The excellent March 3 editorial “The evils that prisons breed” concludes with a paragraph that begins with “Sometimes innocent people go to prison” and ends with “We close our eyes to that reality at our peril.” This reality should be the basis for a whole new prison-reform movement.
Because we do not know which of our inmates are innocent and, in the congregate settings prevailing in most prisons, we cannot promptly prevent the rape, abuse and brutalization that simply are not supposed to be part of the prison regime, we must provide isolation from their fellow inmates for all who request it.
These isolation facilities should provide the prisoner with conditions that give him, if possible, at least the same amenities allowed the rest of the prison population. Yet they should not be “solitary confinement” in the punitive sense.
While providing such civilized protection for all our prisoners, including our unknown innocent inmates, we can go to work on other reforms wherein prisoners are privileged to earn their livelihood, pay for their room and board and save any excess pay pending their release or for family support or restitution to their victims.
In our land of the free, punishment should be the loss of freedom without loss of human dignity.
