Toward Real Criminal Justice Reform

The recent guilty pleas of two corrupt Luzerne County, Pennsylvania juvenile court judges is further evidence that the U.S. criminal justice system is shot through with corruption and has a penchant for punishment over rehabilitation that only serves the interests of politicians who want to give the appearance of making the public safer. And too often, public opinion is satiated by reactionary public policy such as "three strikes" that fails to address the root causes of crime and violence. Studies from The Sentencing Project, the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, the National Urban League, and the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation show that America's rush to incarcerate has exploded state and federal corrections budgets, forced early parole for some inmates for lack of prison space, made millionaires of private prison operators, and made more difficult the reentry of people who can become productive citizens if given the opportunity.

The current system also maintains the race-based disparities that have devastated some African American communities. According to the Sentencing Project, one in eight African American males in their twenties are in prison or jail on any given day. Bureau of Justice Statistics data show that African Americans represent 46 percent of the 2.4 million people currently incarcerated, despite being 12 percent of the general U.S. population. African Americans comprise at least 50 percent of the prison populations in 12 of the 51 states (including the District of Columbia). The disproportionate warehousing of Black men in the name of public safety has helped to destabilize African American families around the nation by removing potential fathers and husbands when alternatives could make more sense.

However, there may be reasons for optimism. In March of this year, Senators James Webb and Arlen Specter introduced the National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2009. According to Mr. Webb's release, this bill will "create a blue-ribbon commission [that will conduct] an 18-month, top-to-bottom review of the nation's entire criminal justice system and offering concrete recommendations for reform." Webb noted in a March speech on the Senate floor introducing the bill that "to look at all of the elements in this system, how they are interrelated in terms of the difficulties that we have in remedying issues of criminal justice in this country and to deliver us from a situation that has evolved over time where we are putting far too many of the wrong people into prison and we are still not feeling safer in our neighborhoods, we're still not putting in prison or bringing to justice those people who are perpetrating violence and criminality as a way of life." This is particularly notable in the Washington, D.C.-area, where criminal justice reform is desperately needed.

According to Webb, the United States, with just five percent of the world's population, now incarcerates 25 percent of the world's reported prisoners. Incarcerated drug offenders have soared 1200 percent in the last 30 years. Four times as many mentally ill people are in prisons than in mental health hospitals.

My analysis indicates that the near eradication of serious rehabilitation opportunities in prison, coupled with ineffective re-entry programs, almost guarantees high recidivism rates and only perpetuates an unfortunate, wasteful cycle. In some states, the training one receives while incarcerated cannot help them once paroled. California, for example, provides barber training for inmates but, in ridiculous decision, the state legislature bars parolees from obtaining barbering licences.

Mr. Webb's task is difficult. Advocating radical reform of America 's criminal justice system is not a popular position to take. It's a issue that easily falls prey to demagoguery; I can almost hear the "soft on crime" charges already. However, there is a possibility that the nation will move away from the incarceration-only view of criminal justice and public safety. the difficult economic times the country faces may lead people to more carefully consider what government is doing with its tax revenue in this costly government service. With the Webb-Specter bill as a guide, stakeholders and citizens may work together to pass this bill and provides the unassailable evidence necessary to undo the intractable problems in the nation's criminal justice system.

Michael K. Fauntroy is an assistant professor of public policy at George Mason University, a former analyst in American national government at the Congressional Research Service, and a research analyst at the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. He blogs at MichaelFauntroy.com.

Comments

[monicaangela]

A commission would have to be made up of ex felons, members from every minority community, and lawyers from the ACLU, as well as judges. There should be no congressmen on the commission, it is known that any outcome of any commission they sit on is biased toward the outcome that will make them look good. The commission should also have the many, many people who have been convicted and sentenced even though they were innocent, there are many of them in this country...they are released with a small mention in the MSM and then immediately forgotten, these people should be in the news at least every 6 months with follow ups as to how they are progressing in life, their opinions should be paramount in trying to fix the justice system. Thanks for your article Michael.

[AnnfromCA]

I don't see what a commission is going to do to help. One of the biggest problems was the incredibly innacurate lab testing work. Not everything is related to DNA, in spite of what CSI shows suggest. Try getting an appeal on bad lab work. Can't be done!

CA prison unions have been clamouring for awhile now to get the non-violent offenders OUT of state prisons.

Meanwhile, law and order prosecutors continue to dogpile charges regularly and use that as leverage.

I will say that our 3 strikes law has reduced violent crime. That's the truth. But what that has to do with non-violent offenders is beyond me.

[brandnewstuff]

I am glad I stopped and read this-
Thanks Micheal for doing this piece-

A story to share-
One of my best friends- Is a black male-
a fight occured locally and my pal was defending himself-
All of a suden the Victoria Advocate took a picture and the next day made him out to be front page news crating defamtion of character due to his color- my pal been in trouble-they wrote CRAP

The charges dropped but the Victoria Advocate never cleaned the mess they made- Slander and Racism-- The South does not change just like Fox news people.

[19iowa62]

“Four times as many mentally ill people are in prisons than in mental health hospitals”

Given health insurance and a correct diagnosis there are some terrific medications that could turn many of these peoples lives around, especially for those who are bi-polar.

[TRYKER]

One of the things they should look at is the inability of the previous felon to be able to find work. Even after he has filled his sentence, he has a "sentence for life" of being unable to find reasonable work. This can't be in the least fair...no job, no hope=more crime.
It is part of the "written by prison industry lobbyists" laws that are designed to ensure a continuous supply of the "prisoner class" to house their bodies at $45,000 a yr. Pay any amount to jail them, why not give them half that amount to feed and house them on the outside in their own homes? OH no, then the poor will be able to get ahead!
And of course the egregious policy...ex-felons can't vote! ( now in some states they can)
By shunting all the blacks they can through the prison system, they can ensure that the dems won't be getting majority through black voters who generally vote dem. Nothing like disenfranchising as many future voters as they can...its the republican way.

[AmericanWarrior]

Well written. As any African American may tell you, too true.

[noudidnt]

Drug conviction rates for whites are going up. Why? Because the police are increasing in enforcement in mostly white areas. Imagine that.

[hopeforchangenow]

I think we need to move to legalize drugs. Take away the criminalization of drugs and tax the sellers and buyers. We improve our tax base and provide the means to pay for drug rehabilitation and schools in the major metropolitan areas to address the problems created by drug sales. I hope Specter and Webb's bill becomes law soon. I am sure the actions of those judges in Pennsylvania have been repeated around the country.

[AmericanWarrior]

At least Cannibus. I am not in favor of the hard, crazy stuff.

[btrim]

I must say that I feel safer knowing that many true thug-types have been pulled from the bosom of society, and languish behind bars, hopefully until they calm down and decide not to damage others' live through their miscreancy. That said, by no means should anyone who hasn't harmed another be incarcerated. Further, those that do go down should be treated humanely and with rehabilitate techniques rather than merely warehoused. Then, however, are the sociopathic predators (of any and all 'races') who are highly resistant to treatment along the lines of imbuing The Golden Rule within their crania....

[typhanie]

I still don't think the right people will get the sentences that they deserve. I honestly feel that the Black male will still be victimized. I will try very hard to be optimistic though. I hope that I am proved wrong.