Feel the Heat!

I don’t know where you live, but I live in Las Vegas and it is hot here. It was 110 the other day. And, there is a heat wave across the country. Now imagine being stuck in a 6 X 9 prison cell in the southeast without air conditioning. Across the country there are 13 states that do not provide air conditioning and or heating throughout their prisons.

My son, who is out and doing extremely well now, was in solitary in Lewisburg, PA. There wasn’t any air conditioning in the summer nor was there any heat in the winter. I would get letters from him with sweat stains from perspiration dropping on the paper. In the winter, he slept  in his sweats with two blankets and was still freezing every night.

Fortunately, he was healthy and survived, but what about all those ageing or sick inmates who are susceptible to heat stroke and other heat related problems such as heart attack, stroke or kidney failure. They don’t have fans or refrigerators with access to ice or any other method to cool down. They are stuck.

For those of you who have loved ones incarcerated in a prison without air conditioning, write to your state or federal representatives. Air conditioning should not be a privilege, but a human right.

Here’s an excerpt from the Houston Press June 2017 by Meagan Flynn:

Larry McCollum, 58, lasted just one week in prison before suffering a fatal heatstroke on his bed in the middle of the night.
He arrived at the Hutchins Unit on July 15, 2011, amid one of Texas’s hottest summers on record, and was to serve 11 months for the crime of writing a hot check. Temperatures in the un-air-conditioned prison were between 109 and 111 degrees, with a heat index of roughly 150 degrees for at least four hours in a row on July 19. Even though prisoners are supposed to receive regular refills of ice water during extreme heat, McCollum did not yet own a cup because he didn’t have access to the prison commissary for at least 30 days. There were two industrial fans to cool off the 58 men he lived with, and none of the inmates had personal fans because there were no electrical outlets.

Listed below are statistics from Prison Policy Initiative regarding some of our states which lack air conditioning:
Alabama: Prisons in Alabama do not have air conditioning.
Arizona: Many prisons in Arizona lack air conditioning.
Arkansas: Prisons have had air conditioning since the 1970s.
Florida: State run prisons do not have air conditioning, but private prisons in the state do have air conditioning.
Georgia: Most prisons have air conditioning, but some do not.
Kansas: Most prisons do not have air conditioning. 70 percent of incarcerated people are in buildings without air conditioning.
Kentucky: Most prisons do not have air conditioning.
Louisiana: Most prisons do not have air conditioning.
Mississippi: Most inmate housing in Mississippi has no air conditioning.
Missouri: Some prisons lack universal air conditioning.
North Carolina: Most prisons have air conditioning, but 10 facilities do not.
South Carolina: Most prisons have air conditioning, but some facilities do not.
Texas: Only 30 of the 109 state prisons in Texas have air conditioning in all housing areas. (This is despite the fact county jails in the state are statutorily required keep their temperatures between 65 and 85 degrees).
Virginia: Half of prisons have no air conditioning.

What About Sex, and Staying Connected?

Minnette, our international blogger, has written the following informational and valuable blog that broaches the rarely discussed subject of sex in prison.  I think you’ll find it enlightening. 

Yes, I was a little concerned about some big guy raping my skinny son in the shower.  Everyone has heard that story, but I wasn’t so sure it was a real thing.

Neither he nor anyone I spoke to indicated that was ever a problem.  I did read that if someone is interested in you for sex, they leave a candy bar or something like that on your bunk.  If you eat it, that indicates you are interested, if you are not, leave it somewhere obvious, so they know you are not interested. That said, if someone I spoke with was raped, I doubt they would have told me.  There was a Prison Rape Elimination Act passed in 2003, and subsequent rules associated with the act were created in 2012 by the department of justice, but the likelihood of a prisoner complaining of sexual abuse or rape by another prisoner or an employee of the correctional system remains low.  The same general advice about staying to yourself and not getting involved probably is good advice for avoiding this issue too.  I also read that when someone goes to the showers, they often go with others they trust to prevent any issues.  One interviewee indicated that wasn’t necessary but when you are in the shower, it’s respectful for others coming into the shower to avoid the adjacent shower stalls.  This may be a safety concern and a privacy concern.  People do release some of their tensions in the shower.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics reported in 2015, that in 2011 there were over 8,700 allegations of sexual victimization reported under the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003.  This includes both inmate on inmate and staff on inmate allegations, and it includes the transactions in jails, so it compares to a population of over 2 million people.  It also includes being victimized by sexually harassing language and inappropriate touching, not just rape. After investigation, only 902 were substantiated, with about half being inmate on inmate and half being staff on inmate.

