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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 2015)
OPINION 6A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2015 The problematic prison problem usually paid by the coun- reduce the population only ty but prisons by the state, to 1.2 million from 1.5 Founded in 1873 so prosecutors tend not to million. KDYHWRZRUU\DERXWWKH¿ The war on drugs does retty much everybody from STEPHEN A. FORRESTER, Editor & Publisher nancial costs of what they Barack Obama to Carly QRW H[SODLQ WKH URFNHW do. ing rates of incarceration, LAURA SELLERS, Managing Editor Fiorina seems to agree that far and ending that war, wise Pfaff says there’s little BETTY SMITH, Advertising Manager too many Americans are stuck or not, will not solve this evidence so far to prove any of these theories, problem. CARL EARL, Systems Manager behind bars. since the prosecutorial The mandatory-mini- And pretty much everybody JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager world is largely a black mum theory is also prob- David VHHPVWRKDYHWKHVDPHH[SODQDWLRQ OHPDWLF ([SHUWV GLIIHU RQ DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager ER[ +H DOVR SRLQWV RXW Brooks for how this destructive era of mass this, but some of the most that we have a radically HEATHER RAMSDELL, Circulation Manager incarceration came about. sophisticated work with the best data decentralized array of prosecutors, First, the war on drugs got out sets has been done by John Pfaff of with some elected and some appoint- of control, meaning that many non- Fordham Law School. When I spoke ed. Changing their behavior cannot violent people wound up in prison. with Pfaff on Monday I found him to EHGRQHZLWKRQHTXLFN¿[ Some politicians and activists Second, mandatory-minimum sen- be wonderfully objective, nonideo- suggest that solving this problem tencing laws led to a throw-away- logical and data-driven. the-key culture, with long, cruel and His research suggests that while will be easy — just release the pot pointlessly destructive prison terms. it’s true that lawmakers passed a lot smokers and the low-level dealers. It’s true that mass incarceration is of measures calling for long prison In reality, reducing mass incarcera- DKRUUL¿FSUREOHP sentences, if you look at how much tion means releasing a lot of once-vi- Back in the 1970s the increase time inmates actually served, not olent offenders. That may be the in incarceration did help reduce the much has changed over the past few right thing to do in individual cases, crime rate, maybe accounting for decades. Roughly half of all prison- but it’s a knotty problem. 7ZR ¿QDO SRLQWV (YHU\ERG\ LV a third of the drop. But today’s in- ers have prison terms in the range of carceration levels do two to three years, railing against the political establish- ne of Pope Francis’ most vivid observations to the joint little to deter crime and only 10 percent PHQW DQG H[SHUWV DQG H[SHULHQFHG The while they do much serve more than sev- politicians. But social problems are session of Congress last week was the danger of viewing to rip up families, in- en years. The laws LQYDULDEO\ PRUH FRPSOH[ WKDQ WKH\ obvious choices in terms of black and white. crease racial dispari- look punitive, but the ORRN 7KH REYLRXV H[SODQDWLRQ IRU The Pope advised them to makers don’t realize the damage ties and destroy lives. explanation time served hasn’t in- most problems is often wrong. It 7KH SRSXODU H[ creased, and so harsh WDNHV H[SHULHQFH DQG FUDIWVPDQVKLS “guard against the simplistic to the economy that a government planation for how we laws are not the main to design policies that grapple with for most reductionism which sees only VKXWGRZQLQÀLFWV-RKQ&DUQH\LQ got here, however, driver behind mass WKHWUXHFRPSOH[LW\RIUHDOLW\ good or evil.” last Friday’s Wall Street Journal seems to be largely problems Finally, recategorizing a problem incarceration, either. So what does doesn’t solve it. In the 1970s, we let This point was likely lost on ZURWHH[SOLFLWO\DERXWWKRVHFRVWV wrong, and