OpEdNews » America's Addiction to Prison Should be the Focus in Paris Hilton's Case

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Tag(s): Criminal Justice; Drug Policy-Culture-Laws; Drug Sentencing; Drugs Decriminalization; Justice; Prisoners; Prisons - Penal System
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June 20, 2007 at 06:43:18

America's Addiction to Prison Should be the Focus in Paris Hilton's Case

by Edrea Davis Page 1 of 1 page(s)

www.opednews.com

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The world is focused on Paris Paris Hilton's incarceration. The circus even triggered a campaign to remove Los Angeles Sheriff Lee Baca from office for granting Paris Hilton an early release.

Sheriff Baca is not the culprit; the real perpetrator is the malfunctioning criminal justice system. Thanks to overzealous prosecutors and the failed war on drugs, jails and prisons are filled dangerously beyond capacity. Some jails – especially in California – are releasing inmates after serving only ten percent of their time.

Minorities and the poor have suffered the wrath of an unjust system for years. Recently our prison-addicted society has inconvenienced a few wealthy white American's like Paris Hilton and the Duke La Crosse players. Their celebrity status should be used to draw attention to broader issues like the fact that the Dept. of Justice reported that over 7 million people were on probation, in jail or prison, or on parole at yearend 2005.

Rather than complaining about Paris Hilton's release, activists would accomplish more by protesting the biased laws that result in long sentences for petty drug criminals and cause such overcrowding in prisons that officials are forced to release inmates early. In 2000 the mean sentence imposed on federal prisoners for violent felonies was 63.0 months as opposed to 75.6 months for drug felonies.* The fact that murders, child molesters, rapists, and other violent criminals can get less time than non-violent drug offenders is alarming and a lot more newsworthy than Paris Hilton's ordeal.

Augmenting the prison population is not the only accomplishment the drug war can claim. Since the enactment of mandatory minimum sentencing for drug users, the Federal Bureau of Prisons budget has increased by 1,954% from $220 million in 1986 to more than $4.3 billion in 2001.* That same year, the California's prison expenditure was $4.2 billion, yet residents still live in violent, drug-infested neighborhoods.

Instead of questioning why Sheriff Lee Boca sent the confused hotel heiress home, citizens should wonder why he, according to the Los Angeles Times, is the highest-paid local elected official in the nation. Find out why the state built 21 new prisons, and only one new university from 1984 to 1996. Or, ask California officials if they think increasing prison expenditures 30% while decreasing higher education spending by 18% from 1987 to 1995 had anything to do with California ranking the fourth dumbest state in Morgan Quitno's annual state education survey.

The media could evolve beyond stories on Paris Hilton's prison stay and feature some of the talent wasted due to our prison-addicted society. Take for example, Kemba Smith, the Hampton student sentenced to 24 ½ years on conspiracy charges. Since her pardon in 2000 by President Clinton, Smith graduated from Virginia Union University with plans to attend law school; was awarded a Soros Justice Postgraduate Fellowship; and is the founder of the Kemba Smith Foundation educating youth about injustices in the criminal justice system. How many Kemba Smith's are working for the average .93 cents per hour paid to prisoners?

The web sites of the November Coalition and Families Against Mandatory Minimums feature compelling stories about victims of the war on drugs, including an article about twin brothers Lawrence and Lamont Garrison. They were arrested just months after their graduation from Howard University when the owner of an auto body shop was apprehended for playing a major role in a drug operation. To reduce his sentence, the shop owner implicated the brothers in the cocaine conspiracy. Despite the fact that there was no evidence of drugs found on the Garrisons or in their house, instead of attending law school as planned, Lamont and Lawrence are in a federal penitentiary serving 19 and 15 years respectively. The shop owner was sentenced to three (3) years.

Americans have become so desensitized to locking citizens behind bars, many people don't realize how barbaric it is to call for a troubled young lady to remain in jail instead of receiving treatment. Perhaps that's why the US has the highest incarceration rate in the world and the reason Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker would fight for Genarlow Wilson to serve his 10-year sentence for having consensual sex with a 15-year-old girl when he was 17.

