting the power of design in the hands of incarcerated women.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lauren Dietz</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Through <a href="https://islandpress.org/books/design-democracy">participatory design</a>, we honored the needs and desires of the incarcerated women by including them as the most knowledgeable members of the design team. With pencils and play dough in hand, resident designers and their child visitors explicitly described what they wanted: a garden that felt and looked like home or a park.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/333448/original/file-20200507-49573-1psixbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/333448/original/file-20200507-49573-1psixbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/333448/original/file-20200507-49573-1psixbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333448/original/file-20200507-49573-1psixbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333448/original/file-20200507-49573-1psixbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333448/original/file-20200507-49573-1psixbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=599&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333448/original/file-20200507-49573-1psixbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=599&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333448/original/file-20200507-49573-1psixbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=599&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Asked to draw their favorite part of the garden, several children shared their love for the ‘tulip spinners.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Julie Stevens</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The finished garden includes a circular walk wide enough for two tricycles or wheelchairs to pass comfortably. Play equipment like the tulip spinners provide a fun way for kids to release energy and are a great conversation piece for observers. We installed more comfortable seating where residents and visitors can take advantage of the positive natural distractions of colorful plants and rustling Quaking Aspen leaves.</p>
<p>One Saturday afternoon, we watched as a family arrived to visit mom. The younger children embraced her with warm hugs while a teenager stayed silent with arms crossed. Mom gave him a little space as they walked to the garden and then began to talk.</p>
<p>Even though it was exactly what we hoped would happen in the garden, we watched in amazement as their body language changed from tense to accepting and they started talking together. The visit eventually ended with the warmth that every mother and child need from each other. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/333449/original/file-20200507-49573-5mnxwf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/333449/original/file-20200507-49573-5mnxwf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/333449/original/file-20200507-49573-5mnxwf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333449/original/file-20200507-49573-5mnxwf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333449/original/file-20200507-49573-5mnxwf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333449/original/file-20200507-49573-5mnxwf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333449/original/file-20200507-49573-5mnxwf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/333449/original/file-20200507-49573-5mnxwf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Incarcerated women enjoy the space with young visitors and stop to play the xylophone. The plants will mature and fill in over time.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Julie Stevens</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What moms and kids say about the new space</h2>
<p>To learn more about the garden’s effect on incarcerated women and their visitors, my colleagues <a href="https://directory.tacoma.uw.edu/employee/btoews">Barb Toews</a> and <a href="https://www.designconsultation.net">Amy Wagenfeld</a> conducted <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10509674.2020.1733165">interviews and surveys</a> with them in the garden itself. They told us that visits had changed in four important ways:</p>
<ul>
<li>More child-friendly: Visits are now more conducive to “kids being kids.”</li>
<li>Improved emotional experience: Visits are less stressful or boring. Interviewees used words such as “cozy,” “calm” and “fun” to describe their experience in the garden.</li>
<li>Home-like environment: The “backyard” feel to the garden facilitates natural play and conversations between the incarcerated women and their visitors.</li>
<li>Improved parent-child relationship: Child visitors come more often, stay longer, enjoy better activities and improved quiet time. Overall the garden improved the quality of the time incarcerated women and their kids spent together.</li>
</ul>
<p>People tend to support strengthening mother-child relationships, but I do sometimes hear critiques. Some argue that improving prison environments is a poor use of money – but the garden was supported by donors and the sweat equity of the ICIW women and our students. Others say that people just shouldn’t commit crimes, or that if a prison is too nice people will want to stay. But while the prison may indeed be the safest place many of these women have lived, they just want to go home. And I’d argue that <a href="https://www.icrc.org/en/publication/4286-towards-humane-prisons">healthy environments are a necessity</a>, not a luxury.</p>
<p>Mothering is at once an extraordinary and challenging journey. I know this firsthand and I cannot imagine doing it from prison. Based on the requests for information and consultations I’ve received from around the world, many people, especially the newest generation of environmental designers, recognize these challenges and care about strengthening those mother-child bonds by changing prisons’ physical spaces.</p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/138099/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julie Stevens has received funding from the Iowa Department of Corrections and The Wellmark Foundation.
She is a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects and the Environmental Design Research Association. </span></em></p>About half of incarcerated women in the United States are mothers to children under age 18. Natural spaces within a prison can help maintain their mother-child bonds.Julie Stevens, Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture, Iowa State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1361112020-04-17T12:11:51Z2020-04-17T12:11:51ZWhy prisoners are at higher risk for the coronavirus: 5 questions answered<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/328115/original/file-20200415-153318-19dipw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">People wearing protective masks leave the Cook County jail complex in Chicago, Illinois.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/people-wearing-protective-masks-leave-the-cook-county-jail-news-photo/1217875901?adppopup=true">Scott Olson/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>COVID-19 has created a new norm for human interaction: social distancing, improving hygiene with soap and hand sanitizer, wearing a mask and quarantining. </p>
<p>But what does this mean for the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/28/us/mass-incarceration-five-key-facts/index.html">more than 2 million people held</a> in local, state and federal jails and prisons? </p>
<p>As <a href="https://udayton.edu/directory/artssciences/criminaljustice/hurley-martha-henderson.php">a criminal justice scholar</a> who has written about incarcerated populations, I have some concerns about the risks for people who are incarcerated.</p>
<h2>1. Why are incarcerated people at higher risk of COVID-19?</h2>
<p>The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there is a higher risk of severe complications from COVID-19 for the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/people-at-higher-risk.html">elderly and those with chronic health conditions</a>, such as asthma, diabetes and high blood pressure.</p>
<p>According to the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/people-with-disabilities.html">CDC</a>, extra precautions should be taken for citizens with disabilities. This is especially true for those with communication, mental health and mobility issues, as they may face challenges with social distancing and are less likely to seek medical care when needed.</p>
<p>As indicated in my book, “<a href="https://cap-press.com/books/isbn/9781611638479/Aging-in-Prison-Second-Edition">Aging in Prison</a>,” these health concerns are magnified within incarcerated settings.</p>
<p>Prisoners have often experienced poor health and limited access to health care before incarceration. Once incarcerated, prisoners often age prematurely, experiencing health problems associated with people in the general population who are 10 to 15 years older. Their experiences in jail and prison can cause psychological distress and the manifestation of mental illnesses. </p>
<p>Consequently, <a href="https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/mpsfpji1112.pdf">half of prisoners</a> have either a chronic medical or a mental health condition. That means that the incarcerated population is at heightened risk for developing severe complications from COVID-19. </p>
<p>Despite the CDC’s awareness of challenges behind bars, the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/correction-detention/guidance-correctional-detention.html">agency recommends</a> similar protocols for incarcerated people as for the general public, including social distancing and “enhanced cleaning/disinfecting and hygiene practices.”</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/328114/original/file-20200415-153334-cj97kz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=167%2C136%2C2158%2C2179&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/328114/original/file-20200415-153334-cj97kz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=167%2C136%2C2158%2C2179&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/328114/original/file-20200415-153334-cj97kz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328114/original/file-20200415-153334-cj97kz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328114/original/file-20200415-153334-cj97kz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328114/original/file-20200415-153334-cj97kz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328114/original/file-20200415-153334-cj97kz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328114/original/file-20200415-153334-cj97kz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Written in a window at the Cook County Department of Corrections, housing one of the nation’s largest jails.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-words-help-we-matter-2-are-seen-written-in-a-window-at-news-photo/1209565512?adppopup=true">KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>2. But is social distancing a solution for the incarcerated?</h2>
<p>Social distancing means staying at least 6 feet from other people, not gathering in groups, and staying out of crowded places. </p>
<p>This is impractical for incarcerated populations, who reside in institutions where prisoners live, work, eat, sleep and even bathe in communal settings. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/p17.pdf">Jails</a> and <a href="https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/ji18.pdf">prisons</a> are often overcrowded and have inmates and staff coming and going. The daily routine creates an environment ripe for the spread of <a href="https://theappeal.org/coronavirus-jails-public-health/">infectious diseases</a>. </p>
<p>The risk of transmission remains high. Social distancing, in the words of one governor, is <a href="https://www.wcpo.com/news/coronavirus/live-gov-dewine-and-odh-director-amy-actons-daily-update-on-covid-19">challenging</a>. </p>
<p>On April 8, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/08/us/coronavirus-cook-county-jail-chicago.html">The New York Times</a> reported more than 1,324 cases connected to prisons and jails, with the Cook County Jail in Chicago, reporting 238 inmates and 115 staff. As of <a href="https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2020/04/13/306-cook-county-jail-inmates-have-tested-positive-5-stateville-prison-inmates-have-died-of-covid-19/">five days later</a>, 306 inmates and 218 staff had tested positive.</p>
<h2>3. Why not have prisoners use better hygiene or wear face masks?</h2>
<p>Jails and prisons do not operate like our homes or our workplaces. </p>
<p>Many correctional facilities restrict access to <a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/2020/03/06/when-purell-is-contraband-how-do-you-contain-coronavirus">common hygiene products</a> containing contraband ingredients, such as alcohol-based hand sanitizer. While the incarcerated may have access to water, there’s no guarantee that they will be able to access soap and dry their hands at the same time.</p>
<p>Moreover, it’s hard to disinfect surfaces in your cell, the bathroom, the cafeteria or elsewhere in prison when you have limited access to products with alcohol or soap. </p>
<p>Should an incarcerated person become ill, toilet paper and tissues may not be readily available. Poor ventilation in many facilities means the spread of an airborne virus is often quick and deadly. </p>
<p>These are some of the same factors linked to the spread of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000381">tuberculosis in prison</a>.</p>
<h2>4. What about health care for the incarcerated?</h2>
<p>Members of the general public who <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/symptoms.html">exhibit COVID-19 symptoms</a> – fever, cough, tiredness and difficulty breathing – are encouraged to speak with their doctor and get tested. </p>
<p>Behind bars, there is a shortage of health care professionals and a long history of denial of access to <a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/2018/02/25/how-bad-is-prison-health-care-depends-on-who-s-watching">adequate medical care</a> for chronic conditions and diseases. </p>
<p>Many facilities <a href="https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2017/04/19/copays/">charge inmates a copay</a> for treatment that incarcerated people are ill-equipped to afford. Most jails and prisons do not have medical isolation units for those who are ill. </p>
<p>Stories are coming from multiple facilities about the <a href="https://theappeal.org/illinois-stateville-prison-conditions-coronavirus-covid-19/">lack of access</a> to medical care for testing and treatment of COVID-19 symptoms and the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/30/nyregion/coronavirus-rikers-nyc-jail.html">consequences of seeking treatment</a>. In one case, an inmate did not receive medical care until he passed out. In New York, inmates stated that correctional officers refused to take symptomatic inmates to medical for treatment. </p>
<p>Prisoners have <a href="https://www.correctionsone.com/coronavirus-covid-19/articles/co-punched-by-inmate-as-covid-19-tension-builds-at-conn-prison-ewqvRicqgW8WJLAr/">started fights</a>, engaged in <a href="https://www.bakersfield.com/news/updated-100-immigrant-detainees-begin-hunger-strike-at-mesa-verde-in-response-to-covid-19/article_4bc2c88e-7b88-11ea-bf82-c3fcec598e57.html">hunger strikes</a> and threatened to start <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/news/492197-inmates-break-windows-set-fires-in-riot-at-kansas-prison">fires</a> in facilities when they learned about positive tests. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/328116/original/file-20200415-153308-b23kf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/328116/original/file-20200415-153308-b23kf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/328116/original/file-20200415-153308-b23kf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328116/original/file-20200415-153308-b23kf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328116/original/file-20200415-153308-b23kf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328116/original/file-20200415-153308-b23kf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328116/original/file-20200415-153308-b23kf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328116/original/file-20200415-153308-b23kf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A woman holds a sign during a protest outside the Cook County Jail in Illinois.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Virus-Outbreak-Illinois-Cook-County-Jail/9e172970701a4f48a5c1545a5dad00e6/3/0">AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>5. What’s to be done?</h2>
<p>As it stands now, there will likely be a significantly higher prisoner mortality rate compared to the general public – not just for those sentenced to a period of incarceration in prison, but also those who are sitting in local jails who have yet to be convicted or sentenced. </p>
<p>The police in some locations have decided not to arrest, but instead <a href="https://thejusticecollaborative.com/covid19/">issue citations</a> for a variety of offenses that just a few months ago would have landed the person in the local jail. </p>
<p>The Federal Bureau of Prisons, parole board members and other advocates from across the country <a href="https://theappeal.org/political-report/coronavirus-response-state-local/">now call for the early release</a> of incarcerated individuals who pose less risk of harm to society, including the elderly, nonviolent and low-risk prisoners, and those with severe medical conditions. </p>
<p>As jails and prisons release the incarcerated early, government officials should give greater attention to the process of release. Without a plan for the release of prisoners coming from highly infected institutions, who were <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/prison-release-covid-19_n_5e879b3bc5b6e7d76c6393f3">exposed but not tested</a>, there is the danger of spreading the virus to the local general population.</p>
<p>At the same time, the formerly incarcerated will need more than the typical support provided upon release. Relatives may be less likely to take them in, resulting in homelessness. That’s why California and New York have put released prisoners up in <a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/2020/04/03/a-new-tactic-to-fight-coronavirus-send-the-homeless-from-jails-to-hotels">hotels</a>. Self-isolation means there are no jobs. And, of course, because of where they are coming from, there is an increased possibility of testing positive after release.</p>
<p>[<em>Get facts about coronavirus and the latest research.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=upper-coronavirus-facts">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter.</a>]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/136111/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Martha Hurley does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Half of incarcerated individuals have either a chronic medical or a mental health condition. But social distancing and rigorous hygiene are unattainable for many US jails and prisons.Martha Hurley, Professor and Director of Criminal Justice Studies, University of DaytonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1360362020-04-15T21:59:25Z2020-04-15T21:59:25ZPrisons and jails are coronavirus epicenters – but they were once designed to prevent disease outbreaks<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327850/original/file-20200414-117562-14jzp7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C26%2C4493%2C2964&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Calls for help at Chicago's Cook County jail, where hundreds of inmates and staff have COVID-19, April 9, 2020. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-words-help-no-supply-are-seen-written-on-a-window-at-news-photo/1209565756?adppopup=true">Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Jails and prisons around the United States are considering freeing some of their inmates for fear that correctional facilities will become <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/16/opinion/coronavirus-in-jails.html">epicenters</a> in the coronavirus pandemic. </p>
<p>COVID-19 has infected hundreds of prisoners and staff in <a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/2020/04/08/i-was-at-rikers-while-coronavirus-spread-getting-out-was-just-as-surreal">city jails</a>, <a href="https://www.pilotonline.com/news/health/vp-nw-coronavirus-doc-death-20200414-iqao23ee7vdn5awcoll6unqhxy-story.html">state prisons</a> and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/inside-the-deadliest-federal-prison-the-seeping-coronavirus-creates-fear-and-danger/2020/04/09/deeceb6e-75b4-11ea-a9bd-9f8b593300d0_story.html">federal prisons</a>.</p>