“An estimated 44 percent of substantiated inmate-on-inmate sexual victimizations involved physical force or threat of force, while 11 percent of staff-on-inmate sexual victimizations involved physical force, abuse of power or pressure. Victims were physically injured in 18 percent of substantiated incidents of inmate-on-inmate sexual victimization, compared to less than 1 percent of incidents of staff-on-inmate victimization.”  It astounded me that the majority of the staff on inmate substantiated incidents were perpetrated by women staff members, but not surprisingly, most believed the inmate was a willing participant. Also interesting for inmate on inmate incidents, the most common location was in a cell, not the urban myth “drop the soap in the shower” scenario.  For staff on inmate situations it was in a program area, such as the chow hall or commissary.

Although the prison system has made efforts to get inmates to report these situations, the strong prison culture of not being a snitch and the embarrassment associated with the victimization, would indicate a lot of situations are not reported.

Maintaining the common conception about rape in prison is said to be a deterrent to criminal behavior all by itself.  So, the myth is perpetuated.

In Jeff Smith’s book, Mr. Smith goes to Prison, its clear boys will be boys when they are among themselves.  There’s lots of talk about sex and outstanding sexual performance, and there is private masturbating going on with erotic magazines.  Real erotic magazines are contraband, but they get smuggled in, just like drugs and cigarettes.

The opportunity for socially accepted, within the confines of marriage sex is available in a few state prisons.  A brief history of such programs is provided in Conjugal Visits: Preserving Family Bonds Behind Bars by Patrick Rodgers on the Legal Zoom website from 2009.

“Interestingly, the origins of the conjugal visit had more to do with encouraging work than preserving marital relationships. The earliest program dates back to 1918 when James Parchmann, the warden at Mississippi State Penitentiary, introduced conjugal visits as an incentive for inmates to work harder. Sex was used as the proverbial dangling carrot for increasing inmate productivity. “

Such visits in Mississippi ended early in 2014, due to cost issues.  There were 17 states that allowed such visits, but now there are just a few states that continue to allow overnight visits from family.  Reporting on “State Prisons end Conjugal Visits” at the end of 2013, The Jackson Free Press article stated the following,

“In 2012, researchers writing in the American Journal of Criminal Justice found that states that have extended family-visitation programs experience significantly fewer incidents of sexual violence in their prisons. States that allowed conjugal visits had 57 incidents of sexual violence per 100,000 inmates compared to 226 incidents per 100,000 people in prison in states that lack conjugal visitation, the study found.

In a 50-state survey conducted in 2012, Yale Law School researchers called participation in such programs “a powerful incentive” for good behavior. “Allowing conjugal visitation may also decrease sexual violence within prisons. Family members and children who visit and are thus able to build and sustain more meaningful relationships with their incarcerated parent or family member may benefit tremendously. Indeed, more generally, the positive impact of visitation on visiting family and on inmates has been well documented,” the Yale researchers wrote.

Ear Hustle discusses such visits in the “Boom Boom Room”, it’s sixth episode, commented on the visits favorably.  People who are eligible for a visit and have one scheduled, make every effort to stay out of trouble so the visit is not cancelled. There is positive anticipation of the visit, but indeed some sadness when it’s over.  Not only does it help maintain family relationships, at San Quentin, it is set up in a cottage that recreates life outside the prison.  Residents get to sleep on a more comfortable bed, nice sheets, and can cook for themselves.  It’s a reminder of what is on the outside.

Unfortunately, these programs are becoming less and less common due to cost limitations, safety concerns and over the past few decades, due to most prison’s emphasis on punishment and retribution rather than rehabilitation.  The same can be said for therapeutic communities discussed in the last blog.  Even though their cost benefit analyses indicate they save considerably long term, immediate funding constraints close them down.

