This is the third part in the six-part series about the US Prison system and the long reaching grip it has on our economy, our judicial system, politics and more.
Ties To Politics, The Economy and You
Many Americans have always believed that as long as they 'keep their nose clean' that they are safe from imprisonment. One need only watch the news to see that this is not entirely true. Find yourself in the wrong place at the wrong time and you may end-up charged with a crime that you not only didn't commit, but you can even denied bail hearings for as long as a month in some jurisdictions.What happens to the average person's life in a month? Most people in America are now living paycheck to paycheck. After being incarcerated, many get out – sometimes having been completely exonerated – only to find that they have no job now, all their bills are a month behind (or more if they were already struggling) and eviction processes have begun on their rental. Missing a mortgage payment is a black mark on credit that cannot be repaired until it disappears and lowers credit scores horribly. Most marks like this will remain on your credit for up to seven years.
For some people, being arrested and jailed for up to a month may be what puts them on the street and literally turns them into homeless people. In one month, you may come home and find your car repossessed, notice to vacate on your door and no job. Not to mention that you are now most likely facing fines, court costs and probation – even if you were innocent. Many people finally enter into plea bargains so that they can gain freedom, after being told that “if” they are found guilty, they may be facing months or even years behind bars. This is typically enough to scare most people into taking a plea and probation even when they know they are innocent.
Probation means that you are assigned a probation officer that you must report to at given time intervals and pay “probation costs” to. This can range but is typically no less than $50 per visit. Court costs on top of this probation cost can also range, but typically amounts to at least $2000 for most people. Again, I stress that many people who are paying these expenses were, in fact, not guilty. They agree to plea arrangements to finally get out of jail, after having been held for long periods of time and then frightened into thinking that they could be found guilty and have to spend more time in this institution if they are found guilty at a trial. This is typically enough to make even an innocent person agree to 'pay for their freedom.' Does this sound like innocent until proven guilty?
Politics play a large part in who gets arrested and who does not. This is easy to see when one begins to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Companies like CCA and Geo want to make money. In order to make more money, they need more prisoners. These companies use lobbyists to push their agendas in Washington, DC. By creating harsher penalties for certain things, like drug use, it is easier to arrest people on charges that indoctrinates them into the legal system. More and more juveniles are being arrested on charges for crimes that would not have even been considered crimes thirty years ago. This has simply become a case of supply and demand.
Case in point, Judge Mark Ciavarella, Jr was recently charged with conspiring to sell kids to prisons for cash. He was found guilty and sentenced to 28 years behind bars. Since 2003, Ciavarella had received millions of dollars in bribes. In one case cited, Ciavarella sentenced a ten-year old to 2 years in a juvenile facility for accidentally bottoming out his mother's car. It was estimated that the judge had denied rights to approximately 5,000 juveniles and sentenced them to unfair punishments. Many have since been released. The state of Pennsylvania has overturned some 4000 rulings having been made by Ciavarella since 2003. Ciavarella was ultimately found guilty of tax evasion, racketeering, money laundering and mail fraud. He appealed his original conviction but a federal appeals court on May 25, 2013 upheld the verdict. He was ordered to pay $1.2 million in restitution. He is currently serving a 28 year sentence.
What about the lives he ruined? We've already learned about the food issues, the lack of adequate staff that results in prisoners being beaten - sometimes to death. These things are also happening in juvenile facilities. Could a good kid go in and come out a bad kid? If so, they have been set-up to be a part of this system for the rest of their lives. Those who are not exonerated, will often go on to find themselves in and out of facilities for the rest of their lives. Only time will tell what happens with the 4000 who have been released due to this one dirty judge. How many other dirty judges are there? At least one that is also suspected at this time of working with Ciavarella.
Also accused of conspiring with Ciavarella is Michael Conohan. He awaits trial at this time. They both were said to have taken a combined total of approximately $2 million in bribes from the private builder of PA Child Care and Western PA Child Care detention centers. Child care?
If you were to break down these numbers, it essentially put a price on the heads of the 4000 sentenced but later exonerated children to $500 each. Not quite worth the $2500 that the adults in the prison system break down to, but this is the indoctrination. Do not forget that once in the system it is very hard to get out of the system. Juveniles actually learn how to be criminals in juvenile detention centers. Once they are old enough to be tried as adults, they find themselves in systems that don't let go of them easily.
Watch tomorrow for the next part in the series: What Happens Once You Have a Record?
