Hey Jeremy,

Interesting topic with much room for discussion. I would like to discuss two caveats of the prison issue in America: (1) Strict Penalties for non-violent drug crimes and (2) The use of confined and long-term isolation.

The Rockefeller Drug Laws of New York act as a perfect example for the failure of the justice system in convicting drug offenders. Beginning in 1973, The Rockefeller Laws require a mandatory sentence of 15 years to life for the possession of 4 ounces of any narcotic (including marijuana, though this was repealed later) or the distribution of 2 ounces of those same drugs. 15 to life is the same sentence time as one receives for second-degree murder. Possession of even just half  a gram of cocaine or heroin requires a minimum of 1 year in prison, subsequent offenses double the penalty. The intended goal of these laws was to discourage use given the lengthy punishment.

The issue of laws like these is that they do nothing in the way of rehabilitating drug users. A person put in jail for one year for possessing half a gram of heroin is likely not a major player in the drug realm, nor is he more likely to be violent. After a person like this--statistically as Jeremy said, a poor black male-- leaves jail, he is even more likely to return to drugs given he now has a record. Thus these laws only serve to exacerbate a person's drug problem. In 1997 a Human Rights survey found more than a third of the New York Prison population was a drug offender. This not only wastes state money but also hurts inner city communities. In a good article about these laws (found at http://www.reason.com/news/show/31101.html) the race issue is further distinguished as absurd in that the penalty for crack cocaine is treated as 100 times worse than pure cocaine despite the same main ingredient. 9 out of 10 inmates in prison for crack are black so the penalties are obviously disproportionate.

 However, signs are looking good for change. After decades of obvious statistical evidence against these type of laws, there is a growing amount of attention on the issue. Just a few months ago, Gov. Paterson repealed the Rockefeller Laws and set the stage for similar changes elsewhere. Paterson's new plan includes treatment and allows non-violent drug offenders the option to plead guilty and go to rehab rather than a stint of jail time. This allows the state to more effectively allocate funds so that money is spent where it matters, on treatment.

(2)

I also want to talk about the use of solitary confinement in prisons. About a month ago I visited Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia. It was the first working penitentiary in the world and operated from 1829 to 1971. The word Penitentiary comes from the word penance, and at Eastern they thought a man could earn penance by spending alone time with his wrongdoings and with his God. Eastern was the first to use solitary confinement and thought it guaranteed treatment. Until around 1900, every inmate was kept in solitary confinement at Eastern. The guards wore padded shoes so that the inmates couldn't hear when they walked down the halls. When the inmates were walked around the grounds they wore black bags over their heads. It was quite possible that for a man's entire sentence, he may literally have never seen another soul.

There is an interesting article about the effects of solitary confinement here http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/03/30/090330fa_fact_gawande . It suggests that such confinement actually does the opposite of its intentions and makes criminals more violent.

For those interested in the Eastern State Penitentiary the website is http://www.easternstate.org/ It is a rather impressive building and if you go there is an audio tour with the voice of Steve Buscemi. I'm told the best time to go is around Halloween where they give you a more brutally honest tour. Not to hate on Mr. Buscemi, but his tour was rather tame and made the prison seem no more harrowing than a bad summer camp. However, I doubt that's the case. Either way, it's a cool building and fun to walk through.

I'm interested to hear what other people see as the main issues with the prison system and of possible solutions.
 

It's even worse in New York.  They cannot even lock up the small crack and cocaine offenders  anymore;there are too many.  I sometimes just think that prisons = money,arrests=money