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The Prison State in California and the Nation

By Diane Trzcinski
Cab Drollery

Adam Liptak had a terrific column on the burgeoning US prison population in Wednesday's NY Times. The comparison of the US statistics with the rest of the world was staggering:

“The United States has less than 5 percent of the world’s population. But it has almost a quarter of the world’s prisoners.

“Indeed, the United States leads the world in producing prisoners, a reflection of a relatively recent and now entirely distinctive American approach to crime and punishment. Americans are locked up for crimes — from writing bad checks to using drugs — that would rarely produce prison sentences in other countries. And in particular they are kept incarcerated far longer than prisoners in other nations.”

One explanation for the disparity is the fact that the US tends to have a lot of crimes committed with guns, which are easily accessible in the country, unlike the rest of the world. In most states, the use of a gun in the commission of a crime results in enhanced sentencing. But more has to be at work here.

“Despite the recent decline in the murder rate in the United States, it is still about four times that of many nations in Western Europe.

“But that is only a partial explanation. The United States, in fact, has relatively low rates of nonviolent crime. It has lower burglary and robbery rates than Australia, Canada and England.

“People who commit nonviolent crimes in the rest of the world are less likely to receive prison time and certainly less likely to receive long sentences. The United States is, for instance, the only advanced country that incarcerates people for minor property crimes like passing bad checks, Mr. Whitman wrote.

“Efforts to combat illegal drugs play a major role in explaining long prison sentences in the United States as well. In 1980, there were about 40,000 people in American jails and prisons for drug crimes. These days, there are almost 500,000.”

As the article makes clear, the authorities, particularly Attorney General Mukasey, are resisting any call for the reduction of sentences for drug offenses. Diversion programs, like those being tried in California for first offenders with minimal amounts of drugs involved (not enough for sales), are still too new to make any definitive conclusions, but they do appear to have had some success, although apprently Mr. Mukasey would disagree with that assessment. He represents that portion of the American public that believes drug offenders are dangerous criminals who need to be locked away, even for a first offense.

But it is not just the frequency with which incarceration is used as a sentence which distinguishes the American justice system from the rest of the world. The length of our sentences far exceeds those of our world neighbors.

“Still, it is the length of sentences that truly distinguishes American prison policy. Indeed, the mere number of sentences imposed here would not place the United States at the top of the incarceration lists. If lists were compiled based on annual admissions to prison per capita, several European countries would outpace the United States. But American prison stays are much longer, so the total incarceration rate is higher.”

That rate, according to some analyses may be as high as 1% of the American population, which I find astounding. Given the cost to states for the building and running of prisons for that many people, it is no wonder that state budgets are beginning to buckle under the strain. Californians are beginning to realize this first hand.

While there are those who would argue that those who break the law must pay for their malfeasance, I don't see why locking people away for years for non-violent and/or victimless crimes is particularly necessary in a civilized society. It's time to revisit this aspect of our justice system.

Diane Trzcinski is a Los Angeles attorney with a Ph.D. in 18th Century British literature who also writes short stories. She says “I'm beginning to see that consensual reality is far weirder than the stuff I've been writing.” This article first appeared in Cab Drollery and is republished with her permission.

Posted on April 25, 2008

Comments

The same thing over and over the same complaints
a bout the prisons and laws.. but not one person has enough concern to do anything about it!!! Complained complained?? Almost every one knows this is wrong.. yes wrong.. I think lawmakers and the senators need to raise taxes to pay for our prisons and to pay for our kids in school!!
Yes raise taxes because the taxpayers who voted these laws in should pay the bills.
When the Senators 'lawmakers and taxpayers voted for longer sentences laws . And did not vote for rehabilitation . They got what they deserved
bills bills now it's time to pay?? After all the years of broken court orders ... the California prisons are in a crisis.. Gee I wonder why could it be rehabilitation.. yes rehabilitation should have never been taken away..
what a shame ! That one inmate dies every week in California prisons. Because everyone just complains and does nothing!! Put the rehabilitation back in the courtroom instead of sending everyone to prison.. in my personal opinion the people that passed these laws are heartless and cruel,, so let's all pay our taxes so we can pay our bills on the prisonsss

Posted by: demc at April 29, 2008 01:18 PM

I think that those in authority over the parole system need to take a look at the inmates, primarily in the California system, who have disassociated from the prison gangs and made the choice to change their lives. Many of these inmates begin losing hope, because of the long sentences - which with some are life sentences. For people whose crimes were committed in their teens - many of the problems that existed in their earlier years are corrected with time and maturity. In the reformation process, these things need to be considered.

Posted by: Kendra at May 5, 2008 06:37 PM

Free the non violent offenders and lesson some long term sentences! I would vote for that

Posted by: Amy at May 14, 2008 09:28 PM

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