Are Prisons Obsolete?: Article Analysis

American Prison System

The American criminal justice system is viewed as a flawed system by many of its citizens. Crimes that are not as extreme as others tend to receive relatively harsh and unmerited punishments. Philosopher, activist, and previous inmate herself, Professor Angela Davis, tackle and criticizes our American prison system she sees as flawed. In her journal article, “Are Prisons Obsolete?”, she details the negative impacts prisons have created and advocates for alternative forms of rehabilitation and justice. On the other hand, the philosopher Montesquieu emphasized the importance of laws and maintaining social stability. He believed punishment should be proportional to the crime committed, and his liberal goal was to reduce

He believed acts of discipline would lead to both utilitarian and retributivist goals. He also had a solid liberal stance where he thought “… that any justifiable system of punishments must allow for the fullest extent of liberty possible by criminalizing only those actions threatening to persons or property or public peace and order, by protecting the rights of the accused, and by moderating punishments so that they match the relative degree of severity of the crime committed.” (Montesquieu, 216) It is also suggested that Montesquieu explored the right to punishment through social contact theory. A theory where the individuals being ruled and the ruler compromises with one another. The governed individuals yearn for significant security, and in return, the ruler provides security and has the right to punish individuals who violate the laws. Individuals must commit to obeying the rules and regulations established by the state's sovereign, and failure to do so equals punishment. Though, Montesquieu had little use of social contract theory when justifying punishment. Instead, he thought natural law provided better measures regarding behavior, and positive law breached the natural law and the standards of natural law. Regarding punishment, Montesquieu created a scale of punishments and their classifications. As previously mentioned, he combined

She further claims, “…there may be twice as many people who have mental illness who are in jails and prisons than there are in all psychiatric hospitals in the United States combined.” (Davis 3) She further prisons are failing to do their part, as there is no rehabilitation, and instead, prisons are institutions full of violence and dehumanizing people. Davis makes connections between early penitentiary systems and slavery and how “race has always played a central role in constructing presumptions of criminality.” (Davis 11) After slavery ended, the South could not grasp the idea of free black people and developed a system restricting their freedom. An example she provides is the Mississippi Black Codes. The codes were created to target black people by imposing social and economic control over them. The same principles declared an individual guilty of neglecting a job or family, running away from their job, handling money carelessly, etc… as a vagrant. It was coded as a black crime, and the punishment was incarceration and forced labor, which thrived from previous slave labor. Even when white people committed crimes, they had painted or dressed as black people, meaning black people were automatically painted a face of guilt for a crime they did not commit. White people were and still are