I have a dream that one day this nation will look beyond race and class and recognize that our criminal justice system is terminally ill. It suffers from swollen prosecutors, severely infected police departments, a paralyzed judicial system, and a fractured legislature passing cancerous laws.

Paris Paris Hilton needs counseling; but our criminal justice system needs a transplant. The public needs to wake up from their celebrity-induced coma and focus on the real issues.

*US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics

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8 comments

A writer is a rogue goose. All other gees fly in a flock formation; every goose knows his place and time for honking. The rogue goose is undisciplined. He leaves the formation indiscriminately to have a look at it from aside. He roams back and forth, takes a peep at the leader, honks a little bit from behind, distracts everyone and writes on what he sees. Time passes and as he wants to return back to his place he discovers someone else there. Thus he either has to wait until they land for rest...

to see more of bio, click on member name
Mark SashineA writer is a rogue goose. All other gees fly in a flock formation; every goose knows his place and time for honking. The rogue goose is undisciplined. He leaves the formation indiscriminately to have a look at it from aside. He roams back and forth, takes a peep at the leader, honks a little bit from behind, distracts everyone and writes on what he sees. Time passes and as he wants to return back to his place he discovers someone else there. Thus he either has to wait until they land for rest...

to see more of bio, click on member name

Perfect

I concur fully and wholeheartedly.

by Mark Sashine (50 articles, 19 quicklinks, 244 diaries, 3453 comments) on Wednesday, June 20, 2007 at 8:06:45 AM

Retired physician now works with not for profit foundations on behalf of hearing impaired children, prison ministry, and Christian teaching via church. Author of soon to be published book, Life & Death Matters: How and Why a Southern Conservative Turned Against the Death Penalty, and one in progress, Conversations between a Southern Conservative and a New York Liberal: Can You Hear Me Now? Frequent contributor to news, letters, and op/eds.
Robert Baldwin, MD, MARetired physician now works with not for profit foundations on behalf of hearing impaired children, prison ministry, and Christian teaching via church. Author of soon to be published book, Life & Death Matters: How and Why a Southern Conservative Turned Against the Death Penalty, and one in progress, Conversations between a Southern Conservative and a New York Liberal: Can You Hear Me Now? Frequent contributor to news, letters, and op/eds.

America's Addiction to Prison"

Amen! Our society's preoccupation with punishment of all criminals, as oppsosed to rehabiblitation of many, has swollen the seams of our prison system. Over the last 25 years the prison population has quadrupled but crime rates continue to rise. The bias against blacks, the poor, and other mnorities renders the title "justice system" an anachronism. Hopefully writers/advocates such as you will continue to inject a voice of reason into the stewpot where the seasoning is racism and bias, prosecutorial malfescense, and bigotry.

by Robert Baldwin, MD, MA (2 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 15 comments) on Wednesday, June 20, 2007 at 8:38:54 AM

Edrea Davis is a communications consultant and the author of "SnitchCraft" a novel exposing corruption in the criminal justice system. The New Jersey native lives in the Atlanta area and has traveled internationally to cover media for several UN World Conferences.
Edrea DavisEdrea Davis is a communications consultant and the author of "SnitchCraft" a novel exposing corruption in the criminal justice system. The New Jersey native lives in the Atlanta area and has traveled internationally to cover media for several UN World Conferences.

"justice system" is an anachronism

Well said!

Thanks for the remarks. If we keep plucking at it, perhaps people will realize the criminal justice system is a reflection of our educational system.

Edrea

by Edrea Davis (3 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 3 comments) on Wednesday, June 20, 2007 at 9:13:12 AM

Lynne Glasner is a freelance writer/editor based in New York City. She has edited numerous books, fiction and nonfiction, many on political subjects. Her essays have appeared in Commondreams, MediaChannel.org as well as OpEd News.
Lynne GlasnerLynne Glasner is a freelance writer/editor based in New York City. She has edited numerous books, fiction and nonfiction, many on political subjects. Her essays have appeared in Commondreams, MediaChannel.org as well as OpEd News.