<p>New York, California and Ohio were among the first to <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51947802">release incarcerated people</a>. <a href="https://www.prisonpolicy.org/virus/virusresponse.html">Other states</a> have followed, saying it is the only way to protect prisoners, <a href="https://abc7chicago.com/coronvirus-coronavirus-illinois-chicago-cook-county-jail/6085167/">correctional workers</a>, their families and the broader community. </p>
<p>Jails and prisons often lack <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/30/us/coronavirus-prisons-jails.html">basic hygiene products</a>, have <a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/2018/02/25/how-bad-is-prison-health-care-depends-on-who-s-watching">minimal health care services</a> and are <a href="https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/ji16.pdf">overcrowded</a>. Social distancing is nearly impossible except in solitary confinement, but that poses its own <a href="https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/abs/10.2105/AJPH.2019.305375">dangers to mental and physical health</a>.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=M48X9Z4AAAAJ&hl=en">a prison scholar</a>, I recognize a sad irony in this public health problem: The United States’ very first prisons were actually designed to avoid the spread of infectious disease. </p>
<h2>Early American jails</h2>
<p>The first U.S. prisons emerged in reaction to the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1462474517690522">overcrowded, violent, disease-infested jails</a> of the colonial era. </p>
<p>Prisons as we understand them today – places of long-term confinement as a punishment for crime – are <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPO3EkA__Xg&feature=youtu.be">relatively new developments</a>. In the U.S. they came about in the 1780s and 1790s, after the American Revolution. </p>
<p>Previously, American colonies under British control relied on execution and corporal punishments. </p>
<p>Jails in America and England during that period were <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1288577?seq=1">not themselves places of punishment</a>. They were just holding tanks. Debtors were jailed until they paid their debts. Vagrants were jailed until they found work. Accused criminals were jailed while awaiting trial, and convicted criminals were jailed while awaiting punishment or until they paid their court fines. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/326690/original/file-20200409-5654-1bfmtzd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=104%2C79%2C3134%2C2343&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/326690/original/file-20200409-5654-1bfmtzd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=104%2C79%2C3134%2C2343&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/326690/original/file-20200409-5654-1bfmtzd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326690/original/file-20200409-5654-1bfmtzd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326690/original/file-20200409-5654-1bfmtzd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326690/original/file-20200409-5654-1bfmtzd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=613&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326690/original/file-20200409-5654-1bfmtzd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=613&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/326690/original/file-20200409-5654-1bfmtzd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=613&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The British penal reformer John Howard visiting a prison.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/John_Howard_visiting_a_prison%3B_a_group_of_inmates_sitting_or_Wellcome_V0006710.jpg">Wikipedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Consequently, early American jails were <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1462474517690522">not designed for long detentions</a>, even if people sometimes stayed for months or longer. </p>
<p>The physical structure of these unregulated local facilities – often run by sheriffs or private citizens who charged room and board fees – varied. Jail could be a spare room in a roadside inn, a stone building with barred windows or a subterranean dungeon. </p>
<h2>Fear of disease</h2>
<p>Disease, violence and exploitation were rampant in these squalid American colonial and British jails. </p>
<p>John Howard, a British aristocrat <a href="https://oxfordre.com/criminology/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264079.001.0001/acrefore-9780190264079-e-455">whose ideas influenced American penal reformers</a>, became concerned about living conditions in these “abode[s] of wickedness, disease, and misery” when he became a sheriff. In a <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_State_of_the_Prisons_in_England_and.html?id=4EhNAAAAYAAJ">1777 book</a>, Howard recounts smelling vinegar, a common disinfectant of the era, to protect against the revolting smell of the jails he visited. </p>
<p>Howard warned readers that jails spread disease not only among inmates but also beyond, into society. He recalled the so-called <a href="https://brewminate.com/the-curse-of-rowland-jenkins-and-the-oxford-assize-of-1577/">Black Assize of 1577</a>, in which prisoners awaiting trial were brought from jail to an Oxford courthouse and “within forty hours” more than 300 people who had been at court were dead from “gaol fever” – what we now call typhus. </p>
<p>He also wrote of infected prisoners who, once released, brought diseases from jail into their communities, killing scores. </p>
<p>Disease also shaped Howard’s understanding of how criminality spread. </p>
<p>He described how young “innocents” – the children of people jailed for debt or those awaiting trial for a petty offense – were seduced by dashing bandits’ stories of crime and adventure. Thus “infected,” they went on to become criminals themselves. </p>
<h2>America’s first prisons</h2>
<p>Howard’s ideas, particularly the realization that jails posed a threat to the public, were brought to the U.S. by <a href="https://uncpress.org/book/9780807856314/laboratories-of-virtue/">Philadelphia reformers</a> like <a href="https://books.google.ca/books?id=xtUKAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=benjamin+rush+essays&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjl_MnDhubbAhUm34MKHVYACagQ6AEIKTAA#v=onepage&q&f=false">Benjamin Rush</a>, a physician and signer of the Declaration of Independence. </p>
<p>Following the recommendations in Howard’s book, American penal reformers pushed for new jails designed to ward off disease, crime and immorality of all kinds.</p>
<p>Howard envisioned new facilities that would be well ventilated and cleaned daily. Clothing and bedding should be changed weekly. There would even be an infirmary staffed by “an experienced surgeon” who would update authorities on the state of prisoner health. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327569/original/file-20200414-132830-s6pxoe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327569/original/file-20200414-132830-s6pxoe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327569/original/file-20200414-132830-s6pxoe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=321&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327569/original/file-20200414-132830-s6pxoe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=321&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327569/original/file-20200414-132830-s6pxoe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=321&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327569/original/file-20200414-132830-s6pxoe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327569/original/file-20200414-132830-s6pxoe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327569/original/file-20200414-132830-s6pxoe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Howard’s plan for a ‘County Gaol’</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Royal Collection Trust</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>American reformers followed Howard’s advice that “women-felons” should be kept “quite separate from the men: and young criminals from old and hardened offenders.” Debtors, too, should be kept “totally separate” from the “felons.” </p>
<p>Prisoners should be separated from one another, ideally in cells. Crowding should be avoided. All this would prevent the spread of disease and enable the prisoners’ repentance – and thus their rehabilitation.</p>
<p>Using Howard’s book as their guide, Rush and his colleagues transformed Philadelphia’s aging and overcrowded <a href="https://uncpress.org/book/9780807856314/laboratories-of-virtue/">Walnut Street Jail</a> into one of the country’s <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1462474516641376">first state prisons</a> by 1794. The Walnut Street Prison model was soon <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1462474516641376">adopted nationwide</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327007/original/file-20200409-15824-1l142tl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327007/original/file-20200409-15824-1l142tl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327007/original/file-20200409-15824-1l142tl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327007/original/file-20200409-15824-1l142tl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327007/original/file-20200409-15824-1l142tl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=635&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327007/original/file-20200409-15824-1l142tl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=635&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327007/original/file-20200409-15824-1l142tl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=635&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Philadelphia’s Walnut Street Jail.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikipedia Commons</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Health care in prisons today</h2>
<p>The U.S. long ago departed from the idea that prisons should protect both prisoners and society. </p>
<p>The biggest shift in prison health care occurred between the 1970s and today – the era of <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/14624740122228203">mass incarceration</a>. The U.S. <a href="https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/p17.pdf">incarceration rate</a> doubled between 1974 to 1985 and then doubled again by 1995. The number of people in American prisons <a href="https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/p11.pdf">peaked in 2010</a>, at 1.5 million. It has declined slightly since, but the U.S. still has the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/uk/06/prisons/html/nn2page1.stm">world’s largest incarcerated population</a>.</p>
<p>Prison building, although <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySH-FgMljYo">unprecedented in scale</a>, has not kept pace. Many <a href="https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/ji16.pdf">corrections facilities</a> in the U.S. are <a href="https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/p17.pdf">dangerously overcrowded</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327853/original/file-20200414-117553-k02nwe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327853/original/file-20200414-117553-k02nwe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327853/original/file-20200414-117553-k02nwe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327853/original/file-20200414-117553-k02nwe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327853/original/file-20200414-117553-k02nwe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327853/original/file-20200414-117553-k02nwe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327853/original/file-20200414-117553-k02nwe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327853/original/file-20200414-117553-k02nwe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A gymnasium turned dorm at the California Institution for Men in Chino, May 24, 2011.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/gymnasium-that-has-been-converted-to-house-inmates-is-news-photo/524102470?adppopup=true">Ann Johansson/Corbis via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 1993, <a href="https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=3602&context=penn_law_review">40 states were under court orders</a> to reduce overcrowding or otherwise resolve unconstitutional prison conditions. Many more lawsuits followed. Still, the <a href="https://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/B/bo27527318.html">prison population grew</a>. </p>
<p>One consequence of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2014/09/20/prisons-in-these-17-states-are-filled-over-capacity/">overcrowding</a> is that prison officials have a difficult time providing adequate health care. </p>
<p>In 2011 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/10pdf/09-1233.pdf">overcrowding undermined health care in California’s prisons</a>, causing avoidable deaths. The justices upheld a lower court’s finding that this caused an “unconscionable degree of suffering” in violation of the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. </p>
<p>Amid a worldwide pandemic, such conditions are treacherous. Some of the worst COVID-19 outbreaks in U.S. prisons and jails are in places – like <a href="https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/courts/article_d0a3ec6e-58b9-11ea-9a27-e3368efec777.html">Louisiana</a> and <a href="https://www.justice.gov/archive/usao/iln/chicago/2008/pr0717_01.pdf">Chicago</a> – whose prison health systems have been ruled unconstitutionally inadequate. </p>
<p>Criminologists and advocates say many more people should be released from jails and prison, even <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/04/combat-covid-release-prisoners-violent-cook.html">some convicted of violent crimes</a> if they have underlying health conditions. </p>
<p>Opponents of coronavirus-related releases, including <a href="https://theintercept.com/2020/04/07/louisiana-coronavirus-prisons/">state officials in Louisiana</a>, contend that the move <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/alleged-violent-offenders-poised-release-rikers-island-due/story?id=69863436">poses a high risk to public safety</a>. And victims of violent crimes complain that they have <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Health/crime-victim-calls-slap-faces-violent-offenders-released/story?id=69957568">not been notified</a> when their victimizers are set to be released. </p>
<p>The decision to release prisoners cannot be made lightly. But arguments against it discount a reality recognized over two centuries ago: The health of prisoners and communities are inextricably linked. </p>
<p><a href="https://theappeal.org/jails-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic-flattening-curve/?fbclid=IwAR1K9cf0ardpNwIfxtzjLlegqusQ4l_ZpY1MEuagMfcnqsttzMi5aGlKnCQ">Coronavirus confirms</a> that prison walls do not, in fact, separate the welfare of those on the inside from those on the outside. </p>
<p>[<em>You need to understand the coronavirus pandemic, and we can help.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=upper-coronavirus-help">Read The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/136036/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ashley T. Rubin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In the 1790s, penal reformers rebuilt America’s squalid jails as airy, hygienic places meant to keep residents – and by extension society – healthy. Now they’re hotbeds of COVID-19. What went wrong?Ashley T. Rubin, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of HawaiiLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1203202019-09-03T23:09:59Z2019-09-03T23:09:59ZA prison is no place for a party<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/283892/original/file-20190712-173347-1f6dv1c.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=555%2C0%2C1213%2C575&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Is it ethical to use former prisons, with long histories of death, suffering and wrongful incarcerations, as entertainment venues?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rockin' the Big House</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>What does it mean to hold a party in a place with a long history of death and suffering? </p>
<p>On Sept. 14, “2,500 lucky music lovers, history buffs and curiosity seekers will walk through the gates of Kingston Penitentiary in eastern Ontario to experience an outdoor music festival like no other, in support of United Way” called <a href="https://www.unitedwaykfla.ca/rockin-the-big-house/">Rockin’ the Big House</a>. </p>
<p>But is a prison the right venue for a public rock concert? The morality of using prisons for entertainment and philanthropy is something we have yet to fully grapple with in Kingston and beyond. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/BxMztfygzs4","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p>I research incarceration policy in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and also volunteer inside and outside institutions in Kingston, Ont. I hear the perspectives of those who work inside, and advocates and former prisoners outside in the community. I <a href="https://uottawa.scholarsportal.info/ottawa/index.php/jpp/article/view/4354">recently published</a> an article on the unacknowledged history and future development of the Prison for Women. I stressed the importance of healing, memory and awareness around the use of shuttered prisons. </p>
<p>The use of Kingston Penitentiary is another important piece in the mosaic of a growing industry in Kingston. </p>
<h2>Dark tourism</h2>
<p>There are guided tours inside the penitentiary, it’s on the Kingston trolley tours route and the Correctional Service of Canada runs a museum in the former warden’s residence across the street. </p>
<p>Shows and movies are filmed there, including <em>Alias Grace</em> in 2017, and <em>Titans</em> in 2019. Even the downtown Holiday Inn has a selfie station with a backdrop of prison bars. </p>
<p>Since Kingston Penitentiary was shuttered in 2013, Correctional Service of Canada has been working with the City of Kingston and St. Lawrence Park Commission to offer public tours of the facility. Almost 230,000 people have been through the doors of <a href="https://www.kingstonpentour.com">the prison for tours</a>. The concert is the latest use for the penitentiary. </p>
<p>This is known as “dark tourism,” a term coined by British academics <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13527259608722175">Malcolm Foley and John Lennon</a> in 1996 to describe the practice of generating tourism dollars from places that are identified with death and suffering.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1159474056623730693"}"></div></p>
<p>Prison tourism in Kingston does not acknowledge the full history of the site, including the death and suffering experienced there. Instead, <a href="https://www.unitedwaykfla.ca/rockin-the-big-house/">the prison is described</a> by United Way as a place to take in sought-after entertainment. United Way also describes the prison as being known “for housing some of Canada’s most notorious criminals.” </p>
<p>The tours are further described by United Way as “highlighting the public’s thirst and curiosity for what went on behind the giant stonewalls.” Recent research by Canadian academics <a href="http://uottawacrm.ca/news-and-events/2019/4/1/carceral-cultures-publishes-new-article-on-tourism-at-kingston-pen">Justin Piché, Matthew Ferguson and Kevin Walby</a> indicates the tours are curated to commemorate the contributions of staff, while portraying prisoners as purely dangerous and cunning through sensational stories. There is no indication that the upcoming concert will offer a different narrative.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1126080554309341185"}"></div></p>
<h2>Dark history</h2>
<p>The tourism marketing leaves out mention of the suffering and death that occurred within Kingston Penitentiary’s walls. The prison confined wrongfully convicted individuals, including <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/canada-s-wrongful-convictions-1.783998">Steven Truscott, Romeo Phillion and Guy-Paul Morin</a>. There were also children confined within the penitentiary.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/lbrr/archives/hv%209510.k5%20b3%201965-eng.pdf">prison report from 1965</a> notes historical commission data that boys and girls as young as eight were incarcerated and subjected to corporal punishment. For example, eight-year-old Antoine Beauche was imprisoned in 1845 for three years. He was lashed within a week of his arrival and a further 47 times over the next nine months. </p>
