CI: Tipping Point???

Posted by on in , , ,

Print Friendly Version of this pagePrint Get a PDF version of this webpagePDF

Criminal InJustice† is a weekly series devoted to taking action against inequities in the U.S. criminal justice system. Nancy A. Heitzeg, Professor of Sociology and Race/Ethnicity, is the Editor of CI. Criminal InJustice is published every Wednesday at 6 pm CST.

Tipping Point?
by nancy a heitzeg

Sometimes we do have good news.

The public, it seems, may have had enough of draconian criminal justice policies. The death penalty has been called into question in a growing number of states with the most recent abolition being Connecticut — the fifth state to end the practice in the past five years.

Now mass incarceration is undergoing similar scrutiny. Initially, state budget crises brought the issue of the direct and collateral costs of incarceration to the fore, but now public opinion is moving towards a deepening critiques of of our over-use of prisons, especially for non-violent offenders.

A recent survey — Public Opinion on Sentencing and Corrections Policy in America – shows a surprising and bi-partisan) rejection of prison as the primary mechanism for addressing crime.

Please see the full report (pdf linked above), but here are a few highlights..

The message is finally getting through.. Who knows what accounts for the alchemy of the moment??

But, books such as The New Jim Crow are sparking public conversation in new ways, and straight – forward figures such as 1 in 100 incarcerated and 1 in 31 under correctional supervision put the massive numbers in a starkly comprehensible light.

Keep spreading the word..To everyone you know — especially your elected representatives.

And Thank You..

(24)

  • epitz33

    I think that it is very encouraging that more and more people are realizing that policies and procedures in the criminal justice system and incarceration need to change.  I recently watched a documentary about a man who had an original sentence of 12 months, but due to numerous parole violations, has spent a total of 8 YEARS in prison.  His crimes were not violent and his violations were due to things such as being in the wrong place at the wrong time or not showing up for meetings.  It is unecessary imprisonments such as this that are overcrowding prisons.  Instead we need to help former inmates transition into a productive and self sufficient lifestyle to keep recidivism rates down.  Prison is necessary for some, but I believe rehabilitation is more important.  It is time to stop using incarceration to “rid the streets” of anyone who our society thinks as a threat or a deviant.

  • kabrahamson19

    Thank you for sharing! I also believe that overcrowding prisons and mass incarceration needs to stop. I think it is a good step.  Way too many people are being placed in prisions for nonviolent crimes. I think there are many more people who commit violent crimes that need the space in prisons. I personally know of someone who was sentenced time in prison for financial issues/ slips with his company. I also agree that people who are in prison need more than just time in prison. They need things like rehab and counceling so they do not end up back in prison.

    • PegRapp

      Personally I think we should reconsider prison altogether as a solution. But, while we still have them, I really think we should also reconsider what we consider a violent crime.  Too often, almost any street crime is viewed as violent because it usually entails  personal contact even if no weapons are involved or no person is attacked. We also don’t distinguish between property damage and damage to living species.  But I have trouble automatically considering all “white collar” crime (embezzelementn or financial crimes) as necessarily nonviolent because they often hurt many more people in a very violent manner even if it is indirect — all those fraudulent mortgages passed out in the past few years that resulted in whole families getting displayed, suicides, etc. 

  • PegRapp

    What is most depressing to me is how normalized the viciousness of the prison system has become for so many of our people. It is just like another community in our country (like the “ghetto” or the burbs or the inner city) with its own horrific culture.  And, like any culture, if you didn’t fit in before you moved there, you will be the time you leave.

  • PegRapp

    Outlawing shackling of pregnant women is good news — but the news creates another question.  How many states still do this practice?

  • pmlarsonmiller

    This is a breath of fresh air. I am thrilled to see the results of this public opinion survey. It’s just common sense: the way in which the criminal justice system functions currently does not work. Clearly we need to do something different; a decrease in amount of time served behind bars plus more rehabilitative measures will decrease rates of recidivism, thus decreasing the massive prison population. 
    I am still a bit concerned, as others who have commented, about what it will take for real policy changes to be implemented. The prison industrial complex is booming, and people are pulling in huge profits from mass incarceration. Many people hold money above reason and human rights… I just hope that public opposition continues to rise and become forceful enough to put serious pressures on organizations and individuals who have stake in the continuation of mass incarceration as it currently functions. I also hope that more people form their opinions based upon the human costs of mass incarceration, rather than the financial ones.

