Paradigm Shift

Western Thinking Needs Paradigm Shift to Reform Penal System

Current Penal System Ills

The California Penal system is broken and the proposed solutions are woefully inadequate. The ideas coming from Sacramento (prematurely releasing up to 40,000 inmates and possibly privatizing parts of the prison system to Mexico) are weaker than the Republican proposal for healthcare overhaul.

In the midst of appalling statistical evidence, it is almost impossible to find a proponent of the current penal system. California owns the highest recidivism rate in the country; over 70% of California inmates are released from prison and end up behind bars again in their lifetime. This statistic seems to show that prison is not seen as a deterrent, nor is it effective as a means of rehabilitation.

To make matters worse, the state of California is spending over $47,000 a year per inmate. The Governor’s office cites health care as one of the primary reasons that costs are climbing. Unfortunately, there were over 64 preventable deaths in California in 2009. The medical care has been described as barbaric and the Human Rights Watch has been forced to monitor the quality of life in our prisons due to the poor quality of life. Inmate health care may be the reason for so much government spending, but it is clearly ineffectively spent.

Western Thinking

The argument against Western health care is that it addresses the effects while ignoring the causes. I’m not sure that our approach to prison management could be honored with an analogous argument; we’re not even addressing the effects of a barely functioning prison system.

Politics and views of the appropriate size of government aside, the idea of privatized prisons was originally a very appealing idea. After all, proponents of privatizing prisons claimed that private companies would reduce costs by up to 20%. I guess “up to” is a pretty important clause as the BJA’s (Bureau of Justice Assistance) conclusion was that the involvement of private corporations in the federal prison system actually resulted in a 1% cost reduction.

On the other hand, releasing 40,000 inmates before they serve their full sentence is definitely going to be a paradigm shift in the way we do corrections management in the state of California. That makes about as much sense as releasing your eight year old from time out because you don’t have time to watch him or her. The reaction will be the same: even less regard for the rules currently in place.

My biggest issue with these solutions is that once again we’re not addressing the cause or the root of the problem. The United States is by far the most incarcerated country in the world. Does that mean we’re over-legislated and the we’re the victims of severe government intrusion? That may be true, but you would need a hang glider to make that logical leap.

If we’re going to make any decent attempt at repairing this flat tire, then we need to ask why we’re driving over nails on the way to work everyday. A systemic problem begs for systemic solutions and laughs at any other feeble attempt.

Paradigm Shift

This isn’t a new concept in the world of penal system reform. Proposals of holistic development solutions have seen varied amounts of approval and progress within the system. Education, job training and faith based initiatives are knocking at the door of addressing the root cause in our disastrous penal system.

The root issue, however, is not simply socioeconomic. By definition, refusal to obey socially agreed upon rules and regulations (for the most part) is a violation of the social contract that we must live by in order to sustain a safe society of liberty and freedom.

This disobedience must not be confused with ignorance or lack of understanding; it is a result of moral depravity and the lack of community guided ethics. If this point is granted, then it becomes clear that a true approach to reform must be grounded in appreciation for humanity and the community in which it lives.

If one is not able to respect oneself, then we cannot expect him or her to live by socially accepted values in order to contribute to a social contract. Thus, we must start with the individual and the community in which he or she lives.

It is easy to see how a system based on punishment can exacerbate the issues that it wishes to correct. The California penal system cannot be successful if it does not address the moral and ethical deficiencies in criminally convicted communities.

In short, the California penal system needs to find practical ways to treat inmates like respectable human beings. Prison is not a time out or a job training center; it must be both and more.

The idea of treating people like actual people (as opposed to caged animals) sounds revolutionary, but it is already out there. There are a couple of operations that seem to embody the idea of dignifying human life as behavioral correction: Puppies Behind Bars and David Kennedy’s approach to policing policy.

Puppies Behind Bars is a program that uses inmates to train police dogs and vision impaired dogs. The inmates are fully responsible for the care and training of another life and this results in a significant maturation process during their sentence.

David Kennedy is another policing policy expert who values treating criminals with dignity and respect. One of his methods consists of giving known drug dealers the option between participating in a mentorship program and continuing with the normal criminal proceedings of arrest and incarceration.

