Discrimination In Prisons

About 1 in 3 black males are likely to go to jail,while 1 in 17 white men are likely to go to jail. Blacks and hispanics make up 58% of all prisons in 2008. It is estimated that if blacks and hispanic people are arrested at the same rates as whites,the jail population would decline approximately 50%. This wouldn’t be possible because there are laws enacted to keep prison cells filled, in order for certain people to continue making a profit from these prisons. These laws are similar to the ones in the time of jim crow, are used as a method to keep blacks down just like slavery.They stop people’s right to vote,the right to serve on juries, the right to be free from racial discrimination in emploment,housing and acces to public benefits.Systems

Prisons are big businesses with cheap to free labor. Companies such “Mcdonald’s [use] inmates to produce frozen foods. Inmates process beef for patties. They may also process bread, milk and chicken products.” This isn 't the only company doing it but they are a few other popular brands like wendy’s, who also uses inmates to process beef patties and Walmart who uses inmates to “manufacturing purposes. The company “hires” inmates to clean products of UPC bar codes so that products can be resold.” Starbucks another company, “uses inmates to cut costs as well. Starbucks subcontractor Signature Packaging Solutions hired Washington state prisoners to package holiday coffees.”Other companies sprint, verizon,victoria secret,Fidelity Investments , J.C Penney,Kmart,American Airlines and, Avis. All these companies use or used inmates. Inmates also make military “helmets, war supplies and other equipment. The workers supply 98 percent of the entire market for equipment assembly services; 93 percent of paints and paintbrushes; 92 percent of stove assembly; 46 percent of body armor; 36 percent of home appliances; 30 percent of headphones/microphones/speakers; and 21 percent of office furniture. Airplane parts, medical supplies and much more: prisoners are even raising seeing-eye dogs for blind people.” This illuminates that Prisons are like free

First the so called drug war should be done away with.Another approach is to Indiana” exempted people with only low-level drug convictions from the habitual offender law… and “limit] the situations in which prior convictions for low level felonies can trigger habitual offender enhancements.” as done in Indiana. Texas’ idea of reforming “their habitual offender law so that low-level felonies (state jail felonies) cannot be used as priors.” should be practiced more throughout the U.S. The U.S. should “send nonviolent offenders to specialty courts or probation rather than prison.” Also bail should be made less or not needed for people who didn’t commit a crime, but arrest wrongfully. People might argue that people shouldn’t be let loose if they committed crime and prisons help with the economy but some crimes are over sentenced bases on where the person came from or their race. Also the jobs prisoners could be giving to everyday people and that should support the economy and give more benefits from taxes.These solutions would reduce the number of mass incarceration. It would help with a prison reform and reduce the amount of people in prisons. Humans are not meant to be locked up in cages and