The Presbyterian Church U.S.A. and For Profit Prisons:
Key Points in the
Resolution Calling for the Abolition of For Profit Prisons
Approved by the 215th General Assembly (2003)
1. The PC(USA) has
called for the use of incarceration as a last resort.
A 1978 statement on The
Church and Criminal Justice reflected on the belief that “restraint may be
necessary to limit or prevent behavior that is dangerous to others” (Minutes,
PCUS, 1978, Part I, p. 199). Yet it noted that the ultimate objective of the
criminal justice system should be “one
of reconciliation rather than one of retribution” (Minutes, PCUS, 1978,
Part I, p. 202), including punitive measures taken against prisoners. It also
held that “imprisonment should not be used as the principle means to achieve
community protection and well being” (Minutes, PCUS, 1978, Part I, p. 202).
2. The PC(USA) has
called upon the church to protect the health, safety and legal rights of
offenders, which are routinely violated at private prisons.
The following are two
examples of violent “business as usual”
at CCA:
• William P., a fifteen-year-old boy had to be hospitalized
in a state psychiatric ward for an entire year after spending six months at the
CCA Training School in Columbia, South Carolina. A lawsuit filed against the
company described a pattern of abusive treatment, including hogtying William
and locking him in a cell with larger, older males known for victimizing youth
as a form of “punishment.” The jury awarded the family $3 million, citing a
pattern of criminal misconduct by the company. (More information: [2-2-1-1 CCA
PP Metroland 5-15-00]. PDF of verdict: http://www.afscme.org/private/
prisons/suit-sc.pdf)
• Salah Dafali, an asylum-seeker, was detained in a CCA’s
Elizabeth, New Jersey, detention center. Dafali was beaten by guards for
participating in a nonviolent protest and sent to a local hospital where
doctors found boot-print marks on his face. (More information:
[http://www.psiru.org/justice/ppriarchive/ppri29-04-99.htm] Bergen Record
coverage [http://199.173.2.7/news/caguard199904193.htm]).
3. Existing PC(USA)
policy calls for the rehabilitation of prisoners and their reintegration into
society, a goal antithetical to those of for profit prisons who seek to keep
their facilities full.
o
In
agreement with the statements of the 1910 and 1915 General Assemblies, we
believe that the ultimate goal of the criminal justice system should be “restorative justice”: “addressing the
hurts and the needs of the victim, the offender, and the community in such a
way that all—victim, offender, and community—might be healed” (Resolution on
Restorative Justice, Minutes, 2002, Part I, p. 576). We realize that, given the
limits of our knowledge and understanding at this time, some may need to be
incarcerated for life because they are a danger to themselves and others. But
we hope that in the future, advances in working with such prisoners through
spiritual, medical, rehabilitative, psychological, and educational techniques
may some day make it possible for every prisoner to be successfully
rehabilitated and restored to their community and family.
4. Conclusion:
o
In
a humane society, in a democratic society, there are some things that can never
be for sale, even and especially when they involve “one of the least of these
followers of mine.”
These things include:
• take away another human being’s
freedom;
• separate them from other human
beings;
• prevent them from communicating in
any way with others; and
• use of physical force against them,
up to and including deadly force.
o
Even
if for-profit private prisons could achieve significant cost savings to the
taxpayer, which in fact they have not been able to do, they would still be
morally unacceptable. Private prisons are not an economic but a deep religious
and ethical issue, a cornerstone of our collective work to put justice back
into the so-called “criminal justice system.”
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