America Behind Bars: The Lock-Up Epidemic

In 1993, the Ohio National Guard helped quell a riot at one of the state's maximum security prisons, and helped spur a discussion about prison conditions. That discussion has evolved to include perspectives about why America's prison population is the largest, per capita, in the world. And more importantly, the means to seek solutions that help solve American mass incarceration.

The 11 day, 1993 riot at Lucasville, showed warning signs that are similar to signs seen today. In an April 5 2013 report, Columbus Dispatch reporter Alan Johnson quotes executive administrators on the arising problems within United States' prisons, and the seen before warnings of violent revolt. "It looks alot like red flags," said Paul Goldberg.

Goldberg was the head of Ohio Civil Service Employees Association in the 1990's, when the Lucasville riot occurred, killing one guard and nine inmates. In a conference call with other administrators and with the press, reasons for these kinds of conditions, and the subsequential riots were discussed, and opinions were simply this: The biggest problems are "overcrowding and understaffing."(Columbus Dispatch, A. Johnson 2013)

Beginning in the early 1970's, the United States prison population exploded. In 1970, the U.S. had 20,000 federal prisoners and roughly 180,000 state prisoners. By 2009, those numbers had risen to 210,000 federal and an astounding 1.4 million state prisoners.(Columbia, E. Drucker 2012) In a KearneyHub.com article, these stats are summarized within that 40 year window(1970-2009), and show alarming trends in mass jailing and policy.

In New York City in the late 1960's, and into the 70's, heroin use escalated out of control, for both public officials and drug users. The combative laws that came out of this addiction, became a national model and was a precursor to the "war on drugs" that gained immense popularity in the following decades.(R. Fraser, KearneyHub 2011) The war on drugs in New York City was particularly unequal, as blacks and Hispanics were targeted for incarceration at up to 30 times more than whites.(Drucker)

Since the beginning of this war-like approach to minor-ish violations that are classified as "criminal", the U.S. government has spent an enormous amount of resources to carry out this agenda. From money to man hours, the system of locking up all of these "criminals", has cost a disproportionate amount of money, compared to needed programs like health care and education.

The United States now has a huge economic epidemic on its hands. The laws and sentences that courts interpret are outdated and plain wrong. Criminalizing drug use, sleeping in public, "failure to appear", and other pseudo crimes, has overrun our prisons and jails, and has helped create an economic crisis that funds prisons instead of investments in children and education.

It has and still is, bankrupting America because of that ideology.