S treet Roots •
Commentary
Page 12
Jan. 13-19, 2017
Stick to harmful, regressive prison policy? Or embrace hope?
often the largest mental health “providers”
in Oregon and across the U.S.
This background is important to
he 2017 presidential election and the
remember because it helps us understand
uncertainty it’s caused make it
some of the context in the lives of people
imperative that we work in our
who are filling our prisons and jails.
homes, workplaces, neighborhoods, and Oregonians who battle mental health and
communities to ensure that our own lives
drug addiction continue to have their needs
reflect the world we want
responded to with incarceration rather than
to live in.
treatment.
As Oregonians, we now
Now our choice is whether we retrace
face a choice about how
our history by continuing to imprison the
we build that world. Our
conditions we wish didn’t exist or whether
elected officials will soon
we move to a future that builds the system
decide whether to open a
we need for Oregon’s health, safety and
second prison for women
strength.
or invest in other forms of
The Oregon Legislature convenes for the
accountability and
2017 session on Feb. 1. Lawmakers will
services that strengthen rather than tear
juggle tiiis decision while teetering the
apart families and communities. This
brink of having to open a second prison for
choice is a fork in the road of our values,
women at a cost of nearly $20 million
and our decision will reveal whether
during a $1.7 billion deficit
Oregon is a beacon of hope or whether
The threat of this prison is deeply rooted
we’re regressing back to a darker era of
in the racist policies of the drug war and
criminal justice policies.
our failure to support, those with mental
The 1980s ushered in the massive
illness. Native American and African-
buildup of prisons and jails as a result of
American women are disproportionately
failures in public safety and mental health
represented in our population of female
policies. The war on drugs played a
prisoners. The vast majority of incarcerated
significant role in prison expansion that
women have substance abuse issues as well
deeply targeted communities of color. Even
as histories of physical and sexual abuse.
with the growing awareness of the
The vast majority have mental health
devastating impact of disparity in our
conditions. And the vast majority are
justice system, African-Americans
incarcerated for drug and property offenses.
continued to be overrepresented in drug
Just when tiie nation began to wake up to
possession convictions during 2015 despite
thetragedyofoveiMncarceranon/Uregon
the fact that usage amongst ethnic groups
passed Ballot Measure 57 in 2008. M57
is the same.
increased sentences for certain drug and
Our criminal justice system also reflects
property crimes, and since women aré
our failed mental health policies. During
more likely to engage in these than other
the 1960s, in recognition of the harmful
crimes, they have seen the greatest rate of
impact of institutionalization on the
increase in incarceration rates.
mentally ill, large mental health institutions
Incarceration policies disproportionately
were closed in favor of more effective and
impact people with mental health and
humane community-based programs. That
addiction issues, but they impact others as
would have been a promising step in the
well. Most of the women in prison are
right direction except the funding for the
mothers and primary caregivers to their
smaller programs never materialized to
children. Families, neighborhoods and
meet the need. As a result, prisons are
BY SHANNON WIGHT
C O N T R IB U T IN G C O L U M N IS T
S
Shannon Wight is the
deputy director at
Partnership fo r Safety
and Justice, a statewide
nonprofit advocacy
organization
advancing public safety
solutions that ensure
justice, equity,
accountability and
healing to achieve safe
and strong
communities.
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growing recognition
across the aisle that
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dress the real needs of the
p e r s o n who committed a crimes
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and strength to rebuild
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During the 2017
legislative session,
Oregon can either be
a beacon of hope or a
signal that we have indeed turned to a
darker era. Opening a second prison for
- women, when so many currently there
" could more etiectively be held accountable 1
and treated with much-needed services,
would demonstrate our inability to move
past tough-on-crime and fear-based rhetoric
to do what we know is best for our state.
Instead, we can choose to be a signal to
the rest of the country that progress is still
moving forward. We can choose anti-racist
policies that strengthen our community and
families by not opening that prison and
instead invest in the services and
accountability that can heal. We can choose
to reflect the world we want to live in.
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communities are torn apart when we rely
on incarceration instead of other forms of
accountability and services.
What if mothers didn’t have to go to a
prison that was far away from her children
and community? What if there were
residential and community-based treatment
services that could address the real needs
of the person who committed a crime; one
that kept her close to her family where she
can gain the hope and strength to rebuild
her life?
Oregon is a state where we can make
this happen. In 2008,
we started down the
wrong path of
increasing sentences
f U i a t |f ffeere were residential
for drug and property
treat-
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