we can't build Prisons fast enough!
This is the first of a 4 part series. I gave a speech not to long ago that addresses many of the solutions available for solving our prison problem as we work on our policing problem (killing unarmed citizens). Enjoy.
A hundred years ago, when workers spent 12 hours a day, 7 days a week working and not making enough to feed their family; the workers revolted. When the ultra-rich began to see their income threatened, they turned to the Pinkerton Detective Agency, to protect and chase away strikers. The first police force was there to protect the rich. Today, we see workers toiling for minimum wages that will buy half what minimum wages would 50 years ago. While workers struggle to find work, the wealthy one percent has more wealth than all others put together.
Today, we have 2 million, 200 thousand (2,200,000) people in jail. Forty percent of the prisoners are black. Most came from the poor parts of town where jobs are scarce. Many were arrested and incarcerated for minor offenses that a white person would not even be questioned about. Of those in jail, 500,000 are waiting for a trial date because they can't afford bail. The wait can be months and in some case years.
Just by looking at the stats, one would be inclined to think that maybe there is a concentrated effort to eliminate the black male. We have young J-walkers shot down, street peddlers of cigarettes choked to death and homeless mowed down with a barrage of bullets. The police shoot black men and boys with impunity. Have the police changed that much? Are the police still here only to protect the rich?
There are efforts to change the treatment of blacks, (this includes Hispanics, the poor, and the homeless, those with gender issues, the disabled and to a smaller extent-women). Some of these changes were started over 50 years ago. Some are more recent. What I will do is explore some of the options that have been proven to be effective. More importantly, how these changes can be made.
Any changes made to any part of our society always asks the question, "How much will it cost?" Most changes cost something at least up front and future savings is a weak argument. I want to start with a program that immediately will save money without upfront costs and then we will go from there.
OK, skip the rope!
If any state is considered "tough on crime" it would be Texas, but in the last couple of years, they have started a program that has let them cancel building a new prison and in turn, close two with more closures on the way.` What Texas did was " redrawing laws to exclude misdemeanor offenders from automatically being sent to state lockups" This resulted in "the population of secure residential facilities plummeted 62 percent. Statewide, juvenile arrests fell by 27 percent" . Even though from 2007 to today, "The average number of offenders locked up on any given day was cut from over 4,000 to less than 1,500 today". To give you an idea of the cost of incarnation, in 2014, "the 800 youth who were committed to (state lockups) cost $162 million, enough to educate almost 20,000 students for a year" and they had 4000 before the changes.
Sometimes it is hard to know just exactly what it costs to have someone in prison. A federal penitentiary can cost over 100,000 dollar per inmate. State and local lockups will be far less. I have seen the figures that just to arrest and book someone will cost around 1200 dollars. I assume that takes into consideration that the arresting officer may have to show up for court on his day off generating overtime pay.
At any rate, changing our laws to make small non-violent offenses misdemeanors with just a ticket similar to a traffic ticket would reduce the reasons to book someone or put them in jail. Since we don't target the white population for small amounts of marijuana, we would only be fair to make the possession of that drug a misdemeanor or less. The money saved from reducing the arrests and jailing of offenders could be used to create programs like "Specialized drug courts, a re-energized parole system, and better reintegration programs" Texas has seen less recidivism and has not seen an increase in crime. Although their program has been targeted toward juveniles, similar actions could be enacted toward the mature person.
Decriminalization saves money without any up front costs. Just pass a law.
Another program that started in 1960 and has been adopted by 10% of the judicial districts as well as the Federal government is called the "Manhattan Bail Project". The only country besides the US that allows commercial bail is the Philippines. The reasoning being that there is too much opportunity for corruption and in fact judges, attorneys, prosecutors and police have gone to jail in the US for corruption in the bail system.
The Manhattan Bail Project does not allow for bail bonds. If a person is deemed as not a flight risk or a danger to the community, they will be released on their own recognizance. Washington D.C., a town known for crime, does not have bail bonds and the released offenders show up for court at a very high rate. Other areas where bail is allowed have rates of 'no shows' much greater than Washington D.C..
The results of keeping someone in jail, either because they can't afford bail or must wait a few days for the bail amount to be raised, has an effect on the offender. Just one of two days in jail increases the chance of being arrested again. There are several .
1 Jail is a vocational education opportunity.
2 The person may lose a job because of absence.
3 Family and friends will have a different relationship
4 They may lose the right to stay in their previous housing
5 A parent will be separated from his child
6 As many are poor or of color, there will be a strain on finances.
Another factor not noted by many is that the bail posted by the bail bond does not go to the court. The entire amount will go to the bonds person who probably lives outside the area. This is another way of sucking resources from the community.
When determining who should be released without bail, an examination of the person will occur. How long he has lived in the neighborhood? Is the person in school? Does he need mental or physical help? Does he have a place to live? And does he have a drug dependency problem? This is an excellent opportunity to get help for those who need help and may be offending because they need help. Although ceasing to allow commercial bail does not cost in and of itself, there should be a wide variety of help available including social services and mental health services. The person allowed to leave without bail should have contacts to ensure that he goes to school, finds a job or sees social services. Rather than a control looking for ways to send him back to jail, the emphasis should be on helping him make improvements in his life that can be related to a judge when court time occurs. The entire system becomes one of trying to help rather than filling jails.
So you can see that there will be a cost of providing help and guidance (later we will discuss CIT programs and how they actually save money). But as a caring society, we should have already been providing mental help, social workers, caring police and an equal educational program for those of color or from a lower social economic scale. Keeping one of the 500 thousand non-convicted offenders in jail out of jail will save money. Whether it is 50 dollars a day or a thousand a week, this will be money saved as well as justice for the accused. With the supporting personnel in place, than those who have been convicted and then released, will have help to keep them from re-offending. To free a person with just a few dollars, a change of clothes and without a job or a place to live leaves them with few choices besides returning to crime.
Watch for the next series "Pipeline to Prison"
5:38 PM PT: As pointed out to me, the ratio of blacks is about 40%. Sorry, will try to up date the diary