Mass Incarceration: A Violation of Human Dignity

Abstract

The United States places a heavy emphasis on bringing jobs to its country, particularly in reference to manufacturers who outsourced their labor and production to foreign countries. This emphasis is so pronounced that Donald Trump even proposed steel tariffs with the goal of bringing jobs back to the U.S. However, while politicians campaign to bring jobs back to the United States and emphasize the money lost to foreign countries, they are stifling our economy by imprisoning millions of Americans and forcing them to produce goods and services for numerous companies. These inmates earn little to no pay for their work, while the companies reap the profits. In addition to their low wages, United States prison inmates experience poor living conditions that are destructive to their mental and physical health, an issue that is contradictory to their inherent dignity as human beings.

The issue of mass incarceration in the United States has not always been so controversial. In fact, in 1972, the United States had a relatively reasonable prison population of 200,000 inmates. However, today that number has exploded and now exceeds a startling two million (DuVernay, 2016). While the U.S. only contains five percent of the world’s population, the country has twenty five percent of the world’s prison population. The incarceration rate in the United States first began to rise in the 1970’s under the Nixon administration, but soon doubled in the 1980’s under Ronald Reagan’s presidency and doubled again in the 1990’s under presidents Bush and Clinton. This rapidly increasing incarceration rate can be attributed to several government-instituted policies and programs such as “the War on Drugs,” “the Three Strikes Rule,” “Truth in Sentencing,” “Mandatory Minimums,” and the 1994 Federal Crime Bill. Each of these policies were used to rapidly incarcerate, often unjustly, a large number of citizens, many of them African American (DuVernay, 2016).

A statistic even more troubling than the number of Americans in prison is the one regarding the race of those Americans. Although only six and half percent of the United States’ population is African American, over forty percent of the country’s prison population is African American. Many law enforcement policies and programs instituted by the U.S. government were created with the explicit intent of incriminating more African Americans and keeping them in prison longer than ever before. For example, the controversial Three Strikes Rule states that if a person is convicted of three felonies, they are “mandated to prison for the rest of their lives” (DuVernay, 2016). When it was first introduced, this rule overloaded prisons with long-term inmates, forcing facilities to release thousands of inmates who had misdemeanor offenses in order to create room. Conversely, Truth in Sentencing laws kept other inmates incarcerated for eighty-five percent of their sentence, not providing parole or early-release as an option. On top of these policies, “mandatory minimums” were put in place, ensuring that judges could no longer “consider the circumstances around a crime,” but rather “impose a mandatory sentence” (DuVernay, 2016). Worst of all, former president Bill Clinton established the 1994 Federal Crime Bill which “provided all kinds of money and perverse incentives for law enforcement to do a lot of the things that we nowadays consider to be abusive” (DuVernay, 2016). These policies “took discretion away from judges,” and handed it over to prosecutors, ninety-five percent of whom are white. Clinton himself admitted to the NAACP that his federal crime bill was a mistake and that it “made the problem worse” (DuVernay, 2016). Each of these government policies were targeted and racist on top of being invasive and inhumane. Allowing one race to make decisions for, and ultimately ruin, the lives of another race is a massive violation of human dignity on par with the other issues of dignity surrounding mass incarceration.

Mass incarceration has led to severe situations of prison overcrowding and the deterioration of prison conditions, making incarceration even more difficult for inmates. As the United States continues to impart unjust and lengthy sentences, the country risks the physical and psychological health of its inmates. When prisons are overcrowded, inmates often “go berserk and start arguing, fighting, and cutting” (Cobb, 1985, p. 74). As a former prison inmate himself, Alonzo Cobb recounts his experiences in overcrowded prisons, saying, "Waking up each morning, I had to twist my neck to make sure my head was still on my shoulders because of the violent conditions! There were three toilets for 140 men, and one of those was constantly out of order, so to say you were uptight— mentally and physically— was the plain truth!” (1985, p. 74).

The abysmal prison conditions wreaked havoc on Cobb, making him fearful for his life each day. Furthermore, other conditions such as improper ventilation made him “become more irritable,” and turned his fellow inmates “extremely mean or evil” (Cobb, 1985, p. 75). While conditions such as ventilation are supposed to be regulated by the government, “half the time these requirements are ignored” or the government-mandated fans “did not always operate properly” with guards and employees often pretending they were ignorant of the way to operate the fans (Cobb. 1985, p. 75). Improper ventilation and overcrowding are not the only unsatisfactory conditions; Cobb also mentions constant high noise levels, insufficient provisions related to hygiene, and food shortages. Furthermore, he brings up the topic of violent gangs or “goon squads” and the use of excessive force by prison guards. Not a single aspect of Cobb’s life in prison was regulated with his inherent human dignity in mind which led to extensive mental and physical suffering on his part.