<p>The punishment was for behaviour that included talking to others, looking at others, winking, nodding or laughing. Another child, Alex LaFleur, age 11, was lashed on Christmas Eve 1844 for speaking French. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290548/original/file-20190902-175682-1fogw2f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290548/original/file-20190902-175682-1fogw2f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290548/original/file-20190902-175682-1fogw2f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290548/original/file-20190902-175682-1fogw2f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290548/original/file-20190902-175682-1fogw2f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290548/original/file-20190902-175682-1fogw2f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290548/original/file-20190902-175682-1fogw2f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Inmates at Kingston Penitentiary look through the bars of the dome at the highest point of the comple after a prison uprising in April 1971.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Peter Bregg</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Suffering was not confined to children, nor to the distant past. Corporal punishment <a href="https://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/text/pblct/rht-drt/05-eng.shtml">continued at Kingston Penitentiary until 1972</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/robber-and-novelist-roger-caron-dead-at-73-1.1184445">Prisoner Roger Caron’s</a> 1978 autobiography <em>Go-Boy!</em> provides graphic detail about how prisoners were subjected to corporal punishment in Kingston Penitentiary by being whipped with leather paddles designed to inflict physical pain. </p>
<p>Caron was paddled on two occasions when he was 17 years old while restrained with shackles and straps. Describing this experience, he wrote: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“White searing pain exploded throughout my being and blood gushed from my lips as I struggled to stifle a scream. It was brutal and it was horrible. My whole body vibrated like a band of tempered steel and my mind filled with nightmares as I awaited the next blow.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Such experiences are not commonly heard or acknowledged in Kingston.</p>
<h2>A not-so-distant history</h2>
<p>Kingston and the surrounding area has the highest concentration of active prisons in Canada: Bath, Collins Bay, Frontenac, Millhaven, Joyceville, Pittsburgh, Quinte, two Regional Treatment Centres and Henry Trail Community Correctional. </p>
<p>An unknown number of prisoners died at Kington Penitentiary over the years, including while in solitary confinement. Solitary confinement is a harsh punishment that research shows results in increased rates of <a href="http://www.cmaj.ca/content/186/18/1345.short">self-harm and suicide</a> among prisoners. This has been illustrated vividly in the news coverage of <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/solitary-confinement-canada-required-reading/article35391601/">prisoners who have died while in solitary.</a></p>
<p>Solitary confinement was a practice throughout Kingston Penitentiary’s history, as prisoners were isolated for days, weeks, months and even years at a time. In March 2019, Ontario’s top court ruled that placing prisoners in solitary confinement for more than 15 days constitutes <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-solitary-confinement-for-more-than-15-days-constitutes-cruel-and/">“cruel and unusual punishment.”</a> Former prisoners in Kingston have been <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-beyond-the-bars-former-inmates-at-the-kingston-prison-for-women/">trying to raise awareness</a> of deaths in custody, specifically in the Prison for Women. These efforts are not acknowledged in Kingston’s prison tourism. </p>
<p>In the late 1990s, former prisoners came forward to claim that they had been involved as subjects in unethical scientific experiments while imprisoned in the 1960s and early 1970s. </p>
<p>Experiments included sensory deprivation, behavioural modification, electroshock and experimental pharmacology. In a 2006 study, the University of Alberta’s <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1468-2311.2006.00422.x">Geraint B. Osborne</a> noted that in one sensory deprivation study, 10 penitentiary prisoners spent seven days in dark isolation cells as researchers studied the effects on desire for visual and auditory stimulation. </p>
<p>One prisoner began to panic after four days. Another hallucinated during the final two days, seeing spiders and the face of his dead brother. </p>
<p>Former prisoners in the Kingston community have been <a href="https://www.thewhig.com/2017/08/10/former-inmates-claim-unethical-treatment/wcm/2798d164-bded-7c9d-29be-0f46e6d388ca">trying to bring public attention </a> to their involvement in such experiments. None of this is acknowledged in Kingston’s prison industry.</p>
<p>Kingston Penitentiary was also a site of mass incarceration of Indigenous prisoners, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/correctional-investigator-annual-report-indigenous-incarceration-1.4884377">an ongoing issue</a> in prisons that is the subject of some of the calls to action of the <a href="http://nctr.ca/reports.php">Truth and Reconciliation Commission</a>. This year’s report by the <a href="https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/">National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women</a> also delved into the issue in the context of women and girls. This injustice is another that’s not acknowledged in Kingston’s prison tourism industry. </p>
<h2>Where do we go from here?</h2>
<p>A party is coming to Kingston Penitentiary, but there’s been no conversation about whether it’s ethical to hold one. </p>
<p>There’s been no discussion about what it means to derive entertainment from a shuttered prison. </p>
<p>Similarly, there has been no discussion of what it means to raise money for the City of Kingston and a well-known charity from a prison.</p>
<p>We need to bring more healing, memory and awareness to tourism development in Kingston — healing for those who were harmed by prisons, memory in order to accurately commemorate the institution and awareness about how some of those painful legacies continue in prisons today.</p>
<p><em>This is a corrected version of a story originally published Sept. 3, 2019. The earlier story incorrectly included Adam Capay in a list of people who had died while in solitary confinement. Adam Capay spent four years in solitary confinement, but is now in a mental-health facility.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/120320/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Linda Mussell receives funding as a 2019 Pierre Elliot Trudeau Foundation Doctoral Scholar and 2017 Joseph-Armand Bombardier CGS Doctoral Scholar. </span></em></p>What does it mean to hold a party in a place with a long history of death and suffering?Linda Mussell, PhD Candidate, Queen's University, OntarioLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1219672019-08-16T17:59:06Z2019-08-16T17:59:06ZWho is responsible when an inmate dies by suicide?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288360/original/file-20190816-192246-1g3873q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In jail, suicides occur for 50 deaths per 100,000 inmates. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/crime-prison-cell-bars-724345753?src=5diZ3HIAnnDJyhMBEBDM7Q-1-8">Dan Henson/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/12/bill-barr-blasts-jail-where-jeffrey-epstein-killed-himself.html">Jeffrey Epstein’s suicide</a>
in New York’s Metropolitan Correction Center on Aug. 10 has brought new attention to the troubling reality of <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/8/14/20802292/jeffrey-epstein-suicide-jail-problem">inmates who kill themselves in America’s jails and prisons</a>. </p>
<p>Suicide is, of course, a serious problem more generally. In 2017, it was the <a href="https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/suicide.shtml">10th leading cause of death in the U.S.</a>, claiming the lives of over 47,000 people. Today, it takes twice as many American lives as homicide.</p>
<p>But, as <a href="https://nyupress.org/9780814762486/life-without-parole/">someone who teaches and writes</a> about punishment and imprisonment in the U.S., I find something particularly troubling about prison suicide. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/429/97/">American law recognizes</a> a “special relationship” between the jailer and the prisoner, meaning that jailers have a legal responsibility to protect prisoners from harm – including self harm.</p>
<p>So suicide in jails and prisons is more than a personal tragedy. It often indicates a failure in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/13/nyregion/jeffrey-epstein-jail-officers.html">the duty imposed on prison officials</a>. </p>
<p>It also can complicate <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/24870280">the pursuit of justice</a>. When someone awaiting trial ends their life, crime victims are deprived of the opportunity to have the perpetrator brought to justice. And, when someone who has already been tried and convicted commits suicide, that act impedes the public’s legitimate interest in seeing a punishment fully carried out. </p>
<h2>When prison suicides make headlines</h2>
<p>Epstein’s death was not the first to draw attention to <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/04/19/look-other-notable-prison-suicides/h7smF7KaBd48yszZy7VjdP/story.html">the issue of suicide inside of American jails and prisons</a>. </p>
<p>In 2015, the death of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/07/26/attorney-general-lynch-sandra-blands-death-highlights-black-americans-concerns-about-police/">Sandra Bland</a>, a young African-American woman who hanged herself in a Texas jail, also made national headlines. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.ebony.com/exclusive/what-happened-to-sandra-bland-505/">Bland had been stopped</a> for failing to signal a lane change and was arrested and jailed for an alleged assault on a public officer.</p>
<p>The circumstances surrounding her death, like those surrounding Epstein’s death, were mysterious. That mystery was not resolved when Bland’s family <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/09/15/494071469/sandra-blands-family-reportedly-reaches-1-9-million-settlement">filed a wrongful death suit</a> and eventually accepted a monetary settlement of US$1.9 million.</p>
<p><a href="https://apnews.com/5a61d556a0a14251bafbeff1c26d5f15">Such litigation</a> is quite common <a href="https://psmag.com/social-justice/whos-legally-responsible-for-prison-and-jail-suicides">following a jail or prison suicide</a>, although rarely with the outcome that was reached in the case of Sandra Bland’s family. </p>
<p>Because families either settle or generally don’t prevail if their case goes to trial, there is little pressure from the courts to address suicides among the incarcerated. And, except in cases where there is notoriety, there is also little public concern about such events.</p>
<h2>Suicide in American jails and prisons</h2>
<p>Getting a handle on the extent of suicide in jails and prisons is not easy. The U.S. Department of Justice, which is responsible for <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/08/jeffrey-epstein-part-larger-suicide-problem/595918/">collecting data on deaths in correctional institutions across the nation</a>, has not made public any new information since 2016.</p>
<p>But <a href="https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/AP-Investigation-Many-US-Jails-Fail-to-Stop-Inmate-Suicides-511580441.html">data from 2014</a> shows the magnitude of the suicide problem. In that year, 372 inmates killed themselves in local jails, resulting in a suicide rate of 50 deaths per 100,000 inmates. </p>
<p>A study done by the nonprofit National Center on Institutions and Alternatives found that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1078345812445457">such suicides</a> are “evenly distributed from the first few days of confinement to over several months of confinement, many suicides occurred during waking hours, most inmates were not under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol at the time of death, and many suicides occurred in close proximity to a court hearing.”</p>
<p>The large number of suicides in American jails occurs, in part, because they now house many people who, in the past, <a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/2018/11/21/treatment-denied-the-mental-health-crisis-in-federal-prisons">would have been sent to mental institutions</a>.</p>
<p>Suicide in jails also arises from the fact that those who are accused of a crime and cannot make bail are first sent there while awaiting trial. <a href="https://www.thecut.com/2015/07/why-jails-pose-such-a-high-suicide-risk.html">As Thomas White, an expert on suicide among incarcerated persons, observes</a>, by the time people are serving their prison sentence, “the shock has worn off.”</p>
<p>The rate at which people kill themselves in jails is, <a href="https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/AP-Investigation-Many-US-Jails-Fail-to-Stop-Inmate-Suicides-511580441.html">as the AP reported in June</a>, “2 ½ times the rate of suicides in state prisons and about 3 ½ times that of the general population.”</p>
<p>Moreover, because they have fewer staff per inmate and generally worse conditions, those rates are <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/epstein-death-draws-attention-how-little-known-about-prison-suicides-n1041531">higher in state</a> than in federal prisons.</p>
<p>In jails and prisons at both the state and federal level, the suicide rate <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/epstein-death-draws-attention-how-little-known-about-prison-suicides-n1041531">was increasing</a> when the Justice Department last reported its data from 2014.</p>
<p>Since the U.S. is <a href="https://www.prb.org/us-incarceration/">the worldwide leader in incarceration</a>, one might expect that it would also lead the world in suicides behind bars. But, in fact, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6066090/">it does not</a>.
The O’Neil Institute at Georgetown University reports that the U.S. has a <a href="https://oneill.law.georgetown.edu/suicide-in-prisons-and-jails-a-growing-concern/">lower rate of prison suicides</a> than many Western European and Nordic countries where the <a href="https://www.nationalelfservice.net/mental-health/suicide/suicide-in-prisons-prevalence-and-contributing-factors-in-high-income-countries/">incidence of mental illness and substance abuse</a> among prisoners is even higher than it is in the U.S.</p>
<h2>A toxic brew</h2>
<p>People who kill themselves in jails and prisons often suffer from serious mental health and personal problems that would challenge any institution. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/may/26/us-prisons-jails-inmate-deaths">U.S. jails and prisons</a> are often <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPH-04-2018-0014">overcrowded</a> and <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/articles/2017-07-26/understaffed-and-overcrowded-state-prisons-crippled-by-budget-constraints-bad-leadership">understaffed</a>. </p>
<p>Budgets for <a href="https://www.arundellodge.org/why-americas-largest-mental-health-institutions-are-prisons-and-jails/">mental health services</a> have been trimmed almost everywhere.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/06/cca-private-prisons-corrections-corporation-inmates-investigation-bauer/">Correctional officers are not trained</a> to deal effectively with the problems that inmates manifest on a daily basis. Their work is so stressful that <a href="https://www.masslive.com/politics/2016/01/high_suicide_rates_plague_mass.html">their suicide rates</a> are themselves a source of real concern.</p>
<p>And, as the public learned in the Epstein case, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854883010004005">leaving someone alone in a cell</a> is a key driver of jail and prison suicides.</p>
<p>The problem in that case seems to have been a lack of supervision or surveillance, but Epstein was also at risk of suicide because his cellmate had been transferred out of their shared unit in violation of the jail’s procedure. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1176/ps.2007.58.4.558">A 2007 report from the Central New York Psychiatric Center</a> notes, “Almost all suicides in state prisons occur in single cells as opposed to in dormitories or double-bunked cells. Suicide is a very private act, and whether it occurs in a hospital, in the free community, or in prison, it almost always occurs when the person is alone.” </p>
<p>As U.S. prisons increasingly turn to isolation as a principle of punishment, or to single-cell disciplinary housing, it should not be surprising that the <a href="https://www.al.com/news/2018/06/is_solitary_confinement_drivin.html">incidence of suicide would rise</a>. </p>
<p>In my view, the U.S. owes it to those whom it incarcerates to do something about the problem of suicide.</p>
<p><em>This story has been updated to account for medical examiner’s report on Jeffrey Epstein.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/121967/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Austin Sarat does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>People in jail kill themselves at a rate 3.5 times higher than that of the general population.Austin Sarat, Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science, Amherst CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1165412019-05-13T08:06:08Z2019-05-13T08:06:08ZGovernment plan to follow Scotland on scrapping shorter jail sentences may not be the fix UK prisons need<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/273815/original/file-20190510-183080-u1tcgi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The UK imprisons more people than any other country in Western Europe per head of population.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/prison-sign-uk-62859043">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><blockquote>
<p>Long enough to cause damage and not long enough to heal … You bring somebody in for three or four weeks, they lose their house, their job, their family, their reputation. They … meet a lot of “interesting characters” and then … [they’re] on the streets again.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The UK has the <a href="https://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/SN04334">highest rates of incarceration</a> in Western Europe and a prison population that has doubled in 25 years. As the then justice minister Rory Stewart outlined in January 2019 (above), short prison sentences appear to be of marginal benefit. <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/atta">Reconviction rates</a> in England and Wales suggest that short custodial sentences are the worst possible sentencing option.</p>
<p>Adult offenders have a proven re-offending rate of 29.2%. However, those sentenced to a custodial term of less than 12 months have a proven re-offending rate of 64.4%. A proven re-offence is any offence committed within a year of release that leads to a conviction, caution, reprimand or warning. </p>
<p>On the basis of these figures, short prison sentences are staggeringly inefficient if the purpose of punishment is to reduce crime. Meaningful rehabilitation is unlikely if someone is in prison only for a few weeks. Any immediate gain in crime reduction is quickly offset on release if the factors identified by Stewart increase the risk of entrenched criminal behaviour.</p>
<p>No wonder the UK government <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-46847162">plans to introduce</a> a presumption against imprisoning offenders for less than six months. The aspiration is that those who would have received such a sentence will receive a community sentence instead. Stewart recognised that such a proposal would be likely to face opposition, not least from his own colleagues in the Conservative Party. But he was clear that it was a battle that he must win. </p>
<p>There is another inducement for the government: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/780612/criminal-justice-statistics-quarterly-september-2018.pdf">40,919 offenders</a> received a custodial sentence of less than six months in the year to September 2018; removing such a sizeable number of prisoners would ease overcrowding. This would allow staff to work more intensively with longer-term prisoners, and could help to reduce rates of violence, self-harm and suicide – assuming that there was no corresponding cut to the prison budget.</p>
<h2>The Scottish system</h2>
