Looking at the man in the mirror

Prison is not a place that the everyday average American knows much about.

Though the notion that our citizens are oblivious when it comes to poor prison conditions becomes a bit hazy when you consider how many of us are actually incarcerated.

In 2008, America had 5 percent of the world’s population and 25 percent of its prisoners. That’s 1 in every 4 prisoners in the entire world locked up in American prisons.

Subsequently, with so many of our citizens behind bars, a question must be asked. How should we treat convicted individuals?

The bottom line is that felons are still people. Just because a jury or judge hands down a conviction does not mean their status as a person is revoked or lessened. No person gets to decide to what degree you are still worthy of basic respect.

Chelsea Manning, a former member of the US Army, will serve 35 years in prison for acts of espionage and stealing government property, among other convictions.

Manning is transgendered and wishes to begin living her life as a woman. But when she begins serving her time, the Army will refuse Manning hormone therapy treatment.
The Army’s mistreatment of Manning delves even farther into accepted mistreatment of transgendered people in society. People don’t understand Manning’s need to change gender, because most of us will never know the agony she feels in a physically male body.

But it isn’t just military jail where inmates are being unfairly treated.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana is suing the Vigo County Jail for failing to comply with a settlement reached in 2002 to restrict the jail’s overcrowding population.

The jail is currently holding 293 inmates as opposed to the 268 agreed to in the settlement.

The ACLU is also threatening action against the Porter County jail regarding issues of overcrowding.

Sheriff David Lain said he hopes to add 11 jail officers in next year’s budget, most of whom would be used to staff a third pod in the jail that’s currently unused.
It isn’t even that jails don’t have the adequate space to house Indiana inmates.
The problem is our jails are too short staffed to facilitate the space we already have.
Perhaps if we spent less time and money convicting minor offenses like marijuana possession and instead hired new officers, we could create jobs and more thoroughly run prisons.

Crime and punishment is an important function of our society. It safekeeps our citizens and attempts to rehabilitate prisoners back into society.

We can’t hope to accomplish that goal while jails at all levels of government receive minimal funding and continue to treat their inhabitants as less than human.

— opinion@idsnews.com
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