most of is often H[SODLQ LW" 3IDII¶V a lot of people out of mental institu- a number of the lawmakers who In a nutshell, Wall Street was the policy responses ÀRZLQJ IURP LW PD\ theory is that it’s the WLRQV2YHUWKHQH[WGHFDGHVZHSXW wrong. ¿OOHGWKH+RXVHFKDPEHUWRKHDU buoyed by Speaker Boehner’s therefore be inappro- prosecutors. District a lot of people into prisons. But the the Pope. Their politics these announced resignation, because it priate. attorneys and their share of people kept out of circula- The drug war is not even close to assistants have gotten a lot more ag- tion has been strangely continuous. days are all about black -and - signaled there would be no shut- being the primary driver behind the gressive in bringing felony charges. In the real world, crime, lack of ed- white choices. Black and white down this year. sharp rise in incarceration. About 90 Twenty years ago they brought fel- ucation, mental health issues, family is what raises big money. Wrote Carney: “Before Mr. percent of America’s prisoners are ony charges against about 1 in 3 ar- breakdown and economic hopeless- It didn’t used to be that way. Boehner’s announcement, held in state institutions. Only 17 restees. Now it’s something like 2 ness are all intertwined. Changing prosecutor behavior Not so long ago, senators and Goldman Sachs analysts estimat- percent of these inmates are in for a in 3. That produces a lot more plea drug-related offense, or less than 1 bargains and a lot more prison terms. might be a start. Lifting the spirits congressmen realized that com- ed a 50% chance of a shutdown. in 5. I asked Pfaff why prosecutors are of inmates, as described in the out- promise was essential to prog- While the analysts said they Moreover, the share of people more aggressive. He’s heard theo- standing Atlantic online video “An- ress. H[SHFWHG D PXWHG PDUNHW UHDF imprisoned for drug offenses is drop- ries. Maybe they are more political gola for Life,” can also help. But House Speaker John Bohner’s tion, they estimated each week ping sharply, down by 22 percent and they want to show toughness to the fundamental situation won’t be between 2006 and 2011. Writing in UDLVH WKHLU SUR¿OH WR LPSUHVV YRWHUV altered without a comprehensive surprising resignation was in of a shutdown would subtract Slate, Leon Neyfakh emphasized LI WKH\ UXQ IRU IXWXUH RI¿FH 0D\ VXUJHXQOHVVZHÀRRGWKH]RQHZLWK large part about the new way of two-tenths of a percentage point that if you released every drug of- be the police are bringing stronger economic, familial, psychological doing business in the House. A from real gross domestic product fender from state prison today, you’d cases. Additionally, prosecutors are and social repair. By DAVID BROOKS New York Times News Service P Shutdown damages are real costs O Remember when Republicans were the party of business? group of recently arrived tea par- ty Republicans stand in the way of the speaker’s bringing bills to WKH+RXVHÀRRUIRULQVWDQFHWKH immigration reform bill passed by the Senate in 2013. That insurgent group, which calls itself “conservative” is itch- ing to shut down the federal gov- ernment over the issue of fund- ing Planned Parenthood. In their ignorance, these law- growth in the fourth quarter.” The projections of a shutdown damage are not hypothetical. Reported Carney: “The 2013 government shutdown cut be- WZHHQ WZRWHQWKV DQG VL[WHQWKV of a percentage point from real GDP in that year’s fourth quar- ter, according to government and private estimates.” Remember when Republicans were the party of business? Jeb Bush, ‘free stuff’ and black folks As King told an audi- cent work in the prior or ence at Stanford Universi- subsequent year.” ty in 1967, he understood The problem isn’t re- that the dismantling of t a campaign event in fusal to work, but inabil- legal segregation was in a LW\ WR ¿ QG ZRUN WKDW LV South Carolina last week, way, the easy part. It was stable and pays a living Republican presidential candi- wage, thereby pushing the structural racism, not date Jeb Bush was asked how