<p>Will the proposal work? It is worth reviewing the evidence from Scotland. <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2010/13/contents">The Criminal Justice and Licencing (Scotland) Act 2010</a> provides that a court must not pass a prison sentence of three months or less unless it deems that no other method of dealing with the offender is appropriate.</p>
<p>It is important to stress that – as with the English proposal – short prison sentences have not been abolished, rather there is a presumption against their use. The Scottish government’s <a href="https://www.gov.scot/publications/justice-scotland-vision-priorities/">Justice Vision and Priorities</a> document announced that the presumption would be extended from three months to 12 months.</p>
<p>Surely the fact that the Scottish government plans to extend the presumption against short sentences suggests success? Not according to Scottish prison statistics. In 2011-12, the average daily prison population stood at 8,179. By 2017-18 it had <a href="https://www2.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Crime-Justice/TrendPris">dropped</a> to 7,464.</p>
<p>However, the latest figure is consistent with a drop that pre-dated the introduction of the presumption against short sentences. Other factors – such as the number of offenders being sentenced – help account for these trends. Despite the presumption, 27% of the 11,943 people who received a prison sentence in 2017-18 were <a href="https://www.gov.scot/publications/criminal-proceedings-scotland-2017-18/pages/1/">jailed for up to three months</a>.</p>
<h2>Lessons to be learned</h2>
<p>Why has the effect been, at best, marginal then? <a href="https://www.gov.scot/Publications/2015/03/3800">Research</a> by the Scottish government in 2015 found that 56% of <a href="http://www.scotland-judiciary.org.uk/36/0/Sheriffs">sheriffs</a> (legally qualified judges who deal with the majority of civil and criminal court cases in Scotland) agreed that the presumption <a href="https://www.gov.scot/Publications/2015/03/3800">had made little or no difference</a> to their sentencing practice. In fact, 28% of Sheriffs agreed that the presumption led them to give slightly longer sentences than they otherwise would have done in some cases – an obvious way to evade the policy.</p>
<p>Two lessons should be learned here. The first is that the presumption will not work if it is too easy for judges to circumvent. Departure from the norm should require a convincing justification. It should require more than a claim that no other sentence was appropriate.</p>
<p>The second is that it may be more effective to think of types of offence that normally should not result in imprisonment. Cyrus Tata, director of the <a href="https://www.strath.ac.uk/humanities/lawschool/centreforlawcrimeandjustice/aboutus/">Centre for Law, Crime and Justice</a> at Strathclyde University, <a href="https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/55969/1/Tata_SJM2016_how_can_prison_sentencing_be_reduced.pdf">makes the point</a> that sentence length is an imperfect proxy for the seriousness of an offence.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/273818/original/file-20190510-183106-1wfpyb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/273818/original/file-20190510-183106-1wfpyb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273818/original/file-20190510-183106-1wfpyb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273818/original/file-20190510-183106-1wfpyb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273818/original/file-20190510-183106-1wfpyb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273818/original/file-20190510-183106-1wfpyb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273818/original/file-20190510-183106-1wfpyb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">British prisons have a serious overcrowding problem.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/reading-december-4-exhibition-inside-artists-530226511">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Focusing on the type of offence may be a more honest way of determining who should go to prison. For example, whether it is ever appropriate to imprison a thief. Theft is prevalent and is not a victimless offence. The question though is whether punishment is proportionate to the gravity of the offence. Apart from exceptional cases, we would argue that prison is a disproportionate punishment in cases of theft. England and Wales have a developed system of sentencing guidelines, unlike Scotland, so some of this exercise has already taken place.</p>
<p>We welcome the UK government’s recognition that prison can be harmful and counter-productive. Advocating a policy aimed at sending fewer offenders to prison carries political risk. Scottish experience though suggests that more is required. The onus must be placed on judges to provide detailed and compelling reasons as to why departure from the presumption is warranted in a particular case. Consideration should also be given as to whether there should be a rapid means of reviewing the judge’s reasoning.</p>
<p>Two things are clear. Reconviction rates in England and Wales show that short prison sentences are staggeringly ineffective. But equally, what has happened in Scotland demonstrates that a presumption against short sentences is not in itself going to provide a remedy in terms of reducing the prison population. In the longer term, we need to have a meaningful debate about what offences merit a custodial sentence.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/116541/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gavin Dingwall serves on the Research Advisory Group of the Howard League for Penal Reform. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jessica Gallagher does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Evidence from Scotland reveals the presumption against shorter sentences has shown little reduction in prison numbers.Gavin Dingwall, Professor of Criminal Justice Policy, De Montfort UniversityJessica Gallagher, Lecturer, Criminal Justice Policy, De Montfort UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1064172018-11-22T23:05:02Z2018-11-22T23:05:02ZThe folly of writing legislation in response to sensational crimes<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/246881/original/file-20181122-182071-1lo5a29.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Terri-Lynne McClintic, convicted in the death of an eight-year-old girl, is escorted into court in Kitchener, Ont., in September 2012. News that McClintic was transferred to an Indigenous 'healing lodge' has stoked outrage.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Geoff Robins</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The transfer of convicted murderer Terri-Lynne McClintic to an Indigenous correctional facility has resulted in changes to correctional legislation and practice. But creating law and changing policy in response to one sensational case has an impact far beyond the intended target. Just look at what happened when Karla Homolka, one of Canada’s most infamous killers, completed her 12-year-manslaughter sentence.</p>
<p>A rally against McClintic’s transfer to an Indigenous healing lodge on Parliament Hill on Nov. 2 featured calls of <a href="https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/crowd-rallies-on-parliment-hill-to-demand-government-intervene-in-transfer-of-child-killer-terri-lynne-mcclintic-to-healing-lodge">“send her back” and “life means life”</a> in reference to her life sentence for murder. McClintic was convicted of first-degree murder in 2012 for the abduction, rape and murder of eight-year-old Tori Stafford in Woodstock, Ont.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/246926/original/file-20181122-182050-1pdx2ri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/246926/original/file-20181122-182050-1pdx2ri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=795&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246926/original/file-20181122-182050-1pdx2ri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=795&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246926/original/file-20181122-182050-1pdx2ri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=795&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246926/original/file-20181122-182050-1pdx2ri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=999&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246926/original/file-20181122-182050-1pdx2ri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=999&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246926/original/file-20181122-182050-1pdx2ri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=999&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Homolka is seen in 1993 in St. Catharines, Ont., on her way to her manslaughter trial.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Frank Gunn</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>McClintic’s high-profile crime has some disturbing similarities to Homolka’s. In 1993, Homolka was convicted of manslaughter in the abduction, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/key-events-in-the-bernardo-homolka-case-1.933128">rape and murders of Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy.</a> Both Homolka and McClintic acted alongside male partners (Paul Bernardo and Michael Rafferty, respectively), but as individuals, were targets of extensive media coverage.</p>
<p>Homolka served 12 years in prison and was released in 2005. In 2010 she became eligible to seek a pardon, although there was no indication that she was going to apply.</p>
<h2>Transferred to healing lodge</h2>
<p>Since 2012, McClintic had been incarcerated in Ontario’s Grand Valley Institution for Women. This fall she was transferred to Okimaw Ohci Healing Lodge in Saskatchewan, a multi-security facility primarily for Indigenous female offenders, but amid the uproar about the transfer, <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/terri-lynne-mcclintic-transferred-out-of-healing-lodge-rodney-stafford-1.4168632">she was moved to a medium-security prison in Edmonton.</a></p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/246928/original/file-20181122-182056-1893nvd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/246928/original/file-20181122-182056-1893nvd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=699&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246928/original/file-20181122-182056-1893nvd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=699&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246928/original/file-20181122-182056-1893nvd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=699&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246928/original/file-20181122-182056-1893nvd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=879&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246928/original/file-20181122-182056-1893nvd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=879&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246928/original/file-20181122-182056-1893nvd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=879&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Victoria (Tori) Stafford, 8, McClintic’s victim, is shown in this photo copied from a poster in Woodstock, Ont. on April 10, 2009.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Dave Chidley</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There was no indication that her transfer to the healing lodge, itself a prison, posed a security threat or violated correctional protocols.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, her case, like Homolka’s, has resulted in changes to federal policies and laws.</p>
<p>Child murder and aggravated sexual assault are a small minority of crimes committed in Canada, and <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-002-x/2014001/article/14008-eng.htm">97 per cent of those accused of sexual assault are male</a>. So it’s not surprising that women like Homolka and McClintic are viewed with extreme public repudiation. But using their rare and sensational crimes to change policy makes for bad legislation.</p>
<p>In response to Homolka’s possible pardon application, <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/mps-pass-bill-to-block-pardon-for-karla-homolka-1.523631">sweeping legislative changes were implemented.</a> These have since had an impact on thousands of criminalized adults. Essentially, pardons became more expensive and delayed. </p>
<h2>Pardons now fewer and more expensive</h2>
<p>The time period before which those convicted of indictable offences could apply for pardons after completing their sentences was extended from five to 10 years. For less serious offences, the delay was from three to five years. The associated cost was quadrupled, from $150 to $631. </p>
<p>Approximately <a href="https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/ccrso-2016/ccrso-2016-en.pdf">3.8 million Canadians have criminal records, or 10 per cent of the population</a>. Fewer are now applying to have these records suspended. In 2015-16, there were 12,384 applications, down from 29,849 in 2011-12, the year of legislative changes. </p>
<p>The legislative changes, which were applied retroactively, <a href="https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/retroactive-changes-to-criminal-pardons-found-unconstitutional">have been found to violate people’s Charter rights</a>. Not only were changes to the pardon process unconstitutional, they have been costly to the public. </p>
<p>Without a record suspension, those with criminal records are often unable to find work, especially work that pays a living wage. They are more likely to rely on welfare and other social supports, rather than contributing to the economy and paying taxes.</p>
<p>It is important to know, or remember, that a record suspension is only given after someone completes their sentence and does not reoffend. </p>
<p>Toronto <a href="http://criminology.utoronto.ca/facultyandstaff/faculty-2/faculty/anthony-doob-frsc/">criminology professor Anthony Doob</a> argued in a 2017 legal challenge that <a href="https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/retroactive-changes-to-criminal-pardons-found-unconstitutional">only four per cent of pardons in Canada have been revoked</a>. This means 96 per cent of those who have received a pardon live crime-free lives in the community.</p>
<h2>‘Record suspension’</h2>
<p>When the Conservatives changed the legislation, they also replaced term “pardon” with “record suspension.”</p>
<p>“It’s not the state’s business to be in the forgiveness business,” then Minister of Public Safety Vic Toews <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/tory-bill-would-replace-pardons-with-harder-to-get-record-suspensions/article4318702/">declared.</a> Such statements illustrate the extent to which changes to the “pardon” system were politically driven. </p>
<p>Comments from current Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale have been more measured, but <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/mcclintic-healing-lodge-stafford-goodale-1.4893808">he ordered Corrections Canada to tighten transfer policies</a>. The changes impact all existing and future cases of inmates seeking transfers.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/246929/original/file-20181122-182047-1ol5xtc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/246929/original/file-20181122-182047-1ol5xtc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246929/original/file-20181122-182047-1ol5xtc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246929/original/file-20181122-182047-1ol5xtc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246929/original/file-20181122-182047-1ol5xtc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246929/original/file-20181122-182047-1ol5xtc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/246929/original/file-20181122-182047-1ol5xtc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Public uproar over notorious criminals and their crimes often have an impact on legislation that has a significant impact on unintended targets. A salesman watches an interview with Karla Homolka on television station RDI in Montreal in July 2005, shortly after her release from prison.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(CP PHOTO/Ryan Remiorz)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Transfers between prisons have long been matters of extensive policy and evaluation of individual offenders. </p>
<p>Often transfers are done to provide inmates with access to rehabilitation programs or to bring them closer to their families and support systems. And transferring offenders from institutions to healing lodges is not new. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/child-killers-transferred-healing-lodges-1.4903540">Between 2011 and 2019, 22 convicted child killers have served some of their time in healing lodges</a>. Yet suddenly, after one sensational case, policies are changing.</p>
<h2>‘Justice served’</h2>
<p>These new policies will make it harder for prisoners to move to lower-security facilities like healing lodges. It’s partly due to these tighter guidelines that McClintic was moved from the healing lodge to the Edmonton prison for women.</p>
<p>“Justice is finally being served as Tori Stafford’s killer is being put back in a prison,” <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/terri-lynne-mcclintic-transferred-out-of-healing-lodge-rodney-stafford-1.4168632">declared Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer after the transfer was made known</a>.</p>
<p>Such statements fuel public misconceptions about healing lodges which are, to all intents and purposes, prisons. There are guards, strip searches and close surveillance. McClintic was never not in prison. She was transferred from one prison to another and then another. </p>
<p>The legislative changes made in response to Homolka’s possible pardon application have been harmful to thousands, and have not demonstrably made the public any safer. </p>
<p>It’s too soon to tell what the impact will be of changes to inmate transfers and risk assessment in response to McClintic’s move. But if there are any lessons to be learned from the past, surely it’s that the politically and emotionally charged court of public opinion is not the place to make policy changes in areas as complex as corrections.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/106417/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anita Grace receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council for her PhD research on women's reintegration and employment. She volunteers as chair of the Citizen Advisory Committee for the Ottawa Parole Office.</span></em></p>The politically and emotionally charged court of public opinion is not the place to make policy changes in areas as complex as corrections.Anita Grace, PhD Candidate, Department of Law and Legal Studies, Carleton UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/985302018-06-19T10:27:20Z2018-06-19T10:27:20ZJuneteenth: Freedom’s promise is still denied to thousands of blacks unable to make bail<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223675/original/file-20180618-85849-1akbwxg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Black men occupy a disproportionate share of prison cells in the U.S.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">sakhorn/Shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>June 19 marks Juneteenth, a celebration of the de facto end of slavery in the United States. </p>
<p>For hundreds of thousands of African-Americans stuck in pretrial detention – accused but not convicted of a crime, and unable to leave because of bail – that promise remains unfulfilled. And coming immediately after Father’s Day, it’s also a reminder of the loss associated with the forced separation of families.</p>
<p>On a very personal level, I know how this separation feels. Every Father’s Day since 2011, I’ve been reminded of the unexpected death of my dad at the age of 48. But also on a professional level, as a criminologist who has been <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=CwF5k6YAAAAJ&hl=en">researching mass incarceration</a> for the past decade, I understand the disproportionate impact it’s had on African-Americans, <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0002716208324850">destabilizing black families</a> in the process. </p>
<h2>Blacks behind bars</h2>
<p>Juneteenth is a celebration of African-Americans’ triumph over slavery and access to freedom in the U.S., which occurred in Galveston, Texas, in June of 1865, over two and a half years after President Lincoln’s <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/emancipation-proclamation">Emancipation Proclamation</a>. </p>