Prisoners can also suffer from the environment in which the prison is located. At a Pennsylvania prison, several inmates experienced health problems ranging from headaches to cancers, and when one of them was transferred to another facility, “his condition soon improved.” This particular prison was built near a coal mine, providing its inmates with drinking water contaminated by slurry ponds and coal combustion waste as well as air polluted with toxins from the coal (Greenfield, 2018). Because prisons are meant to be secluded and invisible, they are often built in unsafe areas such as former industrial sites, coal mines, and landfills. In general, “polluting facilities are more likely to be built -- and less likely to be regulated -- in low-income communities and communities of color” (EJI, 2017), which adds to the ways in which prisons are violating human rights. Not only is the pollution caused by mass incarceration detrimental to the health of inmates, but it also disproportionately affects persons of color living in impoverished communities. Providing inmates with contaminated drinking water and allowing them to breathe polluted air is a major violation of human rights, as is allowing these toxic conditions to plague one group more than they do others. The only way to put an end to this treatment of prisoners is with “our society acknowledging that prisoners are fellow human beings who deserve to be treated with respect and compassion based solely on [their] humanity” (Bernd, 2018). The treatment prisoners experience due to a polluted, toxic environment is contrary to the inherent human dignity the prisoners possess and violates the rights they have as human beings.

In addition to poisoning inmates, prisons are also poisoning the environment. Mass incarceration “impacts the health of local ecosystems coast to coast” (EJI, 2017). In 2007, seventeen states were found to have violated sewage and sanitation laws, leading to drinking water contamination. Furthermore, states all across the country were “cited for violating point source pollution regulations, as well as for falsifying water pollution reports” (EJI, 2017). For example, a prison in California “has been a major water polluter for twenty years” and was fined in 2004 when they spilled 220,000 gallons of raw sewage into a nearby creek that led into Morro Bay (EJI, 2017). In addition to polluting the water, prisons also consume large amounts of water “which can be particularly problematic during droughts” (Bernd, 2018), especially in states like California that rely on every last drop of water. Along with water pollution, “industrial activities associated with prison labor have also harmed local air quality” (EJI, 2017). For instance, four prisons in Pennsylvania came under scrutiny after it was discovered that they “were exceeding federal standards for particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, and nitrous oxide” (Bernd, 2018). Additionally, “prison-related traffic” such as visitors and large diesel trucks that deliver supplies to the facilities are another cause of pollution (Bernd, 2018). In California’s San Joaquin Valley, air pollution caused by the prison industry prevented the area from meeting “state standards for ozone levels and particulate matter” (Bernd, 2018). The pollution caused by prisons must be regulated to a greater extent than it is now. While the government may fine a prison for allowing sewage to be disposed of in a creek, they should be finding ways to prevent that practice before it occurs. If prisons employed environmental advocates and counselors the way they do guards, prison would be a significantly more reformative place that cared for its inmates and the environment.

As the effects of mass incarceration continue to plague the environment, the government continues to fine prisons for pollution and improper waste disposal without taking any significant preventative action. While the California prison that spilled 220,000 gallons of raw sewage into “a protected estuary” was fined by the government, the prison was not effectively deterred from future pollution. Despite the hefty $600,000 fine the prison received, it still proceeded to have similar “spills” in 2008, 2014, 2015, and 2017 (EJI, 2017). This particular prison is not alone in their contamination either. Public records show that “over the past five years, federal and state agencies have brought one hundred thirty-two informal actions and twenty-eight formal actions against regulated prisons and jails under the Clean Water Act, resulting in $556,315 in fines” (EJI, 2017). While prisons are being repeatedly fined hundreds of thousands of dollars for their pollution of the environment, they are clearly making no effort to change their methods of waste disposal. Dispensing fines to prisons after the damage has been committed is not an effective way of remedying the situation. The government must be proactive in its efforts to prevent prisons from contaminating the environment. Because of mass incarceration, prisons are currently too overcrowded and overwhelmed to dispose of waste in safe and proper ways. Prisons do not possess the means to dispose of such a massive amount of waste because the United States prison system was not built with mass incarceration in mind. If the government does not actively work to reduce the number of inmates in U.S. prisons, these overloaded institutions will continue to violate the environment for lack of a better solution.

The suffering prisoners experience in these dreadful penitentiaries is akin to slavery. Inmates are not only left in despicable conditions, they are then forced to produce goods for billion-dollar corporations who provide them with very little pay in return. Companies such as AT&T, John Deere, McDonald’s, Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble, and United Airlines all use prison labor as a form of producing goods cheaply, leaving room for massive profit. Rather than paying fair wages to non-prisoner employees along with costly advantages such as benefits, “corporations are operating in prisons and profiting from punishment” (DuVernay, 2016). For example, in Alabama, prison laborers do not receive any compensation for their work, while in Kentucky inmates must be paid a minimum of thirteen cents per hour, though none receive more than thirty-three cents per hour (Sawyer, 2017). Meanwhile, businesses such as AT&T are worth billions because they capitalize off prison labor rather than paying fair wages to inmates. The average daily wage for a prison inmate is $3.45 which means in some states it can be over two weeks before an inmate can save up enough funds to purchase a ten-dollar phone card (Sawyer, 2017). Furthermore, many inmates depend on the wages earned in prison to support themselves when they are eventually freed. Without these funds to support themselves, many of those freed inmates will return to prison, whether forcibly or willingly. Denying inmates the right to contact their family from prison and increasing the difficulty of supporting themselves when they are able to reenter society is contradictory to the human dignity they each possess.

