Month: December 2006

The Prison Industrial Complex | A Guide to Beginning Research

Corrinna created The Prison Industrial Complex | A Guide to Beginning Research to help people research the Prison Industrial Complex using resources around Bloomington:

This research guide lists information sources found in the IUB library system as well as the Monroe County Public Library and shall serve as a guide for Monroe County residents and IU students in general inquiry or beginning research into the Prison Industrial Complex. It shall help provide a basic understanding of the term as well as a jumping off point for further research into different areas of the PIC.

New York Times: Prisons Push California to Seek New Approach

This was a pretty interesting article.  I guess I’ve been noticing a heightened media attention to the prison system and the social situations that lead to the huge rates of incarceration.  It seems like there is starting to be some government response as well.  The article mentions sentencing comissions as one potential solution, which is something I was unfamiliar with.

From Prisons Push California to Seek New Approach – New York Times:

By nearly every measure, the California prison system is the most troubled in the nation. Overcrowding, inmate violence, recidivism, parole absconders and the prison medical system are among its many festering problems.

Now, with the November election behind them, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state lawmakers from both parties say the time is ripe for the first major overhaul of the system since the 1970s.

…

Sentencing commissions, made up of a diverse group of experts including former judges and crime victim advocates, essentially treat prison beds as scarce resources that need to be properly allocated.

Used in many states, the commissions, armed with empirical data, establish sentencing grids, with the offense on one axis and the offender’s history on another, forming a narrow range of possible sentences.

These grids are presented to judges, who have discretion to go outside the range in light of extenuating circumstances. One of the system’s greatest advantages, its proponents suggest, is that it depoliticizes sentencing by taking it out of the hands of elected officials.

office party

Since Abbey and I have birthdays within a few days of each other we had an office holiday party themed birthday celebration.  It was pretty surreal.  I don’t know how many folks had ever actually had office jobs, but everyone fell into their persona really amazingly.  Even people who didn’t dress up adopted hyper-realistic office personalities.  By the middle of the party, it was a little akward, because I think everyone was ready to stop acting and just hang out with people that they liked, but the weight and momentum of the characters was so strong that it was like people had forgotten how to interact with each other as real people.  Still, it made me appreciate how creative my friends are and made me imagine what a bizarro reality would be like if we had all gotten office jobs instead of our current lives.

More photos from the event are up on the terrorware gallery.

Chris Soghoian Interview

My started a blog which comments on a recent local radio interview with computer researcher Chris Soghoian.

WFHB describes the interview this way:

Does the government’s “no-fly” list make air travel any safer? Do other supposed “security measures” really protect us from terrorists? Host Chad Carrothers spends an hour with Chris Soghoian, the Bloomington grad student who drew national attention when he set up a website that allowed visitors to print fake Northwest Airlines boarding passes in an effort to expose flaws in national security policy. The federal Transportation Security Administration forced him to take down the page and the FBI raided his Bloomington home and “borrowed” his computers and passport. Find out why Chris did what he did, his views on the role that researchers, academics, and common citizens take in studying, criticizing and pointing out the flaws in our security systems, and why he thinks the federal government hasn’t learned the intended lesson in this WFHB local radio exclusive.

I thought the WFHB interview was a disappointing though, becuase even if the way the U.S. views security is fundamentally flawed, and we aren’t made more safe, Chris still invests himself, both in terms of the time and energy of his research, and in terms of belief in the narrative of security. Fundamentally, this narrative of security suggests that there is an amorphous human threat set on harming and amorphous sense of “us”, and that we can do something to protect “ourselves” from it.  The thing that is troubling about this narrative of security is that it never fully aknowledges that the threats we perceive are from other humans, nor does it seek to understand those who we perceive as threatening in a way that is more complex (or even compassionate) than stereotypes or prejudices.  Stepping outside of that narrative, I find that the prospect of violence is still troubling, but that the motivations for violence can be quite rational and mirror motivations or violence that follows from my life, or its cultural context.  So, trying to protect myself from harm seems pretty futile, either personally, in belief in the idea of security, or through the proxy of goverment in waging wars or making policy decisions about airline regulations.  It seems far more likely that some kind of harm, either physical or psychological, will follow from these actions than some kind of harm will befall me as a result of a terrorist attack.  I hope that we can live our lives in a way that seeks to understand others, and seeks to change the relationship between people, or nation-states, or cultures that make violence and retaliation seem almost rational.

Tor, which is discussed at the end of the interview, is pretty awesome, however, at least from a technological standpoint.  It’s software that is fairly easy to use that allows you to anonymize your web (and other Internet) traffic. Still, I don’t want to get caught up in thinking of this cat and mouse game between government and individuals, repression and privacy.  I’d like to think that I’m accountable for the communication that I make and consume and that if I’m targetted for that, I can address it headlong and get support from my friends and community rather than having to hide things that are totally reasonable.

prison blog posts

Through volunteering with the Midwest Pages to Prisoners Project, I met a man named Shannon Clark who is incarcerated in a state prison in Arizona.  I found out that he kept a blog about his life and eventually came to post his writing on the internet for him.  He sends me the handwritten posts and I put them on the Internet. 