  • Yes, so glad that there sometimes is good news.
     
    In other good news (although the news is a bit old by now), on March 21st, Arizona became the 15th state to pass legislation limiting or banning the use of restraints on pregnant prisoners during labor & delivery.

    •  @Vikki hey vikki! we need good news :)
       
      thanks for that update! hope all is well with you!

  • Heather Ellis

    When we overload prisons and mass incarcerate people for non-violent crimes were are only hurting society in the end. Prisons are not the end all answer when a minor crime is committed, rehabilitation, therapy, and community service are all alternatives that could be implemented more often.
     

  • Panyia

    I am glad to see that there is such a high percent of people who thinks prison is not the best solution to crime.   I know research did show that people’s attitude about criminals and prison is changing but I also hope that these attitudes would some how make changes in the near future.  This survey definitely resonates with our discussions in class. 

    •  @Panyia hey panyia — yes.. i hope the public exerts some pressure on elected officials to change these expensive and counter-productive policies that have been th elaw of the land for far far too long

  • PegRapp

    It is nice to see that people are finally getting off the vincdictive train and opening up to more realistic and better rehab options.

  • JaimieBeavers

    This is refreshing to read. It’s so encouraging to see that the majority of voters believe there are too many people being inprisoned and that there should be alternatives to inprisonment for non-violent offenders. It’s great to see all of these polls stating that, however I can’t help but to wonder if anything is going to be done about it. I feel like too often issues such as this one gain steam for awhile and then fizzle out. It’s important to keep issues like this in the forefront and educate others who are in the dark about the over population of inmates in prisons and about alternatives to prison for non-violent offenders.

    •  @JaimieBeavers Yes we have to keep talking about it Jaimie — where – ever to whom ever we can
       
      thanks

    • KayWhitlock

       @JaimieBeavers Hi, Jamie.  I share your sense of this being refreshing.  But it could also fizzle out if liberals and progressives don’t take advantage of this and frame the issues in ways that touch the hearts as well as minds of voters.  We have an opening.  Will we take smart advantage of it?

      •  @KayWhitlock  @JaimieBeavers i hope so Kay.. the opportunities are too rare

  • Sberel

    Some good news from Texas today, too.  The infamous Criminal Court of Appeals was skeptical of the state’s reasoning for denying DNA testing in Hank Skinner’s case.  
     
    I like this exchange:
     
    ”
    Allowing Skinner testing at this late point in the process, Mitchell said, would set a dangerously expensive precedent for guilty inmates. In future cases, he said, prosecutors would feel obligated to test every shred of evidence to prevent a guilty defendant from delaying his sentence by requesting additional DNA results.
    “Prosecutors will have to test everything, no matter what the cost,” Mitchell told the court.
    “Prosecutors should be testing everything anyway,” Keasler said.”
     
     
    http://www.texastribune.org/texas-dept-criminal-justice/hank-skinner/court-skeptical-states-efforts-stymie-dna-tests/
     
    thanks Nancy, Kay, and Seeta, and blessings to everyone.

    •  @Sberel ha! “Test Everything?? who, Us”??
       
      very good indeed
       
      blessing back to you sberel — always great to see you

    • KayWhitlock

       @Sberel Blessings to you, Sberel, and thanks for this glimmer from Texas.  A light in the depths. 

  • Cautiously Optimistic — but cautious

  • KayWhitlock

    This is good news.  Something to build on.  Yet I am struck by how many times polls show people generally believe in good things, but the minute we get into a campaign where the fear-and-smear criminalizing tactics start, that support begins to fragment.  We need to think long and hard about why – and develop counter strategies that touch people at deeper levels than just intellect.

    •  @KayWhitlock agree Kay..i had wondered myself about the dynamics of race class gender  orientation in all this — both in terms of respondents/opinion and yes changing views once the narratives are started and  specific imagery introduceed