Prison Stories
By Esbeidy Campos / Winter 2021
Growing up in my household, prison seemed like a fantasy, something almost non-existent. No one in my family had ever been arrested and nobody I even knew had ever been arrested so while the fear of racism from police and a horrible prison system was extremely real it was something I never really experienced or thought about first hand. I went through life listening to stories about racist cops and horrible prisons, stories from either the news, social media or real accounts from leadership speakers who came to talk at my school. My school believed in giving us the opportunity to hear the stories of ex-felons because they wanted us to understand that the danger of prison is real and as a school with a 95% student population of latinos and latinas they wanted us to really understand the way racism and these stories affected minorities. How they affected our people. However as high school students no one ever really took it seriously, especially if you have not personally experienced or been affected by the prison system it was hard to truly understand and take in the feelings of grief and desperation these people had felt.
I took these stories with me after high school because I believed it was important to find a way to do better regardless of whether I truly understood their experiences or not or regardless of whether I had a personal connection to their grief or not. I definitely think as a “normal” person who has never personally experienced either prison themselves or had people close to them experience it I think it’s easy to write off everyone as criminals, who deserve what’s coming to them and who deserve the degrading and dehumanizing experiences caused by the system.
However my views changed after highschool I met someone that I fell completely in love with and everything felt perfect, the first thing he told me about himself that he felt I should know was that he is an ex-felon, he said it wasn’t anything hard core and was only in prison for a few months but that he felt he needs to let people know because the judgement is there and people have chosen to stop associating with him because of it. I asked to listen to his story because I definitely didn’t think it was my place to judge a story I had never even listened to. His story was the perfect example of what’s wrong with our justice system today, people who don’t have enough money to afford lawyers get stuck with public defenders who are either too underpaid to care or too overworked to do better while those with money get lawyers capable of putting someone in prison for a felony that could have easily been listed as a misdemeanor had someone had an adequate defense team. His story left me infuriated but what he experienced for being an ex-felon when it came to jobs, apartment hunting, and other people's opinions left me incapable of seeing any good in a system so broken and flawed. It lit a fire in my soul to fight for justice for the people who’s justice was taken from them. These people were not all heinous criminals, they were people of color who were low income and were put into circumstances they were unable to get out of, these were not people who enjoyed crime these were people who had no other choice but to commit crimes. And as a nation if we had done better to protect and uplift low income communities and people of color I could almost ensure that these people would never have committed the crimes they did.
Throughout history Americans have proudly paraded the idea that we are the “LAND OF THE FREE.” However can we really be considered the land of the free when the United States who holds 5% of the world's population also holds 25% of the world's prisoners. One out four human beings with their hands behind bars in the world are imprisoned here in the land of the free (Baz Dreisinger, 2014). Our prison system has contradictions because it promises to be a place of rehabilitation but if we look deeper we can see that our prison system has become about money with privatized prisons, racism and retributive justice.
Money has always been a need for the American people, any way to make more money regardless of the damage caused was a given. We first started seeing the large issues of prisons as early as 1865, after the passing of the thirteenth amendment. After the war, the thirteenth amendment was passed 119 to 56 in the House of Representatives, It reads, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction” (U.S. Constitution) Its intentions were clear, the amendment was meant to abolish slavery and although it was a great effort, unfortunately, the vague language made it difficult to completely abolish slavery. This language that states that slavery exists if you are to be convicted of a crime consequently led to the treacherous interpretations for the following centuries. Once the southern states became aware that there was now a legal way of boosting their economy, once more they did not hesitate to quickly do what was necessary to get back to their powerhouse of an economy. After the ratification, the African American people were incarcerated in masses. They were arrested and convicted for petty crimes such as loitering and vagrancy. However mostly for Vagrancy, “a state or action of one who has no established home and drifts from place to place...traditionally a vagrant was thought to be one who was able to work for his maintenance but preferred instead to live idly, often as a beggar.” (Encyclopedia Britannica) This brought fines that most could not afford, leading to a trial where they were ultimately convicted with whichever said petty crime. Once convicted they were forced into another lifetime of servitude which was completely legal and constitutional. After the civil war and the passing of the thirteenth amendment:
“The number of prisoners rose from 42 in 1900, to over 500 in 1910, to over 1000 by 1920 and continued to rise non stop since then. The huge upswing in Georgia prison numbers throughout the 19th and early 20th century was caused by sending young black men to prison for various petty crimes. According to Barry Godfreys study, from about 1800 to 1870 the amount of white men in prison doubled that of the African men however after the end of the civil war and the passing of the thirteenth amendment the number of African men imprisoned compared to white through the years was much higher from 1870 to current day” (Godfrey 2).