Hilton Addicts

Well said. But I would hardly call the noise machine that continues to give ink to Paris "activists." The media spin this kind of nonsense until the story finally dies a slow death and then move on to their next sensation du jour. The grim statistics about California's prison problems made headlines for a couple of days and then died on the vine. But Paris sells. Even the brief headlines engendered by Tookie Wilson before his execution were minor compared to the press coverage of Paris. Is it because we take less offense at the blonde sex symbol than at the black criminal (who, by the way, was not offered drug treatment and visits from a psychiatrist when he entered the prison system)? Paris and her gang are as destructive in their own way as Tookie before his rehabilitation. Tookie didn't have high-priced lawyers defending him and to the end proclaimed his innocence. Paris pled guilty and violated parole. Drunk driving has great potential for murder, only we don't like to label it as such. The public seems to think Paris is cute and likes to hear about her antics; the same public didn't respond similarly to Tookie and would rather not hear about the problems his case brought to the surface.

by Lynne Glasner (33 articles, 21 quicklinks, 11 diaries, 9 comments) on Wednesday, June 20, 2007 at 10:17:54 AM

Harpist, unemployed blue collar worker, and Bush basher living deep in the heart of Texas.
PappyHarpist, unemployed blue collar worker, and Bush basher living deep in the heart of Texas.

While I may agree with some of your points...

...I have to wonder why you would use the skank that is Paris Hilton to make your points. While it is true that she's the only "famous" person currently in J-A-I-L, not P-R-I-S-O-N, soon Scooter Libbey will be facing the music for what he has done.

I agree that the war on drugs, much like the wars on poverty, illiteracy, and terrorism are bullshit ploys and worthless PR campaigns. I also agree that mandatory sentences for certain crimes constitute miscarriages of justice. However, it is clear that we do need prisons. We need to protect society from its more virulent members. Only a fool would think otherwise.

Nowadays, when the only ones who are having their sentences contested are people of means (such as Paris and Scooter), to make the argument that criminal sentences are overblown is to make the statement that these sentences are only overblown because the criminals charged happen to have good PR agents, or plenty of cash.

It is clear that there is a need for revamping the criminal justice system. However, to use Paris Hilton as your reason for coming to this conclusion is completely ridiculous. I have not one Iota of sympathy for a spoiled rich bitch whose only talent seems to be making movies of herself blowing someone. I say, let her (and Scooter) rot in jail. Free those people who don't have the money, but have more to offer our society than a talentless rich bitch or an ass-kissing political toadie!

Blessed be!
Pappy

by Pappy (61 articles, 0 quicklinks, 11 diaries, 860 comments) on Wednesday, June 20, 2007 at 1:26:34 PM

FedCURE is the world's leading advocate for America's, ever growing, federal inmate population. We are working to reinstate parole; increase good time allowances; provide for compassionate releases; restore PELL grants; and opportunities for successful reentry into the community, for all federal offenders; and promote a system that incarcerates fewer people and provides humane conditions for those who are incarcerated or under post-incarceration supervision via parole or supe...

to see more of bio, click on member name
FedCUREFedCURE is the world's leading advocate for America's, ever growing, federal inmate population. We are working to reinstate parole; increase good time allowances; provide for compassionate releases; restore PELL grants; and opportunities for successful reentry into the community, for all federal offenders; and promote a system that incarcerates fewer people and provides humane conditions for those who are incarcerated or under post-incarceration supervision via parole or supe...

to see more of bio, click on member name

The CURE: America's Ailing Federal Criminal Justice System.

FedCURE's lifetime member and PBS film producer and Soros Justice Media Fellowship candidate, Allan Mason and BNNreports.com (Broadcast News Network), are documenting FedCURE's activities for inclusion in the production of a one-hour special news documentary film titled, The CURE: America's Ailing Federal Criminal Justice System (suitable for Frontline, NOW, or an independent special report for the Public Broadcasting System and their affiliates). The film would examine the ailing federal criminal justice system in the United States and the impact of two pieces of proposed federal legislation that would reduce federal prisons sentences and provide for tax payer relief by enacting smart legislation that would revive the system of parole for federal prisoners; and reduce run-a-way recidivism rates by enacting smart legislation such as "The Second Chance Act," reauthorizing the grant program of the Department of Justice for re-entry of offenders into the community, to establish a task force on Federal programs and activities relating to the re-entry of offenders into the community, and for other purposes. See H.R. 3072, H.R. 1593 and S. 1060, respectively.   We are seeking partners and funding for this film and to produce short VNR's for our upcoming legislative campaigns. Contact information below.

