4 types of prisoners in jail
misdemeanor convictions
awaiting transfer to prison
on hold for other jurisdictions
awaiting their final court disposition (approx. 60%)
defense attorneys
seen as lowest status in comparison to prosecutors, judges, etc.
history of the jail
Norman Conquest in England under Henry II in the 11th Century
Henry II sought to have at least one jail in each county under the control of a local sheriff
13th Century - all but five had a local jail
From the beginning, almost exclusively used to house the poor
Finances of the jail were paid for by the prisoners in it
Jails of London were used a brothels, criminal clubs, asylums for thieves
When prisoners began to run out, people would go out and get more to fill the jail
14th Century - debtors prison was used synonymously with jail
Most of the people who were sentence to jail were sentence there because of debts
Served as a threat to others to pay their debts
Ordinance of Labourers - passed in 1349 in England - to control vagabonds
Elizabethan Poor Law - 1572 - worthy vs unworthy poor
19th Century - jailing people for their debts ceased to exist - instead people went to jail for "contempt of court" - failure to pay their fines
American colonies
Jails were temporary holding facilities for short sentences
Had a system of bail
Originally established to ensure that the accused returned for trial - a pledge from families
Now, it is a money bail pledge
Bail bondsman
typically the accused pays the bail bondsman 10% of the bail (usually not refundable) to get out of jail
Gideon v. Wainwright
Supreme Court decision - 1963
Any person who is too poor to hire an attorney cannot be assured a fair trial unless counsel is provided for him
This is the first time public defenders were provided to poor defendants
60-90% of defendants need a public defender
___are far more likely that men and minorities to receive a bail amount below the bail schedule
white women
being detained in jail
more likely to be sent to prison
amount of bail is greater for ___ than ___
African Americans compared to Whites (having prior felony more adversely affects Blacks than Whites) (having higher education and higher income protects Whites more than Blacks)
bounty hunters
help bail bondsman by tracking down those who skip town
5 states that have abolished bail bondsmen
Kentucky, Oregon, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Illinois
Pretrial Preventative Detention
Based on who is "dangerous" and not granting them bail
Introduced in 1970 as part of the District of Colombia Crime Bill
Based on the unproven assumption that we can predict who will and who will not commit a crime
effects of waiting in jail
Cannot help find witnesses and/or evidence
Do not have easy access to attorneys
Separated from families and jobs and homes
Receive longer sentences
More likely to go to prison
Time spend in jail can be used as time serves - this can be used as an initiative to accept a plea
Deinstitutionalization
1960's - President Kennedy saw the horrors of the mental health system - wanted to get people out of state hospitals
Community Mental Health Centers Act
Moving people with mental health issues out of state hospitals into the community - those who didn't need state hospital level care
Those with mental illness kept moving out
1980's - President Reagan, in an attempt to save money, moved those with mental illness out of state hospital but had no safety net for them
People with mental health issues became homeless and, eventually, picked up by police and sent to jail
HIV
People in prison are 4x more likely to have HIV compared to people in the community - why?
