Questionable Current Events
This* article talks about how certain inmates in California are being allowed to complete firefighter training and subsequently serve as auxillary firefighters during big emergencies. I guess this came to the attention of the Christian Science Monitor as a result of recent wildfires in the state. I read this article yesterday evening, and it has been at the forefront of my mind.
Last fall semester, my professor, Richard Hoffman, brought to my attention the issue of prison labor. Specifically he sighted the example of prisons contracting out their inmate population to serve as call center representatives for various companies. Richard drew a direct parallel between putting black men in prison on "drug" charges and slavery. Although this isn't an issue I've studied in incredible detail, the parallels seem fairly obvious. I've also long since been aware and enraged by the discrepancy in sentences issued for being caught with crack versus cocaine. I read a quote years ago, and I wish I'd made a note of the source, about crack being marketed to Harlem.
The inmates fighting fires are paid one dollar per hour, have an unspecified amount of time shaved off of their sentence, and save California $80 million per year. Yes, it seems they are participating in the program by choice, but these inmates are essentially putting their physical selves in danger for a pittance. Michelle pointed out that fire fighting counts as a life skill, but with the length of their sentences, will these individuals be physically able to fight fires upon release, or will prison and institutionalized racism have used up the best years of their lives and spat them out back where they started? According to the article a mere 3 to 5 percent of the firefighters are formally hired upon release.
I've been thinking about this for a day and half now, since i first clicked the article link on my Google homepage. It's just not sitting well with me. The question of what to do with prisoners is a hard one, and I certainly don't pretend to have any answers. But, having them lay their lives on the line to fight wildfires doesn't seem that far off from offering a sweet deal in exchange for nipping overseas to fight terrorism as an auxillary member of a little institution called the army. Do we want to reach a point where our prison population is put to work so much so that society begins to depend upon a fixed number of "criminals?" Projecting into a dys/utopian future (depending on perspective), we would then have very good reasons to to lose the "war against drugs." Who would do the work for us? Pedophiles? Right now, they're not allowed to fight fires, but drug criminals are. Is this the official way of acknowledging that something is wrong with their incarceration.
When I went on jury duty, although the trial was ultimately settled, the judge told everyone who might have concerns about the case to come to the bench. Ever the honest Nancy, I made my way to the bench and informed him that I felt very strongly that drugs should not be criminalized. He asked whether I could still uphold the law. My honest answer was that of course, because whether or not I agree with it, I respect the need to obey laws that are in place unless you are committing deliberate acts of civil disobedience. Centrist of me I know, but I love the rules.
I am interested to hear what others have to say about this issue. Am I being a knee jerk liberal? Is it institutionalized slavery? Is my stance on upholding the law similar to a northerner returning a slave, but saying they disagreed with it? Am I overreacting? Should prisoners earn their keep? Am I missing something? Are their other texts that I should read?
In the interest of full disclosure, for those who might not know, my father was a crack addict. To the best of my knowledge, he was never arrested or incarcerated. I suspect this has a lot to do with his being a white man and likely enjoying a position of relative privilege even while succumbing to a life of addiction. My understanding of his experiences fuel many of my thoughts about drugs and the legality thereof.
[BTW, in case anyone is interested, I've updated the hell out of my food blog about not cooking, gayforcsa.wordpress.com.)
* Trouble with hyperlinks, here is the article: http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0711/p01s02-usgn.html
Last fall semester, my professor, Richard Hoffman, brought to my attention the issue of prison labor. Specifically he sighted the example of prisons contracting out their inmate population to serve as call center representatives for various companies. Richard drew a direct parallel between putting black men in prison on "drug" charges and slavery. Although this isn't an issue I've studied in incredible detail, the parallels seem fairly obvious. I've also long since been aware and enraged by the discrepancy in sentences issued for being caught with crack versus cocaine. I read a quote years ago, and I wish I'd made a note of the source, about crack being marketed to Harlem.
The inmates fighting fires are paid one dollar per hour, have an unspecified amount of time shaved off of their sentence, and save California $80 million per year. Yes, it seems they are participating in the program by choice, but these inmates are essentially putting their physical selves in danger for a pittance. Michelle pointed out that fire fighting counts as a life skill, but with the length of their sentences, will these individuals be physically able to fight fires upon release, or will prison and institutionalized racism have used up the best years of their lives and spat them out back where they started? According to the article a mere 3 to 5 percent of the firefighters are formally hired upon release.
I've been thinking about this for a day and half now, since i first clicked the article link on my Google homepage. It's just not sitting well with me. The question of what to do with prisoners is a hard one, and I certainly don't pretend to have any answers. But, having them lay their lives on the line to fight wildfires doesn't seem that far off from offering a sweet deal in exchange for nipping overseas to fight terrorism as an auxillary member of a little institution called the army. Do we want to reach a point where our prison population is put to work so much so that society begins to depend upon a fixed number of "criminals?" Projecting into a dys/utopian future (depending on perspective), we would then have very good reasons to to lose the "war against drugs." Who would do the work for us? Pedophiles? Right now, they're not allowed to fight fires, but drug criminals are. Is this the official way of acknowledging that something is wrong with their incarceration.
When I went on jury duty, although the trial was ultimately settled, the judge told everyone who might have concerns about the case to come to the bench. Ever the honest Nancy, I made my way to the bench and informed him that I felt very strongly that drugs should not be criminalized. He asked whether I could still uphold the law. My honest answer was that of course, because whether or not I agree with it, I respect the need to obey laws that are in place unless you are committing deliberate acts of civil disobedience. Centrist of me I know, but I love the rules.
I am interested to hear what others have to say about this issue. Am I being a knee jerk liberal? Is it institutionalized slavery? Is my stance on upholding the law similar to a northerner returning a slave, but saying they disagreed with it? Am I overreacting? Should prisoners earn their keep? Am I missing something? Are their other texts that I should read?
In the interest of full disclosure, for those who might not know, my father was a crack addict. To the best of my knowledge, he was never arrested or incarcerated. I suspect this has a lot to do with his being a white man and likely enjoying a position of relative privilege even while succumbing to a life of addiction. My understanding of his experiences fuel many of my thoughts about drugs and the legality thereof.
[BTW, in case anyone is interested, I've updated the hell out of my food blog about not cooking, gayforcsa.wordpress.com.)
* Trouble with hyperlinks, here is the article: http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0711/p01s02-usgn.html