Other ways of building family relationships include father daughter dances, mommy and daughter teas, and sporting events held in prison.  Some charities provide incarcerated individuals with books, one copy for them and another copy sent to their children.  Then via skype, video or phone, the child and the prisoner read the book together.  Some prisons allow televisits, allowing inmates to visit families remotely.

In a hopeful success story, an ex-offender used his inherent entrepreneurial skills to start a new business, pigeonly.com, to lower the cost and the time it takes to connect families with inmates. For many prisoners, interaction with people outside are their only  lifeline.

 

The Last Taboo

I’m Happy to announce my guest blogger, Minette, renowned blogger on social and prison issues. I’ll be posting a series of her informational blogs during the next month, so keep a watch out for them. I’m sure you will find them interesting and full of valuable tips and interesting personal experiences. This first one reflects on how we often fear telling people when we have a child or relative in prison.

The Last Taboo
There are no carefully guarded family secrets anymore, no skeletons in the closet waiting to be exposed, no deep dark secrets taken to the grave. Now, everyone shares everything. All the filters, gone. Five years ago I don’t think anyone would openly admit there was alcoholism or drug addiction in their family. Not anymore. It’s all changed. Now you can read about it all on Facebook or on someone’s personal blog. But, maybe there is one exception. One shame that lurks behind eyes that have cried all night, alone.
Earlier this year while on vacation in Costa Rica, I waded into the water of the pristine, clear, warm Pacific Ocean, surrounded by craggily rock formations on either side of a wide open, beautiful sandy, hardly occupied beach. I was standing in the surf near a fellow traveler I met a few days ago on the tour bus. After rushing around seeing rain forests, volcanos, and coffee bean plantations, this was the beginning of our two day total relaxation time. A wave engulfed us, she was pushed down by its force, then she popped back up, catching her breath. She laughed and told me, almost a complete stranger, she had a parent who was an alcoholic. OK, good to know, I guess.
Most people would think that’s a weird reaction to getting tossed about by a wave. But unfortunately, I could see the relevance. She felt unbalanced as the wave hit and then the sand was pulled out from under her feet as the water receded. A metaphor for how she felt when she lived with her problematic relative. I found that I could share with that wave impacted vacationer that I too had the gut wrenching experience of a relative who was an addict, providing a small bonding experience as we continued to go back to jumping the waves, and then ultimately back on the tour bus. But there was still one thing, one horrible thing left unsaid. I could not bring myself to tell her, but now I’ll tell the whole world, maybe I can start a trend that may change things. That addict was my child and he ended up in prison. I’m telling the world because enough time has passed and I can deal with it now. But I remember the pain, the confusion, the lack of understanding I felt about it happening to my family and the lack of believing that it was actually happening at all even as it was going on. I did pinch myself, but it didn’t help. It was like being in a small boat in a gushing river with broken oars. The river current carried us along, and as much as we tried to stop it, the impending boat wreck stared us in the face and we could not avoid it. We tried everything we could think of, spent tons of money, believed in what we thought was the system, and still we had to live in the middle of the rubble and remains as if nothing had happened. We had to go on living, like nothing unusual had happened. There was no other choice.
But when I was in Costa Rica, I just could not tell a stranger. I could not make the words come out of my mouth. They were stuck in my throat. I knew she wanted more. She was waiting for something more, something to continue the conversation, but I could not say it. The last taboo seems to be prison.
More importantly, I could not tell my parents, in-laws, brother or sister, or anyone in the family. It would be too sad and hurtful for them, how could that happen to the sweet little boy they once knew. He was a nice, bright, fun kid. He was clever, lots of smiles and laughter. He was charming with plenty of friends. He loved riding his bike, fishing in a lake, exploring everywhere and everything. As he got older, I thought he had street smarts, but sometimes he displayed anxiousness if he wasn’t sure about a situation. On the other hand, he had the steadiest hands I had ever seen and a right to the point focus.
There were times when he was little and we would be standing on the edge of a lake. He would see a fish nearby, and he would wade into the water, and catch the fish with his hands. He’d hold it up for the family to see wearing a big grin on his face. He was quick and steady. One time we were browsing stores at an airport and a souvenir store had a sign, IF YOU CAN SOLVE THIS PUZZLE, IT’S YOURS FOR FREE. It was one of those little wooden boxes you had to get small metal balls into the right sections or holes. I worked on one, his friend worked on one, and he worked on one. And, one, two, three, he did it. They gave it to him for free. Then he did another one, his friend and I were getting nowhere with the ones we had. I was too embarrassed to take a second one for free. He just had a knack of that sort of thing.
Another time we were going to a Mets game. We were meeting a friend who had the tickets in the parking lot. My friend was a few minutes late, he was panicked that they wouldn’t show and then what would we do! I was surprised by his over reaction, but then my friend came and he was fine and had a good time.
He was not brought up in a slum, he did not live with family who abused him, or an environment full of drugs. He had a perfectly fine upbringing with lots of opportunities. But still it happened. People I asked for advice after the fact, shrugged their shoulders because they thought it was so unusual for a kid like mine to be in that position. It was not a problem that fit in their world.
Had I told my family that my son was an addict, he committed a crime, was convicted of a felony, and ultimately went to prison, yes, it would have been heartbreaking for them. That is true, but probably the greater truth is that it was too shameful for me. Never in a million years would I have thought this would happen to us, not the addiction, not the prison, and not everything in between. Such an incredible, overwhelming, embarrassment for us. And, it is something that we’ll have to live with for the rest of our lives. They used to scare me with getting a B on my report card, it will go on your permanent record! That didn’t, and it wasn’t so terrible either, but this does, and it can make life a whole lot more difficult. This sure didn’t happen only to my son either, although he’s the one who will bear the brunt of it for the rest of his life. This affected me, my husband, and his sister, and even though I did not tell them, the rest of my family.
First Blog Post July 18, 2018

