No one even bothered to respond to my post, Prisons & Non-Prisons," perhaps finding to tax their limited historical and social imaginations. It's much easier to fantasize a world in which cannibalistic child-molesters roam unmolested, or, ignoring what I said in either post, take for granted that such a propossal must be aimed at the distant future and therefore discarded as utopian.
On the contrary, I stick to my refusal to draw up recipes for the cookshops of the future. I propose that _now_, within current capitalist conditions, prisons be abolished. Prisons are an institution, a historically determinate institution, and in no way can one define them simply as "areas of confinement." Abolishing them completely would still, obviously, leave the necessity for confing the liberty of some members of society, but it would also require leaving free to move about (with probably further restrictions for some) the bulk of those currently confined to the torture chambers maintained by federal, state, & local authorities.
Probably, except for Chuck and Joanna, most of those responding were simply unwilling to acknowedge the actual reality of prisons and jails, therefore leaviang them free to remain in their naïve equation of prisons with confinement.
Prisons are not a means to control crime, if one defines crime as behavior dangerous to the well-being of the population at large. In fact they almost certainly violent crime bu individuals who would otherwise have been incarcerated, but it would also almost certainly reduce the toal number of violent crimes, by reducing the number of violent criminals now being created by the criminal justice system. So at least by utilitarian criteria it would immediately lead to the greatst good for the greatest number.
Prisons also corrupt a large sector of workers - prison staff. The events at Abu Ghraib were no surpise to those familiar with conditions in U.S. prisons. Those who favor retention of the prisons have to accept responsibility for enocouraging such torture as a normal feature of U.S. life, and the presence in our midst of thousands of prison employees who have been taught to so behave.
I hope no one argues that the system should be kept but reformed. __That_ is truly utopian.
As has been noted, much crime is created by laws, drug crimes being a notable instance. The War on Drugs must of course stop immediately. But all petty 'crime' must be decrimalized. Intelligent authorities should have no difficulty in building alternative methds of control. Surely the cost of a considerable increase in shop-lifting would be more than compensated for by the closing of county jails and state prisons, even assuming some significant increase in other methods of control.
For the irreducible minimum of those who must be confined, places of confinement must be above all pleasant for their inmates, deprivation of freedom of movement being more than sufficient "punishment." It is the size of penal institutions and their use as institutions of toruture that makes confinement difficult and requires the absurd lengths to which prison security is carried. Civilized places of confinement (resorts as it were) with smaller populations would make security relatively simple and cheap.
Already some methods of control without incarceration are in practice, but are used far too little and accompanied by far too many featuares which serve only to make the person's life as difficult as possible while not adding in the least to the effectiveness of control.
But of course my original post did not go this far. It simply declared that one criterion for the appearance of a real left in the u.s. would be that such a left would demand abolition of prisons. One of the great advantages of that demand (and I repeat, it is not intended as a "transitional demand" but an immediate change) would be that in defending it, leftists would be forced to learn more about the prison system _and_ explore more fully just what are the real functions the u.s. prison system.
I include below both of my earlier posts.
Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] Angela-a-Day
shag wrote: I've never read her on prisons -- she notes that there is a double-edginess to the prison and u.s. democracy.
I've both read her and heard her speak on prisons. That is my point of departure for arguing that one benchmark of the appearance of an actual left in the u.S. will be that one of its central demands will be for the abolition of prisons. There is no way to reform that system, for a number of reasons. And prisons create far more crime than they prevent. Also abolishing prisons would carry with it the abolition of the war on drugs at the same time it would contribute to solving the fiscal problems of the states, counties, and municipalities.
+++++
Subject: Prisons & Non-Prisons
What is a Prison.
Essentially, it is Organization for Continuous Torture of Human Beings.
Consider a Resort Hotel, a fairly luxurious one.
It differs from the ordinary resort hotel in one respect and one respect only: the residents may not leave, except under conditions established by those who placed them in this luxurious environment.
Is it it a Prison?
Carrol