The state of California prisons

For the last 15 years, I have been a volunteer in prisons, teaching convicted felons in the field of sociology and running self-help groups. Most of my students are “lifers,” men who have been convicted of serious crimes like murder, rape, or burglary for which they have received sentences of 15 years to life and much more. None of them are on death row, and most are now eligible for parole, having served their minimum sentences. Often, they have served far longer.
Some are “three strikers” who are now able to appeal their convictions in the hope of overturning their long sentences. Thus, one could say I have worked with “hard core” criminals. What I have found is that the system of prisons does not rehabilitate; in fact, if people in prison are rehabilitated, it is in spite, not because, of the treatment they receive.
California prisons are in a state of dysfunction. Other states have adopted more progressive practices and realize that pure punishment is not the way to change people’s behavior. In fact, California ranks 18th in incarceration rates in the country because other states have found ways of dealing with felons without locking them up and throwing away the keys. Programs like restorative justice and alternatives to incarceration are but a few ways to unclog California prisons.
Making well-thought-out and organized programs available to prisoners creates incentives for the kind of transformation that society will benefit from. Not all prisoners are the vicious criminals we see on “Lock-Up.” Those who are young and still part of gangs are not ready for rehabilitation. However, when prisoners have been incarcerated for extended periods of time, a change often happens after they realize the long-term consequences of their earlier behavior.
Today, there are over 140,000 inmates in California state prisons. We are now at 175 percent of capacity, and it is only with the recent realignment that there has been a significant drop in that number. Many lower level prisoners are now locked up in county jails, contributing to a growing resource problem for counties and a programming nightmare for localities. We might have taken them out of prison, but putting them in jails is not the solution.
California prisons were put into receivership in 2006 because of the inhumane medical conditions. People were dying as a result of poor medical treatment, and the courts took over the prisons to insist on better medical care through the construction of improved facilities and hiring of experienced and well-trained professionals. The receivership is still continuing, although some progress has been made in fixing the broken system.
As more of the inmate population ages, greater services will be required for these older prisoners. Other states have established programs in which young inmates care for the aged population, or the most seriously ill non-dangerous criminals are released. Recently, a local prosecutor — for questionable reasons — refused to support the release on humanitarian grounds of a man with a life sentence who is 90 years old.
I have often said that we are a barbaric society. As a state, we still support the death penalty although all other western countries have long banned the practice. Death sentences have been proven to not deter crime. And yet, we persist as a society in support of such practices. Additionally, we support keeping people in solitary confinement for years and years, once again choosing severe punishment rather than any form of rehabilitation.
I and others in the abolitionist movement have our work cut out for us. This kind of dysfunction will not change in my lifetime. And yet we persist because we know that California could be a better place, an enlightened state with practices in criminal justice that could be models for other places.
Those of us who know and work with prisoners believe that “prisoners are people too,” and that they need programming and transformative rehabilitation, not just punishment, to change their behaviors.
Elaine Leeder is a professor of sociology at Sonoma State University, who recently published a book titled “My Life With Lifers” about her experiences volunteering in state prisons.