Counting the Days

My son will finally be coming home in January 2019 from Coleman USP in Florida. By then, he will have spent about fourteen and a half years in the federal prison system. That’s a long time. He’s not a young man anymore.

When he gets out, he’ll be entering the Hope for Prisoners program here in Las Vegas. I can tell you that both of us are excited and a little afraid. He’s afraid he won’t be able to function in society and may fail. I have some fears also. I’m afraid I may fail in my interactions with him.

But, with Hope for Prisoners’ support and mine, he can put his fears behind him. He will have all the opportunities and tools he needs to succeed. I know he can do it and will use the rest of his life to better himself and others.

Not sure what the first thing we will do before flying back to Las Vegas, but I suspect it will be a trip to McDonald’s for a Big Mac and to a clothing store. He does not even know what size clothes he wears now. When ex-offenders got out of prison, they usually leave with just the clothes on their backs and whatever legal files or books they have. Some walk out with nothing.

We’re so fortunate to have the Hope for Prisoners program, Jon Ponder, and his staff behind us. They are an amazing reentry program with a track record of keeping 94% of their graduates from returning to prison. They give people like my son and myself real hope for success.

Coleman II Bans Books

Coleman II Federal Prison is banning books from all sellers except through the internal prison system as of May 14, 2018. They have also banned all greeting cards, letters written in crayon or marker, and letters on anything but white paper. Warden R.C. Cheatham recently sent out a memo regarding this change.

Books are prisoner’s lifeline to education, the outside and an important way to pass time. Letters from their children are often written in crayon or markers and are extremely meaningful. Greeting cards let inmates know their loved ones are thinking of them. How could any system make these across-the-board changes that will be so detrimental to prisoners?

Yes, drugs do come into prison through various means, but do they really think Amazon is soaking pages in LSD and sending books in? That is absolutely ridiculous.  Maybe the fact that purchasing books through the prison system, which has a 30% tax on them, has something to do with this new rule. I think so.

As for the letters and card rule, is there no other way they can look for drugs? How about getting the addicts who are receiving the drug laden letters treatment? So, I guess when your loved one in Coleman II has a birthday, you will have to write “Happy Birthday” on a plain piece of white paper and send it in a white envelope. Nice. They’ll probably like that.

The Florida ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) and FAMM (Families Against Mandatory Minimums) are working to get this ludicrous rule reversed. It is harmful and cruel to prisoners and their families.

I personally send ten to fifteen books a month to my son through Amazon. Not only do I get a good price, (some are used books) but because I have Prime, I get free shipping. I would have to curtail the amount of books I send him if I had to pay a 30% tax and shipping costs. Not only that, I doubt that the variety and choice on Amazon can be matched through the prison system.