he them out of need and el- written in law but on in the minds of men, that was planned to include black people igibility. harder to change. Bush’s comment also in his campaign and get them to He blasted “large seg- hints at the role of black Charles vote for him. ments of white society” men without acknowledg- Blow Bush responded, “Our message is ing the disastrous toll ra- for being “more concerned cially skewed patterns of mass incar- about tranquility and the status quo one of hope and aspiration.” ceration have taken on the fortunes than about justice, equality, and hu- But he didn’t stop there. He con- of black families by disproportion- manity.” He slammed what he calls tinued: “It isn’t one of division and ately ensnaring black men. the “white backlash” for being the get in line and we’ll take care of you $OO KLVWRU\ DQG FRQWH[W DUH FDVW cause of black discontent and shouts with free stuff. Our message is one aside in support of a specious argu- for Black Power, rather than the re- .S. Sen. Ron Wyden, on the unprincipled belief that that is uplifting — that says you can ment: That the black community is sult of it, calling it “merely a new plagued by pathological dependence name for an old phenomenon.” And D-Ore., is unusual in the the nation is best off when gov- achieve earned success.” There it is! If you let people talk and a chronic, self-defeating posture he declared that true integration “is modern American Congress ernment is crippled. long enough, the true self will al- of victimization. not merely a romantic or aesthetic in attaching a high value to the The Lugar Center at ways be revealed. Not only is there And this is not some one-time something where you merely add principle of bipartisanship — of Georgetown University honors a supreme irony in this racial con- slip of the tongue for Bush. In Bush’s color to a still predominantly white putting “problem solving and former Republican U.S. Sen. descension that casts black people, book written two decades ago, Pro- power structure.” You see, King wasn’t naively the needs of the country ahead Richard Lugar’s legacy of work- whose free labor helped establish the ¿ les in Character, he wrote: “Since prosperity of this country and who the 1960s, the politics of victimiza- oblivious to structural racism and of your political party, caucus or ing with colleagues on behalf of ZHUH V\VWHPDWLFDOO\ H[FOXGHG IURP WLRQ KDV VWHDGLO\ LQWHQVL¿HG %HLQJ how it cloistered power and inhib- any other group or pledge that the national good. It publishes a WKHIXOOEHQH¿WVRIWKDWSURVSHULW\IRU a victim gives rise to certain enti- LWHG PRELOLW\ DQG HTXDOLW\ KH ZDV WOHPHQWV EHQH¿WV DQG acutely aware of it and adamantly you have signed,” as he said in %LSDUWLVDQ,QGH[WKDWUDWHVFXUUHQW generations, as leeches only desirous of “free in society. opposed to it. It wasn’t about victim- 2012. members. If you let preferences stuff,” this line of rea- The surest way to get ization, but honest appraisal. Most Wyden again addressed the Wyden comes out among the soning also infantilizes something in today’s black people don’t want America’s people society is to elevate prescriptions, pittances or pity, and issue of working together this most bipartisan senators , 36th black thought and con- sciousness and presents one’s status to that of never have. talk long week as the Senate passed a tem- out of 100. Elsewhere in the James Baldwin told The Paris an I-know-best-what- the oppressed. Many porary spending bill to avoid a Northwest, senators who rate ails-you paternalism enough, of the modern victim Review three decades ago that he re- looming government shutdown. comparatively well for bipar- about black progress. movements — the fused to think of himself as a victim, the true It echoes the trope gay rights movement, and that “perhaps the turning point in Noting Wednesday that this tisanship include Sens. Maria about lazy “welfare the feminist move- one’s life is realizing that to be treat- self will includes $700 million in desper- Cantwell, D-Wash., 43rd and Jon