Federal Parole:

FedCURE co-authored the last two federal parole bills in the 108th and 109th Congress with Rep. Danny Davis (D-ILL). This year FedCURE drafted a new parole bill for Rep. Davis and to float around to other members of Congress who may want introduce the bill in this Congress. The bill is titled as "The Criminal Justice Tax Relief Act of 2007" (CJTRA). The CJTRA, would, inter alia, reinstate the old parole statutes and would amend certain sections thereof; making all offenders eligible for parole and giving jurisdiction to the United States Parole Commission to set release dates in accordance with applicable parole guidelines or the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, whichever is lowest. The amendments would also increase good time allowances, provided for reduction in term of imprisonment of elderly offenders and clarify parole procedures. Unresolved at the time of the draft and at this time are issues that deal with inmates serving life without parole (LWOP) and the system of supervision, i.e., parole, or supervised release, or a hybrid. The legislation would be prospective and retroactive. Finally, the life of the Parole Commission would be extended for twenty years.

To gain congressional support for this legislation we have identified four main selling points that would provide safe harbor for politicians to publicly support the bill.   First, "It's about the money!" and to famously paraphrase the obvious, "It's the economy stupid!"   FedCURE's draft bill suggests a preamble, right up front, emphasizing that the bill is estimated to save the taxpayer 4 to 7 billion dollars annually and 80 to 140 billion dollars over a twenty year period. Second, it is about restoring the constitutional checks and balances in federal criminal sentencing, which has been one sided post 1987. Third, it's about fixing a broken federal criminal justice system-- letting people out of prison who do not need to be incarcerated. Fourth, it's about everyone keeping their jobs in the executive, judiciary and the legislative branches--the courts continue sentencing, the USSC and the USPC stay in business, the USPO expands and the FBOP reduces prison population to safe, manageable levels concentrating on rehabilitation and re-entry vs. incapacitation and warehousing.

The magnitude of competing interests in the business of federal criminal justice is awesomely huge and complex. Finding compromise to satisfy these interest is paramount. The release of a "Willie Horton" or a "Terrorist" and the "Lin Bias" factors will always be at issue. Regardless. And there is no way to totally guarantee an erroroneous release, or to fully predict human behavior, albeit, state-of-the-art technology such as GPS monitoring and tracking systems provide for 24x7 supervision of certain offenders and go a long way towards satisfying public safety needs. That said, any scheme to reduce prison sentences other then an all-or-none approach is troubling for a myriad of reasons. And it would be unwise to create more then one class of post incarceration supervision, i.e., parole and supervised release, albeit, personally, we favor a system of supervised release over parole, in as much as a supervised release violation is a contempt of court proceeding, heard by a federal district court judge vs. a parole violation that processes as a revocation hearing by the USPC. We would work towards developing a sort of hybrid system of supervision. The CJTRA dose not mandate that the United States Parole Commission will have to set 200,000 release dates all at once. The Act, as drafted, would require a release date to be established early enough to allow for an appeal.   Moreover, the setting of release dates will kick the whole system in gear, including re-entry, to get ready to process releases and supervision.   Whatever the initial number of releases, be it 50,000 more or less, the number should by portrayed in the most positive light--as a CURE to an ailing federal criminal justice system.

Coming at this from a purely academic prospective is disastrous. That school of thought is responsible for supporting the enactment of The Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984 (CCRA), Chapter II, Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 (SRA) (sentencing guidelines and no parole), which academia now readily admit, what we all know, is a dismal failure. Still, the academia protest that it can be fixed without returning to a system of parole and a system of second guessing sentence and release between the judiciary and the executive that was abandon almost thirty years ago. This is based on the mistaken belief that it is best that the judicial branch has exclusive release authority over the sentences of criminal defendants. They believe the Congress failed to build a fix into the SRA, to make corrections, if necessary; and that is why we have the sentencing issues we face today, so they want create a "relief valve" by tinkering with the statutes in such a way as to spill forth piece meal sentence reductions. They want to do this prospectively, not retroactively. They are of the mind set that the moment you mention the word "parole", your dead in the water.

