News

An Interview with Noam Chomsky on Criminal Justice and Human Rights

May 20, 2014 No Comments

On February 5, 2014, Prison Legal News editor Paul Wright interviewed Noam Chomsky, 85, at his home in Lexington, Massachusetts. Professor Chomsky is the foremost dissident intellectual in the United States, and for decades has been a prominent critic of U.S. foreign policy, human rights abuses, imperialism and the media’s facilitation of same. He is also one of the world’s eminent linguists and has been a professor of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology since 1955. He was arrested and jailed for anti-war activism in the 1960s.

The author of dozens of books on politics, media analysis, foreign policy and other issues, Professor Chomsky was also one of PLN’s earliest subscribers and has corresponded with Paul on various topics since the early 1990s. However, in his books, essays and interviews, Professor Chomsky has rarely addressed human rights abuses in the United States with respect to policing and prisons – until now.

While Professor Chomsky agreed to be interviewed by PLN, scheduling was difficult due to his extensive travel and speaking schedule. It turned out that the day of the interview was also the day a massive snowstorm hit Boston, and he did not come into work. He graciously agreed to conduct the interview at his home, and Paul and PLN advertising director Susan Schwartzkopf made an adventurous cab ride through the snowstorm to his house.

We extend our thanks to Professor Chomsky for this interview and to his assistant, Beverly Stohl, for making the necessary arrangements.

• • •

PAUL WRIGHT: I think one of the things that’s interesting is I’ve been reading your work since I was in high school, and I would say that for at least 30 years now, 30-plus years, I’ve been reading your work and all the interviews that you’ve done, and very few people ever ask you about domestic issues.

NOAM CHOMSKY: Really?

PW: Yes. About domestic stuff, in terms of … you know, they ask you about human rights in other countries, but not about human rights in this country. I think you did one interview in the mid-90s which we reprinted in Prison Legal News.

NC: There are many. I don’t know what happens to them. There are so many, I can’t keep track. There’s several a day.

Call to Action: Prisology T-Shirts and Sentencing Reform

May 12, 2014 No Comments

Today a new project crossed my desk concerning the guys at Prisology — an up-and-coming prison reform organization created by noted prison law expert Brandon Sample and respected federal attorney Jeremy Gordon. This project concerns the U.S. Sentencing Commission’s approaching determination on reforms to federal drug sentencing and the potential retroactivity of any determinations. In

Prisology’s Sentencing Reform T-Shirts

May 12, 2014 No Comments

Are you looking for a worthy cause to support? Our good friends at Prisology have launched a creative campaign to ensure that the U.S. Sentencing Commission makes any revisions to the federal sentencing guidelines retroactive, thus helping not only current and future criminal defendants, but current federal prisoners, too. This project concerns T-shirts and selfies.

Should We Give Prisoners a College Education?

May 2, 2014 No Comments

On Monday in Austin, President Barack Obama reflected on Lyndon B. Johnson’s legacy 50 years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act. He spoke too about the policies his own administration has overseen and the civil rights victories of recent years. But one thing President Obama has not been able to tackle is the

Students for Prison Education and Reform

May 1, 2014 No Comments

By Bina Peltz / NJ.com PRINCETON — Students at Princeton University have mentored inmates at New Jersey correctional facilities and worked to advocate prison reform throughout the state. This weekend they are launching their first conference on prison reform. “This is the biggest civil rights issue that I can think of at this time, and

Angela Davis Advocates for Abolition of America’s Prison System

Apr 29, 2014 No Comments

Political activist and author Angela Davis, professor at the University of California at Santa Cruz, spoke to a standing-room-only audience about feminism, prison abolition, and civil rights at the Statler Auditorium, Cornell University. The focal point of Davis’ speech was the abolition of what she termed the “prison-industrial complex.” Professor Davis supports prison reform and cited

A Rare Opportunity for Criminal Justice

Apr 21, 2014 No Comments

By Dianne Frazee-Walker

Leave it to the baby-boomer generation to be a primary contributor of a new paradigm for criminal justice reform. After years of punitive legislation in an effort to cut-back on crime, young law-makers are having an epiphany about what really works when it comes to challenging high crime rates and lowering the recidivism rate.

Two major reasons for these changes are the almighty dollar and the fact that the current legislation is the first generation that hasn’t experienced the impact of Prohibition and totalitarian regimes.

Welcome to an era where for the first time in political history the right and left wingers are merging together with efforts to mend the present condition of the criminal justice system.

The current economic status of the United States is partially responsible for legislature to take a more serious look at how mass incarceration is causing state and federal budgets to continue a growing deficit.

