Jackson Free Press

"I've been working 14 years to keep my sanity, now I'm on vacation," mused J.J. Tennison, speaking in a slow, metered voice. In 1990, Tennison, then 18, and Antoine "Soda Pop" Goff, then 21, were convicted of manslaughter and sent to separate state prisons in California to serve sentences of 25 years to life. Then, in September 2003, they were declared innocent on appeal and exonerated. But speaking to the press last December, Tennison and Goff showed little bitterness. Didn't they despair over losing the prime years of their youth, asked one journalist, himself just pushing 25?

Tennison, now 31, leaned back in his chair and shook his head. "Most of my friends from that time are either locked up or six feet under, so it's hard to say what my life would have been like," he said.

It was a startling admission, but surprisingly realistic. America has the highest incarceration rate in the world, far outstripping runners-up Russia and Belarus. The U.S. houses more prisoners than China and India combined, according to the King's College of London International Centre for Prison Studies. This has not always been the case. Prison populations have quadrupled in the past 20 years in the U.S. (to around 2.1 million people currently).

Of those incarcerated, 57 percent are under the age of 35. As welfare roles decline, prisons have become the primary institutional interface for more and more youth, informing everything from pop culture to worldview and life expectations. While commentators have sought to define today's young and restless as the Hip-Hop Generation, a better moniker might soon be the Jail Generation.

Home, Sweet, Prison
"Going to prison has become normalized," said Billy Wimsatt, a journalist turned activist whose 1994 underground book "Bomb the Suburbs" was one of the first and most eloquent articulations of the politics and worldview of what would later be termed the Hip-Hop Generation. "Prison used to be the monster way in the corner; now it's taking over half the room, and it's getting its slime all over," Wimsatt said in an interview.

In his second book, "No More Prisons," Wimsatt leveraged his grass-roots populist appeal to focus attention on the anti-prison movement. His path exemplifies the growing convergence between mainstream hip-hop and an urban lifestyle that is deeply damaged by increased incarceration rates.

"Going to prison has a variety of negative effects," said Marc Mauer, assistant director of The Sentencing Project, a Washington-based prison analysis and advocacy group. "It hurts employment prospects, it breaks up families, and the high degree of mobility creates a population that has fewer legitimate connections to the community."

Although juvenile poverty rates steadily declined over the last 20 years (at least until recently), the percentage of children raised in single-parent homes rose from 12 percent in 1970 to 28 percent in 1998. Although it is unclear how large a role increased prison populations play in this phenomenon, the increase has been most marked among those populations that have high incarceration rates. In 2000, only 38 percent of black children were being raised in two-parent homes.

"Think of the number of kids who can only talk to their parents through collect phones or class trips upstate. Prison fosters a culture which people bring out into their world," Wimsatt lamented. If so many young people are growing up in prison, what exactly are they being taught?

'I Grew Up in Prison'
"In prison, you learn to talk less, listen more, and observe—and you learn patience," said Eddy Zheng from a pay phone in Solano State Prison in Vacaville, Calif.

In 1982, when he was 12 years old, Zheng came to America from Canton, China, with his family. His parents worked full time—"my Dad worked at McDonalds; all he memorized was how to say 'mayonnaise, lettuce, tomatoes.'"

Zheng didn't adjust well. In 1986 he was convicted of kidnapping with intent to commit robbery, and was charged as an adult at the age of 16. "I grew up in prison," Zheng said.

Still learning English when he was admitted, Zheng took ESL classes and got his GED, and then went on to receive an associate degree of arts through extension classes at San Quentin State Prison (he has since been relocated to Solano State). He plans to start a youth guidance center for new immigrants when he is released. Zheng realizes his story is unusual and praises the "huge support from family and friends beyond the community of incarceration" that have helped him make the most of his time in prison.

For many, prison is nothing but lost time. "You don't learn nothing in prison," said Darrell Anthony, 24, over the phone from his house on Chicago's Southside.

Anthony (name changed to protect anonymity) is on house arrest while he awaits a court date later this month. "You might learn how to break a new crime, or a card trick, but that's about it." Anthony was arrested in 2001 for drug possession, and served 19 months in Statesville Prison, Ill. Released in May 2003, he was arrested for narcotics possession again in August 2003.
With legitimate job prospects hampered by a felony record, many ex-convicts return to old hustles to survive. "If you ain't got no job, you ain't got no life," Anthony said. His story is not unusual: 66 percent of prisoners return to prison within three years of their release.