As prison populations swell with non violent offenders trapped by minimum mandatory and long non parolabe sentences, including life, we are bemused by all of this thought and by the lack of knowledge of sentencing law. We would point out here that is was a Democratic Congress that enacted Public Law 98-473. Title II, The Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984 (CCCA), Chapter II, The Sentencing Reform Act of 1984. FYI, President Reagan opposed the CCCA and stated that it was a bad bill, but that he had to sign it in order to get continued appropriations for 1985.   We would suggest that now is the time for the Democratic Congress to make amends to the people and to the system.

In April 2007 FedCURE met with the point persons for Rep. Danny Davis, in DC, the main sponsor of last year's federal parole bill - H.R. 3072. FedCURE also spent about one half hour with Rep. Davis. We are working on the new parole bill to introduce in the 110th. Davis's people want to take on a different focus then that of which we propose in the CJTRA. The main focus would be on significantly increased good time, which will affect about 70% of all inmates. The other focus will be United States Parole Commission (USPC) review. We do not want to go into details at this time because the bill is still in a state of flux. Davis had planned to be ready for legislative counsel by now and hopes to see introduction before summer recess.   However, we suspect that his staff have found the issue much more complex then they had anticipated. There have been a maze of amendments to P.L. 98-473 and other statutory enactments since 1984 that impact sentencing.   A mine field to the unlearned.   FedCURE's assets cover more then two decades of research, study and experience in this area of law. Having been through the parole process, we know the ins and outs, the pitfalls and what works and what does not. Moreover, what needs to be fixed. FedCURE feels strongly that the CJTRA is the way to go and is strongly urging the Congressman to sponsor the bill and we are floating the proposal to other members of Congress. Any help you can render to get sponsors for the CJTRA would be greatly appreciated.

The Second Chance Act of 2007:

Introduced in the 110th Congress on 20 March 2007 as H.R. 1593.   Just a week after the re-introduction of the bill, 28 March 2007, members of the House Judiciary Committee passed H.R. 1593 out of committee. The bill will now be sent to the House floor for consideration, which sponsors say will take place before the summer session ends. During the mark-up of the bill, members voted down several amendments that would have jeopardized the bipartisan support for the bill. Sen. Bidden introduced S. 1060, an identical bill, in the Senate on 29 March 2007. Gene Guerrero, Director of The Open Society Institute/Open Society Policy Center (SOROS) is the lead lobbying effort behind this legislation.

If you would like to support these FedCURE' legislative initiatives, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Sincerely:

Mark A. Varca, J.D., CIO,
FedCURE
P.O. Box 15667
Plantation, Florida 33318-5667
USA

Web Site: http://www.FedCURE.org
E-mail:       FedCURE@FedCURE.org
E-fax:           (408) 549-8935

Please Donate and Join Now: http://www.fedcure.org/join.shtml

Subscribe to our free discussion group e-mail: FedCURE-org-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

by FedCURE (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments) on Wednesday, June 20, 2007 at 1:37:41 PM

57Yo m I'm a "been there, done that! Bought the tee shirt,to hide the scars!" type of person Ive workedï¿½many jobs fromï¿½a chicken slaughterer to managing a branch of a multinational and many jobs in between.Raised in colonial PNG Left School 16,Grad Hi school 22 Night School, University 36ï¿½ BBus (majored in Psyche and Marketing), Dip Comp prog and project Mmnt.at 50 I've been in 48 different community org ,23 on board with 18 prez or deputy prez.First social campaign at 17 for the aborigine...