The 2008-2009 recession forced conservatives to consider a more effective approach to incarceration.

Between baby-boomers who are tired of punitive approaches for controlling crime and generation X-er’s (born 1965-1979) fresh philosophies around criminal justice legislation, it is an exciting time to witness the most significant criminal justice overhaul in American history.

The Purpose of Prison and the Measuring Stick of Recidivism

Apr 16, 2014 No Comments

By Christopher Zoukis

In a perfect world, prison generally has three purposes: prison acts as a deterrent to instant and repeat crime, prison punishes the wrongdoer, and prison ideally treats or rehabilitates the wrongdoer so they no longer engage in crime. This article will address these three purposes of prisons, and show how the instance of recidivism can act as a measuring stick to the success or failure of America’s prison system.

The Three Goals of America’s Prison System

While law enforcement identifies crime and the culprits, prisons are America’s primary tool for addressing crime and other violations of the social contract. Prisons are where criminals are locked up and kept away from society, through the vehicle of a sentence that is ideally designed to match their crime — although, in reality, it rarely does.

As previously mentioned, the three primary purposes of prisons are being a deterrent to crime, a punishment to the criminal, and to rehabilitate the criminal. Let’s take each in turn:

Deterrent: One of the most basic purposes of prisons are to act as a deterrent to crime. Few people want to spend any amount of time in a prison, so the theory is that men and women will not commit crimes due to the harsh conditions of confinement in one of America’s prisons. The same goes for repeat crime. While there are factors regarding upbringing, need, and culture that still push people into crime, prisons are at least a moderately successful deterrent, albeit, this does not span all types of crime. For example, many who commit murder do so in a fit of rage or passion. As such, a possible term of imprisonment would not act as a deterrent to them.
Punishment: Prisons are also designed to be a punishment. While there is some debate over if the term of imprisonment itself is the punishment, or if the conditions therein should add to the punishment, prisons fulfill punishment goals while protecting society from the wrongdoer. Prisons are places where those that have committed crimes are punished for said crimes with a sentence that is believed to be reasonable given the crime committed. While there are plenty of problems with the fairness and uniformity of sentences, among a plethora of other criminal justice components, prisons do represent a moderately successful punishment, albeit one which in modern times is being understood to cause perhaps more social and personal problems than it resolves.

A Prison Alliance: Dog Trainers and Veterans

Apr 9, 2014 No Comments

Springing retrievers and puppies are not the first thing one envisions when thinking about prison. A Texas women’s prison is reforming inmates and lowering recidivism rates as disabled veterans receive specially trained dogs to assist their every need. This is all taking place because a retired rural mail carrier had the desire to train dogs

Female Prisoners in Kansas Make Dentures for Low-Income Patients

Apr 3, 2014 No Comments

By Christopher Zoukis Image courtesy prisonprofiler.com

The women of Topeka Correctional Facility in Topeka, Kansas are an interesting sort. While some sweep, mop, wipe down tables, or engage in wholesale janitorial work assignments, a special group of 8 female prisoners make dentures for low-income patients through an innovative partnership between the Kansas Department of Corrections, Kansas Correctional Industries, and the Southeast Kansas Education Center at Greenbush.

Founded by the Delta Dental of Kansas Foundation, in 2007, the dental technician program employs 8 female prisoners at Topeka Correctional Facility, all of which were specially selected by prison administrators for program placement. These female prisoners make dentures for Kansas Association for the Medically Underserved (KAMU) patients.

The process is complex. The KAMU clinics make an impression of the patient’s mouth. This impression is then sent to the female prisoner dental technicians at the Topeka Correctional Facility, who create a wax and plastic teeth mold of the impression. This temporary mold is then returned to the KAMU clinic to ensure that the fit is perfect. Once approval is granted, the mold is sent back to the prison, where the female prisoner dental technicians use plastic teeth and hard acrylic to craft the final set of dentures. These are then delivered back to the KAMU clinic for delivery to the eagerly awaiting patients.

News

An Interview with Noam Chomsky on Criminal Justice and Human Rights

Call to Action: Prisology T-Shirts and Sentencing Reform

Prisology’s Sentencing Reform T-Shirts

Should We Give Prisoners a College Education?

Students for Prison Education and Reform

Angela Davis Advocates for Abolition of America’s Prison System

A Rare Opportunity for Criminal Justice

The Purpose of Prison and the Measuring Stick of Recidivism

A Prison Alliance: Dog Trainers and Veterans

Female Prisoners in Kansas Make Dentures for Low-Income Patients

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