Prison=No Voting; No Voting=Prison
The dramatic increase in prisoners has deeply affected the poor, urban and black and Latino communities that have long been the life force of the Hip-Hop Generation. One-in-three black men, and one-in-six Latino men will go to prison at some point in their lives, compared to one-in-23 white men, and 64 percent of prisoners are minorities. In his 2002 book, "The Hip Hop Generation," Bakari Kitwana reserved the term for African Americans born between 1965 and 1984, dismissing Generation X as applicable only for whites.

But even though incarceration disproportionately affects poor, minority neighborhoods, with hip-hop as its publicity machine, criminal-justice issues could find an audience beyond the communities directly impacted. Russell Simmons, the music producer-cum-media mogul-cum-patriarch of establishment hip-hop culture, says that since 80 percent of hip-hop listeners are white, the Hip-Hop Generation label applies to all those who "sympathize with the plight of the poor." And Simmons, along with other advocates for young people, is lobbying that generation—all races, including young whites—to demand changes themselves in criminal-justice policies.

Although it flies in the face of two decades of political orthodoxy showing that "tough on crime" stances are ballot-box winners, appeals to the Hip-Hop Generation on criminal-justice issues could provide an untapped vote bloc for politicians willing to make the effort. Rev. Al Sharpton has hailed the Hip-Hop Generation's tremendous swing-vote power, and the Democratic National Committee has begun to enlist popular hip-hop artists as headliners at fund-raising dinners. But organizers agree that unless pleas to the Hip-Hop Generation are centered around specific issues, they will fail to attract a population that is extremely suspicious of electoral politics.

Still, efforts to create a mobilized Jail Generation may find some unlikely allies. Soaring budget deficits are forcing states to reconsider their prison budgets and traditional "tough on crime" politics. Public-opinion polls also show support for decreased spending on prisons. A 2003 comprehensive statewide poll by the California Public Policy Institute, a non-partisan research organization, found that prisons and corrections was the only area of government for which a majority of respondents (55 percent) supported a decrease in spending.

"In 1994, at the height of 'tough on crime‚' you had Newt Gingrich, the Federal Crime Bill, and three strikes in California," said Franklyn Zimring, a University of California-Berkeley law professor and criminal justice specialist. "There are few people who are nostalgic for that time."

'It's racist and targets the powerless'
In the past, anti-prison activists have had few allies in government, and so have fought hard to win small concessions. In 2002, The Prison Moratorium Project, a New York-based outfit with chapters in Minneapolis and San Francisco, partnered with the Justice for Youth Coalition to block a proposed plan to build 200 new juvenile detention beds, and removed $53 million from the New York City Department of Juvenile Justice's budget. Groups of young people lobbied aggressively against the proposed expansion in Albany, the state capital, and at city council meetings.

Prison activists welcome progressive prison-policy reforms, regardless of the motivation. "We're against building more prisons because we think it's racist and targets the powerless," said Raybblin Vargas, campaign director for the Prison Moratorium Project. "They [politicians] are against it because of all the legal problems, and the costs and headaches—but whatever it takes."

Many activists remain wary. "It's still not a question of how we care about people; it's about state budgets," said Dorsie Nunn, director of All of Us or None, an Oakland, Calif.-based advocacy and support organization for former prisoners. For Nunn, waiting for a change in budget priorities is less important than building solidarity among the 1,600 prisoners who are released nationwide everyday.

"One-in-three African-American men going to prison is serious," said Nunn, "but [the anti-prison movement] will be real effective when one in three African-American men start saying that sh*t."

It's probably too late for J.J. Tennison's childhood friends, but you can bet there's a new set of young men on the same street corners who might soon be telling their own prison stories. If change doesn't come soon, there may be many more jailed generations to come.

Visit http://www.sentencingproject.org/ for more information on the move to reform prisons.

Previous Comments

ID

77720

Comment

First, let me pre-empt anyone who thinks that the article is advocating getting rid of prisons. I don't think that's what Dan is saying at all. The point the author is trying to get across is that punitive sentencing does not work. Now for my own take on the article. Three Strikes -- I have mixed feelings about. On one hand, it doesn't seem to reduce crimes. On the other hand, criminals (especially violent ones) tend to be arrogant to the point having serious mental problems. They simply don't have respect for anyone whom they feel are weak and vulnerable. Of all the people who are disruptive of society, I have yet to meet any of them who have low self-esteem. While there are undoubtedly some steps along the way of a childs/persons development where we could lay off treating them punitively, the only way to teach them respect for others is to put your foot down at some point. I think the earlier in life you intervene, the more probability of success. Parental supervision, whenever possible, is the single best bet. My parents were pretty strict on me and I never got into trouble with the law. On the other hand, the peer environment exercises profound control over these kids development, so we have to have some way to discourage those kids from choosing the wrong kinds of friends while at the same time, intervening to help those kids who do make bad choices. We need to start as young as 1st grade, since bullying research (the way I interpret the various articles, at least) shows that kids who are bullies at age eight(!) have a much higher than average tendency to become criminals. In short bullying prevention is a VITAL element in long term crime prevention.

