Opinion on US Judicial & Prison System

Prison Should Rehabilitate, Not Punish

Prison for most should help and empower the prisoner to re-enter society, not force them back into prison.

We have a judicial system, a legal system, and a prison system in America that realistically makes this nation into a third world country. None have adequately served all the citizens of this nation.

I was going to throw around a few stats, but this isn’t about stats. This is about fairness, equality, and purpose. It’s about common sense, something in very short supply these days.

Several years ago, a running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers was pulled over and found to have a loaded gun and several hundred pounds of pot in the trunk of his car. He never experienced a single day in jail or prison. He had plenty of money though, so he was fined. There were no enhanced charges for selling, intent to sell, no weapons charges, nothing.

A brother of mine in a motorcycle club was caught with under two pounds of pot (and no weapons), not soon after medical pot was legalized in his state. An informer turned him in, causing his phones to be tapped.

Eventually, he was charged with multiple felonies, gang enhancement (he was in a motorcycle club), and was put in prison for 5 years. His home (which he lost, of course) was ransacked by law enforcement, destroying most of what was inside. The goal was to financially ruin him. It worked.

They confiscated his Harley and took his guns, which were locked in a safe, and froze and confiscated his bank accounts. He had little money left and settled for a public defender. The public defender might as well have been representing the court and law enforcement.

What’s fair in this country? The fact is, there is a set of laws and a set way to view the laws dependent upon your fame and your bank account. Judges and prosecutors make sure of this.

In the United States, our per capita number of citizens in prison is the highest in the world. We have a higher percentage of citizens in prison than any other developed nation in the world. In fact, 25% of all prisoners in all prisons are in the United States. Why?

I’ll offer a couple of reasons. Contrary to what some believe, our country is inherently discriminatory and racist. I know this isn’t what Republicans today want to hear. Whatever. Our judicial system, the judges and prosecutors, and law enforcement discriminates at all levels. Unless you are wealthy.

Former President Trump walks free as the prosecution of his stealing and hiding government documents moves at a snail’s pace. Yet recently, another member of the federal government, in the military, was caught and prosecuted within months and awaited his outcome in prison, not running for an office. He is now in prison, for I believe 25 years, for the exact same crime as Trump.

Rikers Island, a renowned prison that is as bad as any, is home to over 4000 poor people, mostly non-whites, who have been charged but not yet judged, and have been awaiting a court date for up to several years. Why? The majority are in for minor drug infractions and crimes resulting from drugs.

I have been told prison is for punishment. Sometimes, yes it is, but for the vast majority that are low-level crimes for things like pot, breaking and entering, and theft, prison is a deterrent where people are able to show they are fit for society and rehabilitated from issues such as drug and alcohol dependence. The purpose should be to get these people back into society as people who will contribute to our society.

Our judicial and prison system direly needs a complete makeover. Turning prisons into private businesses wherein those who should be working to improve the system, instead are now investing financially in it, is as wrong as could be. For-profit prisons should be shuttered immediately. Why?

These prisons need prisoners, and to that end, they push for laws that increase their profits. One example is the millions in dollars provided by a lobby group representing these corporate prisons, to strike down laws legalizing pot in Arizona. They lost and pot became legalized, but this is the perfect example of how and why this system is wrong.

Then there is the issue of a prisoner being released after serving his time. It is said he has been rehabilitated. If so, why are his rights removed? He can no longer vote. He can’t find a place to live. Until recently, people were required to say they were in prison, and then when they did so, they were disqualified from jobs and housing, and even an education. So what can they do? Many revert back to breaking laws for an income because they have no choice.

Authorities, politicians, legal “experts”, they all fail to understand why so many end up back in prison. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure this out.

I encourage anyone reading this to support proposed changes where you live to turn a prison into a something that helps those in prison, not keep them there in perpetuity.