Women have higher prevalence rates than men
Half of cases are in the South
Civil War
April 12, 1861- May 13, 1865
Black Codes
Began in 1865
Regulated civil rights, i.e. marriage, freedom of movement, choice of occupation, and the right to hold and sell property
Compelled freedmen to work
Unemployed Blacks could be arrested and charged with vagrancy
Also dictated hours of labor and duties
Working other than a laborer, farmer, or domestic worker required a special license
Some codes prevented Blacks from raising their own crops
Many codes prevented Blacks from entering towns without permission
Federal government suspended Black Codes in 1866
Replaced them with Jim Crow Laws
Jim Crow
Local and state laws that enforced segregation in the South
Demeaning treatment by day
Lynchings and beatings by night
Sanctioned by the government
Plessy v. Ferguson
Passed in 1896
Said that separate facilities for Whites and Blacks were constitutional
Regulated transportation, public facilities, restaurants, theaters, schools
If the law wasn't enough to keep Blacks "in their place" then there was always the threat of violence
Convict Lease System
Prison populations became predominantly Black after the Civil War ended
Private companies paid the state a fee for the labor of prisoners
After emancipation, many had to pay fees to cover the cost of prosecuting and detaining county arrestees
Prisoners who could not pay their fees were sentenced to serve extra time and pay their fees with their labor
Many were charged with petty crimes: vagrancy, loitering, trespassing, and many were falsely accussed
1866, the Governor of Alabama leased the penitentiary to a contractor who was charged the sum of $5 and given a sizeable loan
The legislature granted him permission to work prisoners outside the wall
Tennessee leased convicts to three separate railroad companies - convicts essentially rebuild the railroads after the war
1871, coal miners started to use convict labor
In 1884, TN leased all the convicts in the state to work on the railroads
"It would be more humane to impose the death sentence upon anyone sentenced to a term with a lessee in excess of six years, because the average convict lived no longer than that
In 1896, the death rate of convicts was 20%
Mortality rate for convicts in the South: 41.3 per thousand
In the North: 14.9 per thousand
Another reason for convict lease system - people thought that it controlled the "black crime problem" - which was an invention
1928 - The convict lease system finally ends
Chain Gangs
Developed alongside the convict lease system as one of the two major forms of convict labor
Vast majority of these convicts were Black
1995 - reintroduced in Alabama, Arizona, Florida
P. 82 - Joe Arpaio - Sherriff in Maricopa County, Arizona, first elected in 1993, voted out in 2016
In 2011, U.S. District Court Judge G. Murray Snow ordered the sheriff's office to stop detaining people solely on suspicion that they were undocumented immigrants, without reference to whether they had reason to believe they had committed a crime.
In October, Arpaio was charged with criminal contempt of court for resisting Snow's order.
heterosexual privilege
social, political, and economic advantages and privileges afforded to people who engage in opposite sex behavior and relationships
heteronormativity
the assumption that opposite-sex relationships are the norm
heterosexism
beliefs and practices that privilege opposite-sex relationships
homophobia
prejudice against same-sex behaviors and same-sex relationships - in families, the workplace, housing; in public and private
areas of discrimination for LGBT
Employment
Schools
Military
Criminal Justice System
Housing
Service providers
etc.
history of prejudice
Leviticus 20;13
Story of Sodam and Gomorrah - early mention of sodomy
Colonization of the Americas - Colonizers used Native Americans' difference in gender identity and sexual behavior as a reason to punish them and take their land
Both colonizers and missionaries used these tactics - for those they didn't kill, they tried to convert them to Christianity and conform to European standards of gender (Native men had to cut their hair and go to Christian schools)
Courts would use stereotypical attributes of gay men and women to convince judges and juries of their guilt
Gay men are emotional and jealous - they are dangerous!
Lesbians are masculine and angry - they are dangerous!