<p>While Juneteenth is a momentous day in U.S. history, it is important to appreciate that the civil rights and liberties promised to African-Americans have yet to be fully realized. As legal scholar Michelle Alexander <a href="https://thenewpress.com/books/new-jim-crow">forcefully explains</a>, this is a consequence of Jim Crow laws and the proliferation of incarceration that began in the 1970s, including the increase of people placed in <a href="https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/bulr97&div=4&id=&page=&collection=journals">pretrial detention</a> and <a href="https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s12111-001-1013-3.pdf">other criminal justice policies</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2018.html">There are 2.3 million people</a> currently incarcerated in American prisons and jails – including those not convicted of any crime. Black people <a href="https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2018.html">comprise 40 percent of them</a>, even though they represent just 13 percent of the U.S. population. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223672/original/file-20180618-85858-igkuau.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223672/original/file-20180618-85858-igkuau.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=784&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223672/original/file-20180618-85858-igkuau.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=784&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223672/original/file-20180618-85858-igkuau.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=784&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223672/original/file-20180618-85858-igkuau.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=985&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223672/original/file-20180618-85858-igkuau.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=985&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223672/original/file-20180618-85858-igkuau.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=985&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Protesters march through Harlem in the March for Justice.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rainmaker Photo/MediaPunch/IPX</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Not yet guilty but not free</h2>
<p>More troubling is the number of incarcerated individuals currently held in jail for crimes of which they have not yet been convicted. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.prisonpolicy.org/">Prison Policy Initiative</a>, a nonpartisan think tank that focuses on mass incarceration, <a href="https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2018.html">has reported</a> that over a half million citizens are languishing in pretrial detention. And like most criminal justice outcomes, the burden of this <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/soc4.12576">disproportionately falls on minorities</a>, especially black <a href="http://www.pretrial.org/release-jail-tied-black-poor/">men</a> and <a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/vera-web-assets/downloads/Publications/overlooked-women-and-jails-report/legacy_downloads/overlooked-women-and-jails-fact-sheet.pdf">women</a>. </p>
<p>In local jails alone, over 300,000 people are awaiting trial for property, drug or public order crimes. And again, these <a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/sites/default/files/publications/Racial%20Disparities%20Report%20062515.pdf">disproportionately black defendants</a> are confined and separated from their families, friends and jobs simply because they lack the means to post cash bail – the only reason they can’t get out. </p>
<h2>Toll on families</h2>
<p>It should be no surprise, then, that <a href="http://www.pewtrusts.org/%7E/media/legacy/uploadedfiles/pcs_assets/2010/collateralcosts1pdf.pdf">1 in 9 black children</a> now has a parent behind bars, compared with the national rate of 1 in 28. </p>
<p>And many of these children are at an increased likelihood of experiencing <a href="http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/131/4/e1188.short">physical and mental health issues</a>, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1745-9125.2011.00257.x">academic struggles</a> and a range of <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1360-0443.2010.03110.x">other behavioral problems</a>. Children of incarcerated mothers are also at heightened odds of <a href="http://heinonline.org/hol-cgi-bin/get_pdf.cgi?handle=hein.journals/uclalr59&section=42&casa_token=_1TPFIpjGMEAAAAA:t0nAOwVTZjH2WNjPI7gpIbxNoBEZmJN9C0vNJBJxo_YZnvCvxCKGd8i_HDOM2vvoAX-potSUuA">ending up in foster care</a> and <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/12/why-children-with-parents-in-prison-are-especially-burdened/433638/">being exposed to other traumas</a>.</p>
<p>Being the partner of an incarcerated individual is another <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10964-015-0318-9">often stressful experience</a> that also falls disproportionately on black citizens, particularly women.</p>
<h2>Some good news</h2>
<p>The good news is that such injustices are receiving growing attention nationwide. </p>
<p><a href="https://justcity.org/">Just City</a>, a nonprofit organization working to reduce the harms of the criminal justice system, <a href="https://justcity.kindful.com/mcbf/just-city">has campaigned</a> to raise funds and promote awareness of its <a href="https://justcity.org/what-we-do/#memphis-cbf">Memphis Community Bail Fund</a> project for Father’s Day – in part because nearly half a million of the black men behind bars <a href="http://www.pewtrusts.org/%7E/media/legacy/uploadedfiles/pcs_assets/2010/collateralcosts1pdf.pdf">are dads</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://justcity.org/what-we-do/">The aim of the project</a> is to provide both financial and legal support for defendants lacking resources to independently secure their pretrial release, with <a href="https://justcity.kindful.com/mcbf/just-city">the goal of the campaign</a> being the release of jailed fathers so that they could be with their kids for the holiday.</p>
<p>Bail funds similar to Just City’s have <a href="https://nashvillebailfund.org">proliferated</a> <a href="https://www.detroitjustice.org/blog/2018/3/18/h3bjobbh3-were-launching-a-bail-fund-in-detroit-apply-to-be-a-full-time-bail-disruptor">throughout</a> the U.S.</p>
<p>On one hand, the multiplication of these organizations is encouraging and reason for optimism. On the other, their growth is another reminder that many of the freedoms celebrated on Juneteenth remain unrealized.</p>
<h2>A long road continues</h2>
<p>In cities like Detroit, <a href="http://www.pewtrusts.org/%7E/media/assets/2009/03/02/pspp_1in31_report_final_web_32609.pdf">where 1 in 7 adult males is under some form of correctional control in some communities</a>, it is a monumental task to make sense of the short- and long-term impacts of incarceration for black families. </p>
<p>Children suffer. Parents struggle. Relationships deteriorate. And as a result, so too do so many African-American communities. Lost wages matter to families, but they also matter to communities. The lower tax base that results makes it <a href="https://maketheroadny.org/pix_reports/Justice%20Reinvestment%20Final%20Report.pdf">more difficult</a> for struggling public institutions, like schools, to progress. And with such a large share of individuals removed from some communities due to incarceration, and <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/states-rethink-prisoner-voting-rights-incarceration-rates-rise-n850406">branded as felons</a> upon their release, these communities lose potential voters and the political capital they carry. They are too often disenfranchised and stripped of their full power and potential.</p>
<p>Juneteenth celebrates the freedom of black Americans and the long, hard road they were forced to traverse to gain that freedom. But as criminologists like me have maintained time and again, the U.S. criminal justice system remains biased, albeit implicitly, against them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/98530/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew Larson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Just as with so many other criminal justice policies, pretrial detention disproportionately affects African-American men and women, destabilizing black families in the process.Matthew Larson, Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice, Wayne State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/772822017-06-05T01:45:08Z2017-06-05T01:45:08ZWhat’s hidden behind the walls of America’s prisons<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/172145/original/file-20170604-20563-piz7xr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Inmates at the California Institution for Men state prison in Chino, California in 2011. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Few Americans fully appreciate just how many of their fellow citizens are ensnared in the criminal justice system. </p>
<p>Some may have heard that there are about <a href="https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2017.html">2.3 million people behind bars</a>, but that figure tells only part of the story. Yes, in a stunning array of 1,719 state prisons, 102 federal prisons, 901 juvenile correctional facilities, 3,163 local jails and 76 Indian Country jails, as well as in military prisons, immigration detention facilities, civil commitment centers and prisons in the U.S. territories, we physically contain more human beings than any other country in the world. In addition to those actually locked up, there are another 840,000 Americans being supervised on parole and an additional 3.7 million people being monitored on probation. </p>
<p>Consider this: The world’s most populous city, Tokyo, and the U.S.’s most populous state, California, have fewer residents combined than the <a href="http://www.sentencingproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Americans-with-Criminal-Records-Poverty-and-Opportunity-Profile.pdf">up to 100 million</a> U.S. citizens who now have a criminal record.</p>
<p>As important, these historically unprecedented rates of containment, and the deep stigma of a criminal record, aren’t experienced equally in this country. America’s incarceration crisis is suffered <a href="http://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/color-of-justice-racial-and-ethnic-disparity-in-state-prisons/">staggeringly and dis-proportionally</a> by communities of color.</p>
<p>That so many are blissfully unaware of just how many people are, or have been, subject to containment or control is, perhaps, unsurprising. Prisons are built to be out of sight and are, thus, out of mind. Somehow, even though these institutions contain human beings, including children, and even though we are the ones who cough up the <a href="https://www.vera.org/publications/the-price-of-prisons-what-incarceration-costs-taxpayers">billion of dollars</a> that it costs to run them, we are expected simply to trust that they are operated humanely and that they in fact make our society safer. </p>
<p>As a <a href="http://www.heatherannthompson.com">historian</a> of crime and punishment who has been inside of America’s prisons and has documented severe abuses that have taken place within them, I know this trust is not warranted. It is past time that the public has unfettered access to these public institutions so that we can know exactly what happens behind prison walls.</p>
<h2>The fight to see inside</h2>
<p>There is, in fact, a long history of the public being kept away from prisons so that corrections officials could run them as they wished. For much of the 19th and into the 20th century, state politicians’ deeply ingrained fear of federal encroachment on their power more generally translated into the so-called <a href="http://law.jrank.org/pages/1761/Prisoners-Legal-Rights-hands-off-period.html#ixzz4gUbMowM2">“hands-off doctrine”</a> when it came to how they ran their prisons. Prison authorities, it was understood, had the right to do what they wanted to those in their charge. </p>
<p>Of course prisoners routinely tried to bring attention to the abuses that happened to them. But time and again, and most notably in the infamous 1871 case <a href="https://www.law.ufl.edu/_pdf/academics/centers/cgr/11th_conference/Tim_Maloney_Rights_of_Detainees.pdf">Ruffin v. Commonwealth</a>, their bid to be treated as human beings was formally denied. In fact, according to the court in this case, prisoners were “slaves of the state.”</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/172077/original/file-20170602-20593-1yy5hsc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/172077/original/file-20170602-20593-1yy5hsc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/172077/original/file-20170602-20593-1yy5hsc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=550&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/172077/original/file-20170602-20593-1yy5hsc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=550&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/172077/original/file-20170602-20593-1yy5hsc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=550&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/172077/original/file-20170602-20593-1yy5hsc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=691&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/172077/original/file-20170602-20593-1yy5hsc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=691&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/172077/original/file-20170602-20593-1yy5hsc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=691&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Chain gang street sweepers in Washington, D.C., circa 1909.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the 1960s and 1970s, though, in response to escalating protests in penal facilities and in cities across the country, prisoners finally gained some rights. In turn, the public began to learn a bit more about what was happening to them behind bars. </p>
<p>It was, for example, deeply significant when the Warren Court opined in a 1974 case, <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/418/539/case.html">Wolff v. McDonnell,</a> that</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“a prisoner is not wholly stripped of constitutional protections when he is imprisoned for crime. There is no iron curtain drawn between the Constitution and the prisons of this country.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>However, at the moment that more light was being shone on prison conditions because of specific judicial rulings, it was also clear that serious limitations on the public’s access to these institutions would remain and, overtime, actually increase.</p>
<p>In 1974, the court ruled in <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/417/817/">Pell v. Procunier</a> that prisoners’ First Amendment rights were in fact limited. In this case the court held that journalists, the people who might hear prisoner accounts of abuse and share them with the public, “have no constitutional right of access to prisons or their inmates beyond that afforded to the general public.” As <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Congressional_Record.html?id=cyU_fdnWhD8C">Ted Kennedy</a> noted passionately before his colleagues in the Senate, this decision was alarming since, as he pointed out, “the public cannot regularly tour the prisons and interview inmates.” </p>
<p>Another significant blow to the public’s access came in 1987 when a decision was rendered in the case <a href="http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/482/78.html">Turner v. Safley</a>. The court ruled that prisoners’ rights to speak to the media existed only to the extent that prison authorities didn’t have a reasonable justification for restricting those rights. And the lid on access lowered even farther in the 2003 case <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/539/126/">Overton v. Bazzetta</a>. The court ruled, in short, that if prison administrators wished to bar visitors to prison, their desires trumped other constitutional considerations such as the First Amendment rights of prisoners. </p>
<p>The court even found that prison officials could prevent visits between prisoners and their kids if the restrictions on visitation were related to “<a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/539/126/">valid interests in maintaining internal security</a>.” </p>
<h2>Access abroad</h2>
<p>Notably, other prison systems, most famously those in countries such as Sweden and Norway, are much more transparent. The primary goal of prison, officials in these countries maintain, is to return people to the society improved. And, thus, they insist, prisons must have oversight to ensure that they are run humanely. </p>
<p>Not only are <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/09/why-scandinavian-prisons-are-superior/279949/">Scandinavian</a> prisoners assigned a special officer “who monitors and helps advance progress toward return to the world outside,” but <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/29/magazine/the-radical-humaneness-of-norways-halden-prison.html">Norwegian</a> prisons boast an “explicit focus on rehabilitating prisoners through education, job training and therapy … [and the] priority of reintegration.” </p>
<p>Even in countries not known for their human rights, such as <a href="http://www.sps.gov.sg/connect-us/rehabilitation-process">Singapore</a>, prison officials explicitly connect the humane treatment of the incarcerated to the broader public good. As their corrections officials put it, “by rehabilitating our inmates, society can continue to be safe even when these offenders leave prison.”</p>
<p>The principle that the public has a responsibility to run prisons humanely was in fact adopted by the <a href="https://www.unodc.org/pdf/criminal_justice/UN_Standard_Minimum_Rules_for_the_Treatment_of_Prisoners.pdf">United Nations</a> back in 1955. </p>
<p>When the U.N. revised and again adopted its “Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners” in 2013, thereafter dubbed the “Nelson Mandela Rules,” not only was it endorsing the idea that penal practices must be humane and prisoners treated like people, but it also made clear that humane treatment depended upon outsider access to prisons. According to the U.N., “services and agencies, governmental or otherwise” interested in prisoners’ well being “shall have all necessary access to the institution and to prisoners.”</p>
<h2>Why access matters</h2>
<p>Even a cursory glance at our nation’s history indicates that such access is not only desirable, but necessary. </p>
<p>The abuses that went on in this country’s <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=0xNbY2CehHgC&pg=PT121&lpg=PT121&dq=blinded+by+the+barbaric+south&source=bl&ots=5cOhYdz9ht&sig=_PKNmabzEt59aDcxBful0su3BXc&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjL99fMvuDTAhVs64MKHWRNBWoQ6AEIJzAA#v=onepage&q=blinded%20by%20the%20barbaric%20south&f=false">19th-century penal institutions</a>, both in the North and in the South, are well-documented, and it is now obvious that the 20th century did not bring much improvement. </p>
<p>One need only read of the pain and suffering the men locked up at the <a href="http://truth-out.org/archive/component/k2/item/79840:slavery-haunts-americas-plantation-prisons">Angola Penitentiary</a> in Louisiana endured in the 1950s. Here, men willingly cut their own Achilles tendons so that they might avoid the abuses of the guards driving them in the prison’s cotton fields. Or we can look at the horrific torture endured by the men at <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/19/books/blood-in-the-water-a-gripping-account-of-the-attica-prison-uprising.html">Attica</a> in the wake of their 1971 protest. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/172147/original/file-20170604-20569-1fuepo5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/172147/original/file-20170604-20569-1fuepo5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/172147/original/file-20170604-20569-1fuepo5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/172147/original/file-20170604-20569-1fuepo5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/172147/original/file-20170604-20569-1fuepo5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/172147/original/file-20170604-20569-1fuepo5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/172147/original/file-20170604-20569-1fuepo5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A work crew heads to the fields at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola in 2001.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Bill Haber</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Throughout American history unspeakable abuse of men and women has been allowed to happen behind prison walls because the public had no access. </p>