It seems as though the system is broken beyond repair. Quick fixes will not provide significant solutions and will probably only hinder progress. The California prison system must begin to approach inmates as people in need of rehabilitation instead of animals in need of punishment.

Like Dominoes

The California penal system has set a precedent that other states seem to think is acceptable.

According to MSNBC, Colorado, Oregon, Kentucky and Connecticut are following suit and similarly releasing prisoners in order to relieve budget pressures.

The obvious and immediate result is that the recidivism rate will probably rise sharply due to an early release program in an unstable economy. The long term (and apparently not so obvious to our legislators) result is that our penal system will be made a laughingstock. Just ask Randall Countryman how he feels about serving 21 years of a life sentence for attempted murder and armed robbery. He's upset that his early release isn't landing him the job for which he's worked so hard to find.

A Solution

I listed a small sample of the current problems with the Federal penal system in my last blog. I hope there were enough stats to communicate the idea that our system is broken and in need of repair.

There are multiple possible solutions for the state of the federal penal system, but I want to focus one of the most exciting/divisive solutions out there: Privatized Prisons.

The Bureau of Justice Assistance produced a 90 page monograph about the history, concept and actual effectiveness of privatized prisons. I spent a few hours reading it and have summed it up in a few paragraphs. In case you're wondering, I actually enjoyed sifting through it and can't wait until some policy nerd reads my stuff one day.

First of all, prison privatization isn't what we think of when we first hear the term.

"Privatization in correctional services can assume a number of institutional characteristics. For instance, the most common form of privatization in corrections is the contracting out (or outsourcing) of specific services that entails a competition among private bidders to perform governmental activities." BJA

I had visions of trans national corporations buying prisons and using the inmates as a workforce to produce cheap goods. Apparently this is not the case in the majority of private correction facilities. Another thing to keep in mind is that private prisons currently make up less than 5% of the market.

The basic pros and cons of the argument are simple:

Pros Private Prisons: 1. provide construction as needed in order to reduce government debt. 2. produce facilities in half the time it takes the government. 3. provide economic devlopment. 4. create competition that lowers costs

Cons Private Prisons: 1. may become monopoly in the system through ingratiation, favortism. 2. have financial motivation that is opposite the end goal (i.e. production is the machine so they want to keep the parts working-inmates) 3. procurement is slow, inefficient and open to risk

I kid you not. That is basically the gist of the argument posed by the Fed. The history of privatized prisons was fascinating, but not integral to the argument. It should suffice to say that private prisons have been around since the 15th Century and were commonplace until the 1900s.

Summary
So, what's all the fuss about? Proponents of privatized prisons claim that they will reduce costs by up to 20%. The BJA found that private prisons actually only save 1% of costs and this was due mostly to lower labor costs.

Victory for the egalitarians? I think not. This is simply a summary of the argument put forth by the BJA. Who knows what their motivations are?

In an attempt to continue an objective investigation, I'm going to check out a few arguments from the two biggest private corrections companies: The Corrections Corporation of America owns 54.1% of private prison action while the Wackenhut Corrections Company owns 25.1%.

The Verdict
Theoretically: the argument can still be made for privatized prisons. Statistically: the BJA says there's not much reason to continue this discussions. Ethically: we'll discuss that after a few more posts.

The Concept

I eventually want to work in public policy, but I want to have something to say by the time I get there. I've realized a few things in my educational career:

1. I process information when I write. Thus, Whitzerland: blog style.

2. I'm inspired by conversation. Whether I'm angered by a stubborn know-it-all or excited by thoughtful intellect, I'm always inspired by conversation. Thus, Whitzerland: I need feedback and comments.

3. Art communicates emotion. Thus, Whitzerland: I'm going to start publishing my emotions.

These three things (along with a good friend's urgings) have led me to Whitzerland.

I hope that Whitzerland leads us to discussion; I hope that discussion leads us to conclusions; I hope that conclusions lead us to action. I hope that our actions do not destroy the world that our parents built for us.

The Author

I wrote this for my law school applications as my personal statement. I've never written anything like it, so it was actually helpful for figuring out who I am and how I've been affected by life.

