Prison growth hurts kids

1.5 million children in the united states have a parent in prison 
according to a Justice Deartment report released August 30. This 
is a 60% increase from 1991, paralleling he 62% increase in 
prisoneres during the 1990s. These children represent 3.6% of all 
minors in the united states.

Imprisonment in the u.s. is a tool of social control used by the 
ruling class against oppressed nations and activists. This is just 
one part of a whole system of unequal education, economic 
opportunities, and discrimination that keeps oppressed nations 
from gaining equality in the u.s. These statistics demonstrate the 
far reaching effects of imprisonment. It is not just the men and 
wimmin locked up who are affected. Whole families are torn apart 
and already disadvantaged youth face life without a parent.

The prison system is not set up to rehabilitate. If it was it 
would encourage contact with families, one of the few factors that 
have been shown to reduce recidivism under our current system. 
Instead, as of 1997, 62% of state prisoners and 84% of federal 
prisoners were held more than 100 miles from their last place of 
residence. For families already facing financial hardship, the 
travel required to see their imprisoned relatives becomes 
impossible.

The impact of placing more than 1 in 4 Black men in the Criminal 
Injustice System extends far beyond these individual men. The 
effect is that the Criminal Injustice System is a self-
perpetuating system. No amount of reformist effort will eliminate 
the national oppression within u.s. borders.

Notes: Boston Globe, 31 August 2000. p.A14.