Call for prison reform in U.S.

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33382, 14 November 1973, Page 20

Call for prison reform in U.S.

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LEONARD SANTORELLI,

an N.Z.P.A.-Reuter correspondent)

NEW YORK. Jessica Mitford has done it again. Ten years after she demolished the American funeral industry she has written a scathing new book on United States prisons where she found brutality, degradation, and the systematic exploitation of the inmates. Her earlier best-seller, “The American Way of Death,” which exposed exploitation practised by funeral directors; made her a host of enemies in the trade. Her latest work seems certain to have the same effect on those who administer and plan pplicy for America’s prisons. In her book, “Kind and Usual Punishment”—the title is an ironic twist on the ban, in the United States Constitution, on “cruel and unusual punishment”—Miss Mitford takes the reader on a guided, horrifying tour injside American prisons. She tells of drug companies which save millions of dollars iby renting convicts as guinea pigs. She reaches back to [the Nuremberg war crimes to find a parallel, and says that modern prisons violate the standards set by the tribunal. She explains how authorities can use so-called early release procedures, like the indeterminate sentence and parole, to keep a prisoner behind bars almost indefinitely, or to punish him for unproven crimes. CASE MADE She says that long terms do not deter criminals, but have the opposite effect; and makes out a case for, but stops short of advocating, [the abolition of prisons. In a chapter called “Cheaper than Chimpanzees,” Miss Mitford says doctors convicted of murderous experiments at Nuremberg cited comparable experiments performed on prisoners by American physicians. In the 26 years since, she adds, there has been a huge [expansion of officiallysanctioned research in many United States prisons. From 1963 to 1969, one doctor carried out 130 drug tests and blood plasma operations in Alabama, Arkansas and Oklahoma prisons for drug companies, many of which ■ are household names. “Rampaging epidemics of (infectious hepetitis broke in all the prisons under his ministrations, and instances came to light of prisoners who died slowly in a very painful fashion,” she alleges. “FRAUDULENT WAIVERS” Miss Mitford says that waivers signed by prisoners releasing “everyone in sight” from damage claims are fraudulent and illegal, and official guidelines for human experimentation are easily

disregarded behind prison walls. 1 Drug companies can do ; operations on convicts that , would not be sanctioned for, outside volunteers because of ■ th > degree of risk and pain' involved, she adds. Prisoners are paid only a tiny fraction 1 I of what other Volunteers get.: She quotes one prisoner’s [ motivation: “I was on Dmso (dimethylsulfoxide) last year. It paid real good and-it was better than the plague thing they gave guys last year, i There was a lot of bad re-j ' actions to Dmso, but 1 guess. I that’s why it paid so good.”' Miss Mitford comments: ■ “He is reduced to bartering ■ his body for cigarette and ; candy money.” REWARDING EXPERIENCE One research organisation, : ■ she says, obtained nearly I $5.4m worth of research in prisons for an outlay of about $527,300. The researchers, however, see things differently, accord- ‘ ing to Miss Mitford. She ’ quotes one doctor as regarding the prisoners as “our Iccmpanions in medical [science. . . . This has been a [rewarding experience both '■for physicians and subjects.” [ The experiment he was ' describing involved the '! inducement of scurvy in five [■prisoners, exposure to 50deg [F. temperatures for four [1 mrs a day, and the drawing [of enough blood to cause [[mild anemia. They suffered . joint pains, dental cavities, i [hemorrhages in the white of .the eye, scaly skin, and ■ mental depression. • ; Nothing was learned from ["this senseless piece of [savage cruelty,” says Miss Mitford. The cause and cure :[of scurvy has been well [known for generations. ! Turning her attention to the “indeterminate sentence,” . a supposedly humanitarian device to reform the lawI breaker, she finds it can result in much longer sentences <than would normally be • imposed by judges. The theory is that a ■ prisoner, sentenced to, say, ; ifrom five years to life, will be released when he has >! demonstrated by his bes'haviour in gaol that he is ■■ready to return to the H community. i But. says Miss Mitford, it :jis the perfect prescription >lfor securing compliance and > [crushing definance because, I [in reality, the prisoner is in ; 'for the maximum term unless rhe can shorten it. F TRACKING DEVICES i Prisoners have no way of i knowing on what the au- > thorities base their decisions > [whether to free them, and ■ are reduced to studying the ..board members’ foibles to /second-guess what to say at the hearings. Similarly, Miss Mitford the parole system ' whereby prisoners are re- > leased on good behaviour behfore the expiry of their i term. The parolee “lives - under the shadow of arbi-

;trary re-imprisonment at the decision of his parole ■ agent.” ; Depending on his agent, a (man on parole can be sentj [back to prison for such; [technical parole violations: las drinking beer or possess-; ling “sexual material” such; las “Playboy” magazine, and I Miss Mitford says parole; violation cases are used to( punish the criminal for of-; fences he is suspected of. Research is under way into electronic tracking de- ( vices for parolees which can register his location, physi- ( ological activity, and even penile erection. Miss Mitford questions the traditional objectives of pris-1 on, such as protection of the public and deterrence for the law-breaker, and finds that they do not hold water.

; Take public protection. In one study of 215 people pardoned after serving terms for murder, only sevwn were later arrested, and of these ;only one for murder. Sex of[fences: 95 per cent are victimless crimes. i What about the deterrent (aspect? As a result of a 1963 ■ court decision, the state of (Florida had to release 1252 indigent convicts who were convicted without counsel. Only 13.6 per cent returned ;to criminal activity, compared with 25 per cent among a comparable group who served their full term. Miss Mitford calls for a broad range of offences, such as drug use and prostitution, to have much shorter sentences, and the abolition of parole and indeterminat, sentencing.