The state of California incarcerates its citizens at a rate of nearly 550 persons per 100,000 people in prisons, jails, immigration detention centers and juvenile justice facilities. California is imprisoning a greater portion of its own population than nearly every other democratic country on the planet. The issues caused by the continued expansion of the prison industrial complex are not only harmful to prisoners but to Californians, and it is a system that takes advantage of the public’s unfeeling attitude towards prisoners.
Recently, Gov. Gavin Newsom has approved approximately one billion dollars in raises for corrections officers and hundreds of millions towards prison building. Prisons are costing Californians an arm and a leg when there is a $38 billion budget deficit. Meanwhile, climate programs were slashed, funding for addressing homelessness and earmarked for universities was delayed and social services were hit with budget cuts.
The state of American prisons is horrifyingly appalling, so it would not be objectionable if this money were going towards bettering the living conditions of prisoners. In fact, the U.S. and its population are making money off of prisoners in a stunning violation of basic human rights. A recent investigation by the Associated Press tied major brands and food companies, like McDonald’s and Walmart, to prison labor. Hundreds of millions of dollars worth of agricultural products sold on the open market were linked to unpaid labor.
These are workers who cannot advocate for themselves if they refuse to work for wages that most people wouldn’t get out of bed for, it can be met with cruel retaliation. It can jeopardize their eligibility for parole or get them put in solitary confinement. They do not have the protections of American workers and have been purposely left vulnerable to physical and emotional abuse by their government.
This punitive measure goes too far, even though it is legal. The 13th Amendment, outlawing slavery and involuntary servitude, does not apply to these individuals as this labor is considered a criminal punishment. Despite the legality of this labor, technicalities don’t change the simple truth that they are being used and violated by their government.
Imprisonment, for nearly two million people, means being “warehoused in cramped spaces that lack fresh air, healthy food, natural light, proper health care, and connection to loved ones.” This goes beyond the temporary denial of liberty and goes as far as abusing inmates for their crimes. Solitary confinement, a terrifyingly common punishment for prisoners, has, in recent months, come under the spotlight. Data released in 2023 indicated that over 122,000 people were placed in “restrictive housing,” which is simply a euphemism for inhumane and empirically harmful solitary confinement for 22 or more hours on a given day.
In immigration detention centers, solitary confinement is called “segregation” in a horrifying callback to American racial segregation. They can be left isolated in small cells anywhere from days to years. International human rights law would define their treatment as torture. Research has shown that solitary confinement causes post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), self-harm, sleep disruptions and harm to cognitive function, among other deficits. Despite this, as well as the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) 2013 directive to limit the use of solitary confinement, government audits and whistleblowers have revealed how little solitary confinement has been reduced.
President Biden, despite a 2020 campaign promise to end the practice of solitary confinement, remains inactive in addressing the continued use of solitary confinement in ICE detention centers, to no one’s surprise. In fact, a report by the Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), Harvard Law School’s Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program (HIRCP) and researchers at Harvard Medical School (HMS) found there was an increase in solitary confinement in 2023. Solitary confinement has been shown to be deeply harmful; it cannot continue to be a punitive measure.
Despite all of the evidence pointing in one direction, Newsom has closed only three prisons while California Democrats and budget analysts call for at least five more, with a predicted surplus of 20,000 state prison beds in 2027. Despite a 30-year low in crime, these budget decisions have been legitimized by an overblown and exaggerated focus on retail crime. This money is not going where it is needed: investment in housing and mental health measures. Preventative measures take time, and investing in prisons is hauling California in a painful direction that will lead to the continued marginalization of ethnic minorities, intergenerational trauma and economic hardship.
It’s a sad fact that Americans do not feel sympathy for prisoners, putting their well-being at the bottom of California’s list. The belief that incarcerated individuals are deserving of poor treatment persists despite the widespread belief that the justice system often fails defendants and the people. California’s continued and increased support of the prison industrial complex is a major violation of its supposed values and the needs of all Californians.