<p>And, if we pay close attention to what has been happening much more recently behind bars, it is clear that the closed nature of prisons remains a serious problem in this country. </p>
<p>In September 2016, prisoners at facilities across the country <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/10/21/prison-rioting-is-real-and-getting-worse">erupted</a> in protests for better conditions. In March and April of 2017, prisons in <a href="https://www.jacobinmag.com/2017/02/vaughn-prison-hostage-attica-uprising/">Delaware</a> and <a href="https://www.rt.com/usa/384244-tennessee-prison-riot-hostages/">Tennessee</a> similarly exploded.</p>
<p>In each of these rebellions, the public was <a href="http://michiganradio.org/post/historian-attica-kinross-we-have-right-know-what-happens-our-prisons">told little</a> about what had prompted the chaos and even less about what happened to the protesting prisoners once order was restored.</p>
<p>In fact, when we, the public, just dig a little, it is obvious that much trauma takes place behind bars while we aren’t watching.</p>
<p>In a juvenile <a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-finally-know-what-happened-brutal-reform-school-180957911/">facility in Florida</a> it is now clear that over the course of many decades in the 20th century, prison officials murdered scores of young boys. In facilities such as Rikers Island, young people today experience <a href="https://www.google.com/amp/nypost.com/2012/05/06/brutal-system-of-teen-beatings-continues-at-rikers-islands-rndc-prison/amp/">physical abuse</a> and some have <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/staten-island-mom-demands-answers-son-rikers-island-death-article-1.2952805">died in custody</a>. And not just children, but vulnerable adults as well, suffer tremendously, and daily, because they are at the utter mercy of officials who don’t have to answer to the public. </p>
<p>Indeed, it is only when there is a particularly dramatic abuse, or a death that simply can’t be hidden, that the public gets any glimpse of what life on the inside is like for so many Americans. </p>
<p>It wasn’t until concern was raised about babies being born with brain damage that we learned that women are <a href="https://www.aclu.org/files/assets/anti-shackling_briefing_paper_stand_alone.pdf">shackled during childbirth</a> in our prisons. It wasn’t until brave health care professionals came forward that we learned about the many <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/01/nyregion/attica-prison-infamous-for-bloodshed-faces-a-reckoning-as-guards-go-on-trial.html">broken bones and internal injuries</a> prisoners were suffering at the hands of their captors. It wasn’t until prisoners ended up dead with marks on their body indicating to outside coroners that they had been <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article149026764.html">tortured</a> that we knew about the traumas that the <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/05/02/the-torturing-of-mentally-ill-prisoners">mentally ill</a> are suffering in prison. And, sadly, it isn’t until we hear of cases being filed on behalf of children that we finally learn how many of them have suffered sexual and physical abuse and about how much emotional distress they suffer from being kept in <a href="https://www.aclu.org/report/growing-locked-down-youth-solitary-confinement-jails-and-prisons-across-united-states">utter isolation</a>. </p>
<p>More recently, until journalist <a href="https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices/abuse-kids-prison-weve-been-here">Nell Bernstein</a> managed to get access to our nation’s juveniles facilities, the public was blissfully unaware of the alarming fact that “More than a third of youth reported that staff used force unnecessarily, and 30 percent said that staff placed them into solitary confinement as discipline,” or that the amount of physical forced used on children in these facilities is “staggering.” </p>
<p>Here is but one <a href="https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices/abuse-kids-prison-weve-been-here">account</a> that Bernstein was able to share with the public of a 12-year-old boy who, when his mother was allowed finally to visit him, was found “rail-thin,” with his eyebrows shaved off, a dent in his temple and with a “huge black eye, a busted lip, and a bruise on his rib cage in the shape of a boot.” When she asked him, appalled, how he had gotten so injured he explained flatly, “Mom, this is what happens…A guard did this. They want you to know who’s boss.”</p>
<h2>Volatile and dangerous workplaces</h2>
<p>It isn’t just those who have been sentenced to serve time in prisons who suffer from the public’s lack of access to those institutions. The men and women who work inside of them also pay a high price. </p>
<p>Every American prison is, of course, <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/unconstitutional-horrors-prison-overcrowding-315640">severely overcrowded</a> and, therefore, they are not just hellholes for the incarcerated, they are also volatile and dangerous workplaces. </p>
<p>Like prisoners, correction officers also end up <a href="http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2017/03/its_killing_people_a_look_insi.html">injured and killed</a> behind bars and, also like prisoners, they too experience high rates of <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4699466/">suicide</a> as a result of the terrible conditions. And, also as with prisoners, the only way we hear just how terrible things really are for guards is when something particularly awful happens to one of them and <a href="https://www.democracynow.org/2016/9/28/alabama_guards_stage_work_strike_months">protests</a> erupt, as they did in states such as Alabama in 2016.</p>
<h2>Barriers to access</h2>
<p>When ordinary citizens learn of atrocities committed behind bars, most are appalled, but the sad reality is that the public actually has few legal tools at its disposal to insist on the access it needs to protect guards or prisoners. </p>
<p>Yes, the American public does have some “right to know” what the officials we pay are doing via the 1966 <a href="http://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1740&context=facpub">Freedom of Information Act</a> (FOIA). This piece of legislation was intended to facilitate “the watchdog function of the public over the government” and it was meant to give citizens “the knowledge necessary to evaluate the conduct of government officials.” All who supported the passage of FOIA understood that “access to the government information necessary to ensure that government officials act in the public interest.”</p>
<p>When one group tried to get documents from the Bureau of Prisons, for example, it was <a href="https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2017/may/5/after-fourteen-years-bop-settles-prison-legal-news-foia-suit-420000/">denied access</a> to files for 14 years and, even then, it took a law suit to settle the matter. As journalist <a href="http://www.spj.org/prisonaccess.asp">Jessica Pupovac</a> points out, “Restrictive prison policies continue to be an issue – and a problem – for journalists.” Of course, for those without press credentials, finding out what is happening behind bars – having any idea what behaviors and actions their tax dollars are making possible in America’s vast carceral network – remains virtually impossible.</p>
<p>How then might Americans ever know what actually goes on in the criminal justice system that they fund, the penal institutions that their loved ones populate in ever greater numbers and in the many other apparatuses of containment they are told will keep them safer?</p>
<p>The answer to that question is not at all clear, but the imperative of continuing to loudly demand public access to our public penal institutions is. Access is a responsibility even if it has yet to be a guaranteed right. </p>
<p>As history and present-day headlines make clear, the public must know what happens in prisons. Not knowing is what makes it possible for unimaginable suffering to take place in the name of safety and security. There is no reason for us to make this Faustian bargain, and countless, human, reasons why we must not.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/77282/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Heather Ann Thompson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The University of Michigan’s Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Heather Ann Thompson explains why Americans must demand better access to the nation’s prisons.Heather Ann Thompson, Professor of History and Afroamerican and African Studies, University of MichiganLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/719202017-03-13T00:44:32Z2017-03-13T00:44:32ZWhy prison building will continue booming in rural America<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/160368/original/image-20170310-19266-1mt38ub.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The federal prison in Forrest City, Arkansas.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Danny Johnston</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The election of Donald Trump signals an end to the recent optimism about reducing the mass imprisonment of two million U.S. citizens each year.</p>
<p>Trump supports policies like <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/01/30/trumps-immigration-order-explained/97270650/">the immigrant ban</a> and increased <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/donald-trump-stop-and-frisk-228486">stop-and-frisk</a> that will undoubtedly lead to more arrests and strain an already bloated prison system.</p>
<p>After taking office, Trump signed <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/01/25/executive-order-border-security-and-immigration-enforcement-improvements">an executive order</a> authorizing the secretary of homeland security to “allocate all legally available resources to immediately construct, operate, control, or establish contracts to construct, operate, or control facilities to detain aliens at or near the land border with Mexico.” </p>
<p>It seems clear that more American prisons are on the way.</p>
<h2>The prison boom</h2>
<p>While much has been written about <a href="http://newjimcrow.com">mass incarceration</a>, less is known about the prison building boom and the role it plays in slowing reform of the criminal justice system. </p>
<p>As I explain in my book, <a href="http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/B/bo25227153.html">“Big House on the Prairie</a>,” the number of prisons in the U.S. swelled between 1970 and 2000, from 511 to nearly 1,663. Prisons constructed during that time cover nearly 600 square miles, an area roughly half the size of Rhode Island. More than 80 percent of these facilities are operated by states, approximately 10 percent are federal facilities and the rest are private.</p>
<p>The prison boom is a massive public works program that has taken place virtually unnoticed because roughly 70 percent of prisons were built in rural communities. Most of this prison building has occurred in conservative southern states like Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma and Texas.</p>
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<p>Much of how we think about prison building is clouded by the legacy of racism and economic exploitation endemic to the U.S. criminal justice system. <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1998/12/the-prison-industrial-complex/304669/">Many feel</a> that prison building is the end product of racist policies and practices, but my research turned up a more complicated relationship.</p>
<p>People of color have undoubtedly suffered from the expansion of prisons, where they are disproportionally locked up, but they have also benefited. </p>
<p>Blacks and Latinos <a href="https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=L9hfIymI6-0C&oi=fnd&pg=PA67&dq=info:oZk3oyho4NkJ:scholar.google.com&ots=2CT_oEYrWM&sig=obr-LaBIUd4_V3ZFewWIuVFsvpo#v=onepage&q&f=false">are overrepresented</a> among the nation’s 450,000 correctional officers. Prisons are also more likely to be built in <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0049089X10000141">towns with higher black and Latino populations</a>. Many may be surprised to learn that residents of these often distressed rural communities view local prisons in a positive light.</p>
<h2>Forrest City, Arkansas: One prison town</h2>
<p>In 2007, I moved my family to Forrest City, Arkansas, a majority black town that welcomed a federal prison in 1997. </p>
<p>My hope was that by studying this one town I would gain greater insight on key questions: Why is America building so many prisons? Why now? And why in rural areas?</p>
<p>I quickly learned Forrest City choose to build a prison not simply in hopes of landing jobs or creating economic well-being, but also to protect and improve its reputation. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/160590/original/image-20170313-9620-1sia4ig.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/160590/original/image-20170313-9620-1sia4ig.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=867&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160590/original/image-20170313-9620-1sia4ig.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=867&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160590/original/image-20170313-9620-1sia4ig.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=867&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160590/original/image-20170313-9620-1sia4ig.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1089&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160590/original/image-20170313-9620-1sia4ig.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1089&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160590/original/image-20170313-9620-1sia4ig.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1089&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Wayne Dumond, right, is released on parole in 1999. Dumond was convicted of the rape of a 17-year-old high school cheerleader in Forrest City, Arkansas. While awaiting trial, Dumond was castrated at his home, he said by masked men.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Spencer Tirey</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Hosting an institution like a prison may not seem image-enhancing, but it makes sense in Forrest City. During the early 1980s, this town of roughly 13,000 gained national infamy that has been difficult to escape. A sordid tale that unfolded here – involving rape, castration, arson and violent protest – was chronicled on the TV news magazine “20/20” and in newspapers, and eventually became the subject of a book called <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Unequal_Justice.html?id=sL8uAQAAIAAJ">“Unequal Justice</a>.”</p>
<p>My own book examines the ways the prison economy takes shape and operates in towns like Forrest City. It provides a view into decision-making meetings and tracks the impact of prisons on economic development, poverty and race.</p>
<p>In Forrest City, support for the prison united the otherwise racially divided town. </p>
<p>Buddy Billingsly, a member of a prominent white land-owning family, saw the prison as a way to create jobs and new revenue for local utilities. </p>
<p>Many African-Americans in town believed that reducing racial disparities in mass imprisonment is a moral imperative, yet they supported building the prison. The late Coach Cecil Twillie, a prominent black leader in Forrest City, explained “he didn’t want his town to end up like Gary.” Gary, Indiana became <a href="http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1994-01-03/news/9401030009_1_murder-rate-killings-unemployment-rate">the murder capital of the country</a> and a symbol of urban blight during the 1980s.</p>
<p>Mayor Larry Bryant, formerly the local chapter president of the NAACP, also threw his support behind building the Forrest City Correctional Facility.</p>
<p>Because rural communities have grown increasingly dependent on prisons, they will not be easily convinced to give them up. My research shows that for many struggling rural communities plagued by problems most associate with urban neighborhoods – poverty, crime, residential segregation, deindustrialization and failing schools – prisons offer a means of survival. Prisons provide a <a href="http://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/6/1/7/htm">short-term boost to the local economy</a> by increasing median family income and home value while reducing unemployment and poverty. </p>
<h2>Protecting a local industry</h2>
<p>This survival instinct may explain why communities that have prisons <a href="http://www.politicalsciencenow.com/perverse-politics-the-persistence-of-mass-imprisonment-in-the-21st-century/">are opposed</a> to legislation like sentencing reform that would reduce the number of prisoners locked up in America.</p>
<p>Reforms like repealing three strikes are vital to reducing the number of people imprisoned. The Sentencing Project <a href="http://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/sentencing-reform-amid-mass-incarcerations-guarded-optimism/">estimates</a> that without sweeping sentencing reform it would take almost 90 years to return the prison population to its 1980 level. </p>
<p>Supporting a large number of prisons housing millions of inmates is expensive. In 2014, states spent <a href="http://www.sentencingproject.org/criminal-justice-facts/">US$55 billion</a> on corrections, meaning the economic benefits to towns come at a high cost to taxpayers. </p>
<p>It doesn’t look like the footprint of prisons will be shrinking any time soon. Given our current political climate, it’s more likely we will see more prisons built.</p>
<p>Weaning rural communities off the prison economy will mean considering alternative investment strategies like green industries. If we do not provide creative alternatives to depressed rural communities, we stand little chance in reducing their over-reliance on prisons.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/71920/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John M. Eason does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The number of prisons in the US swelled between 1970 and 2000, from 511 to nearly 1,663. Here’s the story of why one town in Arkansas welcomed a correction facility.John M. Eason, Assistant Professor, Texas A&M UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/650222016-10-14T01:55:13Z2016-10-14T01:55:13ZOne step toward making criminal justice less biased<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/141526/original/image-20161012-16206-hyk3pf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">How can justice be blind to race?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-394297423">www.shuterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many experts and politicians <a href="http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/cnsnewscom-staff/hillary-clinton-theres-systemic-racism-our-criminal-justice-system">believe</a> there is, as Hillary Clinton has said repeatedly, “systematic racism throughout the criminal justice system.” </p>
<p>As recently as the first presidential debate, Hillary Clinton made this point <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/video/us/politics/100000004673000/full-video-first-presidential-debate.html">a hallmark</a> of her criminal justice agenda. She claimed that to address this disparity and implicit bias, she has earmarked money in her initial budget for “retraining” police. </p>
<p>But is training enough to eliminate racial bias? We don’t think so.</p>
<p>Indeed, <a href="https://behavioralpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/1-2/BSP_vol1no2_Sah_final.pdf">people of color</a> make up about 30 percent of the United States’ population, but they account for 60 percent of those imprisoned. By some estimates, one in three black men <a href="http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/p13.pdf">is imprisoned</a> in his lifetime, compared to one in 106 white men.</p>
<p>These disparities cannot be explained by differences in criminal activity alone. Evidence shows that black males receive harsher treatment from decision-makers at each stage of the criminal justice process. Decades of training and awareness of racial disparity, and other programmatic changes, have made <a href="http://thenewpress.com/books/mass-incarceration-on-trial">little difference</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://store.elsevier.com/Blinding-as-a-Solution-to-Bias/isbn-9780128024607/">Our work</a> on bias in the criminal justice system suggests that preventing racial information from reaching key decision-makers could be the best way to make justice truly blind. </p>
<h2>Blinding in practice</h2>
<p>The most important criminal decision-makers are prosecutors.</p>
<p>Prosecutors – individuals who decide whether and who to charge with a crime, and what crime – are the officials with the most unreviewable power. </p>