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Andris57Yo m I'm a "been there, done that! Bought the tee shirt,to hide the scars!" type of person Ive workedï¿½many jobs fromï¿½a chicken slaughterer to managing a branch of a multinational and many jobs in between.Raised in colonial PNG Left School 16,Grad Hi school 22 Night School, University 36ï¿½ BBus (majored in Psyche and Marketing), Dip Comp prog and project Mmnt.at 50 I've been in 48 different community org ,23 on board with 18 prez or deputy prez.First social campaign at 17 for the aborigine...

to see more of bio, click on member name

America is adicted to punishment...retribution

America’s addiction isn’t to Prison but to punishment (retribution). This is a manifestation of religiously influenced societies. The more religious influence the more severe the punishments tend to be. All violence tends to be fear based. Incarceration or execution is clearly a sanctioned violent act against the individual. This crime and punishment mind set occurs in authoritive (patriarchal we know best states) in the first instance as means of asserting authority (fear that if left unpunished it might lead the trespasser or others to challenging the ‘rightful’ authority, them). By maintaining conformity of values, Authoritive churches create the basis for punishment against non-conformists. A clear example of this is the Draconian attitudes towards abortions, death sentences especially against the young. Individuals that support the Black or white of an issue tend to be those who can’t or couldn’t be bothered to expend intellectual energy on non-egocentric.Individuals tend to support C&P simply out of fear and a need for security (real or usually imagined) Some see it as part of their self image of superiority “I’m better than them I’m a good person, I’m respectable, I’m special”. In reality, this falls down under scrutiny because I might have powerful friends, money, better lawyers or more probably haven’t been caught, yet. These people tend to break laws claiming that what they did doesn’t matter, the law’s wrong or extenuating circumstances. All this is to justify their self-image Paris Hilton clearly falls into this grouping. They are rarely interested the corrective services as it costs money they would rather have spent on issues that affect/interest them.Therefore, the objective is to some how convince all that it’s in their interests (the more personal the better). I would like to know who hid the key start up to natural selection so that Paris Hilton to escape evolutionary elimination. Then again, she could be a poster pinup for proof that Evolution sometimes has backward steps.Paris would have set prison reform back by 5 years most think she got off too light but it is the next logical step that will be lacking. Progress in real prison reform will only happen when the public see a personal benefit or by publicising the egregious mistakes where the victim has suffer too much not too little like Paris.

by Andris (4 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 531 comments) on Thursday, June 21, 2007 at 4:39:52 AM

Harpist, unemployed blue collar worker, and Bush basher living deep in the heart of Texas.
PappyHarpist, unemployed blue collar worker, and Bush basher living deep in the heart of Texas.

blah, blah, blah...

blah blah blah!

So are you saying that we should allow criminals to retain their freedom? Are you saying just because we as a society desire to imprison dangerous criminals, we are wrong?

Whenever I read the word "patriarchal", I immediately smell a heaping helping of bullshit! In this case, it's completely filling my nostrils.

Once again, yes, there are problems with the criminal justice system. That doesn't mean it's time to throw out the baby with the bath water. That doesn't mean that everyone who now rots in prison does so without a reason. That doesn't mean that every whiny malcontent in prison who snivels and bitches about their innocence has a leg to stand on, legally.

Quite to the contrary. While programs such as The Innocence Project do prove that some who are languishing in prison are doing so falsely, just as often, they find the case was handled properly, and the person in question was and is indeed guilty.

Isn't it classic knee-jerk American to think that because there are a few cases that were tried unjustly, ALL cases fall into that category? Yes it is.

Should the prison system be fixed? Yep! Have people been falsely accused, and therefore falsely incarcerated? Yep! Is the criminal justice system in this country fucked up? Yep!

Is it so in the case of Paris Hilton? NO NO NO NO NO! Fuck her and the horse she rode in on and blew! I have less than a drop of sympathy for a vacant, ignorant, stupid, skanky slut whose only claim to fame is making infrared pornography. I have even less sympathy for a clearly disgusting human being who has somehow been morphed into the "hero" for other spoiled rich bitch twats.

She is only to spend 23 days in JAIL. My goddess, I wish spending 23 days in jail was the ABSOLUTE WORST thing that had ever happened in my life.

Get over her! She's getting what she has needed for years now!

Blessed be!
Pappy

by Pappy (61 articles, 0 quicklinks, 11 diaries, 860 comments) on Thursday, June 21, 2007 at 3:10:31 PM