This idea that the entire United States was now legally able to get away with slavery was one that would ultimately lead to the continuous oppression we have seen even today that the African American people face. The thirteenth amendment which was supposed to be to abolish slavery did nothing to limit the abuse our criminal justice system at that time would use to carry out much of the arrests, it gave them the tools to commit such unfair arrests for their own personal economic gain. That shows us how dependent most of the Southern states were to slavery for their economy and the way the ending of slavery had such a damaging effect in their economy that they were willing to find a way to exploit the amendment
Furthermore, the issue of the thirteenth amendment was not one that ended quickly. It had continued to affect our nation for many years after. In a study conducted by James Blumstein, director of the Health Policy Center at the Vanderbilt Institute for Public Policy Studies, the study found that states that used private prisons could save up to $15 million a year. (Findlaw.com). So as a nation we began to see that not only can you increase economic stability through slavery in prisons but also with incarcerating hundreds and thousands of people by bringing money to our government through private prisons. It brought on a mindset of incarceration for profit which has paved the way for these profit prisons that had begun to flourish throughout the years.
The biggest problem in America's prison system today is one that was brought on to us from our past, “privatized prisons”. However, in my opinion the idea that we make money off of having people in jail seems to be the most flawed idea in a system meant to rehabilitate the people. In a study conducted by James Blumstein, director of the Health Policy Center at the Vanderbilt Institute for Public Policy Studies, the study found that states that used private prisons could save up to $15 million a year. (Findlaw.com). This makes a lot of sense as to why the mass incarceration that began after the civil war has continued to play a role in our systems today, because the more people you can keep in prison the more money you can continue to make. Since the beginning of private prisons, they have started treating prisoners and immigrants in detention centers as though they are products to be sold, in prisons they ensure the people either stay or they continue to push laws which make it easier to incarcerate people in larger scales to ensure a full prison. In detention centers whether theyre undocumented or not aslong as they can keep them in the centers for a couple days even thats enough for them to make a lot of money. To continue enabling privatized prisons, many lobbyists have gotten together to continue to push different immigration laws to ensure a faster way of incarcerating people on larger scales, or keeping in detention centers for longer periods of time.
Furthermore, not only have prisons been used to push racism, and economic gain, the system has pushed for the idea of retributive justice, that those who have committed a crime are required to suffer in return regardless of their actual crimes. The people believed that prisons were a “fix” for any structural problem which began to stem from the rightward swing of the pendulum. How? Because instead of investing money in creating uplifting programs for minorities or low income families, instead of helping all kids from every background get to college, instead of doing anything that is actually beneficial and uplifting for these communities, they believed it was an easier “fix” to throw them in jail “where they belonged” because they were different, because they had less money and couldn't possibly understand the way life's supposed to be. All the system wanted was to hide away under the rug their flaws and failures to avoid showing the world that while they care so much about whatever everyone else is doing they’re incapable of doing anything else other than failing their own people. Because whether anyone wants to admit it or not the prison system, and the American government have failed all Americans.
For decades now the American criminal justice system has exclusively relied on punishment as a way to not only reduce crime but reduce recidivism, as if causing trauma and damage to a human being is actually going to make them be better people. The tough on crime brand we pushed was certainly accomplished, with harsher and longer sentences, with changes in laws and the war on drugs we became one of the most intense countries with the highest incarceration rate in the world. According to the article “Why Punishment Doesn't Reduce Crime” written by William R. Kelly, he discusses how there are three major reasons for why we as a nation continue to allow retributive justice. One, incapacitation which means arresting a drug dealer would remove him from committing such crimes hopefully keeping more drugs away from people. Second, deterrence which is that receiving punishment or threats of punishment should reduce the likeliness someone will reoffend. Finally, retribution, “an eye for an eye” meaning if you commit the crime you must experience pain to feel what was felt because you did the crime, etc..
