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M arc H. M o r iai .
W hat hap p en s
behind bars in thejails
and prisons o f this
nation d o e sn 't stay
there. It trickles out
into the com m unity.
Every year, 13.5 m il
lion people — a disproportionate
num ber o f them African American
— pass through our nation’s pris
ons and jails, with a vast majority -
95 percent - eventually re-entering
society.
Some leave their periods o f in
carceration as hardened crim inals
anxious to return to a life o f crim e.
O thers do not. In the 1990s, harsher
punishm ents for drug crim es fu
eled the current prison population
boom . A nd in light o f the F B I's
recent announcem ent that violent
crim e was up2.5 percent in 2005, the
problem isn 't likely to go away any
tim e soon.
In our nation’s efforts to "get
tough on crim e," w e'v e lost some
o f our com passion for our fellow
man. W e'v e let cynicism under-
by
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Are you an African Amercian woman
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For more information about this research study call:
1-866-730-3211
ask for the Communications Skills Project
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T his research is being conducted by the Oregon C enter for Applied Science. Inc. with funding
from the National Institutes of Health. There are no sales or m arketing lists involved.
mine our hope that rehabilitation is physical violence.
In the 1960s in my hom e state of
possible for all people.
All hum an beings deserve a Louisiana, the m axim um -security
modicum o f respect and dignity. state penitentiary in A ngola had a
But in our nation’s pris reputation for being "A m erica's
ons, you really have to bloodiest prison.” I d o n 't know
w onder if that standard is what prison carries that distinction
being upheld. Inhum ane today, but it is no longer Angola.
conditions - driven by over T hat prison’s fundam ental institu
crow ding, financial woes tional culture has been profoundly
and understaffing
have transformed.
pushed some prisons to the
boiling point. T h ey 're not
p la ce s w h ere p riso n ers
have a decent chance at rehabilita
tion. They are places w here crim i
nals become more efficient and vio
lent.
Mind you, corrections is a tough
E veryone w ho w orks at A ngola
profession. C orrections officers
often work long shifts in tense, treats p riso n ers w ith dig n ity and
o v ercro w d ed fac ilities w ithout resp e ct, and p riso n ers are e x
enough backup, support or train p ected to recip ro cate that tre a t
ing. Many wardens run aging and m ent. P riso n ers have been given
understaffed facilities in which ex h o p e th ro u g h e d u c a tio n a n d
perienced officers are likely to leave m orally based pro g ram m in g , and
for b etter-paying, less-stressful resp o n sib ility through m e an in g
jobs. These pressures cause stress, ful em ploym ent. T he fair and reli
injury, and illness am ong the prison able en fo rcem en t o f the rules by
workforce and contribute to a dan sta ff and p riso n ers m eans less
gerous culture inside. The tension violence.
The Com m ission on Safety and
is w orsened further by racial and
Abuse in A m erica's Prisons re
cultural differences.
In prisons w here this culture has cently released a report, cal led "C on
evol ved, rules aren ' t en forced, pri s- fronting C onfinem ent," that high
oner-on-prisoner violence is toler lights a wide array o f dangerous
ated and antagonistic relationships conditions surrounding incarcera
can erupt into overt hostility and tion - the violence, poor health care,
inappropriate segregation, lack o f
political support for labor and m an
agem ent, weak oversight o f correc
tional facilities and lack o f reliable
data.
O f the 30 practical reform s rec
om m ended. institutional culture
change is perhaps most important.
Prisons need it if tools and training
help change the culture o f their
institutions. The program teaches
All human beings deserve a modicum o f
respect and dignity. But in our nation s
prisons, you really have to wonder if that
standard is being upheld.
them to resolve conflict through
com munication - particularly across
cultural and racial differences -
rather than violence.
In an era when everyone and
their uncle seem to w ant to "get
tough on crim e,"
I realize that institutional “cul
ture change” sounds soft. But pris
ons that add punishm ent on top of
the sentence will be violent places.
Prisons that treat inm ates with ba
sic hum an dignity and respect are
more likely to be places where vio
lence and abuse are the rare excep
tion and not the rule.
Marc H. Moriai is president and
chief executive officer o f the Na
tional Urban League.
Big Let Down on Minimum Wage
hom e all year.
about $ 10,700 a year.
T he federal g o v ern m en t has
M edicaid, subsidized housing
and free school lunch program s made it clear that the needs o f the
help fill the void that low -paying w orking poor are not high on its list
jo b s cause. W ith an o f priorities. As such, many states
increase in the m ini have independently raised their
mum wage, em ployers state's wage m inim um s, including
would shoulder more O regon. T w enty states and the
o f the responsibility for District o f Columbia have set wages
theirem p lo y ee's basic ranging from $6.00to $7.35 per hour.
needs, thereby low er Research shows that these slates
ing costs for the states have, for the most part, perform ed
and, ultim ately, you - ju st as well econom ically as states
Congress
ignores needs
by J udge : G re : g
M athis
The federal minimum
wage, currently $5.15 an
h o u r, h a s n 't c h a n g e d
since 1997; the latest pro
posal to increase it was
recently shot dow n by
U.S. Senate Republicans.
Interesting, considering
these same Republicans
had no problem voting to increase
their own pay each year for the last
several years.
Falsely claim ing that wage in
creases will cost jobs and hurt small
business owners, those that o p
pose the boost appear to be more
concerned with corporate needs the taxpayer.
Those that criticize a m inimum
than those o f the larger society. By
raising the federal m inim um wage, wage hike say raising it will CQst
the government will be able to lift jobs. But a study by the Econom ic
millions o f families out o f poverty, Policy Institute found that neither
improving the econom ic and social the I9 9 6 n o rth e 1997 federal m ini
mum wage increases caused job
health of the entire country.
A ccording to the C enter for losses. It's interesting that, w hile
Policy Alternatives, if the minimum sim ultaneously denying their la
wage had kept pace with inflation borers a salary increase, corporate
since 1979, when the rate was $2.90 chief executive officers sec no harm
an hour, it would now be ju st over in raising their own salaries. Last
$7.80 an hour or about $ 16.IXX) per year, executive salaries grew 25-
year. T h at's enough to keep a fam percent. A ccording to the institute,
ily o f three just above the federal the average A merican CE O earns
poverty line. At its current level, more in a half day of work than a
that same w orker only brings home m inim um wage w orker will take
It’s interesting that while simultaneously
denying their laborers a salary increase,
corporate CEOs see no harm in raising
their own salaries.
1
>
with lower minimum wages.
If the federal governm ent con
tinues to ignore the need for a m ini
mum wage increase, w orkers will
fall further and further behind. State
budgets will be overw helm ed as
local governm ents attem pt to pro
vide safety nets for workers. Fed
eral legislators d o n 't deny them
selves salary increases and it's time
they stop denying A m erica's low-
wage workers.
Judge Greg Mathis is national
vice president o f Rainbow PUSH
and a national board member o f
the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference.