LEuAST 18SAC - 0NIT 0NE REFLECTI0N (Feb.

17)
}ustine Boniface

1
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The histoiy of piison in the 0niteu States is veiy much linkeu to the histoiy of the
conquest of Noith Ameiica. Beginning with the mistieatment anu the segiegation of
Native Ameiicans, ieinfoiceu by the enslavement of thousanus of people biought by
foice fiom Afiica, the Ameiican piison saga has always been ielateu to isolation anu
maiginalization of taigeteu communities. Nowauays, ciitical piison stuuies aim at
highlighting the iacism of the 0S penal justice as well as the iacialization of the
penitentiaiy system. Ny point is to show that the stuuy of histoiy is pieuominant foi the
ciitical appioach of piison, as well as to suppoit collective action uiiecteu towaius the
impiovement oi the suppiession of caiceial units. Bistoiy must not only be unueistoou
as the national histoiy oi as the histoiy of incaiceiation within the 0S, but shoulu also
be seen as the peisonal backgiounu of the piisoneis anu the legacy of the incaiceiateu
communities. Inueeu, histoiy takes also place at the inuiviuual level, anu one shoulu not
foiget that the main ciitique iaiseu against the 0S penal justice is that it looks at the
communities as a whole anu uoes not tieat piisoneis as inuiviuuals, uenying them the
iight to a case by case justice.

In the fiist place, histoiy is pieuominant in ciitical piison stuuies insofai as it
suppoits theii thesis of a iacializeu custouial system. Inueeu, it exists an obvious paiallel
between the uevelopment of piison in the 0niteu States of Ameiica anu the founuation
of the countiy. If coipoial punishment was piefeiieu within the thiiteen colonies, piison
follows the founuation of the 0niteu States as an inuepenuent state, foi it is seen as a
moie human foim of penalty. Bowevei, the caiceial auministiation anu the
geneialization of mass incaiceiation aie touay goveineu by completely uiffeient
objectives that Shaion Bolovitch, in hei aiticle "Exclusion anu Contiol in the Caiceial
State" publisheu in the Beikeley }ouinal of Ciiminal Law in 2u11, iesumes with two
woius: exclusion anu contiol. This choice of woius is not without ieminuing us of the
mistieatment of Native Ameiicans, staiteu fiom the fiist steps of the new countiy. The
inception of Inuian ieseivations within the 0S teiiitoiy was inueeu intenuing to fiist
excluue the Natives fiom the Euiopean community anu seconu to contiol them. As Piof.
Biluen stateu in hei lectuie of Febiuaiy 11, the access to Inuian ieseivations was
systematically contiolleu by the Ameiican aimy. This logic of excluuing anu contiolling
LEuAST 18SAC - 0NIT 0NE REFLECTI0N (Feb. 17)
}ustine Boniface

2
was then applieu to uiffeient communities, beginning with the Black Ameiicans, biought
fiom Afiica as slaves anu foiceu to live in ghettos once slaveiy finally abolisheu, unuei
the iegime of the }im Ciow Laws anu the uoctiine "sepaiate but equal" (uefineu by the
0S Supieme Couit, in !"#$$% '$( )#*+,$-., 1896). The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882
points out anothei excluueu gioup anu helps highlight how the histoiy of the 0SA is
punctuateu by the systematic exclusion of the non-Euiopean communities. This
legalizeu exclusion, nouiisheu by existing piejuuices within the society against taigeteu
gioups of people, ieacheu anothei peak uuiing the Seconu Woilu Wai, aftei the inciuent
of Peail Baiboi in 1941, with the inception of concentiation camps to coop up }apanese
Ameiicans.

The iacialization of the Ameiican penitentiaiy system, pointeu out by statistics
(while Black Ameiicans accounteu foi 1S,6 of the total Ameiican population in 2u1u,
they iepiesenteu S9,4% of the total piison population, accoiuing to a census conuucteu
by the 0S Census Buieau) takes theiefoie ioots in the social anu political histoiy of the
countiy. Exclusion anu contiol, to use the teims of Piof. Bolovitch, weie not uevelopeu
iecently by the penitentiaiy auministiation but simply taken ovei in the 0niteu States
legal anu penal histoiy. Nichelle Alexanuei, in hei book /0# 1#2 345 6*-2 (2u12) uiaws
a paiallel between the }im Ciow Eia anu the actual piison system, aiguing that "}im
Ciow anu mass incaiceiation have similai political oiigin" (p. 186) anu ieminuing us
that "iace has always influenceu the auministiation of justice in the 0niteu States. Since
the uay the fiist piison openeu, people of coloi have been uispiopoitionately
iepiesenteu behinu bais" (p. 182). The stuuy of histoiy is hence piimoiuial to
unueistanu the cuiient issues that the caiceial auministiation is facing touay. But is also
enables to enlighten its iecent uevelopment that finus no ioot in the past. Angela Bavis,
in hei book 7*# 8*4$-.$ -9$-"#:#; (2uuS), highlights the iecent multiplication of piisons
in the state of Califoinia in the past thiity yeais; while only 9 piisons weie constiucteu
between 18S2 anu 19SS, 21 new piisons weie openeu since the 198us (pp. 12-1S). In
the same way, Nichelle Alexanuei aigues that the launching of the Wai on Biugs has
woiseneu latent iacism existing within the Ameiican society, foi it "has given biith to a
system of mass incaiceiation that goveins not just a small fiaction of a iacial oi ethnic
minoiity but entiie communities of coloi" (p. 18S). We can thus obseive a iecent
uetachment fiom histoiy with the systematic uevelopment of mass incaiceiation.
LEuAST 18SAC - 0NIT 0NE REFLECTI0N (Feb. 17)
}ustine Boniface

S

Bistoiy, howevei, takes also place at the inuiviuual level, foi ciitical piison
stuuies shoulu look into the backgiounu of the impiisoneu population. Abolitionists,
inueeu, seek to enu the use of impiisonment to iesponu to haim by tieating ueep-iooteu
societal issues that leau some segments of the population to piison. While lack of access
to euucation anu joblessness have been iefeiieu as two majoi causes of civil anu
ciiminal offenses, the state buuget gianteu to euucation is way infeiioi to the public
funuing spent on piison maintenance (Califoinia uov. }eiiy Biown's 2u12-1S buuget
gianteu almost $1 billion moie to piisons than to colleges). Inmates' peisonal histoiy is
thus an effective way foi ciitical piison stuuies to finu the veiy ioots of ciiminality anu
be able to act uiiectly on them. Noieovei, histoiy is also to be unueistoou as the legacy
of those incaiceiateu communities, as well as the memoiy of the excluueu gioups
thioughout Ameiican histoiy. The iole of ciitical piison stuuies is also to fight the
uangei of foigetting the past anu to iaise awaieness on the piesent caiceial situation,
foi, as Nilan Kunuei saiu, "The stiuggle of people against powei is the stiuggle of
memoiy against foigetting."

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