Prisons in the United States of America

The USA has the highest incarceration rate in the world. The large prison population in the US is thought to result primarily from high crime rates, long sentences, and a rigidly fought "War on Drugs". Some observers have gone so far as to accuse the United States of deliberately developing the legal system and the prison industry as a means of social control beyond that normally associated with criminal justice. A major reason for the high numbers in prison in the U.S. is the drug laws that result in imprisonment of nonviolent drug offenders. See, for example, Leavitt, Fred (2003).

In recent years, there has been much debate in the US over the privatization of prisons. The argument for privatization stresses cost reduction, whereas the arguments against it focus on standards of care, and the question of whether a market economy for prisons might not also lead to a market demand for prisoners (that is, a strong lobby for ever-tougher sentencing to satisfy the need for cheap labor). While privatized prisons have only a short history, inmates in state- and federal-run prisons also undertake active employment in prison for low pay.

Observers generally regard prison conditions in the United States as problematic, with prisoner violence and rape wide-spread, and medical care for inmates inadequate. An August 2003 Harper's article by Wil S. Hylton estimated that "somewhere between 20 and 40 percent of American prisoners are, at this very moment, infected with hepatitis C". Prisons may outsource medical care to private companies such as Correctional Medical Services, which, according to Hylton's research, try to minimize the amount of care given to prisoners in order to maximize profits.

Shorter Sentences in the U.S

In the U.S., the average murderer is sentenced 20 years to life. But due to overcrowding in the America's prison system, he serves only 7 years of real time. Other criminals also have sentences cut in half or down to one-third the original sentence. This overcrowding problem was caused by the War On Drugs of the 1980s. Prison Fire Department codes won't allow more than a certain number of inmates per cell. From a humanitarian veiwpoint, there should only be one inmate per cell, to prevent in-cell beatings, killings and rape. Before America's War on Drugs in the 1980s, there was often one or two inmates per cell. The murderer served his full sentence or close to it, and there were few in-cell crimes. However, as a result of the War On Drugs, prisons became full of drug offenders, more than doubling the prison population. Now, whenever a new prisoner is incarcerated, a criminal must be released to satisfy the fire code requirement. Consequently, prisoners of all kinds are let out of prison early.

Regardless of shorter prison sentences, there are, as of 2004 110,000 women incarcerated in the U.S., the greatest number of women ever incarcerated.

California

The California penal system (which had 161,000 inmates as of 2003) has been the focus of attention for growing influence upon the state's political arena. Former Governor Gray Davis was accused of favoring the prison guard union more than the interests of education. A number of allegations of prisoner abuse has given rise to increased attention to the prison oversight committees. These committees have been accused of favoring the prison guard union.

The Twin Towers Correctional Facility in Los Angeles County, California is now (2004) the largest insane asylum in the United States. It houses over 2,000 mentally ill inmates and 6,000 psychotropic drugs are given out daily. Prisoners are released, many without job skills, so they often become homeless. 75% of released inmates return to jail.

Gang violence has recently become a major problem, since many gang members retain their affiliations when incarcerated. Identified gang members are often segregated from the general population of inmates, with different gangs being housed in separate units with the result that these gang members are imprisoned with their friends and criminal cohorts. In some ways, this has the effect of turning prisons into "institutions of higher criminal learning".

Many facets of prison society have made their way into mainstream culture, such as the practice of secretly brewing pruno, a type of illicit beverage, the custom of dominant prisoners retaining personal bitches, and the dangers of "dropping the soap". These representations of prison life, however inaccurate, are frequently referenced in popular culture.

Private companies which provide services to prisons combine in the American Correctional Association. Their lobbying arm, ALEC, advocates legislation favorable to the industry, such as California's "three-strikes law" which has the end result of incarcerating more individuals. Because inmates are the 'raw materials' that the industry is based on, more people in prison means more prison business.

See also: Premier Custodial Group, Wackenhut Corrections Corporation (WCC)

Security Levels

Prisoners are placed into different facilities that vary by security level, especially in security measures, administration of inmates, and weapons and tactics used by corrections officers. The following levels are used in the prisons in the United States.

Maximum Security

Prisoners placed in Maximum Security are generally ones that pose a severe risk to the safety of the public and correctional officers. All have individual cells with sliding doors that are controlled from a secure remote control station. Prisoners are confined in their cells 23 hours a day and when out of their cells, are always kept in the cellblock or an exterior cage. Movement is tightly restricted through the use of restraints and escorts by correctional officers.

During the 1990s, both the federal government and many state governments experimented with a new type of prison dedicated to maximum security prisoners, known as a "supermax." Such prisons are formally known as "Administrative Maximum" (ADX) prisons at the federal level, and the only federal ADX is in Florence, Colorado. On top of confining inmates to their cells for 23 hours a day, such prisons usually feature soundproofed cells, near-total deprivation of human contact, and a routine policy of solitary confinement.

It is widely rumored, though unproven, that a significant percentage of the inmates in such prisons go insane from sensory deprivation.

Close Security

Close security prisons have individual cells operated from a remote control station. Each cell has its own toilet and sink. Inmates are allowed out of their cells for work assignments or correctional programs. The fences are generally double fences with watch towers, housing armed guards.

Medium Security

Prisoners that fall into the Medium Security group sleep in dormitories on bunk beds with lockers to store their possessions. They have communal showers, toilets and sinks. Each dormitory is locked at night with a correctional officer supervising, however there is less supervision over the internal movements of prisoners.

Minimum Security

Minimum Security prisoners live in non-secure dormitories which are regularly patroled by correctional officers. As in Medium Security, they have communal showers, toilets, and sinks. The facility generally has a single fence that is watched, but not patrolled by armed guards. At facilities in very remote and rural areas, there may be no fence at all. Prisoners may often work on community projects, such as roadside litter cleanup with the state Department of Transportation. They generally pose little risk to the public, and are mainly non-violent "white collar" criminals.

References

Leavitt, Fred (2003) The REAL Drug Abusers. Rowman & Littlefield.