JLS National Prison Strike Calls Cover Corona
Before the conditions of the word crumbled; when people were allowed to gather, rally and protest; prisoners around the world shifted the mass consciousness away from any last remaining tendencies from the “tough-on-crime” era. A spotlight beamed into the darkest corners of society as people in prison in seventeen states refused to work in the positions assigned to them or eat the food served to them from August 21, 2018 through September 9th. Prisoners unified in order to amplify ten demands with the hopes of transformative change that would impact the criminal legal system, before it burst at the seams.
With with a national health crisis creeping into every corner of society, even the dark ones, the prison bubble is rapidly boiling over. Had we immediately applied those National Prison Strike demands when they were were promoted in 2018, it’s hard to imagine that we would be our current health crisis situation that places tens of thousands of incarcerated people’s lives at risk.The cramped, overcrowded conditions of a prison where people are housed on top of one another, cross contamination is prevalent and people are not given regular opportunities to clean themselves or their property is a breeding ground for illness and disease. As the spokesperson for the National Prison Strike, I can’t help but wonder if now Corona is what is takes for people to listen.
Bringing the Person into Focus, by Eliminating State Profit on Labor
We begin with a call for Immediate improvements to the conditions of prisons and prison policies that recognize the humanity of imprisoned men and women. With policies allowing for humans to be warehoused, packed less a few three feet apart in a gym or lobby to accommodate extra bodies, the pandemic amplifies the need for this demand to be addressed. Over the past few weeks organizers have called for Corrections departments to reduce the amount of people confined to their ‘care’ and give prisoners free access to cleaning products, soaps, preventative supplies, hand sanitizer and other items that would provide relief while decreasing the potential for a nasty spread.
Rather than being provided with these products, people in prison have been staffed to fill in the gaps of labor created by the social distancing orders on the outside. In several states prison labor has been used to craft masks (South Carolina & Texas), bottle hand sanitizer (New York) and sew hospital gowns (Washington). Prisoners, unable to practice social distancing, are working for free (and for pennies an hour like in GA) which is why prisoners called for an immediate end to prison slavery. All persons imprisoned in any place of detention under United States jurisdiction must be paid the prevailing wage in their state or territory for their labor. In order to combat this legislation has been introduced in multiple states to raise the wage of people working in prison to be equal to minimum wages for people on the outside. Without these types of laws in place we will continue to see corrections demonstrate profits over people, instead of valuing people over potential profits.
Making Rehabilitation Essential in Corrections by Eliminating Overcrowding
As a result of the Coronavirus crisis every prison has responded by stopping the flow of “nonessential” personnel this includes ending visitation stoping people from seeing their loved ones, ending programming by restricting outside volunteers from coming in and most devastatingly, suspending staff positions that are labeled “nonessential”. During the crisis the Ombudsman, a non biased office that addresses prisoners concerns of abuse, has not been qualified as essential staff and as a result is not admitted to enter the prison facility during the crisis. In times of crisis correction’s grips onto punitive methods, further punishing people in situations for which they have no control. This normalized path of abuse and silencing of people’s voices while in prison is why the Prison Litigation Reform Act must be rescinded, allowing imprisoned humans a proper channel to address grievances and violations of their rights. This further exasperates the problem that people in prison face when attempting to have their concerns addressed.
Our corrections department functions as if there is no room for growth or development, when these should be the focus of the department’s mission. This problem is incited by policies like Truth in Sentencing (TIS) laws and the Sentencing Reform Act that mandate minimums and contribute to massive overcrowding nationwide. The Truth in Sentencing Act and the Sentencing Reform Act must be rescinded so that imprisoned humans have a possibility of rehabilitation and parole. No human shall be sentenced to Death by Incarceration or serve any sentence without the possibility of parole. The prevalence of death by incarceration is an indication of massive failure within our “corrections” department. In the few states where TIS laws are still active, like Michigan, it is the main cause for overcrowding. TIS laws to not account for the individual process of rehabilitation that each person goes through.
According to a February 2020 report by the Sentencing Project, the number of people serving life sentences in the United States exceeds the entire prison population of 1970! An immediate end to the racial overcharging, over-sentencing, and parole denials of Black and brown humans. Black humans shall no longer be denied parole because the victim of the crime was white, which is a particular problem in southern states. A portion of this issue is exasperated by the racist sentencing guidelines that include gang enhancement laws. People around the world argued against this injustice by calling for, An immediate end to racist gang enhancement laws targeting Black and brown humans. As a result of these types of inflated sentences, we see a devastating impact on the smaller urban communities where the majority of prisoners are from, like how we’ve seen on death row in Colorado.
Embrace Rehabilitation in Funding Robust Education for those who Remain
During the crisis many people in prison have been forced into a higher level of security. Lockdowns, decreased movement, restrictions on outside visitors and refused entry to those labeled as non-essential staff. This devastates prisoners’ ability to take advantage of rehabilitative programming as many prisoner educators are not considered “essential” personnel. The health crisis has created another barrier to incarcerated people’s education. This joins restrictions on those considered violent offenders, lifers and people more than a few years from their outdate. These restrictions are another symptom of overcrowding, but they also work to continue to limit an educationally deprived population from academic access.
No imprisoned human shall be denied access to rehabilitation programs at their place of detention because of their label as a violent offender or because of the amount of time left on their sentence, their privilege status, age, religion or political affiliation. Without free access to a diverse range of educational rehabilitative programming in prison we are continuing a cycle of poverty that maintains a high recidivism rate. For example, in Colorado where every single death row prisoner is a black male from the same high school we can see the public school to prison pipeline at play. Public schools, underfunded by the state are usually stifled of funding that could be allocated towards music, arts, or advanced elective classes that would keep students engaged and interested in higher education. We must force officials to break the cycle somewhere, why not in prison?
This trend continues for students who (through a combination of factors) are swept up by the state from the class room into a prison cell. In an attempt to break the cycle of lackluster learning opportunities prisoners demand that the state appropriate funds to address this critical need, State prisons must be funded specifically to offer more rehabilitation services. As the state adds more robust and engaging learning opportunities into its institutions, there will naturally be more of an interest (among students in public schools and people in prison) to take advantage of higher education opportunities. Unfortunately, the vast majority of people in prison, even when interested, cannot afford to take college courses, purchase text books, or have access to online courses. Prisoners who use their incarceration to obtain a higher level of education drastically lower the chances of recidivism. This is why Jailhouse Lawyers Speak recommended that Pell grants must be reinstated in all US states and territories because when the state funds a degree or certificate it drastically reduces the number of years that taxpayers would have continued to pay for that same person to sit in prison.
Let them Go or Let them Vote
Finally, the destitute conditions of our states’ prisons can be attributed to a lack of influence on public policy by impacted people. When people are unable to vote during or after their incarceration, our democracy fails to serve the gaps that are created by a system that distances itself from millions of its own citizens. In order to reduce this gap between people and their government both sides of the wall call for, The voting rights of all confined citizens serving prison sentences, pretrial detainees, and so-called “ex-felons” must be counted. Representation is demanded. All voices count. The restoration of voting rights for impacted people would create an avenue for resolution, but only for a government that is committed to the health of all of its people on both sides of the wall. Officials that would allow millions of its citizens to suffer the fate of death by incarcerated due to its own policy failures must be pressured by the public in order for us to see the aggressive changes that we need to see during the slim window that we have as we approach the climax of the crisis these unprecedented times.