I really enjoy his writing and I feel like it’s made me rethink my idea of prisoners and prison life a lot.  I guess reading his posts made me realize that even something as extreme as being incarcerated in this country doesn’t mean that you lose your sense of self, perspective of the world, capacity for compassion or humanity entirely.  It also reminds me that even with the violence and brutality that comes to mind when we think of prisons, there also exist narratives of community or friendship or just people interacting with each other as people. 

I just posted these two new posts tonight.  You can read more at Shannon’s blog, Persevering Prison Pages:

The War on Terror

terrorist n. person who uses violent methods of coercing a government or community. (THE OXFORD AMERICAN DESK DICTIONARY AND THESAURUS, 2ND ED.)

Hmmm…. I’d love to comment further but Guantanamo Bay, Cuba is too far from Arizona. You never truly know what’ll happen in this indefinite “state of war” we’re in. Maybe Bush should assert his “Executive Powers” in wiretapping and spying on his own family.

Possibly then he’d be able to gain control over that foreign nation. Yeah, I know it was a cheap shot, but it was oh-so easy … lol.

Breakfast with Bill: A Sinister Plan

“Mornin’, Bill.” I greeted a soft spoken, friendly prisoner I’ve been eating meals with the past month. “Mornin'” He responded, with a warm smile on his country-boy face. “How’s the pancakes?” I asked. “Not too bad. I’ve had better though.” He answered.

“Where are you from, Bill?” I curiously asked. “Oklahoma, but I’ve lived in Arizona and California mainly.” “36 years locked-up here in Arizona.” He continued. “Damn, 36 years!” I was shocked and a bit disbelieving, after all, Bill doesn’t look much older than 45 or 50. “How old are you, Bill?” “I’ll be 61 February 12, 2006.” Coincidently, I’ll be 32 February 11, 20006. – Look out, two Aquarius prisoners …

“What were you convicted of?” I asked. “First Degree Murder. I got a Life Sentence. I’ve been locked up since January 1970.” “That’s a long time, Bill. I bet you’ve seen so much change in the prison system over the years.” “Yeah, but not all for the better. Sure, it’s less violent in here and a little safer, but we’ve lost nearly all of our privileges and creature comforts and the system has become more of a business.” “I still hope that I will be paroled some day. With a place to go, work and a plan, I can be paroled still.” “Do you have family out there?” I asked him. “No, They are all gone now. I had a lady friend who would write and visit but that was a long time ago.”

A sinister though entered my head. “What are your likes?” “Well, let me think… I like sports… reading… learning new things… That’s all I can think of at the moment. Why?” He responded. “You’ll see.” I answered with a smile.

If anybody out there reading this wants a pen pal, a friend or would like to send Bill an encouraging word or holiday card please write: Bill Sturgis #34395 ASPC-Tucson-Santa Rita, P.O. Box 24406, 10012 S. Wilmot Rd., Tucson Arizona 85734-4406.

columbus shooting

Teen Pranksters Find Out The Joke Is On Them – News – WHIOTV.com | WHIO:

Three Columbus teenagers playing pranks find out what they were doing is no laughing matter. Police say the three were throwing eggs at passing cars. One car they hit followed the teens and the driver began shooting at the teens. A 14 year old was hit and killed. The boy’s body was found in an alley. The other two teens were not injured. Police have the car, and are looking for a “person of interest.”

prison growth vs. educational programming spending

The promise of a better tommorow: due to lack of funding, the percentage of inmates participating in education programs is declining, while the prison population continues to surge Black Issues in Higher Education – Find Articles:

According to the Urban Institute, roughly 94 percent of the money spent on prisons, which has exceeded $22 billion in recent years, has been earmarked for construction and maintenance. The remaining 6 percent has gone to prison-based education programs.

I’m not sure if this is the study that the above article references, but it says some stuff that is pretty interesting:

Despite a long-standing historical emphasis in American corrections on education and employment training (Piel 1998; Gaes et al. 1999), and despite the importance of prison programming for improving a range of outcomes upon release, levels of program participation have declined.  In 1991, 42 percent of soon-to-be-released prisoners (less than 12 months remaining) reported participating in education programs, compared with 35 percent in 1997 (figure 1).  Participation in vocational programs declined from 31 percent to 27 percent during this same period (Lynch and Sabol 2001).

One reason for these declines is the rapid and enormous growth in prisons.  Funding for correctional programs has not kept pace with population growth, which has led to a reduction in the number of programs aimed at helping prisoners, such as general literacy and higher education programs, in most state prison systems (Austin and Irwin 2001; Slambrouck 2000).  Higher education programming was all but eliminated by federal legislation enacted in 1994 (LoBuglio 2001).

The decrease in correctional programming also is attributable to an indirect effect of the rapid growth in prisons and the shuffling of prisoners from one facility to another.  This frequent transferring undermines the ability of prisons to implement effective educational and vocational programs.  At the same time, and precisely because of the frequent transferring of prisoners from one facility to another, greater attention and interest have been given to funding substance abuse and anger management programs. One reason is that these programs can be offered on a short-term basis and can be relatively inexpensive compared with educational or vocational training (LoBuglio 2001).

In summary, prison populations have grown significantly while funding for programs and participation rates have declined.  These changes are significant because, as the literature review below shows, educational and vocational training can contribute to a range of positive outcomes, including increased employment and reduced recidivism.