Essay, Research Paper: ETHICS: The Rights Of Prisoners

ETHICS: THE RIGHTS OF PRISONERS
an address to my grandfather

One question that comes to mind when considering the incarceration of prisoners is how
much is too much punishment? Many agree that criminals deserve the punishment that was set
for them, but many are not aware of the conditions and atrocities that run rampant through
these prisons across the world. Evenso, should these criminals take whats coming to them? or
are these conditions violating rights that every human being deserves? Is the treatment of these
prisoners what we expect them to be or because of the lack of media coverage and public
awareness, are there acts of brutality and injustice that we just simply can't agree with,
regardless of the crime? The basic rights that prisoners are supposed to have are as follows:
safe food, clothing, a bed, a window, medical care, proper hygiene, and exercise.

In the year 2000, the population of prisoners in the United States reached 2 million1.
Overcrowding in prisons is probably the most well known problem that prisoners face, but it is
never truely portrayed. Overcrowding is most severe in smaller detentiono centres in many
countries around the world. In some cases, prisoners do not even have enough room to stretch
let alone move and many have to tie themselves to the prison bars just so that they can sleep.
This crowding causes the prisoners to be more agitated and prone to fighting. So already, we
see that the right to a bed is violated.

Let me take the view of my grandfather for a minute. He believes, like many people (68
per cent of Americans for instance) in capital punishment and that the country should not waste
their money on feeding, clothing or even sustaining the life of those who commit crimes. Sure
then, if that was my view, I could see it being easy not to care if inmates were tortured by
guards and raped, denied medical treatment and locked in a room for up to 23 hours a day
without sunshine or exercise. He would say that by overcrowding prisons and by neglecting to
maintain the buildings that the country would be saving precious tax dollars. Well, maybe, like I
try to tell him every time he challenges me, that if we had a better sociatial structure and
rehabilitation centres that we wouldn't have so many criminals living in prisons anyways.

He should be happy to know that the Candaian and American economy benefits greatly
from the slave labour prisoners are subjected to. Corporations make huge profit when they
employ incarcerates for pennies per hour to work for their companies. The Oakhill Correctional
Institute in Dane County, Wisconsin is a perfect example of this occurance. Inmates crowd into a
makeshift basement factory and crank out over a million dollars' worth of office chairs per year,
in exchange for wages ranging from twenty cents to $1.50 per hour. The operation is run by
Badger State Industries and they employ 600 inmates which raked in a $1.2 million profit in
1995. In 1995, the total output by thousands of prisons in the US totaled over $1 billion
dollars, and that number has since greatly increased.

Even this, my grandfather would see to be a great idea. They have nothing better to do
then to sit around and make chairs and the companies would go overseas and employ 12 year
old girls in countries that lack labor laws if they didn't. They can save up the money that they
make so they can get back on their feet when they get out of prison. So in 20 years after they
are through, they would have made enough money in all of those years as any regular person
would have made in only one year. And that is besides the fact that that person was probably
not subjected to these horrible conditions.

Another well known fact is that prisons often suffer from major riots. In March of 2000,
thirteen inmates were murdered in Rondonopolis, Brazil. The killings occured when a group of
prisoners overthrew the prison staff and ran rampant. Because of the lack of protection, thirteen
people had their right to life taken away. On April 27, 2000, twenty-five people were killed in
Bogota's Modelo Prison in Columbia. The combination of overcrowding (4,700 in a space for
1,900), an extreme shortage of staff and plentiful weapons is what caused this riot. It is very
clear that inmates are not protected from other inmates and even prison guards. Many
prisoners report cases of horrible sexual and physical abuse commited by other prisoners and
prison staff. Some of these activities are actually part of the basic "reform" procedure. Chemical
sprays and electro-shock devices are often used when a prisoner acts out. These devices are
banned in many countries simply because of the risks that they pose, but recently there has
been an increased use of remote control electro-shock stun belts. These devices cause the
person extreme pain and can knock them to the ground with the push of a button. Pepper spray
and gasses are used liberally to control prisoner and in effect, those standing up to thirty feet
away from the target. A prisoner from Colorado, USA states that

I was sprayed with pepper spray and it was 10 hours before I was
allowed to wash. This resulted in burns and blisters to my arms, face,
chest and feet. For the entire 10 hours I felt like I was being boiled alive.
When you are forced to stand in the sun with no shelter, the
sweat from your body continues to reactivate this chemical agent
so that you remain in extreme pain.

Another prisoner in Texas reports about the use of pepper spray and sexual abuse:

The guard sprayed me with pepper spray because I wouldn't take
my clothes off in front of five male guards. Then they carried me to a
cell, laid me down on a steel bed and took my clothes off. They left
me in that cell with that pepper spray in my face and nothing to wash
my face with. I didn't give him any reason to do that. I just didn't want
to take my clothes off.

All of the prisoners are subject to survelance cameras when dressing, showering and even using
the toilet. Many people are also subjected to opposite sex body searches and getting
"gynecologically examined"4 every time women are searched.

Many people think that this is an often occurance, which it is, and is to be expected in
jails and prisons. It is used as a deterant and is widely feared by all, but the fact is that many
people are raped and brutalized in prisons. That doesn't make it right simply because it is an
accepted fact. But one fact that many people aren't aware of is that in the US, male guards
greatly outnumber women guards in women's prisons. Women prisoners report constantly being
verbally and sexually abused by male guards. In some countries, Haiti for example, men and
women inmates are held together in the same cells let alone having separate prisons. In
Pakistan, juevinilles are sent to the same prisons and police lockups as adults as well as
detention centres in Nicaragua, Kenya, South Africa and Zambia. Children are frequently abused
and raped in these situations.

According to Kantian ethics, this is quite the paradox. Although these people are being
punished for raping, murdering or sexually and physically abusing people it is now happening to
them. Even though some might say that they are getting a taste of their own medicine, just by
doing it to them, in effect, you are telling them that it is alright. But the truth is, that many of
these prisoners are actually not in jail for murdering or abusing people, they are in jail for
reasons much less serious than this. In our country and in America, drugs are a major reason for
incarceration. In other countries, it is simply from things like political protests and acts of
"defiance". In these cases, the punishment definitlely outranks the crimes.