<p>In the U.S., over 2,300 prosecutors exercise this broad discretion. For example, a prosecutor may decide whether to charge someone with one drug trafficking offense or charge each phone call used to sell drugs as a separate offense. Multiple offenses can result in extended imprisonment and fines.</p>
<p>Or, prosecutors can choose to make no charge at all. In fact, 95 percent of criminal cases are now resolved through <a href="http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2014/11/20/why-innocent-people-plead-guilty/">plea bargains</a>, where prosecutors have the ultimate discretion. There is virtually no judicial involvement or oversight in those cases.</p>
<p>With this much discretion, bias is inevitable.</p>
<p>Even if most prosecutors are not intentional bad actors, like the rest of us, they suffer from unconscious bias. In several <a href="http://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1336&context=dlj">studies</a>, white subjects viewed blacks as social threats automatically and without conscious intent. Indeed, this same <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1460-2466.1999.tb02804.x/epdf">phenomenon</a> has been documented in virtually every area in which it has been studied.</p>
<p>In one <a href="https://ideas.repec.org/a/aea/aecrev/v94y2004i4p991-1013.html">workplace study</a>, résumés with white-sounding names received 50 percent more callbacks for interviews than those with black-sounding names, even though the résumés were identical. Another recent <a href="http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/apl-0000022.pdf">study</a> demonstrates that white men posing as doctoral students received 26 percent more responses from employers than women and minorities. And <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2286433&download=yes">studies</a> have found that even highly trained experts making specialized decisions, like doctors, suffer from racial bias.</p>
<p>Hillary Clinton and other policymakers may hope that racial bias can be eliminated through a highly selective process and training on professionalism for prosecutors or police. But this is unlikely to work. According to research, those who suffer from bias are usually unaware. In <a href="http://harvardcrcl.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/HLC104_crop.pdf">one study</a>, the more white people were trained about and concerned with appearing racist, the more anxiety and aggression they expressed in interactions with blacks.</p>
<h2>Time for a new solution</h2>
<p>We <a href="https://behavioralpolicy.org/article/blinding-prosecutors-to-defendants-race-a-policy-proposal-to-reduce-unconscious-bias-in-the-criminal-justice-system/">suggest</a> a new solution. </p>
<p>Blinding cases – removing the race of the suspect from the information provided to the prosecutor – would meaningfully reduce prosecutorial bias. This can be done by asking police to exclude race information from reports, or by using case-management software or office assistants to redact this information. </p>
<p>This would involve a little additional administrative effort and minimal cost. The barriers to implementing may include the challenge of achieving full cooperation of prosecutors offices to blind every case, which will be difficult to achieve without political pressure.</p>
<p>Prosecutors typically make charging decisions based on police files, rather than direct contact with the suspect. Although a suspect’s race and mugshots are now included in their file, those are intended for police identification purposes. That information is almost never relevant to the merits of the prosecution. </p>
<p>Even with plea bargaining, in many jurisdictions, prosecutors usually work with defense attorneys, rather than being exposed to the defendant. In most cases, the only way prosecutors learn the person’s race is through police reports, and these can be blinded.</p>
<p>Blinding to prevent unconscious bias – racial or otherwise – is standard procedure in several fields. Medical research requires that most <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673602078169">drug trials</a> use double-blinding of patients and physicians, whenever possible. In a study on symphony orchestras, blinding of <a href="http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/goldin/files/orchestrating_impartiality_the_effect_of_blind_auditions_on_female_musicians.pdf">musician auditions</a> increased the probability that a woman would advance by 50 percent. One media company recently <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-abeyta/can-blind-auditions-chang_b_6573836.html">announced</a> it would use blind auditions to hire tech journalists.</p>
<p>Blinding prosecutors to the race of criminal defendants can have equally positive effects. In 2001, the Justice Department formed a system for attorneys to conduct blind reviews in <a href="https://www.justice.gov/archive/dag/pubdoc/deathpenaltystudy.htm">death penalty cases</a>. It is a positive step in the right direction, and we believe more work should be done to document the impact of this practice. </p>
<p>Prosecutor bias has a significant impact, and even a small reduction in bias will be meaningful. Research shows that racial bias may result in blacks serving 20 percent <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324432004578304463789858002">more prison time</a> than whites for the same crime. Two-thirds of those convicted of a felony serve prison time, and the average sentence is about <a href="http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/fssc06st.pdf">five years</a> at an average cost of US$25,000 <a href="http://www.cepr.net/publications/reports/the-high-budgetary-cost-of-incarceration">annually</a>.</p>
<p>Of course, the primary benefit will be to the accused, their families and to the rest of society who can trust that all efforts are being taken to remove bias from a justice system. We aspire to a race-blind justice system – why not actually make decisions blind?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/65022/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Criminal justice experts suggest one way to change the system to eliminate racial bias.Shima Baughman, Professor of Criminal Law, University of UtahChristopher Robertson, Professor of Law, University of ArizonaSunita Sah, Assistant Professor of Management and Organizations, Cornell UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/650432016-09-13T20:17:21Z2016-09-13T20:17:21ZAustralia is locking up too many women but the UK offers a blueprint for a radical new approach<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/137498/original/image-20160913-19243-biqoe4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">While men still make up the majority of prisoners in Australia, the increase in the incarceration rate for women is significantly greater than that for men.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/144110575@N07/27144250713/in/photolist-cti5MJ-ctj2Yf-cti1PC-ctj69U-cthX8u-cti2om-4vFS9x-ctj93f-ctj7qm-ctj8ro-ctew2q-7Akoph-ctj83J-cti5bE-cthYD1-8YWDjP-cti4vh-cthZzY-ctj7E7-4vKV4L-8YWDpv-cigNRY-ctj3jA-cti23N-cthVPy-8YZGXs-6N1FAn-cthR2J-4dJtYk-ctj9D3-ctj9RC-cigNkC-cigPJE-8YZGGN-cti2dU-eJaz3m-csbbpJ-oSx55t-cfHZ6j-bXo1kM-cfHZod-HmDo3D-cfHYXY-bXnZmk-ceKphG-4zN83p-cfPRY7-cfPRhN-4vFQhv-5dRhMT">www.JobsForFelonsHub.com Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The number of women in prison in Australia has increased dramatically over the past decade. While men still make up the majority of prisoners, the increase in the incarceration rate for women is <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20Subject/4517.0%7E2015%7EMain%20Features%7ESex%7E9">significantly greater than that for men</a>. </p>
<p>It’s clear that new approaches are needed. As a starting point, Australian policymakers could take note of the ideas of Baroness Jean Corston, who is visiting Australia this week.</p>
<p>Baroness Corston led a world-first review of women with vulnerabilities in the criminal justice system in the United Kingdom. The 2007 <a href="http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/docs/corston-report-march-2007.pdf">Corston Report</a> set out a blueprint for a radically different approach to a growing social and economic problem. </p>
<h2>The Corston report</h2>
<p>Based on her review of women in custody, Baroness Corston <a href="http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/docs/corston-report-march-2007.pdf">called for</a> a:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>distinct, radically different, visibly-led, strategic, proportionate, holistic, woman-centred, integrated approach.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Her recommendations included that:</p>
<ul>
<li>prison sentences for women be reserved for serious and violent offenders who pose a threat to the public; </li>
<li>women must never be sent to prison “for their own good”, to teach them a lesson, for their own safety or to access services such as detox; and</li>
<li>community sentences must be designed to take account of women’s particular vulnerabilities and caring responsibilities.</li>
</ul>
<p>The UK Government accepted 41 of the 43 recommendations in the 2007 Corston Report. While there has since been criticism around a loss of momentum and resources to support the changes, the <a href="https://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/Justice/Women-offenders.pdf">number of women in prison has fallen</a> since the recommendations were implemented. Two women’s prisons have closed as a result.</p>
<p>One important outcome is that the UK has expanded community women’s centres as an alternative to prison. These <a href="http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0048/00484422.pdf">“one-stop-shops”</a> provide case management and support for women to address their social, health and welfare needs.</p>
<p>The idea is that better access to specialist services, health care, housing and support reduces the risk of women reoffending. </p>
<h2>Australia’s current system is not working</h2>
<p>Over the 10 years from 2005-2015, the number of women in prison in Australia <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20Subject/4517.0%7E2015%7EMain%20Features%7ESex%7E9">grew by more than 70%</a>. Indigenous women are the <a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/research/ongoing/report-on-government-services/2015/justice/corrective-services/rogs-2015-volumec-chapter8.pdf">most over-represented and fastest growing group in our prisons</a>. </p>
<p>And it’s not because women are committing more serious offences. A growing proportion of women held in prison are unsentenced (on remand) due to factors such as changes to bail laws. A <a href="http://www.correctiveservices.justice.nsw.gov.au/Documents/Reports%20and%20Publications/Facts-and-Figures_Females-6th-edition.pdf">recent survey</a> found that a third of women in custody in New South Wales at the time of the survey were there on remand – before they had been found guilty of a crime. And the numbers imprisoned while waiting to be sentenced would be far higher over a full year.</p>
<p>Over the past 20 years, politicians have introduced harsher penalties for drug-related and certain petty offences. This has meant that it has become more likely that people will go to prison on remand or on short sentences, which has a <a href="http://www.unodc.org/documents/justice-and-prison-reform/women_and_imprisonment_-_2nd_edition.pdf">greater impact on women</a> because they tend to commit less serious crimes. The case of <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-03-21/ms-dhu-inquest-no-compassion-for-dying-aboriginal-woman-custody/7265066">Ms Dhu</a> in Western Australia, who died a horrific death after being taken into police custody for unpaid fines, highlights the effect of laws sanctioning detention for minor offences.</p>
<p>According to a 2014 <a href="http://www.crcnsw.org.au/miranda-f-q">study</a> by NSW Corrective Services, 65% of women released from prison had been in custody for less than three months.</p>
<h2>Who are the women ending up in prison?</h2>
<p>Prisoners are more disadvantaged than the rest of the population, however women in prison are even more disadvantaged than men. The majority of women in prison are <a href="http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/CICrimJust/2010/31.pdf">poor, disadvantaged, and have experienced sexual and physical abuse and violence</a>. </p>
<p>Many women in prison have been diagnosed with mental health disorders such as depression and borderline personality disorder. Many have cognitive impairments such as intellectual disability, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and acquired brain injury. Alcohol and other drug dependencies are common, and are often connected to women’s offending behaviour. Homelessness and housing instability are widely reported by women in prison, who also tend to have low levels of education and minimal employment histories.</p>
<p>Aboriginal women with mental and cognitive disabilities are <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-aboriginal-women-with-disabilities-are-set-on-a-path-into-the-criminal-justice-system-48167">the most disadvantaged</a>.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20Subject/4517.0%7E2015%7EMain%20Features%7ESex%7E9">most common offences</a> for female prisoners in 2015 were:</p>
<ul>
<li>acts intended to cause injury (19%)</li>
<li>illicit drug offences (18%)</li>
<li>unlawful entry with intent and offences against justice (both 10%).</li>
</ul>
<p>Half of the women in prison have <a href="https://sydney.edu.au/law/criminology/documents/Factsheet.pdf">children</a>, and 14% have more than three children under the age of 16.</p>
<p>As a society, we have increasingly seen prison as an acceptable place for disadvantaged women and even as a way of providing them with rehabilitation and treatment. Yet the majority of women cycle in and out of prison on remand or short sentences, unable to access the support and services they need. This undermines their capacity to care for children and others in their community. It makes it harder for them to find housing and jobs, compounding their disadvantage.</p>
<h2>A radical new approach for Australia</h2>
<p>Our rising women’s incarceration statistics are a compelling reason to trial the UK’s model in Australia. We urgently need community-based options that are women-centred, holistic and able to respond to the trauma and complex support needs of women who are otherwise going in and out of prison on remand and short sentences. We especially need culturally competent services that are focused on the needs and experiences of Indigenous women.</p>
<p>During her visit, Baroness Corston is launching a project aimed at establishing such a model for women who are at risk of offending or re-offending. <a href="http://www.crcnsw.org.au/miranda-about">The Miranda Project</a> aims to build on evidence from the UK to create a long-term, community-based option for diverting women from the criminal justice system.</p>
<p>As well as the devastating impact on incarcerated women and their families, it costs on average <a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/research/ongoing/report-on-government-services/2016/justice/corrective-services/rogs-2016-volumec-chapter8.pdf">$301 per day</a> or almost $110,000 a year to keep someone in prison. </p>
<p>It may sound like common sense, but against a decades-long trend of locking up more and more women, this would be truly radical.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/65043/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ruth McCausland has undertaken research funded by the Australian Research Council and the Women's Advisory Council of NSW Corrective Services. She is Vice-President of the Board of the Community Restorative Centre and on the Advisory Committee of the Miranda Project. </span></em></p>Australia female prison population has soared but many are jailed for minor offences. The UK’s radical approach to women and prison, outlined in the 2007 Corston report, offers a model for Australia.Ruth McCausland, Research Fellow, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/636262016-08-24T02:06:24Z2016-08-24T02:06:24ZWho dies in police custody? Texas, California offer new tools to find out<p>How many people die in our criminal justice system each year? </p>
<p>It turns out it is hard to tell, and it depends who you ask.</p>
<p>Following the deaths of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Freddie Gray and many others at the hands of the police, this lack of information has emerged as one of the most pressing issues in criminal justice reform. Reading media reports of these deaths would lead one to suspect that dying in police custody is a widespread problem. But hard data have been hard to come by. That’s why I believe new initiatives in Texas and California could be game changers, and deserve to be replicated in other states.</p>
<p>The federal government has acknowledged that federal data initiatives, which rely on law enforcement self-reporting, have failed to provide accurate information. In 2015, the Bureau of Justice Statistics <a href="http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/acardp.pdf">found</a> that data collection under the Arrest-Related Deaths program, which was in place for most of the 2000s, identified only about half of the expected number of homicides by law enforcement officers. </p>
<p>The most comprehensive information has come from watchdog groups and media sites like <a href="http://www.fatalencounters.org/">Fatal Encounters</a> and <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2015/jun/01/the-counted-police-killings-us-database">The Counted</a> which track deaths in police encounters through open-source data mining of news accounts. But these websites are also incomplete. Fatal Encounters estimates it has tracked 62 percent of deaths since 2000. The Counted only began its tally in 2015. Further, watchdog sites cannot alone restore the trust in government institutions that has been lost in police shootings and lack of accountability.</p>
<p>Reliable information on deaths that occur during arrests and while in jail and prison is important. Such data allow us to identify problems in the criminal justice system and come up with solutions based on evidence. It also provides greater transparency and accountability, and ultimately can help gain communities’ trust. </p>
<p>In response to its own findings in 2015 and the national upheaval around homicides by law enforcement, BJS this month <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2016/08/04/2016-18484/agency-information-collection-activities-proposed-collection-comments-requested-new-collection">announced</a> an improved nationwide data collection plan. The plan recognizes that “accurate and comprehensive accounting of deaths that occur during the process of arrest is critical for [law enforcement agencies] to demonstrate responsiveness to the citizens and communities they serve, transparency related to law enforcement tactics and approaches, and accountability for the actions of officers.” </p>
<h2>State involvement is key</h2>
<p>The improved data collection will provide better nationwide statistics. But states also have an important role in collecting and disseminating data. </p>
<p>State agencies and local law enforcement are more likely to respond to state directives and initiatives than to additional federal oversight. And programs to build public trust in local law enforcement and state agencies must come from within those institutions.</p>
<p>Two states are leaders in arrest-related and custodial death reporting – Texas and California. These two states have the nation’s largest incarcerated populations. Combined, they have more than 425,000 people locked up in prisons and jails. Each state has been collecting state custodial death data for decades. Under California and Texas law, law enforcement, jails and prisons must report to their state attorney general when a person dies in custody. </p>
<p>But just because the data existed didn’t mean they were publicly accessible – until recently. Last year, California’s attorney general debuted <a href="https://openjustice.doj.ca.gov/death-in-custody/overview">Open Justice</a>. And this summer, as a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for Urban Policy Research and Analysis at the University of Texas at Austin, I launched the <a href="http://texasjusticeinitiative.org/">Texas Justice Initiative</a>. Both websites publish state custodial death data since 2005.</p>
<h2>The Texas Justice Initiative</h2>
<p>I created the Texas Justice Initiative after a friend sent me a spreadsheet with thousands of entries and more than 100 columns, a collection of more than 10 years of custodial death data assembled by the attorney general. This data set was virtually unknown to people except for a handful of journalists and advocates. I was surprised the information was technically publicly available, but not accessible in a meaningful way. Thus, I began to create a public, online interactive database of these deaths.</p>