Trans people are inherently dishonest - they were born one gender and are lying, saying that they are another - don't trust them
prejudice in courts
Bowers v. Hardwick - Michael Hardwick was seen by a Georgia police officer have consensual sex with another man in his bedroom - he was arrested for violating a statute that criminalized sodomy (1986)
Lawrence v. Texas - Responding to a weapons disturbance, Houston police entered the private residence of John Lawrence - they found him have consensual sex with another man and arrested him for sodomy - Supreme Court overturned Bowers v. Hardwick in 2003 with this case - this case eliminated sodomy as a crime across the US
prejudice in employment
Of the LGBT Americans who have experienced discrimination, 47% have experienced discrimination in the workplace
- 12-30% of straight workers witnessed discrimination in the workforce of LGBT individuals based on sexual orientation
- 90% of transgender individuals have experienced some form of harassment/mistreatment at work
- Gay men earn 10-32% less than heterosexual men with similar qualifications
prejudice in schools
No Promo Homo" laws are local and state education laws put in place to prohibit LGBT curriculum in classrooms
- Currently, there are 8 states with these laws in place:
Alabama, Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, & Utah
prejudice in the CJS
3.8% of the American population identify as LGBT
- LGBT account for 7.9% of the prison population
- Some policing strategies such as cracking down on "undesirable" or "out of the ordinary" behaviors disproportionately harm LGBT members and people of color
- Surveys have shown that LGBT individuals are often faced with unfair and biased trials. Their sexual orientation is often used against them by prosecutors, judges, juries, and defense attorneys
- A Movement Advance Project (MAP) report shows that in 2015, 28% of LGBT individuals had been placed in solitary confinement compared to 18% of their heterosexual counterparts
- The same report also found that 28% of trans people in prison reported being sexually assaulted by another inmate compared to 2% of all inmates
- After conviction, it is more difficult for LGBT individuals to reintegrate back into society due to discrimination and lack of family support
death-eligible
It is the prosecutors job to show that the defendant is a deplorable human being - sometimes this means talking about them in a degrading and dehumanizing way - being gay or lesbian or trans can be a part of this
One study found that jurors in death penalty cases who express a willingness to hand down a death sentence are also more likely to possess racist, sexist, and homophobic views
They are, therefore, easily swayed by raced and queer criminalizing stories
inmate victimization
Among non-heterosexual inmates, 12.2% of prisoners and 8.5% of jail inmates reported being sexually victimized by another inmate; 5.4% of prisoners and 4.3% of jail inmates reported being victimized by staff.
In each demographic subgroup (sex, race or Hispanic origin, age, and education), non-heterosexual prison and jail inmates reported higher rates of inmate-on-inmate sexual victimization than heterosexual inmates.
Among inmates with serious psychological distress, non-heterosexual inmates reported the highest rates of inmate-on-inmate sexual victimization (21.0% of prison inmates and 14.7% of jail inmates).
LGBT and health risks
Once LGBT people are behind bars, they are at a higher risk for multiple health issues:
Infectious diseases: HIV, Hep C, tuberculosis
Non communicable diseases: cardiovascular diseases
Psychological
Substance abuse
Stress induced conditions
minority stress
Identify social psychological processes, such as internalized homophobia, responses to a largely heterosexual penal environment
Interpersonal level - high victimization rates of incarcerated sexual and gender minority (SGM)
Structural level - institutional practices that expose incarcerated SGM individuals to increased risk of poor physical and mental health - assigning trans people to facilities based on their birth-assigned sex rather than their gender identity, housing them in solitary confinement
victimization and health
Victimization leads to injuries and potential infection
Indirectly leads to stress-related illness, i.e. high blood pressure and obesity
Psychological trauma can affect depression and anxiety
Sexual orientation and gender identity are two of the greatest risk factors for victimization
race and ethnicity
Black people constitute 13% of US population
37.7% of incarcerated population
Among incarcerated sexual minority, 27% are Black gay or bisexual persons
34% are men who have sex with men (MSM)
Black MSM are less likely to disclose their identity compared to White MSM
SGM people, in general, are less likely
This makes them more at risk for health issues
where are condoms legal in prison?
Vermont, Mississippi, and California prisons (legal in variety of jails in US)
Federal discrimination laws
No Supreme Court decision has been made to protect transgendered individuals
Few laws directly protect gender non-conforming individuals
Sexual orientation anti-discrimination laws do not include transgendered individuals
Multiple recent court cases have decided that discrimination against 'sex' includes transgendered individuals but has not been widely enforced.
There are many work-arounds (not citing trans status as reason for discrimination)
LGBT stats in Alabama
Total population: 4,779,736
Total adult population: 3,697,617
Total LGBT population: 103,533
Percentage of LGBT population (adult): 2.8%
Percentage of same-sex couples raising children: 20%
repercussions of discrimination
Housing = homeless
Employment = turning to illicit activities to obtain money
Education = no access to more 'elite' jobs that my not discriminate
Credit/lending = no loans to pay for decent housing/education
Bullying = higher dropout rate in school-age trans individuals
Health insurance = higher likelihood of untreated mental illness, physical illness, injury
gender dysphoria
Gender Dysphoria: recognized by the American Medical Association and American Psychological Association
Distress that occurs due to the fact that internal gender identity does not match external anatomy
Both Associations have acknowledged that there is "medically necessary treatment for this distress, which can result in anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation if a person goes without treatment.