Author

Philip

Date

2004-07-21T21:40:28-06:00

ID

77721

Comment

From Clarion-Ledger today: A group of inmates at a private prison in Mississippi may have started a riot at the facility so they could be transferred back to Colorado, an official says. At least 28 inmates from Colorado were involved in the uprising at the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility on Wednesday. No one was injured and guards had everything under control within an hour, officials said. The prison, operated by Corrections Corporation of America, was on lockdown today. Louise Chickering, a CCA spokeswoman, said the inmates were sent to the Tallahatchie County facility because they had a history of behavioral problems within the Colorado corrections system, including gang-related incidents. ìColoradoís intent has been to return them to Colorado on two conditions ó either good behavior or completion of their sentence,î Chickering said. ìIf they think that by acting up theyíll go home, that is not the intent of Colorado or CCA.î Alison Morgan, director of public affairs for the Colorado Department of Corrections, said the inmatesí families had complained about the prisoners being transferred to a facility so far from their homes. Does anyone think it's a good idea to cart these prisoners so far away from the ability to see their families just because private-prison companies need to fill beds in Mississippi??? This is just bizarro to me. Full piece

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2004-07-22T17:39:58-06:00

ID

77722

Comment

Interestingly, there were riots in a private prison in Colorado earlier this week. The newspapers are reporting that it was started by a goup of inmates who were recently transferred here from Washington State who were hoping to get moved back home.

Author

amy

Date

2004-07-23T20:48:11-06:00

ID

77723

Comment

Am I the only one who finds all sorts of irony in this story: "3 Teens Sentenced to Life in Gun Shop Slaying" A Hinds County circuit judge told three young men convicted of capital murder today that they were too young to be so callous about human life. ìYou reap what you sow,î Judge Tomie T. Green told Corey Bryant, 19, Skilah Anderson, 19, and Garner Brister Jr., 18. ìInstead of guns, you should have had a scholarship for college in your hands.î Green sentenced the three to life in prison without parole. Green said they had no respect for the life of Paul Robinson, 27. Read story

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2004-07-25T19:21:25-06:00

ID

77724

Comment

Amy, I saw that story, too. Of course, inmates want to be somewhere their families can visit them. And their families want to visit them. We hear so much about young people growing up without fathers; well, maybe they want to visit their dads in prison now and then. It's sure better than nothing. I just don't comprehend a mentality that thinks this is a good idea. Despite what some idiots tell you, we can hold more than one thought at once: We can imprison "outlaws" and still allow them to have some sort of contact with their families. A just society has to do that, doesn't it. To hell with what corporations and their lapdogs want: prisons shouldn't be about profits first, although I realize that to many people everything is about profits first. Amy, you're in Colorado; do you know what those guys are in for? Has your paper run any stories about this we can link to?

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2004-07-25T19:25:30-06:00

ID

77725

Comment

In the New York Times today, Fox Butterfield reports that the "correctional population" in the U.S. has reached an all-time high: The number of Americans under the control of the criminal justice system grew by 130,700 last year to reach a new high of nearly 6.9 million, according to a Justice Department report released today. The total includes people in jail and prison as well as those on probation and parole. This is about 3.2 percent of the adult population in the United States, the report said. The growth in what the report termed the "correctional population" comes at a time when the crime rate nationwide has been relatively stable for several years. It also comes when many states, faced with budget deficits, have passed new, less strict sentencing laws in an attempt to reduce the number of inmates. The report does not address why the number of men and women in jail and prison and on probation and parole has continued to increase. But experts say the most likely reason is the cumulative effect of the tougher sentencing laws passed in the 1990's, which led to more people's being sent to prison and being required to serve longer terms. The report found that there were 691,301 people in local and county jails and 1,387,269 in state and federal prisons last year, for a total of 2,078,570. That was an increase of 3.9 percent in the jail population and 2.3 percent in the prison population. Read entire story

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2004-07-26T12:42:01-06:00

ID

77726

Comment

Link to the Justice Department report: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2004-07-26T12:47:48-06:00

ID

77727

Comment

We haven't reported on it yet, but one of our reporters is looking into it. Also, the two rioting prisons are owned by the same company, Corrections Corporation of America.

Author

amy

Date

2004-07-26T19:40:36-06:00