The disgrace of the American prison system

Everyone agrees and statistics verify that it all began in the 1980s. To be elected to public office, a candidate had to promise to be “tough on crime.” It was true of every office, from the U.S. presidency to local city councils.

The movement to get tough on crime was supported by the vast majority of Christian churches and denominations. Those Christians who opposed the movement were labeled “soft” and most were intimidated into silence. A large majority of Americans believed we had to fight and win “the war on drugs.”

Thirty years later, the United States enjoys the title of “the world’s largest jailer.” The federal government, states, counties and cities of every size now hold about 2.5 million people in their jails. Another 4 million to 5 million people are under the supervision of parole and probation systems. The United States has 5 percent of the world’s population, but we incarcerate 25 percent of the world’s prison population. We incarcerate more people than China, even though China has a population four times that of the United States. We criticize nations for their lack of freedom, but at the same time we have more people of African heritage in prison than were held in slavery in 1850.

Legislators of every political stripe jumped on the bandwagon. Longer sentences, mandatory sentences and “three strikes and you’re out” were enacted without any cognizance of the implication of the strategies. Prison populations exploded not because more crimes were being committed, more arrests were being made or more people were being sentenced, but because of the length of time people are being held behind prison walls. Because of longer sentences, the prison population also is getting older. Prisons are bursting with people of advanced age, who by no stretch of the imagination are a threat to public safety. Health care costs are soaring. “Incarceration for the rest of your life” is certainly a harsh penalty to the person being sentenced. The price tag to the public is insane. The annual cost of imprisoning a person is more that educating a student for one year at Princeton University.

What was set in motion in the 1980s has had a snowball effect. As much as prison growth has been fueled by sentencing practices, another dynamic has taken hold and is pushing prison growth to astronomic numbers. Recidivism rates are running about 70 percent. In other words, seven of every 10 people released from prison will return to prison. Recidivism is now the high-octane fuel that is driving prison growth.

The experience of the past 30 years should have taught us some lessons, but it is not popular to recognize and admit the obvious. The combinations of things being tried to reduce recidivism and control prison growth are not working. Getting tough on crime does not work. Punishment does not reform. Warehousing of prisoners for long periods does not work. Prison industries do not prepare people for employment outside of prison. Education programs inside prison walls do not live up to their promises. Chaplain services to bring religion to prisoners do not work. Ankle bracelets are not working. Counseling services inside prisons do not work. Parole and probation are failing programs.

Each of the programs that I have mentioned carries a rationale and can anecdotally be shown to produce limited results. However, the 70 percent recidivism rate stares into the eyes of every one of these programs with the message that they fail.

Well-meaning politicians, many of whom are Christians, have led us into the mess that we now have. Other Christians knew better, but have been duplicitous through silence. Some Christians have gone along with the 30-year process out of ignorance of the teachings of the Bible and of Jesus from Nazareth in particular.

Persons who have been imprisoned through no choice of their own have become a part of a community. Their community is made up of the others who are incarcerated. When a person leaves the prison gate, the community is left behind and there has been no community waiting to welcome the stranger to love, friendship and help. Churches in particular have utterly failed in welcoming the prisoner home. Recidivism is a return to the prison community when no new constructive community is available outside the prison walls.

Jesus said that love of neighbor is a responsibility second only to love of God. The Old Testament spells out the laws of hospitality. Love of neighbor was an expression of the laws of hospitality. Cities of refuge were places where an offender could be safe from an avenger. The offender was a neighbor who needed acceptance and safety. Psalm 23 gives us a snapshot of a faithful Jew giving hospitality to a stranger in full view of an avenger.

The sentencing laws of our American society are in urgent need of change. Non-violent crimes need to be handled outside of the prison system. Counseling, education and opportunity should be available to the offender outside of the prison. Our legislators have their work cut out for them.

Above all, Christians and other people of faith need to welcome returning offenders to their communities. We have our work cut out for us.

The 30-year experiment in getting tough has gone on long enough.

The Rev. Howard Bess is a retired American Baptist minister, who lives in Palmer. His email address is hdbss@mtaonline.net

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