Beginning the long journey: Significant change in prisons

Donna Crane
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First of three parts

Mary Rinaldi and Ashish Prashar posted the following article in Fast Company, a business magazine in print and online.

“Imagine a world without prisons. It may sound radical, but for millions of black and brown Americans, this fantasy is urgent and necessary. Prison has been a blight on their lives since birth. Indeed, prison has been a blight on their lives for generations, reaching back to the 13th Amendment, which freed their enslaved ancestors.

“At long last, we and the rest of the world are seeing in stark relief the rotten root of over-policing and the unmitigated harm that has flowed for a century and a half.

“Even if we were to greatly diminish the current prison population, if we cut it in half but keep the prison-industrial complex intact, we still would consign millions of individuals to isolation and violence. That’s a form of inhumanity we should not abide by.

“What prison abolitionists (and indeed, police abolitionists) are calling for is a fundamental shift in thinking, approach, and design. Although complete elimination of the current justice system can’t be done in one fell swoop, there are steps, right now, that can put us on that path.

“We know that a significant number of people are incarcerated for reasons that are either false, oppressive, or due to deprivation and harm. In those circumstances, survival and care for one’s family can push someone’s actions over the line into illegal territory, against all of their best efforts. Take Cyntoia Brown, a victim of human and sex trafficking, who, because she feared for her life, shot and killed her abuser. Even if we agree that killing is wrong, she deserved far more understanding of the context of her situation than a life sentence in prison (after a huge letter-writing and legal campaign, her sentence was commuted last year, after serving 15 years). Or consider Kalief Browder, misidentified and imprisoned for three years without trial on suspicion of stealing a backpack, who then succumbed to the emotional and psychological injuries he experienced on Rikers Island while awaiting trial and died by suicide. Brown and Browder are only two individuals, but they represent millions of incarcerated across the U.S..

“The work of abolitionists is to reveal the fundamental problems with the prison system, an abusive and violent structure, and find the courage to radically imagine a deeply different structure, one that is predicated on restoration and healing. This approach takes a unique form, instead of beginning with punishment, we begin with care.

Redesign for rehabilitation

“Instead of our current prison system, which is punitive and tries to break you, what if we had a system that was actually designed for rehabilitation? In this case, the restriction of personal liberty is the punishment; no other human rights should be removed. Therefore, life inside prison must resemble the best version of life outside prison, and prisoners should serve their sentence at the lowest possible security level. Any deviation from this principle requires a compelling reason; justification is required to deny a person their rights, not to grant them.

“Along with that idea of normality is the aim that an incarcerated person’s path through their sentence builds toward a successful reentry to society, from the first day of entry any kind of detention, or mandatory program. This ensures that people get a genuine opportunity to return to society as a healthy citizen, with their humanity respected as an integral part of that process.

“The more institutionalized a system, the harder it is to thrive when released. Instead of keeping people in stasis while incarcerated, let’s design a journey of ever-expanding freedoms, so when their sentences end, they are ready to step back fully into freedom. Incarcerated individuals should proceed toward release from higher security to lower security units and facilities, through transitional houses whenever possible, and ultimately to community supervision. Both the process and milestones should be accessible and transparent to the individual incarcerated, and the experience a thoughtful collaboration between the community and the individual incarcerated.

“The physical security provided by walls, locked doors, cameras, and other static measures must be complemented by the dynamic security that only an alert staff, with knowledge of the person under their care, can provide. Dynamic security requires that staff (members) have positive, professional relationships with people in their care based on firmness and fairness. They understand people’s personal situations and are actively invested in their successful return to the community.

Continued at thevoice.us/prison-reform-rooted-in-care-better-than-punishment

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