The use of prison labor is especially relevant today as wildfires and other natural disasters are becoming more frequent and deadlier, and inmates are used to combat them. The wildfire currently raging through Northern California is the deadliest and most destructive in the state’s history, yet inmates with very little training are being encouraged to aid in the containment effort. California’s government is offering inmates one dollar per hour to put their lives on the line to help combat the fires, an offer that for many is difficult to refuse (Hess, 2018). While the minimum amount prison laborers make per hour in California is eight cents, no prisoner in the state makes more than thirty-seven cents. In other words, it would be extremely difficult for prisoners to reject the opportunity to make one dollar per hour when they are currently earning only a fraction of that. The limited training these inmates receive comes at a cost in relation to their health. Studies conducted following past wildfires have shown that inmates are twice as likely to experience dehydration and heat-related illnesses as professional firefighters. Additionally, they are four times as likely to incur wounds and fractures, eight times more likely to suffer smoke-inhalation-related injuries, and nine times more likely to experiences burns (Vesoulis, 2018). Using increased wages to tempt inmates into risking their lives does not value their inherent human dignity. If inmates are going to be tasked with containing wildfires, they should be provided with the same training as professional firefighters. Otherwise, the government should seek assistance from firefighters or national guard members in other states.

Appalling prison conditions and unfair wages being paid for labor lead to an abominable quality of human life. While many may view inmates as second-class citizens, “prisoners as human beings have a right to dignity that should be recognized notwithstanding their incarceration” (van Zyl Smit, 2010, p. 504). Whether the inmates are locked up with just cause or without any cause is of no import in this situation. Any human being grounded in morals should be outraged at the conditions prisoners experience on a daily basis. In the United States we are often angered by the idea of workers not having rights or fair pay, and “we talk about sweatshops and we beat our fists at people overseas for exploiting poor, free labor, but we don’t [see] that it’s happening right here at home every day” (DuVernay, 2016). Not only do inmates experience the constant threat of physical violence, but they live in unbearable conditions with poor ventilation and improper nourishment. The treatment of prisoners in the United States is not consistent with the idea of providing every human with a quality life and with dignity.

The government’s role in protecting prisoners and preventing overcrowding is crucial. A stable and fair government should “secure justice” and “protect those who are weaker against those who are strong enough to trample on their rights” (Mirus, 2011). The policies that were instilled by presidents Nixon, Reagan, Bush, and Clinton, were all targeted, racist attacks that did not possess the goal of “securing justice” or “protecting the weak.” On the contrary, discriminatory policies such as “the Three Strikes Rule” and “Mandatory Minimums” put an unprecedented number of citizens, predominantly African American, in prison and only new and fair policies instituted by our government can help to reduce this number of prisoners. Former member of the United States House of Representative, Charles Rangel, points out that is the duty of Americans to call on our government to create new policies surrounding prison reform, saying, “the public’s got to stand up and take it back. It’ll never get done if they don’t” (DuVernay, 2016). If Americans do not fight for their fellow citizens, the government will never even attempt to restore their rights.

It is also the role of the United States government to “secure justice” in regards to our environment. If it is truly the duty of a stable and fair government to protect the weak, it should aim to protect our much abused and highly vulnerable environment that is unable to protect itself. The government’s hesitation to take significant, concrete action to prevent prisons from contaminating and polluting our environment is just one of the ways they are complicit in the destruction of our planet. The most effective way for the government to prevent the abuse of our environment at the hands of the prison system is to end mass incarceration. As long as prisons remain overcrowded, they will continue to produce toxic emissions tied to visitors, diesel trucks, and activities related to the prison industry. Furthermore, as long as prisons remain overwhelmed with the amount of waste their inmates produce, they will continue to pollute waterways and dispose of their waste improperly. If the government does not provide prisons with a viable solution to the problem of overcrowding, our environment will continue to suffer.

A society can thrive only when all of its members, including the most vulnerable among them, are cared for and respected. The prison and law enforcement systems in the United States do not allow for care or respect because they exploit inmates through their dreadful conditions and horrendous treatment. Allowing anyone to be endure the psychological and physical torture these inmates experience is contrary to the dignity inherent in every human being, rich or poor. Additionally, the U.S. prison system continuously abuses and violates our environment, polluting the air and contaminating waterways. In attacking the planet and contributing to its deterioration, the prison system is attacking one of the most vulnerable parts of our society: a part that cannot defend itself. Because all of God’s creation possesses inherent worth, we have an obligation to protect and nurture our environment. Until we liberate prison inmates from their dreadful living conditions and encourage the prison system to care for our environment in effective, sustainable ways, our society cannot possess true order and happiness.

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References

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