“The Other Death Penalty: Five Reasons to Abolish Death by Incarceration,” by Shakaboona.
Life without parole sentences. It is often called “the other death penalty.” But, today, we simply call life without parole sentences what it truly is: death by Incarceration. In Pennsylvania, a life without parole sentence means that a person spends the remainder of their natural life in prison until he or she dies. Pennsylvania is one of only six states that has life without parole as the only life sentencing option. There is no such thing as life with parole in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania has the second largest number of people serving life without parole sentences in America, and at about 6,000 people. Pennsylvania also has the most children serving life without parole sentences in the country and in the world, at over 500 children. So, it begs to question, why seek to abolish life without parole sentences for persons convicted of crime? We believe that death by incarceration sentences must be abolished for reasons of morality, faith, human rights, racial justice, and social evolution.
Morally, in the spirit of ancestor Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., we must let our conscience be our compass in life, and allow ourselves to be guided by our innate sense of what is right or wrong. Every person understands that taking a life in any manner is morally wrong. Hence, death by incarceration is shocking to the conscience of humanity. It’s unacceptable to us all, and does not reflect the ideal image of a civilized society.
Faith. No matter a person’s faith in life, a universal law of all faiths is to not kill another human being. America claims to be a Christian society while imposing death by incarceration on people convicted of crimes. But, practitioners of the Christian faith understand that the Christian faith instructs to love your brother; to not kill anyone; to not commit acts of revenge; to set at liberty the captive prisoner; that “Blessed are the merciful;” and to allow for the atonement, reconciliation, and redemption. Death by Incarceration sentences is contrary to those basic Christian precepts and deny human beings the right to redemption and transformation.
Human rights. As the standard for the sentencing and treatment of prisoners in regards to death by incarceration, we use the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, every human being has an inherent right to life and to not be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman treatment or punishment. Death by incarceration sentencing is recognized by the nations of the world as a cruel and inhuman punishment. There are 25 countries in the world where death by incarceration sentences are considered unlawful, which makes the United States an outlier in its use of death by incarceration sentences.
Racial justice. Poor people and non-Caucasian people are overwhelmingly, disproportionately sentenced to death by incarceration. About half of people serving death by incarceration nationally are Black. A sixth are Latino. In Pennsylvania, 65% of African and 8.5% of Latino peoples are serving death by incarceration sentences. We recognize that the judicial system and the legislature are plagued by institutional and structural racism. As a result of historic and current racial discrimination against African and Latino peoples within the judicial system, racial injustice reigns, and death by incarceration is a constant reminder that legalized lynchings for one’s skin color is still an American pastime.
Social evolution. Death by incarceration sentencing is rooted in archaic penal ideals about crime and punishment. It was thought that the death penalty and death by incarceration sentences would deter violent crime. However, volumes of documentary evidence produced over the decades show that such harsh sentences do nothing to actually solve the problem of violent crime in our communities. Death by incarceration is a pillar of class and race-based mass incarceration. It does not serve the value of deterring crime, as there is no compelling evidence that increasing excessive sentences decreases crime or improves public safety. Death by incarceration sentencing actually has a negative impact on society, as it siphons away taxpayers’ money from public education for children and gives it to the Department of Corrections budget. It permanently removes people from society, thereby destroying the family unit. It permanently excludes people from political, economic, and social participation in the country, thereby creating a permanent social underclass of outcasts that’s unraveling the fabric of American society. And, as a cog in the mass incarceration machine, it is used as the government’s and Wall Street’s economic solution to the problem of what to do with 10s of millions of people that America cannot provide employment for.
We, as human beings, are faced with a social dilemma today. Do we continue to socially evolve as human beings, to reach our full potential as civilized people by abolishing death by incarceration sentences, racism, and war, or do we continue to socially regress into the depths of barbarism by sentencing people to death by incarceration and failing to end racism and war? The social evolution question for human beings is, do we want civilization or barbarism? We are calling on all people of conscience across the state, and from other states, to join with us to fully pressure Pennsylvania’s executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government to abolish life without parole, death by incarceration sentencing in Pennsylvania. We invite you to join us in the righteous campaign to abolish death by incarceration and help us put a stop to injustice.From the belly of the beast, this is Kerry “Shakaboona” Marshall. Thank you for listening.
These commentaries are recorded by Noel Hanrahan of Prison Radio.
