America unique in its perpetuation of crime and injustice

The U.S. prison system is like no other prison system in the world. This statement is not meant to praise our system for its uniqueness, rather, it is meant to criticize our system for its ineffectiveness and injustice, exemplified by the fact that no other country has tried to imitate our system. The United States holds 25 percent of the world’s prison population, yet only has about 5 percent of the world’s total population. We are the world’s leading jailer. We are a prison nation.

Over the past couple of decades, the prison-industrial complex in this country has risen dramatically. During this time, there has also been an absurd increase in the number of Americans incarcerated, allowing us to surpass every other country in terms of the percentage of population that is in jail at any given time. This increase in the number of Americans in jail has not been coupled with a proportionate increase in the number of crimes committed. Instead, this surge in the rate of incarceration has been coupled with a change in crime categorization and in the sentencing process.

Now, because of a shift in how certain crimes are categorized and punished, what were previously considered misdemeanors are now considered felonies. Drug use has not seen a radical increase, yet there are now more drug convictions and longer sentences for these convictions. Additionally, the three strike policy that has been implemented in many places in our country means that people convicted of three felonies face life in prison, regardless of how minor these felonies are.

All of this has contributed to the epidemic of jail overcrowding in this country, to the point where prisons have become comparable to zoos. According to an article in the Huffington Post, there are today more than 215,000 inmates in federal prisons, an increase of almost 790 percent since 1980. This overcrowding is dangerous both for the inmates and for the correction officers. Common sense would tell us that this overcrowding is, therefore, inhumane and unjust—however, it is just what the companies who manage these prisons want.

Since 1983, management of prisons has been outsourced to the private sector, transforming the prison system into a for-profit industry. This privatization of prisons creates a demand for prisoners because the companies managing the prisons are trying to make a profit. The prisoners have, therefore, become commodities in this system. They are no longer humans who deserve just treatment—they are goods that can create a profit. These managing companies have found that they can cut their costs by overcrowding jails, and so lobby to perpetuate the trends that lead to this overcrowding of jails, namely the changes in crime categorization and sentencing practices. Thus, the privatization of the prison industry and the commodification of prisoners have led to the absurd and inhumane prison system that defines us as the prison nation.

Not only does the system not treat the prisoners considerately, but it also has nothing to do with justice for the victims of these crimes. The victims have no say in what happens to the offenders, nor do they have the ability to address the offenders if they want to. The victims do not receive justice or closure in this system, all they receive is the ability to see the lives of their offenders ruined, regardless of what crime they committed or why they committed it.

This system would at least be justifiable if it actually worked in preventing these criminals from committing crimes again in the future, but this is not the case. There is approximately a 67 percent recidivism rate within one to three years after offenders are released from prison, and this extremely high rate can be seen as a product of the imprisonment system itself. The system undermines families, suppresses positive rehabilitative growth, and is the principal recruitment location for gangs, all of which help to guarantee more crime.

Not only does our prison-industrial system treat prisoners as commodities, but it also does not achieve justice, nor does it prevent more crime from happening in the future. A criminal justice system should be about the people involved, both the victims and the offenders. We need to change our system so that it is about the people and their justice and rehabilitation, rather than injustice and the perpetuation of crime.