Beyond the Book: Mass Incarceration and Censorship

Ever since George Floyd was brutally killed back in May, and Breonna Taylor's case was brought to the spotlight, the Black Lives Matter movement has gained more traction than ever before. Perhaps it was the pandemic, or perhaps it was President Trump's tumultuous (to say the least) last year of presidency, but people began taking action. People began reading and educating themselves. People began caring. And while we discuss the inadvertent number of Black people killed by police (according to federal reports, they are 21 times more likely to be killed by police than white people), I feel that we aren't discussing a different pressing issue: mass incarceration. We are not only killing more Black people, but a disproportionate number are behind bars for life.

According to Jason Reynolds and Ibram X Kendi's book Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You, black people are five times more likely to be incarcerated than white people, despite making up only 13% of the population (2020, iv). Furthermore, black people make up 40% of prisoners, despite making up such a small percentage of the American population as a whole (Kendi and Reynolds, 2020, iv). According to the Equal Justice Initiative, only 200,000 people were incarcerated in 1972. Today there are 2.2 million people in prisons and jails. There are a multitude of reasons for this number, but the EJI believes that many people are put behind bars because they can't afford fair representation or the price of appeals. The criminal justice system is flawed, to say the least.

Furthermore, the EJI states that mass incarceration doesn't actually prevent or discourage violent crimes. Instead, we are imprisoning people with severe mental illnesses and trauma. We're not addressing the root cause. We throw them all together, have them serve time, and then release them. Hardly any education, therapy, or help is provided during that time. If you've ever watched the show 60 Days In you'll see exactly what I mean (of course, that show is about jail, which is for people incarcerated less than a year. Prisons are for people with longer terms/more violent convictions.).

Perhaps the most disturbing part of mass incarceration, however, is the effect it has on children. It not only impacts the children of incarcerated adults, but also children who commit crimes. According to the EJI, children as young as eight years old can be charged as adults for their crimes. In fact, it was only a decade ago that the Supreme Court banned courts from giving children death-in-prison sentences! Before this ruling, children as young as 13 and 14 were liable to die face a prison sentence so large, they would die behind bars. Again, before this ruling was changed, a disproportionate number (70%) of those children sent to die behind bars were children of color. Many of them faced mandatory sentences, which meant the judge had no power to save them from the arguably cruel and unusual punishment. Juveniles housed in adult prisons are nine times more likely to commit suicide (EIJ).

The issues of mass incarceration go even deeper, as it was revealed that many prisons face censorship. By censoring what prisoners read, we are preventing them from an education and all resources that could help them understand their own convictions. We're preventing them from resources that could help them get out. Resources that could help them help themselves. This pass September, during Banned Books Week, Pen America noted that the strictest bans were actually happening in prisons. Many prisons have cut off access to books due to "security" reasons beyond just content - they're worried about cost and delivery (Pen America). This ideology is a little shaky, however. Various studies have shown that reading fiction can increase empathy and understanding, as well as help prisoners have a better, safer, and more effective transition back into society. As seen in Just Mercy, reading law books can help prisoners better understand their own cases. It can help them appeal their own cases, as well.

I recently read an article about a publisher in Brazil that hires inmates to be book critics. There are so many benefits to a program like this! Not only does it get prisoners reading, but it also teaches them work ethic and provides a chance to reduce their sentence a little. The publisher even stated that the prisoner's reviews were well-written, creative, and imaginative. It makes me wonder why our system continuously punishes inmates, even after their sentence has been given.

Just Mercy

By: Bryan Stevenson

5/5 🥤

Book Review

"The opposite of poverty is not wealth. The opposite of poverty is justice.”

Just Mercy follows the career of Bryan Stevenson, a lawyer who works for a non-profit firm. Most of Stevenson's career was spent helping those unable to pay for representation and those who were wrongly convicted and/or placed on death row. While the story primarily focuses on Walter's case, Stevenson discusses tidbits from other cases throughout the novel.

Many of the cases revolve around black men who are so blatantly framed and wrongly accused, it's difficult to believe this book isn't a work of fiction. Many of the men face death row, even for non-violent crimes. Other cases follow children, many of whom did commit atrocious crimes, but for either valid reasons or because they were so young. These children face life in prison and sometimes death row. Stevenson discusses how the US is one of the only countries that prosecutes children to such an extent. As Stevenson works to free the wrongly accused, he notices they all have one thing in common: they live in poverty. Stevenson argues that the justice system may not be as just as we want to believe it is.

This book had me laughing and crying, but I was angry about 75% of the time reading it. So many issues were presented throughout, and it's hard not to see how unjust our criminal "justice" system can be. I minored in criminal justice, so the system is something that's more of a passion interest. I considered being a lawyer, but I don't like how you have to choose a side and potentially defend a guilty person or prosecute and innocent one. Anyway, this book would be interesting for those who don't even have a criminal justice background.

When I was reading it, I honestly thought I was reading something from the 1960s... but no, most of Stevenson's cases were from the late 1990s and early 2000s. It's crazy to think this blatant display of racism went unchecked only a decade or two earlier. It shows how much work still needs to be done...

I'm going to be honest. I was pro-death penalty before reading this book because I thought some crimes deserved a capital punishment. However, the scenes in which Stevenson discussed the process of the death penalty, I actually felt like I was going to throw up. It sounded so inhumane and cruel... I could barely stomach listening to it, which made me wonder how I could possible support it. Then, Stevenson discussed the amount of innocent people and children on death row, and I just knew that I could no longer support such a punishment.

I firmly believe jails and prisons should be used as rehabilitation centers. They should be used to educate prisoners and teach them how to survive in the world without committing crimes and feeling desperate. I know this sounds like a pipe dream, but there are some cases where this is already happening. In fact, some prisoners are becoming book critics, and it's been proven to help increase their knowledge and willingness to work and improve themselves. Not to mention, reading has its own benefits, such as increasing empathy and understanding in readers.

Aside from that tangent, Just Mercy truly made me want to go out and change the world. As I thought "oh, I'm just a librarian," I realized that I still can change the world. I can use books to increase understanding and improve knowledge. If I don't become a school librarian, I am strongly considering juvenile detention centers. I urge you to find a way that you can positively influence youth, too. It doesn't take being a lawyer to make a difference and break cycles. Find what you're passionate about and use it to make a difference. And try to stop injustices when you see them. This can be writing an article, joining a march, displaying a book, or just starting a conversation. Bringing attention to the issues will help. You must walk before you can run.

Sources

Kendi, Ibram X. and Reynolds, Jason. Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You. Little Brown Books for Young Readers. 2020

Equal Justice Initiative. "Children in Adult Prisons." 2020. Retrieved from here.

Equal Justice Initiative. "Criminal Justice Reform." 2020. Retrieved from here.

Pen America. "Literature Locked Up." Pen.org 2020. Retrieved from here.

"Publisher Hires Brazilian Prisoners as Book Critics." Branding News. 2018. Retrieved from here.