Prior to 1988, I just wanted to be a fire truck. Fortunately federal law requires 5 year olds to go to Kindergarten where they learn that they cannot be inanimate objects. This epiphany forged my elementary school thesis: figure out what do I want to do when I grow up. Being overly civic minded for a 5 year old, I immediately settled on police officer. I simply wanted everyone to follow the rules.

As I grew up in my rural Southern town of 10,000 people, I began to realize that some of the rules weren’t very fair and probably should not be enforced. It struck me that people like me (white and male) were able to force my friends, teammates and classmates (mostly not Caucasian and some female) to follow rules that we deemed appropriate. My passion for justice was established in these inter-racial, inter-gender relationships. My train of thought naturally progressed to the idea that the rule makers needed policing.

My community interaction during high school as an Eagle scout, national athlete and involved church member led me to the mayor’s office. My interaction with local politics showed me that public policy can be effective, life-changing and ultimately rewarding. At the urging of my local community, I began to see myself as a future rule maker.

Following high school I was awarded an athletic scholarship to play tennis at Southeastern Louisiana University. An injury ended my college tennis career and left me with 20 extra hours each week for my last two years of college. I filled my free time by tutoring kids at one of the worst public schools in New Orleans
During college, I spent three weeks in South Africa and Mozambique, ten weeks in Ecuador, Peru and Colombia and six weeks in Costa Rica. The South American trip still weighs heavily on my outlook in life. I found a team of guys and raised the funds to travel through the Amazon during research for local development agencies. Part of the job was to live in abject poverty with the people we were sent to survey. I began to see injustice in a new light and it forced me to reevaluate my elementary school thesis. I realized that I had to figure out who I wanted to be before I could begin working on what I was going to do.

I applied to Fuller Theological Seminary where I would seek out three things: a concrete ethic from which to operate, an historical perspective on the interaction between church and society, and practical ways of initiating effective third world development. Fuller allowed me to perform graduate level research under the former Vice President of World Vision while also completing a six month internship with Congressman Adam Schiff.

I’m finishing up my time at Fuller in March and will be attending law school in August. I’m not sure where I’ll end up, but I have a few solid options: Loyola, Pepperdine, USC, Fordham, Columbia, Harvard. My wife wants to stay in L.A. as long as possible to pursue her acting career. I’ve always wanted to live in New York, but I’m not choosing based on location. I really just want something challenging that will open up policy opportunities after I finish.

The Penalty

An effective penal system does not:

a. have a 70% recidivism rate. Governor article
-people that go to prison are more than likely going to prison twice

b. cost $47,102 per incarcerated person. LAO article
-my wife and I both live on a budget of $37,000 each year.

c. reduce its incarcerated population by shortening 40,000 sentences. Bloomberg article
-the California penal system is being usurped by the Fed because of its ineptitude.

d. have "barbaric medical conditions in some prisons, resulting in as many as 64 preventable deaths of inmates a year and injury to countless others." San Francisco Chronicle
-the standards are so bad that the Human Rights Watch monitors our prison system.

e. have job training for prison guards that consists of filling out crossword puzzles and working with brain teasers. News Bank
-apparently California taxpayers doled out $80,000 last year to pay for prison guards to complete crossword puzzles

f. have completely delusional leadership, "Even though California ranks near the bottom in overall staffing levels, we don't have the major problems like hostage takings, escapes and whole prison takeovers that other states have. I think overall we're doing a good job in California."~Lance Corcoran. News Bank
-the logic is: If they're still in their cells, then we're doing a good job.

g. fail so miserably that the Federal Government is forced to step in and reform it. Yahoo
-I'm not commenting on state vs. federal government. It's just shocking.

h. imprison or parole 1 in every 31 adults. U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics
-We incarcerate more citizens than any other country in the world.

i. segregate the prison population by race, ethnicity and sexual orientation. Johnson v. California
-This began in 2003 and continues to be a big issue.


All of these things are true of either the California Prison System or the Federal Prison System. The issues I raise here are just a sampling of the problems associated with the penal system in the United States. They are shocking and in need of serious public attention and political reform. I've stopped short of listing more issues because I want to get started on discussing solutions.