I will be writing the warden at Coleman II and the Bureau of Prisons. I hope some of you will join me.

Email Warden Cheatham at: coa/publicinformation@bop.gov  Phone: (352) 689-7000

or mail to: Warden Cheatham

USP Coleman II

PO Box 1024

Coleman FL 33521

Email the Federal Bureau of Prison at:
Federal Bureau of Prisons
320 First St., NW
Washington, DC 20534
Phone:
(202) 307-3198

 

 

LOCK-DOWN

My husband and I traveled across the country to visit my son in Florida last weekend. We paid for airfare, a hotel and a rental car. When we arrived, we were denied visiting because the facility was in lock-down. We had traveled many hours Friday on the plane and then the next morning got up early to drive an hour to the facility. How disappointing for my son as well as for us.

We were told to call the next day, Sunday, to see if it had been lifted and it had not. There wasn’t much hope, as the entire administration goes home for the weekend and there apparently is no one to  make a decision. On Monday, we called again to be told absolutely there would be no visiting. (We would have changed our plane reservations if there was) When we got to our transfer in Dallas, my son called to say the lock-down had been lifted. Another disappointment!

I have sent a letter to the Director of the Bureau of Prisons, Mark Inch, to ask that these rules be changed. It is not fair for a family to take the time and money to travel to visit, only to find they can’t. If it is a matter of security, they could escort the few inmates who have family from out of town visiting to the visiting room. How could this cause any concern or trouble? It is imperative that inmates be allowed to have contact and visits with their families. In this case, lock-down was due to a fist-fight. Why did they have to lock-down the entire facility over this? It’s just beyond my comprehension. Why should all the inmates and their families suffer over what a few do?

Most importantly, how can I plan a visit and spend all the time and money to go across the country and not be sure I will even be able to visit? This is not an incentive to encourage visiting. Even If I had known the night before, the tickets are already purchased and it would be prohibitive to purchase refundable tickets, never mind cancel hotel and rental car. There has to be a better way.

If you have had this experience, please write to Mr. Inch at:

Federal Bureau of Prison

320 First Street NW

Washington DC 20534

Only by voicing our problems can we get the BOP to make changes to their policies! 

Father’s Day

Re-blogged from Prison Policy Initiative

For families of incarcerated dads, Father’s day comes at a premium
by Lucius Couloute
In the U.S., we often hear ‘you do the crime, you do the time.’ But incarceration isn’t just an individual-level problem, it affects entire networks of people. This Father’s Day I’d like to bring attention to the pernicious consequences of parental incarceration and the exploitive ways in which private telecom companies profit from the separation of families.
Crime has been declining for decades, yet the number of children with a father in state or federal prison is now over 1.5 million. If we include jails, 1 out of every 28 children now has an incarcerated parent. And the latest estimates suggest that Black and Hispanic children are up to six times more likely to have an incarcerated parent than their white peers.

From 1991 to 2007 the number of minor children with a father in state or federal prison increased 77%.
Victims of a war waged – largely on poor communities of color – long before they were born, over-criminalization forces children to contend with a vast array of barriers that prevent upward economic mobility. Parental incarceration is associated with an increased risk of childhood poverty, health problems, school suspension and expulsion, and can be a source of stigma for children as they navigate the world around them. During a period when bipartisan support for reform appears to be in flux, it’s important to remember that young lives are at stake when we over-incarcerate.
And as if the forced separation of fathers from their loved ones wasn’t enough, telecom providers have found a way to benefit – and indeed profit – from parental incarceration. At a time when phone companies provide unlimited long distance calling for people like me and you, it can cost an incarcerated person and their family up to $24.95 for a single 15-minute in-state phone conversation. These exorbitant costs help explain why over $1.3 billion a year goes to the prison telephone industry.
A more recent development has been the growth of the video visitation industry; where local jails collude with private companies to charge up to $1.50/minute for low quality offsite video conferencing services (not including any additional fees that get tacked on for good measure). As jails across the country implement this technology they tend to scale back or eliminate in-person visits altogether, all the while receiving kick-backs from the private, for-profit telecom companies.
The exploitative practices of the prison communication industry – which penalize families for trying to stay in touch – amounts to a kind of regressive taxation. In this case, the profits come disproportionately from poor people already struggling with the absence of a loved one. From both a policy perspective, and from the perspective of families, replacing in-person visits with poorly functioning and expensive video visitation is unacceptable.
So on this Father’s Day, millions of children will be without their fathers, and without the ability to pay the outrageous costs associated with speaking to them. I hope that by the time Father’s Day comes around next year, state lawmakers take the initiative to better regulate prison telecom companies, and most importantly, reduce the number of incarcerated people.

