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Imprisoned in Body and Mind
By lindamuralidharan on 2020-03-20 05:42:14
It is a bit ironic that many people are in a sense imprisoned in their own homes right now as a result of quarantines and self-
quarantines in the wake of the corona virus. I am like many people and call it covid-19 one time and by the corona name
other times. Please forgive my ambivalence. The ironic part comes from the meager attention we give to real people who
are in real prisons. Those people are imprisoned in body, at the very least, most of the rest of us are imprisoned in our minds
that don't release us to see and feel for those who are in some kind of jail or prison. [caption id="attachment_13851"
align="alignright" width="600"]
g Es Mai ES i Rikers Island Jail in New
York City[/caption] Yes, I know that there has been real movement in addressing our absurd sentencing practices and
specific steps to reform the aspect of our criminal justice system which uses discrimnatory and illogical sentencing practices
and no thanks to the government, a handful of citizens have pursued wrongful convictions to the point that individuals have
been released after serving many years behind bars. However, there is no public outcry to address the myriad abuses and
falsehoods that keep so many inside with little positive results and with genuine disregard for human decency. Recidivism
rates are high and it shameful to learn of some conditions supported by our tax dollars. Many decades ago I was part of a
highly trained cadre of community volunteers who went into our county jail to teach decision making and improved self
image. Today the program would fit in the cognitive behavioral model of therapy used to help people with mental health
issues function better. It was based on research that indicated that the people who get caught for their crimes (remember the
likes of Al Capone were free to pursue their criminal enterprises for many years because they were skilled decision
makers...Capone was caught only after many years for income tax evasion, perhaps one of the least egregious of his crimes)
have low self-esteem (believe they are losers doomed to mess up) and have poor decision making skills. These problems at
the personal level also contribute to the high degree of functional illiteracy among inmates. Dr. Mick Burglass, a reformed
convicted felon himself, believe that the criminal justice system is not reformable and thus we best address individuals and
give them a lot of personal tools to help them stay out of jails and prisons. I guess he was right. Since those days our
system has gotten worse rather than better for the most part. And my purpose today is to call attention to not only the large
prison population (which many are now trying to address and reduce for the sake of human justice) but the problem the
prisons present in the age of covid-19. It is well known that diseases tend to run rampant in prisons if a contagious one gets
started. Recently human rights and justice reform groups have called attention to our prison system here in Hawaii and to
the Arizona private prisons which house so many of our convicted residents. There seems to be little effort to protect
prisoners from the corona virus even though they are all vulnerable and the aging and ill ones among them are supremely
vulnerable. Constitutionally prisoners are supposed to be provided with safe and healthy environments in which to serve out
there terms. There is little evidence here that our prison administration is making an effort to reduce the threat posed by
covid-19. Generally speaking Americans are imprisoned in bubbles of denial, thinking only of the mess our criminal justice
system is mainly when there is a riot or some spectacular news of a prison escape or a person is release who served many
years in prison despite actually being innocent. Wrongful convictions are definitely a "thing". [caption
id="attachment_13852" align="aligncenter" width="600"]
a A
i Hospitalized corona virus
patients[/caption] We may not be able to reform the system and we may 7 hide i in our bunkers or bubbles most of the time, but
with concerted efforts we can make a difference in some lives. After our local advocacy was reported, I watched a segment
of "All In" on MSNBC in which there was a discussion of the very bad conditions in Rikers Island, the massive New York
City jail, which typically of other jails and prisons could be considered an incubator for the virus. The guests emphasized the
risks and the fact that there are so many inmates there over the age of 50. It has been stated that the best way to stop the
spread of the virus inside is to reduce the population. People over 50 are considered unlikely to be recidivists. Also there
are inmates with compromised health conditions. Well, yes, as you might expected many inmates including the more
vulnerable are awaiting trial and have not actually been convicted of any thing. In Hawaii as in jails across the country, the
population is largely folks awaiting trial, folks who have not been convicted the alleged crime that got them there. The
guests on the TV program stated that the best way to slow the spread of the virus is to reduce the population of the jail.