'protections' for trans people in prison
May be placed in 'protective custody'
This means being put in solitary confinement for days, months, even years
Solitary consists of:
Single occupant cell
Up to 22 hours a day confined to the cell
No access to prison programs such as rehabilitation, work, therapy, and limited to no contact outside the prison (no visitation or phone call rights)
effects of solitary confinement
Alters psychological state of inmates
Brain has lower EEG activity which is linked to stress, tension, and anxiety
Higher rates of self-mutilation
Higher suicide rates
Mental illnesses are amplified
Increased recidivism
Hypersensitivity to external stimuli
Hallucinations
Panic attacks/anxiety
Cognitive deficits
Obsessive thinking
Paranoia
Impulse control problems
Sleeping problems/nightmares
PREA (Prison Rape Elimination Act)
was singed into law in 2003 and provides some outlines for protections
Housing of trans inmates should be decided on a case-by-case basis
Limit the use of 'protective custody'
Require staff training on communication and treatment of trans inmates
Improved avenues of reporting abuse
Bans genital searches of inmates if it is used just to determine their gender
LGBT youth in CJS
- 7% of youth identify as LGBT
- About 300,000 gay/transgender youth are arrested each year
- LGBT youth account for 12-20% of the population in juvenile detention centers
- Family rejection often forces LGBT individuals into homelessness or poverty which puts them at higher risk for engaging in criminal activity to provide for themselves
Estelle v. Gamble
Supreme Court case - 1979
Failing to provide the same level of healthcare in prisons and jails as is available on the outside constitutes as cruel and unusual punishment
Because of this healthcare for inmates has improved
mental health in prison
45% of federal inmates and 56% of state inmates have some type of mental health disorder
These vary depending upon who is doing the study and what questions are asked
mental health and gender + race
Women have higher rates of psychotic and depressive disorders
Men have higher rates of anti-social personality disorder
Whites report higher rates of mental health issues compared to African Americans and Hispanics
substance use + mental health
Between 2007 and 2009, more women in prison (47%) and jail (60%) reported using drugs in the month before arrest compared to men in prison (38%) and jail (54%)
Substance use has often been involved when women and men commit crimes
Compared to men in the criminal justice system, women who abuse substances were more likely to have more severe drug use histories and longer histories of sexual and physical abuse
physical problems + mental health
Those with mental health disorders and who are incarcerated have a 40% increased likelihood of having a physical ailment
They have a 30% increased likelihood of having multiple medical problems
(HIV
Hep C
STI's
Cardiovascular diseases
Skin issues
Stress related issues
Obesity)
employment status/income + mental health
People with mental illness have high rates of unemployment and low rates of legitimate sources of income
Studies have found that women in the criminal justice system tended to make less money and have shorter and more sporadic employment histories.
Compared to men, women in one urban jail were more likely to be renters (39.1% of women vs. 29.6% of men), live with another person (57.1% vs. 50.6%), and be unemployed prior to entering jail (78.9% vs. 53.8%)
homelessness and mental health
Mentally ill inmates are twice as likely to be homeless
Incarcerated is then likely to lead to homelessness
The cycle continues
trauma + mental health
Between 17% and 24% of individuals in federal, state, and local facilities have histories of trauma
Women are four times as likely to experience trauma compared to men
Being incarcerated also leads to additional trauma, as does interacting with the CJS - how might this lead to more trauma?
suicide and mental health
Of those who have attempted suicide in jail or prison, between 33% and 95% have a mental illness
Significant risk factors include: depression, hopelessness, prior suicide attempt, having a history of having a psychiatric disorder, substance abuse, and recent psychosocial stressors
interpersonal skills +mental health
Listen
Empathize (not sympathize)
Reflect feelings/thoughts
Paraphrase information
Be authentic