queens,” although as ment, the black em- ed like a victim is not necessarily to DWHO\ QHHGHG ZLOG¿UH IXQGLQJ Tester, D-Mont., 23rd. a report last year from always be powerment movement EHFRPHRQH´$V%DOGZLQH[SODLQHG Wyden said, “This short-term Highly partisan U.S. sena- the Congressional Re- — have attempted to it, “if I took the role of a victim then I revealed. search Service makes get people to view was simply reassuring the defenders ¿[LVDQXQIRUWXQDWHQHFHVVLW\DV tors from our region include clear: “Historically, themselves as part of RIWKHVWDWXVTXRDVORQJDV,ZDVD once again, Congress has decid- Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., at nonwhite women had a higher la- a smaller group deserving of some- victim they could pity me and add a ed to govern by crisis. ... I intend 93rd, along with Sen. Jim Risch, bor force participation rate than did thing from society. It is a major de- few more pennies to my home-relief to keep pushing for a bipartisan, R-Idaho, 95th, John Barrasso, white women. This especially held viation from the society envisioned check.” Pity doesn’t dismantle privilege, by Martin Luther King, who would ORQJWHUP¿[WRSURYLGHIXQGLQJ R-Wyo., 86th, and Patty Murray, true for married women.” Furthermore, although blacks have had people judged by the con- but supports it. Pity requires a perch. for prevention funds as well as D-Wash., 83rd. are disproportionately the recipients tent of their character and not by the It rolls down. Pity reinforces imbal- ZLOG¿UHVXSSUHVVLRQ´ In the U.S. House from our of programs likes the Supplemen- FRORURIWKHLUVNLQ²RUVH[XDOSUHI ances of power. It can be violence operating as benevolence. This is precisely the kind of area, Democratic U.S. Rep. tal Nutrition Assistance Program, erence or gender or ethnicity.” Black folk don’t want “free stuff” a 2013 report from the Center on Not only does this completely ig- “public good” that national gov- Suzanne Bonamici is in the mid- Budget and Policy Priorities found nore the historical and structural ef- DV PXFK DV WKH IXO¿OOPHQW RI WKH ernment is best positioned to dle of the pack — 176th out of that most households with at least fect of America’s endemic anti-black promise of freedom: true equality of provide — stepping up to help the 422 House members , while one working-age, non disabled adult racism, it also misinterprets King’s access, opportunity and justice. Bush in an emergency and working Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, UHFHLYLQJ WKH EHQH¿W ZRUN DQG RI own understanding of this phenom- — and America — would do well to consider that. those with families, “almost 90 per- enon. By CHARLES M. BLOW New York Times News Service A Sen. Wyden is a bipartisan champion U to avoid future disasters. This is particularly appropriate in WKH FDVH RI ZLOG¿UHV DQG IRU est maintenance, which often heavily impact publicly owned lands. Unfortunately, we live in a lamentable time in American politics when a powerful block of blockheads in Congress acts R-Wash., is 150th. Clearly, the most partisan political party members who actively participate in primary elections and caucuses are likely to feel less happy about efforts to cooperate with “the other side.” But a majority of Americans be- OLHYH SDUW\ DI¿OLDWLRQV VKRXOGQ¶W get in the way of governing. Where to write • U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D): 2338 Rayburn HOB, Washing- ton, D.C., 20515. Phone: 202- 225- )D[ 'LVWULFW RI¿FH 6: 0LOOLNDQ :D\ Suite 220, Beaverton, OR 97005. 3KRQH)D[ 5066. Web: bonamici.house. gov/ • U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D): +DUW 6HQDWH 2I¿FH %XLOGLQJ Washington, D.C. 20510. Phone: 202-224-3753. Web: www.merkley. senate.gov • U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D): 'LUNVHQ6HQDWH2I¿FH%XLOGLQJ Washington, D.C., 20510. Phone: 202-224-5244. Web: www.wyden. senate.gov • State Rep. Brad Witt (D): State Capitol, 900 Court Street N.E., H-373, Salem, OR 97301. Phone: 503-986-1431. Web: www.leg.state. or.us/witt/ Email: rep.bradwitt@ state.or.us
