Prison Stats & News

Coming out of a semester-long haze of school and (way too much) working, I've been trying to catch up on my current events... As usual, lots of alarming and intriguing research and news is coming out on prisons and jails... These are just a few highlights:

Crack Vs. Cocaine

Seen by many as a prime example of unjust sentencing disparities and a manifestation of the racism of the criminal (in)justice system, the minimums on crack and cocaine have varied wildly since the passage of 1986's Anti Drug Act.

“[F]ixing the crack cocaine disparity at one to one is the compromise. Crack is only one subset of the problematic mandatory minimum sentencing structure.” --Nkechi Taifa of the Open Society Policy Center

Interesting to read about the ADA turning 20, where was I in November?? Nevertheless, it doesn't seem that congress has reacted to the matter yet, so keep your ear to the ground for that. Though, if the past is any indication, they might just blow off the commission's findings. See "Some Facts to Consider as the Anti Drug Act faces Congressional Review Again"


Department of Justice Study Reports Incarceration Reaches Record Numbers

See the Sentencing Project's analyses of trends in the rising rate of incarceration, http://www.sentencingproject.org/news_09.cfm

This study is mildly interesting, but really sounds like the same old shit, which is a little disheartening. The U.S. has solidified its position as #1 incarcerater in the world--far surpassing its Russian competition. Despite declining crime rates and increased emphasis on parole, the numbers won't stop climbing. The Sentencing Project suggests this has a lot to do with the War on Drugs (still) and cites a huge jump in non-violent offenders held in federal prisons. Final count: the U.S. incarcerates 737 per 100,000 people.

Katrina Prisoners

Heard vaguely about this after the storm--but Critical Resistance is working on a project called "Amnesty for Prisoners of Hurricane Katrina"--this movement is for those incarcerated before the storm who were left in flooded cells and otherwise mistreated and left behind; for those criminalized due to "crimes" made necessary by the storm; and for those whose records have been lost who are now snagged up in the system indefinitely. They recently had a weekend of activism, read more about it at the above link.

Mumia Abu-Jamal Faces Final Appeal

See: http://www.freemumia.com/update.html

In more proactive news,

Prison Policy Initiative is offering spring break & summer internships for work on their "Prisoners of the Census" project... Must be a Law or Grad student... Considering applying.

The Census Bureau's practice of counting people in prison as if they were residents of the communities in which they are incarcerated creates serious political inequities in the redistricting process. Forty eight states bar prisoners from voting, but crediting large prison populations to local legislative districts dilutes the votes of every other resident in the state. -- http://www.prisonersofthecensus.org/