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.