Holidays for Inmates

It’s that time of year again when those of us who are living free celebrate the holidays. We enjoy family, friends, music, food and comradeship. For those who are incarcerated, this time of year can be devastating. Some are separated from their families by thousands of miles, and will not have the chance to see them at all. For some they may get a visit, but after the visit they will go back to their cells, while their family or friends go back to their lives on the outside. For those who are in solitary it is even worse. They sit alone in their bathroom sized cell, and may not even be able to speak to another person. Can you imagine that?

Take just a moment out of your day to write to your loved one, or give them a call if you can, to let them know they are not forgotten, and that their is someone out there who is thinking of them. It may not mean a lot to you, but to them it will make their day.

If you are able, send them a little extra cash so they can get something special from the commissary, maybe a pack of chips or a candy bar, or even a sweat shirt. It will help them cope, and alleviate some of he anger or despair they may feel. Yes, your friends may say they are in prison and they deserve to be there, and maybe they do. However, over the years many inmates have more than paid their debt, and are changed people. Just a little kindness can do a lot to help them through the season.

Merry Christmas to you and yours, where ever they may be.

Grand Tetons, Wyoming 2016

Prison Policy Initiative: a Must Read

I have copied part of the press release by Prison Policy Initiative from March 4, 2016. What an eye-opener. It is a must read for anyone who has family or friends incarcerated,or for anyone who pays taxes and wants to know what is happening to their money in terms of effectiveness. We need reform. There are so many people incarcerated who should be treated differently, yet the judicial system continues to incarcerate them. Please go to http://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2016.html to view the statistics and pie charts. (Because they are not static, I could not copy them here).

Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2016

By Peter Wagner and Bernadette Rabuy
March 14, 2016
Press release

Wait, does the United States have 1.4 million or more than 2 million people in prison? Are most people in state and federal prisons locked up for drug offenses? Frustrating questions like these abound because our systems of confinement are so fragmented and controlled by various entities. There is a lot of interesting and valuable research out there, but varying definitions make it hard — for both people new to criminal justice and for experienced policy wonks — to get the big picture.

This report offers some much needed clarity by piecing together this country’s disparate systems of confinement. The American criminal justice system holds more than 2.3 million people in 1,719 state prisons, 102 federal prisons, 942 juvenile correctional facilities, 3,283 local jails, and 79 Indian Country jails as well as in military prisons, immigration detention facilities, civil commitment centers, and prisons in the U.S. territories.1 And we go deeper to provide further detail on why convicted and not convicted people are locked up in local jails.

Pie chart showing the number of people locked up on a given day in the United States by facility type and the underlying offense using the newest data available in March 2016.Pie chart showing the number of people locked up on a given day in the United States in jails, by convicted and not convicted status, and by the underlying offense, using the newest data available in March 2016. Graph showing the number of people in jails from 1983 to 2014 by whether they have been convicted or not. The number of convicted people stopped growing in 1999, but the number of unconvicted people continues to grow.Graph showing, for the years 2007 to 2014, the number of people — 11.4 to 13.6 million — a year who are admitted to jail per year and the number of people — about 700,000 to 800,000 — who are in jail on a given day.

While this pie chart provides a comprehensive snapshot of our correctional system, the graphic does not capture the enormous churn in and out of our correctional facilities and the far larger universe of people whose lives are affected by the criminal justice system. Every year, 636,000 people walk out of prison gates, but people go to jail over 11 million times each year.2 Jail churn is particularly high because most people in jails3 have not been convicted. Some have just been arrested and will make bail in the next few hours or days, and others are too poor to make bail and must remain behind bars until their trial. Only a small number (195,000) have been convicted, generally serving misdemeanors sentences under a year.