We are not incapable of change, and the same way that we as a nation are capable of doing better so are a large number of people in prisons. In Norway, the incarceration rate is about 75/100,000 people, and the recidivism rate is the lowest in the world at around 20 percent. So anyone saying it's impossible for “criminals” to do better and become a good citizen and contribute to our nation is statistically incorrect, as another nation is doing in my opinion just fine to prove that wrong. There are solutions, there is a way, we just need to not only want to be the change but get together and actually become the change we want to see. Reducing recidivism is extremely important it will positively affect the lives of many ex-prisoners by giving them a chance to do better and help their community but it will also positively affect our nation as a whole. It would lower crime rates thus making our nation a much safer one, it would also reduce the amount of families torn apart by petty crimes, and also it would positively impact our views on ex-prisoners which would then decrease the stigma that all convicted felons are the same and will never change.
Adding programs to better equipped people with skills that they need or giving them help to find suitable living spaces would reduce the need to commit again because a lot of the times people are committing crimes because jail or prison is a roof over their head a free meal and a free bed and because they don't have the proper skills or suitable living spaces because of the poverty a lot of ex felons are homeless. Changing our own attitude and trying to understand and incorporate ex felons would also be extremely beneficial as people with limited family support are more likely to reoffend, along with people who are stigmatized by the world, psychological problems, and labeling, discrimination and marginalization, false witness and peer pressure are the main causes of re-offending which could be avoided if we were just kind to others.
So what are your options to get involved and help to? There are organizations across the country that are helping the prison population in many creative long-term ways help them successfully transition back into their communities while also lowering recidivism rates along the way. They give help from educational resources all the way to job training services that will help fill the gap the criminal justice system left behind. The first program I read about was root and rebound which provides educational and legal resources to individuals and family going through the complicated process of re-entry. You are able to join the team, volunteer, or donate. The second program is called Defy Ventures, they help with entrepreneurship, mentoring, and business training to help them create a legal and profitable business. They also help with finding a suitable plan for ex-prisoners and prisoners to have a successful future. You are able to join the team, volunteer, or donate. The last program was Hudson link, they help prisoners by bringing degree programs to prisons with the help of different colleges to give prisoners a higher education to help change their lives. You are able to join the team, volunteer, or donate. Finally, if you don't have the money to donate or the time to go to events and volunteer, I ask that you do one simple thing you can to help. This is to inform others of the different ways that we can make a change to this problem, or to educate those with biases. Norway's Success is not based on how much more money they may have to help, their success is because they want to help people and are willing to invest the money into rehabilitation centers, programs, and their Humane approaches towards prisoners. I say it's time we join them and make a change for the good of our nation and the good of all of our people.
Works Cited
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Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Vagrancy.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 10 Apr. 2018.
Goldberg, Elizabeth Swanson., and James Brewer Stewart. Human Bondage and Abolition: New Histories of Past and Present Slaveries. Cambridge University Press, 2018.
Gunderson, Gerald. “The Origin of the American Civil War.” Journal of Economic History 34 (1974): 915-950.Mount, Steve. "Constitutional Topic: Slavery." USConstitution.net. 20 May 2010.
Perkiss, Abigail. “Abraham Lincoln as Constitutional Radical: The 13th Amendment.” National Constitution Center – Constitutioncenter.org, 12 July 2013.
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Ransom, Roger L., and Richard Sutch. “Who Pays for Slavery?” In The Wealth of Races: The Present Value of Benefits from Past Injustices, edited by Richard F. America, 31-54. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1990.U.S. Constitution. Amend. XIII, Sec. 1.
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Tegeng, Goche, and Hayelom Abadi. “Exploring Factors Contributing to Recidivism: The Case of Dessie and Woldiya Correctional Centers.” OMICS International, OMICS International, 31 July 2018.
“What Is Recidivism, and What Can We Do About It?” Stand Together Foundation, 15 May 2019.
William Jay, The Life of John Jay with Selections from His Correspondence. New York: J. & J. Harper, 1833. Pages 181-82.