The broader public got a look at the uglier side of their heroes in blue when those sworn to protect and serve showed up in Ferguson in armored personnel carriers, dressed out in full combat gear, with snipers pointing high powered rifles at unarmed civilians. Many people were shocked to see such a disproportionate show of force. I must admit that what surprised me the most was how surprised other folks seemed to be. Surely, the great body public hasn’t forgotten the lessons of the last generation already. In the 60s and the 70s, the government made a show of force that included gunning down unarmed students when the social order threatened to unravel. And of course, for someone on this side of the electric fences, the use of deadly force is just a fact of life. Prisoners, much more so than any other group in this country, are deemed killable. We are also deemed deserving of the infliction of pain and suffering. In fact, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled, time and again, that prisoners are not worthy of the rights of other citizens–of other humans, for that matter.
We can be locked into solitary confinement cells for years based on an unsubstantiated allegation. We can be denied contact with our loved ones forever for being unwilling to submit to the terrorism of stripping naked. We can be strapped down and forcibly administered mind melting drugs on the word of one of their bought-and-paid-for-shrinks. Worst of all, and this is done routinely and without the merest fanfare, we can be sentenced to die in prison without any real hope of getting out for any number of things. This country has embraced the practice of excessive punishment with pretty much no serious dissent. Men and women are sent to prison to serve terms that defy logic; that stretch out beyond the horizon of natural life; that neither achieve restitution nor justice in any meaningful way.
After serving more than 35 years for killing a man in a drunken, drugged-up fist fight, back when I was 19 years old, I have long-term perspective. When I came to prison in California, the average time served for murder was 12 years. Today, that number is well north of 25 years. Back then, the overall return to prison rate for parolees was about 24%. Today, it’s more than 70%. The expectation of a prison sentence then was rehabilitation and release. Nowadays, the expectation is pain, suffering, and death inside.
The era of mass incarceration ought to be over, as it’s been proven a dismal failure. But it’s not. That it’s not is nothing short of a tragedy and a travesty. The fact is, we live in a country that can’t seem to get over the idea that only through the infliction of pain can justice be served. I think it’s fair to say we’ve got a real problem, and it’s time for an intervention. The only thing that will break the stranglehold of the punitive spirit is the active participation of the public, demanding that the infliction of pain and suffering being done in their name, by their servants, come to an end. That desperately needed intervention has to come from out there. This is Kenneth E. Hartman, Executive Director of The Other Death Penalty Project from inside California’s prison system.
These commentaries are recorded by Noel Hanrahan of Prison Radio.
