Prison by Any Other Name
by Maya Schenwar & Victoria Law
Still care about true justice? Black lives? Human beings in general? Or confronting the most oppressive systems in our country? Read this insightful critique on popular “reforms” to our police and prison systems. Often, what we think is helping is actually perpetuating more harm.
“A just society cannot exist while people are still caged, no matter what those cages look like.”
MY TAKEAWAYS
Many, if not most, reforms continue to place blame on the individual and suggest that the current form of brutal punishment be replaced with a more “friendly” or more “compassionate” alternative (which is not actually the case).
Police and prison reform advocates, politicians, and other interested parties often employ linguistic manipulation to market reforms that appeal to “community” and “safety” values, while most of these reforms funnel more funding out of communities and into the prison industrial complex in a self-serving cycle.
Many reforms provide private entities and tech companies with massive financial opportunities, incentivizing the widespread and negligent employment of these harmful alternatives.
“According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, about twice as many people are under ‘community supervision’ (generally parole or probation) than are in jail or prison: 3.6 million people are on probation, compared to almost 2.3 million who are incarcerated.”
Drug treatment centers and various other “alternatives” to jails or prisons often operate on the same principles of confinement and control as jails and prisons. All of the above essentially provide a ‘Somewhere Else’ to put those deemed criminal or “less than”.
Electronic monitoring (EM) is frequently employed to surveil and control individuals even in cases where incarceration might not otherwise be considered. It also essentially extends the length of sentences for people who have already served their prison time and are out on parole. EM does not reduce recidivism and in fact perpetuates the circumstances that would increase the likelihood of re-incarceration.
Those subject to various parole or probation conditions (including EM) are required to pay for these “services” (sometimes per day), thus exacerbating the conditions of poverty for those trapped in the system. For example, 66% of people on probation earn less than $20,000 annually.
“Community” or “neighborhood” policing create an environment that can be equated to an “open air prison”. These methods do not enhance relationships with police, but provide more opportunity for police to surveil, harass, and harm the communities they occupy.
Community policing also involves a tactic of employing community members to surveil others, which can often be based on pre-existing biases to target people of color or other marginalized communities seen as “outsiders”.
School police (also known by the friendlier term “School Resource Officers”) create hostile school environments, feeding the school-to-prison pipeline while funding is taken away from resources like counselors, social workers, or nurses - resources that actually make schools safer.
“When a support-related idea is proposed, it’s important to question whether it’s simply another way of confining, controlling, and surveilling people—a strategy that causes more harm than help."
“It’s time to shift the conversations: instead of seeking an institution that can replace prisons—whether it be electronic monitors, psychiatric hospitals, probation, or heightened policing—we must focus on what people need in order to survive and thrive in their communities.”