On Friday, I went to the Maine State Prison to meet with the prisoners who are members of the NAACP Prison Chapter. The NAACP Prison Chapter is a well-organized, well-run group with over fifty members who asked me thoughtful questions over an hour and a half of questioning about prisoners' rights, the law, and possibilities of reform. Prisoners spoke of being maced and then not given showers for days. They spoke of being prescribed medication by a prison doctor but then denied the medication. We also discussed the practice of solitary confinement, total isolation for up to 24-hours a day that some pyschologists term "torture." Too often, we demonize prisoners, but as this article in the Economist points out, those prisoners may be our friends or family members. More than one in every hundred adults is currently behind bars. More importantly, prison is not just for the worst of the worst anymore. Far too many people are spending years in jail for relatively minor crimes.
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