Pie chart showing the portion of people incarcerated in federal prisons, state prisons and local jails for drug offenses. While the War on Drugs is a defining characteristic of the federal prison system, it plays only a supporting role at the state and local levelsChart showing the number and portion of people incarcerated in the federal prison system by offense. Drugs and public order offenses are the most common, with drugs being about half.Chart showing the number of arrests for drug possession and drug sales/manufacturing from 1980 to 2012. For the last 20 years, the number of arrests for drug sales have remained flat, while the number of arrests for posession have grown.Chart showing the portion of New York State’s and Oklahoma’s state prison population that is incarcerated for a drug offense from 1992 to 2014. The portion of New York State’s prison population that is incarcerated for drug offenses has been consistently falling, while Oklahoma’s rose to a peak in 2006 and has been consistently above 25% since 1999.

With a sense of the big picture, a common follow-up question might be: how many people are locked up for a drug offense? We know that almost half a million people are locked up because of a drug offense.4 The data confirms that nonviolent drug convictions are a defining characteristic of the federal prison system, but play only a supporting role at the state and local levels. While most people in state and local facilities are not locked up for drug offenses, most states’ continued practice of arresting people for drug possession5 destabilizes individual lives and communities. Drug arrests give residents of over-policed communities criminal records, which then reduce employment prospects and increase the likelihood of longer sentences for any future offenses.

All of the offense data presented comes with an important set of caveats. A person in prison for multiple offenses is reported only for the most serious offense6 so, for example, there are people in prison for “violent” offenses who might have also been convicted of a drug offense. Further, almost all convictions are the result of plea bargains, where people plead guilty to a lesser offense, perhaps of a different category or one that they may not have actually committed.

And many of these categories group together people convicted of a wide range of offenses. For example, “murder” is generally considered to be an extremely serious offense, but “murder” groups together the rare group of serial killers, with people who committed acts that are unlikely for reasons of circumstance or advanced age to ever happen again, with offenses that the average American may not consider to be murder at all. For example, the felony murder rule says that if someone dies during the commission of a felony, everyone involved is as guilty of murder as the person who pulled the trigger. Driving a getaway car during a bank robbery where someone was accidentally killed is indeed a serious offense, but few people would really consider that to be murder.7

Chart showing the number and portion of youth locked up by offense types, showing that most incarcerated youth are locked up for nonviolent offenses, and that 7,200 youth are incarcerated for ‘offenses’ that are not even crimes. The graph notes that it does not include the 5,200 youth locked up in adult prisons or jails nor the almost 20,000 youth held by the juvenile justice system in residential facilities away from home. Cart showing that 52,000 people are confined for immigration offenses, with 19,000 in Bureau of Prisons custody on criminal charges, and the remainder in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody on civil detention. About half of those in ICE custody are in ICE facilities, and about half are confined under contract with local jails. Cart showing the 5,487 people civilly committed in 16 states and the federal system. The largest number are in California — unsurprising, given that it is the largest state in the country — followed by Minnesota, a state that is seven times smaller and that has one of the lowest prison incarceration rates in the nation.

This “whole pie” methodology also exposes some disturbing facts about the youth entrapped in our juvenile justice system: Too many are there for a “most serious offense” that is not even a crime. For example, there are almost 7,000 youth behind bars for “technical violations” of the requirements of their probation, rather than for a new offense. Further, 600 youth are behind bars for “status” offenses, which are “behaviors that are not law violations for adults, such as running away, truancy, and incorrigibility.”8

Turning finally to the people who are locked up criminally and civilly for immigration-related issues, we find that 19,000 people are in federal prison for criminal convictions of violating federal immigration laws. A separate 33,000 are civilly detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) separate from any criminal proceedings and are physically confined in special immigration detention facilities or in local jails under contract with ICE. (Notably, these categories do not include immigrants represented in other pie slices because of non-immigration related criminal convictions.)

