Why American Prisons Owe Their Cruelty to Slavery

Terms in this set (34)

Angola Prison
A Louisiana penitentiary, sometimes referred to as "America's bloodiest prison;" it is the largest maximum-security prison in the nation. It sits on land that used to be a plantation where enslaved people were forced to labor. Although the 13th Amendment abolished the institution of slavery in 1865, there is a provision in that amendment allowing for "involuntary labor" if a person is convicted of a crime. As a result of this provision, Angola operates as a penal plantation, with inmates forced to pick cotton and punished if they do not pick enough. Cotton picking quotas and punishment for not reaching them are not new to this prison; those practices are borrowed from plantation owners who kept a meticulous accounting of the productivity of their enslaved workers. Stevenson writes that one client of his was punished with solitary confinement if he did not meet cotton-picking quotas set by the prison.
Slave plantation
A farm where the landowner forced enslaved people to work in large-scale crop cultivation so he could gain immense profits from their labor. The landowner and the enslaved people lived on the plantation, and the system was often self-sufficient. Slave plantations existed throughout the Americas. In the West Indies and Brazil, they were usually dedicated to the cultivation of sugarcane. In the context of the article, slave plantations were established in the United States primarily for the cultivation of cotton.
"The hole"
A figure of speech to describe solitary confinement in a prison. Inmates are placed in solitary confinement as punishment for violating rules within the prison, or sometimes purportedly for their own protection. The American Psychological Association has determined that solitary confinement is detrimental to inmates' physical and psychological health. The negative effects are especially devastating for incarcerated people with existing mental health issues, who are overrepresented in the US prison population.
Parole
A legal process in which a person convicted of a crime is discharged from prison prior to the end of their sentencing term. Parole is granted after a prisoner has served a portion of their sentence and has demonstrated good behavior. If a parolee violates the conditions of their release, they are returned to prison to serve the remainder of their sentence.
Incarceration
The imprisonment of a person convicted of committing a crime. This confinement may occur when a person represents a danger to society or violates the law multiple times over a period of months or years. In the article, the author notes that the United States has the highest rate of incarceration in the world. This means that the percentage of Americans who are imprisoned is higher than the percentage of citizens imprisoned in any other country.
Probation
A period in which a person is being tested or evaluated. In the context of the article, this refers to the legal period in which a person convicted of a crime is not immediately imprisoned; rather, the person is allowed to remain in society as long as they adhere to all the rules of their probation. A person can also be on a probation-like trial period following release from prison; this is called parole. If a person is found to be in violation of their probation, they are forced to serve the remainder of their sentence in prison. In the context of the article, this term is used to show that while the U.S. prison population is already incredibly high at 2.2 million, the number would actually be much higher if the 4.5 million people on parole or probation were imprisoned.
"Three strikes" laws
Legislation introduced in the 1990s designed to impose tougher sentencing guidelines on repeat criminal offenders. In states that enact these laws, if a person has committed two prior crimes within a set of particular categories and has served time in prison, being convicted of a third crime, no matter how trivial, would result in an automatic sentence of life in prison. An example of how these laws are applied is the case of Curtis Wilkerson, whose third crime was shoplifting a pair of socks worth $2.50. As a result, he is currently serving a life sentence and will be eligible for parole after r 25 years in prison. Approximately 30 states have three-strikes legislation.
Mass incarceration
A description of the large proportion of the American population confined to prisons, compared to other nations. In the United States, Black men are imprisoned at a disproportionately higher rate than men of other races.
Legacy
An element of society that has its roots in past practices. In the article, author Bryan Stevenson asserts that white privilege is established in racist practices of the past.
Settlers
Within the context of the article, this refers to British people who moved to and lived in the colonies established in North America.
Caste
An arbitrary method of social ranking that places people into classes. In America, this system has been based on several categories, notably race and skin color. In this system, groups are considered to be as superior or inferior depending on their supposed rank. This system protects the interests of the powerful at the expense of those who do not control the levers of power. The system is rigid, meaning that it is designed to prevent movement between classes.
Criminalizing
To make an action illegal, and therefore make the person committing the action a criminal. In the article, the author uses the words of the Alabama Supreme Court to illustrate the cruel irony of slavery in America, where enslaved Black people could be "regarded as persons" in the context of being punished for committing crimes, while at the same time being denied the rights of personhood enshrined in the Constitution because they were still legally considered "things, not persons."
Thirteenth Amendment
This amendment to the US Constitution abolished slavery. However, it still allows for involuntary servitude if someone has been convicted of a crime. Prior to the ratification of this amendment in 1865, the Constitution allowed state legislatures to determine whether slavery would be legal or outlawed within their boundaries. When Abraham Lincoln delivered the Emancipation Proclamation during the Civil War, he declared that enslaved people in Confederate states were free; however, the states did not recognize this order. Additionally, the Emancipation Proclamation did not free slaves in the border states that were part of the Union. To address those shortfalls, this amendment was passed to officially end the practice of slavery in the United States.