Inmates who are older, ill with other chronic conditions, and not yet convicted could be released to prevent the spread of the
virus inside the jails. [caption | id="attachment_ 13853" align="alignrigh " width= "600"]
att Oahu Community Correction
Center, Honolulu[/caption] Today we have heard about a guard and an inmate testing positive for the virus at Rikers and that
Mayor Bill DeBlasio has ordered the release of a number of vulnerable inmates. Some people believe the number is far
from adequate. I am describing concerns in the state of Hawaii and in the city of New York. In our massive national and
local systems of incarceration these issues are plain. We, the people need to care. It is a proven right of prisoners to be
housed in a safe environment. What do we as citizens and voters do to make this a reality? I also want to call attention to
another acute problem within our system. That is the problem of solitary confinement. At some level this is a state issue,
but nonetheless too many individuals are placed in solitary confinement and for too long a time. It is inhumane on the face
of it, and the actual effects are so abhorrent since they can create mental health issues in too many instances. I have enough
experience with convicted persons and with those with diagnosed mental illnesses to know that on occasion a short time of
solitary isolation can help diffuse a very volatile situation. If the person needs to be held in that condition for more than 24
hours then something else is wrong and needs to be addressed. [caption id="attachment_13854" align="alignright"
width="300"] Person in his solitary confinement cell in a Washington State
prison[/caption] States vary in their approach to solitary confinement and some have begun reforms that reduce its use.
However, the issue can become very complicated as some politicians and corrections officers’ wish to retain the practice. In
New York State, because of law suits, the practice declined for a while but more recently the prisons came up with a
facsimile. The prisoner is still confined at least 23 hours per day, but there is more or less a steel gate at the entrance (as
opposed to a solid door with a small barred aperture) so the inmate can see other people who may be in a common area or
who pass by. As of late 2019, a diagnosed bipolar, black, transgendered woman has been in solitary confinement for a year
in Florida. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center. Shalini Goel Agarwal, SPLC senior supervising attorney, has
been quoted as saying, "At any given time, there are close to 10,000 people locked away in solitary confinement in Florida's
prison system, many of them for months, even years, in cells smaller than a parking space." In this post I have combined the
topics of health care and protections for inmates with the issue of cruel and inhumane treatment to remind folks that our
prison system is not the light of the world and we can not expect to promote peace on the one hand while practicing
domestic abuse and aggression on the other hand. As I see it, the practice of objectifying people we don't like or understand
and then giving ourselves permission to mistreat them with our tax dollars, adds to the attitude we can do the same to people
in Yemen or Afghanistan or in Vietnam or wherever. I think one aspect of the situation that leads to conclusions like that of
Dr. Burglass is the effect the prison structure has on people and on the corrections officers specifically. Many may
remember Phillip Zimbardo's prison experiment many years ago at Stanford University. The research is controversial in
some aspects but basically it showed that ordinary students given power (in their role playing as guards) abused the students
who role played as prisoners in ways these students were not inclined to do to people in their personal lives. All corrections
officers are neither cruel nor bigoted but it is the norm that many are prejudiced against the prisoners for their crimes and
status and often for their ethnicity. There are large numbers of African Americans and Latinx in American prisons. Too
many corrections officer objectify and disrespect inmates and sometimes commit specific physical abuse of various kinds
including sexual assault and rape. In other lands, particularly in parts of Europe, a very different approach is used to address
crime and the people who commit crimes. A number of places have found that crime does not increase if a more humane
and rehabilitative approach is used while folks are incarcerated following convictions for certain crimes. In some countries
the majority of prisoners are treated with respect and given quite a bit of freedom within the institutional grounds. A subset
of prisoners are often considered more dangerous or flight risks so they are likely housed in more restrictive, separate
institutions. What are we to do. Some people will continue to be imprisoned in body and maybe in mind also. Some of us
on the outside get to choose whether to be imprisoned in our unaware or unconcerned bubbles. Can we free our minds to
see incarcerated individuals as human in the way we view our family members, our sons, daughters, parents? How would
we want these people to be treated if they end up behind bars for some reason some time? Well, there are a lot of people out
there who do have relatives in prison and some are activists in trying to improve matters. They need a lot more voices to
join theirs in pushing for improvements and for effective interventions with people who have committed a crime but have
not embarked on a career of cime. Also, when the money is allocated properly, it has been shown that programs can also
reach people who have been involved in criminal activities for a long time. Many such effective programs hire former
felons and/or inmates to encourage program participants to look at new and preferred ways of living. We need change on all
fronts: better practices inside the prisons and jails, better and more treatment and intervention policies, and vastly reformed
sentencing guidelines.