Now, armed with the big picture of how many people are locked up in the United States, where, and why, we have a better foundation for the long overdue conversation about criminal justice reform. For example, the data makes it clear that ending the War on Drugs will not alone end mass incarceration, but that the federal government and some states have effectively reduced their incarcerated populations by turning to drug policy reform. Looking at the “whole pie” also opens up other conversations about where we should focus our energies:
•What is the role of the federal government in ending mass incarceration? The federal prison system is just a small slice of the total pie, but the federal government can certainly use its financial and ideological power to incentivize and illuminate better paths forward. At the same time, how can elected sheriffs, district attorneys, and judges slow the flow of people into the criminal justice system?
•Are state officials and prosecutors willing to rethink both the War on Drugs and the reflexive policies that have served to increase both the odds of incarceration and length of stay for “violent” offenses?
•Do policymakers and the public have the focus to confront the second largest slice of the pie: the thousands of locally administered jails? And does it even make sense to arrest millions of poor9 people each year10 for minor offenses, make them post cash bail, and then lock them up when they can’t afford to pay it? Will our leaders be brave enough to redirect corrections spending to smarter investments like community-based drug treatment and job training?
•Can we implement reforms that both reduce the number of people incarcerated in the U.S. and the well-known racial and ethnic disparities in the criminal justice system?

Chart comparing the racial and ethnic distribution of the total U.S. population with that of the incarcerated population. Whites are a majority of the total U.S. population, but a minority of the prison population. Blacks, Latinos and Native Americans are a disproportionately larger share of the incarcerated population than they are of the total U.S. population. Chart comparing the gender distribution of the total U.S. population with that of the incarcerated population. Men are almost half of the total U.S. population, but are a majority (91%) of the incarcerated population. Women are just 9% of the incarcerated population, but this portion has doubled since 1970.Pie chart showing that people in correctional facilities are only about a third of the people under correctional control in the United States. Most (55%) are on probation. The remainder are on parole.

And once we have wrapped our minds around the “whole pie” of mass incarceration, we should zoom out and note that being locked up is just one piece of the larger pie of correctional control. There are another 820,000 people on parole (a type of conditional release from prison) and a staggering 3.8 million people on probation (what is typically an alternative sentence). Particularly given the often onerous conditions of probation, policymakers should be cautious of “alternatives to incarceration” that sometimes widen the net of criminalization to people who are not a threat to public safety.

Now that we can see the big picture of how many people are locked up in the United States in the various types of facilities, we can see that something needs to change. Looking at the big picture requires us to ask if it really makes sense to lock up 2.3 million people on any given day, giving this nation the dubious distinction of having the highest incarceration rate in the world. Both policymakers and the public have the responsibility to carefully consider each individual slice in turn to ask whether legitimate social goals are served by putting each category behind bars, and whether any benefit really outweighs the social and fiscal costs.

We’re optimistic that this “whole pie” approach can give Americans, who are ready for a fresh look at the criminal justice system, some of the tools they need to demand meaningful changes to how we do justice.

Acknowledgments

This 2016 report was made possible by a generous grant from the Public Welfare Foundation and the contributions of individuals across the country who support justice reform. The infographic slideshows and the graph of correctional control were made possible by Gabe Isman of our Young Professionals Network. Bob Machuga and J. Andrew World helped with design issues, and Alison Walsh helped us gather research. Melissa Sickmund at the National Center for Juvenile Justice and Todd Minton at the Bureau of Justice Statistics expanded our knowledge of agencies’ datasets; and Alex Friedmann, Neelum Arya and Drew Kukorowski provided invaluable feedback on earlier drafts of this report. Any errors or omissions, and final responsibility for all of the many value judgements required to produce a data visualization like this, however, are the sole responsibility of the authors.

Inmates Matter Too!

I have recently run across a great blog called Inmates Matter Too (IMT). Like this one, it provides information about prisons and inmates and provides support for their loved ones on the outside. This is taken directly from the website: Source: Inmates Matter Too.

“IMT provides supportive and encouraging posts on Facebook, as well as updates on our prison system and programs helping those inside grow and gain the tools they need to be successful in society, blogs written by prison inmates and community members, a newsletter for inmates, resources to help inmates and their families and with more plans in the works with the expansion of our website.”

It is organized and managed by Jennifer R., who is providing valuable information and is also promoting work by inmates. One of those is inmate and published author, Martin Lockett. His posts range from a post about compassionate care in prison by prisoners, to a well written article about how much prisons cost taxpayers and how little they are getting for their money. Who would pour billions into a company that’s failure rate was almost 70%? Well, we the taxpayers are. This just brings to light how many changes need to be made in our penal system.

Please take a look at this blog and let me know what you think!

https://inmatesmattertoo.org/