Emancipation
The act of being liberated or freed from restrictions, typically referring to legal or social restrictions. In the context of the article, it is a reference to the freeing of enslaved people in the American South. After the Union victory at Antietam in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln delivered a speech known as the Emancipation Proclamation, stating that slaves in the Confederacy were free. However, very few slaves were liberated as a result of this speech for two reasons. Firstly, the Confederate states did not recognize Lincoln's proclamation as having any power over them. Secondly, although there were slaves held in the border states that were part of the Union, Lincoln did not free them, as he did not want to politically alienate these states during the Civil War.
Black codes
Economic and legal limitations imposed during Reconstruction meant to preserve the traditional Southern economic and social structure at the expense of the welfare and freedom of Black people. Most Southern residents and state governments refused to accept the changes within society's social structure that resulted from the 13th Amendment's outlawing of slavery. As a result, they sought legal methods to prevent Black Americans from being truly free of slavery. One example of these laws was the apprenticeship law, which prevented a Black person from starting a business until they earned a license from a white person; the Black person was therefore required to provide free labor, much like during slavery. Another example was the legal sentence of involuntary labor imposed on Black people convicted of even minor crimes; this legal sentence returned Black Americans to a state similar to enslavement. Many Black codes were eventually moderated or eliminated through federal pressure.
Criminal justice system
The procedural system through which governmental institutions enforce the nation's legal code. It includes law enforcement or policing, the trial and sentencing process conducted in the courts, and the corrections system, which includes jails and prisons.
Reconstruction
The period following the Civil War, from 1865 to 1877, noted for the amendments that were passed to free and protect the rights of formerly enslaved people. During this period, Black leaders were elected to office, education was improved to benefit Black and white students, families were reunified, and the church was established as the center of the Black community. However, Southern Democrats sought to undermine the federal government's actions during this period by passing several discriminatory laws like poll taxes and literacy tests, black codes, and Jim Crow laws. In 1876, the electoral returns from three Southern states were contested. It was assumed that, had an accurate recount been completed, Democratic candidate Samuel Tilden would have won. Instead, an agreement was made called the Compromise of 1877, allowing Republican candidate Rutherford B. Hayes to become president; in return, Republican legislators agreed to withdraw troops, who had been sent to protect the rights of Black Americans, from the South. This ended Reconstruction.
Convict leasing
A process that allowed Southern state governments to profit from the incarceration of Black people during Reconstruction. Black people who were arrested and convicted, even for minor or made-up infractions, would be sentenced to serve time in prison. Because the 13th Amendment allows for involuntary labor if a person is convicted of a crime, Southern state governments and businesses were able to profit by "renting" the labor of the imprisoned people, who served as an inexpensive workforce. This practice also led to the brutal treatment of the people who were leased by the government, because the person who was leasing them would not lose money if the worker was hurt or killed; instead, the leaser would simply lease another prisoner in their place.
Vagrant (vagrancy)
Legal term for a person who is homeless and unemployed and wanders from place to place. Black codes enacted by Southern states included vagrancy laws, which gave authorities broad power to arrest people for loitering or being "idle." This created an environment in which Black people had few choices but to work as sharecroppers because other jobs were not available to them. If they did not work as sharecroppers, they could be arrested, which would allow the state to lease their labor to the highest bidder in a practice known as convict leasing.
Racial hierarchy
Ranking of people or groups based on physical characteristics, typically skin color. This problematic ranking perpetuates stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination. In the article, the author asserts that throughout American history, white people went to great lengths to ensure the continuation of a hierarchy in which white people had more power, status, and opportunity than Black people.
Lynching
The killing of an individual by a mob that acts outside the confines of the legal system. This extrajudicial form of murder was committed in the United States to intimidate and eliminate Black people who were viewed as threats to the discriminatory racial structure that benefited white Americans. These killings occurred most frequently in the South.
Mob
A mass of angry and violent people seeking to enact their own punishment on an individual or group outside the legal system. As an example, the author of the article describes a group of white people who sought to impose their own idea of justice on a Black man who had shot a white man who attacked him. This angry mob seized the Black man and a woman who was with him, then tortured and killed them.
District attorney
Elected official who is also sometimes referred to as a county prosecutor or state's attorney. This official controls most decisions in the criminal legal system in their jurisdiction. This includes decisions like whether to prosecute a person accused of criminal behavior, what type of sentence to seek, and thus whether to treat the accused harshly or give them a second chance.