<p>Users visiting our website can download the data and toggle through demographic data, cause of death and year options. We also included incident-level information, such as the name of the deceased and the official narrative provided in the official report. </p>
<p>Our project revealed stunning figures. <a href="http://texasjusticeinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/deaths-in-custody.pdf">Nearly 7,000</a> people died in police, jail and prison custody in 2005 to 2015. <a href="http://texasjusticeinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/deaths-in-custody.pdf">More than 1,900</a> of them were not convicted of a crime, many of whom were being held in jail pretrial. And black people were disproportionately represented, <a href="http://texasjusticeinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/deaths-in-custody.pdf">comprising 30 percent</a> of the custodial deaths, but only around 12 percent of the Texas population. </p>
<h2>California’s Open Justice</h2>
<p>The California attorney general described Open Justice as “a tool that embraces transparency and data in the criminal justice system to strengthen public trust, enhance government accountability, and inform public policy.” In addition to custodial death information, Open Justice provides criminal justice statistics such as crime rates and arrest rates. </p>
<p>The Open Justice numbers are also jarring. <a href="http://openjustice.doj.ca.gov/death-in-custody/overview">An average of 684</a> people in California die each year in police encounters and jail and prison custody. <a href="http://openjustice.doj.ca.gov/death-in-custody/overview">Thirty-four percent</a> of the people who died were not convicted of a crime. Black people are six percent of California’s population, <a href="http://openjustice.doj.ca.gov/death-in-custody/overview">but represented 24 percent of deaths</a>. </p>
<p>Since we launched the Texas Justice Initiative, I’ve received responses from people across the nation calling for other states to provide similar information publicly. I’ve also received emails from people seeking to correct information about people they knew who are in the database. </p>
<p>The Texas and California collections and publications are not perfect, but together they provide a guide for other states to improve arrest-related and custodial death data collection. As other states follow Texas’ and California’s lead, they should publish the data in ways that allow for public engagement, greater transparency and data verification. </p>
<p>Better data – which means broad, detailed and accurate information – are vital to realizing the changes our institutions so desperately need. With more accurate numbers and information on custodial deaths, we can begin to identify who is dying in police custody and why, and also address the jail and prison conditions that contribute to high mortality, such as access to health care and the incarceration of people with mental health issues.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/63626/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amanda Woog receives funding from the France-Merrick Foundation. </span></em></p>No federal database provides reliable info on deaths that occur in police custody. It’s the same situation in 48 states. But now California and Texas are offering new models of accountability.Amanda Woog, Postdoctoral Fellow at Institute of Urban Policy Research and Analysis, The University of Texas at AustinLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/451962016-05-31T01:04:21Z2016-05-31T01:04:21ZIn 2015, more people committed suicide in U.S. jails than over the last decade<p>A <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/04/mental-illness-prisons-jails-inmates_n_2610062.html">record high</a> number of men and women in jail are committing suicide in the United States. Most incidents do not get major attention and are known only to the families of the prisoners involved and the jail staff.</p>
<p>Occasionally, suicides get national attention. Last year the death of <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/23/us/sandra-bland-arrest-death-main/">Sandra Bland</a> in the Waller County Jail in Texas gained widespread and continuing coverage on TV and print media. Although a number of friends and family suggested she might have been murdered, the local district attorney’s investigation determined it was a suicide.</p>
<p>Jail suicides are a major problem in the United States, and may be back on the rise. As a Professor of Social Policy at New York University’s School of Social Work, I have studied and <a href="https://www.crcpress.com/Principles-and-Practice-of-Forensic-Psychiatry-2Ed/Rosner/p/book/9780340806647">written</a> on jail suicides on numerous occasions, especially in the 1990s. Rates of jail suicides are four times <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/04/mental-illness-prisons-jails-inmates_n_2610062">higher</a> than suicides in the general population. Most of those committing suicide in jail are young people.</p>
<p>Progress in eliminating jail suicides through prevention programs may be at risk. But, why?</p>
<h2>Progress in prevention is at stake</h2>
<p>In the mid-1980s, when the first research on jail suicides emerged, the rate was about 105 suicides per 100,000 inmates. These rates are for jails only, which are used for short-term stays, while prison stays tend to be for much longer periods of time. By 2006, the rate had declined to about 38 suicides per 100,000 inmates. This drop occurred even though the rates of <a href="http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/cjf06.pdf">incarceration</a> in jails has more than doubled.</p>
<p>The reason for the decline is important to note. Jail inmates are “wards of the state” and have a legal right to be protected and receive needed attention upon being incarcerated. These rights were granted in the 1970s via several court decisions.</p>
<p>This means counties can be sued if someone dies while incarcerated. Often, these lawsuits lead to settlements in <a href="http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2015/08/07/kalief-browder-wrongful-death-lawsuit/">excess</a> of US$1 million to families of inmates who kill themselves.</p>
<p>When the suicide rate was high, the largest item in jail budgets often was the <a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-jail-suicide-settlement-20150901-story.html">payout</a> for lawsuits for jail suicide. As a result of this trend, many states and localities, including New York and Massachusetts, developed jail suicide prevention programs. Not much information is available on compliance by counties.</p>
<p>I was a participant in the development of the <a href="https://www.omh.ny.gov/omhweb/forensic/manual/html/intro.htm">former</a> New York State Jail Suicide Prevention Program in the 1990s and early 2000s. The key element that made that program successful was the screening conducted at inmate intake for serious mental health issues or suicidal tendencies. If these issues are identified, the inmate is to be placed in an observation cell with regular observations by jail staff. A thorough mental health review is made when staff requests it. </p>
<p>Under these programs, jail officers were trained to actively participate in assessing mental health. Once jail suicide prevention programs were implemented, suicide rates began to <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9529733">decline</a> by the late 2000s.</p>
<h2>Resurgence of jail suicides</h2>
<p>Major news stories have highlighted data that suggest rates, especially in the last three years, have <a href="https://www.rt.com/usa/311592-inmate-deaths-suicides-rise/">risen dramatically</a>. At least 327 jail suicides occurred <a href="http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/mljsp0013st.pdf">in 2013</a>. Reports from varied local news sources noted significant increases in Newark, New Jersey. San Antonio, Texas and Denver, Colorado have also seen increases in suicides. Six <a href="http://mic.com/articles/123060/at-least-5-black-women-have-died-in-jail-this-month-here-are-10-facts-you-need-to-know#.sEKwW78GY">black women</a> committed suicide in U.S. jails in July 2015 alone.</p>
<p>In the case of Sandra Bland, the Waller county sheriff <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/13/us/panel-calls-for-major-changes-at-texas-jail-that-held-sandra-bland.html">indicated</a> that the jail staff did not conduct the needed screening and observations that were required. As a result of budget cuts, as <a href="http://psychnews.psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/pn.37.3.0001a">noted</a> by Bob Bernstein of the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, an increased number of mentally ill are ending up incarcerated. With cutbacks in mental health services for jails, well-trained and competent staff are not being hired.</p>
<p>Concern and advocacy have declined, and we are approaching a new and growing crisis. Who will advocate for continuing changes to jail policies? After successful lawsuits, jails often try to ensure proper protocols are followed. But for how long?</p>
<p>Staff training is not continuous, and sheriffs and their staff are often overwhelmed by their tasks. As states <a href="http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2014/12/15/some-states-retreat-on-mental-health-funding">reduce</a> mental health funding and state hospitals close or downsize, jails are the new primary facilities for the mentally ill, and are not equipped to address these issues. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, advocacy for mental health funding is quite limited, according to MaryBeth Anderson, Project Director of the <a href="https://mhp.urbanjustice.org/mhp-Staff">Urban Justice Center</a>. So long as the public does not advocate for change, the outlook for the immediate future will not be positive.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/45196/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gerald Landsberg does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A few high-profile cases of jail inmates who committed suicide reveal only a fraction of the problem. NYU expert digs into why jail suicides may be on the rise – again.Gerald Landsberg, Professor of Social Work, New York UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/400112015-04-23T20:20:53Z2015-04-23T20:20:53ZGood mental health care in prisons must begin and end in the community<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/79030/original/image-20150423-3083-33anbt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Entry to prison presents an opportunity to identify mental illnesses and provide treatment that will continue after release.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-12694777/stock-photo-worried-man-side-view.html?src=klMkBco2rCTb5tzoA6xi4w-1-7">nando viciano/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>People with mental illnesses are greatly overrepresented in our prisons. Prisoners are <a href="http://www.aihw.gov.au/prisoner-health/mental-health/">two to three times as likely</a> as those in the community to have a mental illness and are ten to 15 times more likely to have a <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.ezproxy.lib.swin.edu.au/doi/10.1111/j.1742-9544.2012.00088.x/abstract">psychotic disorder</a>. Our research <a href="http://link.springer.com.ezproxy.lib.swin.edu.au/article/10.1007/s00127-010-0256-5">suggests</a> one in three people taken into police custody are likely to be receiving psychiatric treatment at the time. If you include those with a substance misuse disorder, the numbers increase even further. </p>
<p>Prisoners with mental illnesses often do not adapt well to prison. They are more likely to be at risk for suicide and to present management difficulties for prison staff.</p>
<p>A high percentage of prisoners are on remand awaiting sentence and most receive relatively short sentences, so we need to consider the continuity of mental health care from the community, through the period of incarceration and back in the community upon release. </p>
<p>To this end, entry into the justice system can be viewed as a public health opportunity to identify those with mental illnesses and provide treatment that will continue upon release to the community.</p>
<p>Better identifying and addressing these mental health needs not only helps those receiving care and their families, it may also reduce incarceration rates, benefiting the whole community.</p>
<h2>Better screening and identification</h2>
<p>There are <a href="http://www.aic.gov.au/documents/E/B/4/%7BEB4E29C4-4390-41C6-8EEF-93AB042C6BFC%7Dtandi334.pdf">many entry points</a> to the justice system. At each point, a mechanism is required to identify those with a serious mental illness. </p>
<p>Most importantly, people entering police custody and prisons must be screened to identify symptoms of mental illness. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for mental illnesses to be first identified on admission to prison. For those with previously diagnosed disorders, their treatment needs must be identified to ensure they continue to receive care. </p>
<p>All states routinely undertake mental health screening on admission to prison, although the practices vary widely. Best practice in prison mental health screening requires a <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14789949.2014.933862#abstract">standardised reception screening measure</a>, used by a mental health professional. </p>
<p>Less screening and identification of mental health conditions occurs at other points of entry to the justice system.</p>
<h2>Community diversion</h2>
<p>Many people entering custody have received mental health treatment in the community, raising the question of why we don’t divert more mentally ill individuals from custody to community mental health services.</p>
<p>Our <a href="http://link.springer.com.ezproxy.lib.swin.edu.au/article/10.1007/s00127-010-0256-5">own research</a> shows that almost a third (32%) of detainees being taken into police custody in Victoria were receiving psychiatric treatment in the community at the time of being arrested. Of these people, half (17%) were being treated by a public mental health service.</p>
<p>Court-based mental health services offer great opportunity to intervene for people who do not go into police custody or prison.
New South Wales, for example, has been gradually expanding court and custodial diversion of mentally ill individuals. Most diversions come from the courts to community mental health services, with a smaller number of diversions coming from custody. The state is now diverting around 2,000 people per year. </p>
<p>Diversion is one of the best strategies for keeping people with mental illnesses out of the justice system. This, of course, raises concerns about the capacity of community mental health services. </p>
<p>However, not all people are suitable for diversion. Entry into such programs must be dependent on the person’s charges and behaviour.</p>
<h2>Services in prisons</h2>
<p>When it comes to mental health care, the proverbial buck stops with prisons. Medicare does not extend to prisoners, so all in-custody mental health services must be funded within state health and justice budgets. </p>
<p>The standard for prisoner mental health care should be equivalent to that which is expected in the community. But while community and inpatient services may turn away patients, the same is not true for prisons. </p>
<p>In a number of states, prison health and mental health services are funded by justice, not health. This amplifies the disconnect between community and prison-based services and represents a lost opportunity for the provision of services and for the continuity of care.</p>
<p>Services within prisons require a mix of providers, including general practitioners, mental health nurses, clinical psychologists, allied mental health staff and psychiatrists. Most prisoners with mental illnesses can be managed in mainstream settings in the prison, receiving what is termed “outpatient” services. </p>
<p>However, clear pathways and services must enable prisoners to voluntarily escalate to more specialist care. Specialist mental health units <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19296268">currently operate</a> in large reception prisons in Melbourne and Sydney, with hundreds of admissions annually. </p>
<p>Options must also be available to transfer prisoners requiring involuntary hospitalisation to forensic hospitals or other appropriate mental health units in hospitals. This is an incredibly challenging matter since it is common for prisoners to be held in prisons, certified for transfer to hospital, but unable to leave the prison due to a lack of hospital beds in the community. </p>
<p>Prisons also require so-called “step down” units that enable prisoners with mental illnesses to transition from specialist mental health units to mainstream units.</p>
<h2>Care on release from custody</h2>
<p>All too often, prisoners with mental illnesses are released without the arrangement of appropriate follow-up care and without the psychiatric medication necessary to maintain their mental health. </p>
<p>While many states offer transitional care, this is an area that requires much greater coordination and resources. When prisoners are released from custody, even if discharge care and planning is arranged, they can nonetheless be all too easily lost to contact, only to have them deteriorate and re-engage in the behaviour for which they were initially incarcerated.</p>
<h2>Mental health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners</h2>
<p>A common theme throughout this <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/state-of-imprisonment">series on the state of Australian prisons</a> is the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners. </p>
<p>The difficulties with mental illness are compounded in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population. Recent <a href="http://assets.justice.vic.gov.au/corrections/resources/07c438bf-63a6-49bb-8426-d7fd073808a6/koori_prisoner_mental_health.pdf">research in Victoria</a> revealed that 72% of male Aboriginal prisoners and 92% of female Aboriginal prisoners met the criteria for a diagnosis of a major mental illness. This research parallels similar findings in Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australia. </p>
<p>Victoria has <a href="http://www.justice.vic.gov.au/home/your+rights/aboriginal+justice+agreement/aboriginal+social+and+emotional+wellbeing+plan#breadcrumbs">recently released</a> an Aboriginal Social and Emotional Wellbeing Plan to better address the mental health needs of Aboriginal prisoners. Other states have developed plans but clearly much more needs to be done in this area.</p>
<h2>Careful planning</h2>
<p>To be most effective, the delivery of mental health care in custodial settings needs to be carefully planned with a statewide approach that forms part of a comprehensive forensic mental health service. </p>
<p>Although not mentioned above, services are required for other populations, including female prisoners who have even higher rates of mental illness. The mental health needs of culturally and linguistically diverse prisoners also present challenges. </p>
<p>While the states are struggling with increasing numbers of prisoners, great promise exists to divert large numbers of people with mental illnesses out of prisons, and to provide greater care to those in custody and on release from prison.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>You can read other articles in the State of Imprisonment series <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/state-of-imprisonment">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/40011/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Professor Ogloff is a member of the executive of Forensicare, which is contracted to provide specialist mental health services in Victorian prisons; he is also a Board Member of the Justice Health & Forensic Mental Health Network in NSW, which provides health services in justice. The views expressed in this article are his own and do not necessarily reflect the policy of his employers. He receives funding from the ARC and AIC investigating the mental health of prisoners.</span></em></p>Our research suggests one in three people taken into police custody are likely to be receiving psychiatric treatment at the time.James Ogloff, University Distinguished Professor of Forensic Behavioural Science, Director of the Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science, Victorian Institute of Forensic Behavioural Science (Forensicare), Swinburne University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.