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Inhumanity: The Real Problem with Mass Incarceration

By Jonathan Simor

We may disagree on who belong and who does not belong in prison, or on how long prison sentences should be, or what goals those sentences should be meted out to accomplish those goals, but one thing we should not, must not disagree on, is that those prisons should be humane.  What is humane?  Humane means, treating a person consistently with their status as a human being.  In other words, recognizing their humanity.  As I argue in my new book, Mass Incarceration on Trial: A RemarkableCourt Decision and the Future of Prisons in America, the real problem with the prisons of mass incarceration in America is precisely that they are inhumane and incapable of respecting human dignity.  This core reality of mass imprisonment came to light in an agonizing slow series of cases that began in the early 1990s with two law suits challenging  California?s treatment of prisoners with psychiatric disabilities resulting in sweeping orders to reform both California?s notorious Pelican Bay supermax prison, and to reform mental health care and suicide in prisons throughout the state...continue to full post

Full post as published by Governing Through Crime on July 29, 2014 (boomark / email).