I wrote about Philadelphia’s Walnut Street Jail and Prison and the Eastern State Penn in In Defense of Flogging, but I had never seen the inside of Eastern State Penn…. until now! Thanks to having written a book about prisons (to be honest, it didn’t hurt that my wife writes guidebooks, but whatev), we got a little private tour .…
I’m generally quick to point out that there aren’t too many people doing long time for small scale drug possession. (Usually this in the context of pointing out that drug decriminalization will not empty our prisons.) But it does happen. And it shouldn’t happen. Ever. How is anyone in prison for 13 years for possessing two joints? It’s possible if…
And in case you were wondering, the cost of housing a prisoner in jail on NYC’s Rikers Island is now officially $100,000 per year! You get what you pay for, they say. $1.1 billion dollars. 42 percent higher than seven years ago. “During the same period, there was a 124 percent increase in assaults on the staff by inmates at…
Not too long ago I sent my Greek Americans book to John Kiriakou. He’s a proud Greek American and about as close to a political prisoners as we have. In his own words: I’m one of the people the Obama administration charged with criminal espionage, one of those whose lives were torn apart by being accused, essentially, of betraying his…
A du Pont family heir plead guilty to raping his 3-year-old daughter in 2008. From The Daily News: Superior Judge Jan Jurden sentenced Richards to eight years in prison, but suspended the time for probation that requires monthly visits with a case officer. “Defendant will not fare well in [a prison] setting,” Jurden wrote in her sentencing order. Well that’s…
New York City paid $167,731 for each prisoner last year. That’s insane. Crazy high. And much higher than even the highest estimates I had heard. The New York Times reports “83 percent of the cost per prisoner came from wages, benefits for staff and pension costs.” That means it’s not going down anytime soon. Rikers Island is overstaffed (despite what…
Of the twenty-five worst shootings in the US since 1994 only one was committed by an African American. The vast majority of shootings, twenty-two of twenty-five, were committed by whites and Asians. And these are the two groups most underrepresented in our criminal justice system. It’s entirely conceivable that African-Americans are underrepresented in the annals of mass murders because of…
A BJS reportreports the number of state and federal prisoners decreased last year by 17,264. This has been called a small step in the right direction (since there’s no reason the US should lead the world in incarceration rate and numbers). But what I haven’t heard, and it seems relevant, is that this decrease can wholly be accounted for by…
The massive overcrowding in California prisons has eased up a bit (thanks to court order). Of course much of the problem has just been kicked down to the county level, but the symbolic double- and triple-stacked bunks in gyms-turned-massive-dorm are empty, says the San Diego Union-Tribune.
The Sixth Amendment states, in rather uncompromising terms: “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury.” But the system can’t handle those rights. That’s why but a very small fraction of cases is decided by a trial, much less a jury trial (the other option is a “bench…