President pro tempore
A leadership position held by the most senior member of the majority party in the United States Senate. This position allows the individual to preside over the business of the Senate in the absence of the president of the Senate (the Vice President of the United States). The author of the article, Bryan Stevenson, explains that James Eastland, a senator from Mississippi, known white supremacist, and son of a man who presided over horrific violence agsinst black people, held this position from 1972 to 1978. The author shares this fact to highlight that there has been a longstanding tolerance for treating Black people with brutality throughout United States history, both within the criminal justice system and in politics.
Civil rights
Individual rights guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States and by federal laws passed by Congress. Throughout American history, these rights, especially the rights of African Americans, were not always upheld. To change this unequal state of affairs, Black leaders and allies organized protests and led movements to ensure these rights were applied to all Americans, regardless of their race. There were multiple civil rights movements throughout history, most notably the period from 1954 to 1968 which saw marches, sit-ins, boycotts, and other actions to demand equal treatment under the law for people of all races.
War on drugs
The increased level of vigilance taken by local, state, and federal law enforcement to combat the use and sale of illegal drugs. This practice began in the 1970s under President Richard Nixon and continues today. The result has been a substantial increase in arrests for drug-related charges and a disproportionate impact on Black Americans, who are more likely to be arrested than their white counterparts and who typically receive harsher sentences if they are convicted.
Mandatory minimum sentence
The minimum period of imprisonment that must be imposed on people convicted of various offenses, especially drug-related crimes. The length of imprisonment is established by Congress, whose rationale is that with stricter punishment for drug dealers, the sale of drugs will decrease; judges are not allowed to give sentences below this prescribed range. This approach differs from "sentencing guidelines," which are ranges suggested by a panel of experts. With sentencing guidelines, a judge may consider details about the crime and the defendant. Sentencing guidelines can result in a more lenient sentence if a judge felt the situation merited such an approach; the judge can also ignore the guidelines and impose a harsher punishment if it is warranted. By contrast, with mandatory minimum sentencing, a judge is required to sentence the convicted offender to at least the amount of time specified.
"Broken windows" policing
An approach to law enforcement based on the theory that if an area has broken windows or other negative superficial elements like graffiti or the presence of panhandlers, it is more likely to experience further vandalism and crime because it is already viewed as a place of disorder or lawlessness. This theory came to prominence in the 1980s and 1990s and was expanded to encourage police officers to more strongly address petty crimes to discourage more serious crimes in a particular neighborhood. Broken windows policing refers to law enforcement officers who aggressively enforce violations of minor quality of life laws to make so-called "disorderly" neighborhoods orderly. This has led to increased arrest and incarceration of people who have violated relatively minor laws, disproportionately affecting people of color.
Noncrimes
Acts that are not criminal yet have resulted in unjust treatment of people of color by law enforcement officers. This includes new language for these actions like "driving while Black" or "using a Starbucks restroom while Black." In both of those examples, Black Americans are viewed with immediate suspicion by police officers, while white Americans in the same circumstances are given the benefit of the doubt.
Racial disparities
A situation in which people of different races are treated differently, with one race holding noticeable advantages over another race. In the article, the author describes how the court system gives substantially harsher sentences to Black defendants than white defendants convicted of the same types of crime; for instance, Stevenson represented one client sentenced to life without parole for stealing a bicycle.
Bias
A preference that often leads to positive or negative assumptions about a person or group that are not based on first-hand experience or objective data. This type of prejudice can lead to discrimination, which is when prejudiced thoughts turn to action in the form of unequal treatment of a person or group. In the context of the article, the author notes that the Supreme Court has declared that racial bias in sentencing is "inevitable," and that Black Americans are regularly arrested for conduct that would be ignored if they were white.
Inevitable
Unavoidable; something that is guaranteed to happen. Within the context of the article, the term refers to the Supreme Court's acknowledgement that Black people will be sentenced to death much more frequently than white people. Black defendants are 22 times more likely than white defendants to be sentenced to death.
Smog
A form of pollution caused by chemicals being released into the atmosphere and interacting with ozone, impairing visibility and making the air unhealthy to breathe.. Within the context of the article, this term is used as a metaphor for the "suffocating and toxic" byproduct of racist practices throughout American history. The author argues that many white Americans are willing to tolerate racial disparities and unjust treatment of Black people in the criminal justice system because they are comforted by the idea that order is being maintained.
Equal Justice Initiative
A nonprofit organization founded by author and attorney Bryan Stevenson, dedicated to ending mass incarceration and instituting reasonable, racially equitable sentencing in the criminal justice system. In the article, Stevenson describes a museum that his organization established in Montgomery, Ala. to explore the continuing legacy of American slavery and our nation's history of cruelty to Black people.
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