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And this is by, at least implicit, intent. Prison in the US fits into a punitive, even retributional model. If you hurt society you get hurt in return. If you d

And this is by, at least implicit, intent. Prison in the US fits into a punitive, even retributional model. If you hurt society you get hurt in return. If you do something bad you get punished. Fear and rememberance of punishment is what keeps people in line. In such a model it's undesirable for prison conditions to be mild or tolerable, the more intolerable and brutal the better, because that makes them a more effective punishment. It's a model that has continued to be used in the American justice system for centuries, but it's not a system based on any scientific principles. Worse, it doesn't actually work. As often as not prison breeds worse criminals rather than keeping people on the straight and narrow.

scarmig 13y ago
It works exactly as it's supposed to: as the primary instrument of white supremacy in a war against racial minorities. That's why the Drug War figures so prominently in explaining why we have a higher rate of imprisonment than any other country in the world, and why minorities are so disproportionately targeted in the drug war for petty offenses like using and selling crack (despite it being less pure than coke) or marijuana (itself a term that Anslinger brought to prominence in the 1930's to racialize the drug and the war against it).
- InclinedPlane 13y ago
  In practice it may work out that way, but I don't believe that the majority of actors within the criminal justice system are acting in bad faith or are intentionally advancing a racist agenda. Indeed, many LEOs are racial minorities. I don't think it's helpful to characterize the actions of officers or DAs as racist per se but rather to point to the racist consequences of drug laws, LEO behavior, and so on. I think the number of people within the system acting in good faith far outweigh the number of bad actors and if we desire change it'll be easier if we can convince such folks into coming to "our side" rather than vilifying them.
  - vacri 13y ago
    LEOs don't make legislation or push for harsh sentences.
    - wavefunction 13y ago
      Their unions do, however. I'm not anti-union, but do tend to be anti-police union. The California Correctional Officers union is routinely accused of pushing for harsher punishments as a job guarantee, which of course is a problem in a state with such over-crowding of its prisons like California. I would accuse them of gross moral indecency but it takes a pretty indecent person to become a CO anyways.
      - scarmig 13y ago
        Jacobin just came out with a great article about this: https://www.jacobinmag.com/2014/01/the-bad-kind-of-unionism/ https://www.jacobinmag.com/2014/01/the-bad-kind-of-unionism/

scarmig 13y ago

It works exactly as it's supposed to: as the primary instrument of white supremacy in a war against racial minorities. That's why the Drug War figures so prominently in explaining why we have a higher rate of imprisonment than any other country in the world, and why minorities are so disproportionately targeted in the drug war for petty offenses like using and selling crack (despite it being less pure than coke) or marijuana (itself a term that Anslinger brought to prominence in the 1930's to racialize the drug and the war against it).

InclinedPlane 13y ago
In practice it may work out that way, but I don't believe that the majority of actors within the criminal justice system are acting in bad faith or are intentionally advancing a racist agenda. Indeed, many LEOs are racial minorities. I don't think it's helpful to characterize the actions of officers or DAs as racist per se but rather to point to the racist consequences of drug laws, LEO behavior, and so on. I think the number of people within the system acting in good faith far outweigh the number of bad actors and if we desire change it'll be easier if we can convince such folks into coming to "our side" rather than vilifying them.
- vacri 13y ago
  LEOs don't make legislation or push for harsh sentences.
  - wavefunction 13y ago
    Their unions do, however. I'm not anti-union, but do tend to be anti-police union. The California Correctional Officers union is routinely accused of pushing for harsher punishments as a job guarantee, which of course is a problem in a state with such over-crowding of its prisons like California. I would accuse them of gross moral indecency but it takes a pretty indecent person to become a CO anyways.
    - scarmig 13y ago
      Jacobin just came out with a great article about this: https://www.jacobinmag.com/2014/01/the-bad-kind-of-unionism/ https://www.jacobinmag.com/2014/01/the-bad-kind-of-unionism/