(ADPSR) have announced a call to boycott all prison design and construction projects around the country. (via)
It is time to stop building prisons.
Our prison system is both a devastating moral blight on our society and an overwhelming economic burden on our tax dollars, taking away much needed resources from schools, health care and affordable housing. The prison system is corrupting our society and making us more threatened, rather than protecting us as its proponents claim. It is a system built on fear, racism, and the exploitation of poverty. Our current prison system has no place in a society that aspires to liberty, justice, and equality for all.
As architects, we are responsible for one of the most expensive parts of the prison system, the construction of new prison buildings. Almost all of us would rather be using our professional skills to design positive social institutions such as universities or playgrounds, but these institutions lack funding because of spending on prisons. If we would rather design schools and community centers, we must stop building prisons.
Please join members of Architects / Designers / Planners for Social Responsibility (ADPSR) in pledging to not participate in the design, construction, or renovation of prisons. We also invite you to learn more about the prison system, to join us in envisioning more just and productive alternatives to incarceration, and to work towards a society that treats all its members with dignity, equality, and justice.
Copyright 2004 ADPSR unless otherwise noted.
10 Comments
here, here!!
add the 'design excellence federal courthouse program' to the list [another oxymoron].
why not have the feds support excellence in community buildings, housing, educational facilities, etc.....lawyers and judges write the law thats why.
Is this like that 'Don't buy gas on Wednesday' idea?
It sounds about as well thought out.
No more prisons... Good idea. We'll all live by the 'honor system'.
Maybe we should be examing our current prisons and try doing something more with those instead, and ask ourselves is building more prisons really proving a deterrent/solution to crime? Taking a stance on the overabundance of prisons in this country is critical. The business of prisons in this nation is out of control. We seem more bent on building them and filling them then addressing the roots of crime, poverty, classism and racism in any real way. Not to mention the inadequacy of most prison design & management, or the demographic implications of those ethnicities most suffering from this industry. Sometimes a simple rally cry is a first step to reminding us of a crucual debate.
I appreciate your sentiment, and I agree I'd rather more prisons weren't necessary, but I disagree on a few key points.
First off, I don't look at a disproportionate amount of poor minorities in prison as an immediate indication of a racist, classist system. If you look deeper than the surface, you'll see that. The fact is, poverty breeds crime. Not all poor people are criminals, and not all crimes are commited by the poor, but the vast majority are, and for obvious reasons.
Now as to the minority question, this goes hand in hand with the poverty question. The majority of recent immigrants to the US are minorities. New immigrants (illegals are usually lumped into this category and make up a huge portion of the prison population) tend to be, as a group, much poorer than established citizens. This is how it has always been in America, only the demographics have changed. In the case of illegal aliens, they've entered the country as criminals, disregarding the rule of law from the outset, so it shouldn't be surprising how many end up in jail.
There are exceptions to the minority issue, as is the case in the black community, which has both internal and external problems to overcome (including racism in some parts of the country by law enforcement, and a mainstream culture that discourages success and encourages 'thug' life).
The mismatch between the demographics of our prisons and the demographics of the country as a whole should only be surprising in the absence of an understanding of the factors that lead to criminal behavior. In the absence of hard evidence for widespread classism and racism in our justice system, I would argue the prison system is serving its purpose. Hopefully the education, mental health, and border control systems will serve theirs, and the prisons can become less necessary in the near future.
the worst part is this has all become BIG business like everything else in this country. Building prisons, training guards, using prison labor, etc. and you thought shawshank redemption was bad!
I agree, this idea makes very little sense. If architects refuse to do the work, someone else (engineers) will fill the void. Refusing to build prisons will only add to the already debilitated influence architects have in the US.
The question is much more complex than mere contracts for more jails, but solved through more participation in the "democratic" system. Contact your congressman, senator, local government officials, keep them on their toes and let them know how you the constituent feels.
On a side note, onecentJay, please post references where you are retriving your statistics from, I'd like to check out all your claims. I highly doubt the statistic that the majority of "illegal" immigrants ending up in jail.
I agree with nakslo50 that architects need to participate and protest and voice their opinions. However I also agree with the boycott. One time I saw the famous engineer Leslie Robertson speak and he said his firm does not accept any work from the military. That's taking a position and something maybe SOM could learn from. Robertson, by the way, was Yamasaki's engineer on the WTC.
onecentJay. I'm sorry but your statistical analysis is completely wrong. There is hard evidence of racism in the justice system. In fact, most people arrested in the United States are white, but most convicted people are minorities.
Let's stop and think about what you're saying Not all poor people are criminals, and not all crimes are commited by the poor, but the vast majority are, and for obvious reasons. Lets wonder how much white collar crime gets stopped in the USA and how much that crime costs the country. Maybe the number of white collar/white-skinned criminals is fewer but the number of prosecutions also happens to be minimal and the cost to society is enormous. And, if I may add, Martha Stewart was a scapegoat for that kind of "mismatch," as you like to call it. I guess, by your logic, that Joseph Fastow, Kenneth Lay, and others were poor in a past life since "poverty breeds crime."
Next, stop and think about the crime that minorities commit and against whom it is committed. The storyline goes a bit like this. White people vote in high numbers for higher penalties (3 strike laws, etc) and especially for harsher drug laws that only work to disenfranchise the poor, who also tend to not vote, and actually protect the white people from nothing that was affecting them anyway. People of color keep filling up the prisons but the violence in minority neighborhoods continues or gets even worse as people come out of prisons to find a society that will not give felons any jobs. The rift grows wider and wider.
Your opinions of immigrants do border on being racist. You like to shop for cheap clothes? Then you damn well need people to work the sewing machines. You say that immigrants are "already criminals" for coming into the country, yet the country's economy wouldn't function without them. The country criminalizes them for cheap votes, but then turns around and rewards them minimaly but betten than back home. Do you think they wanted to leave their countries? There is a difference between breaking the law out of need and breaking it just because you can, like white collar criminals.
Unemployment in America after WWII used to stay at a relatively stable level. After the collapse of the post-war economy in the 60's, prison numbers began to rise. After this economic fall, the only way to maintain stable unemployment figures was with a rising tide of prisoners, who do not get counted as "unemployed." (read more)
Now the US has over 2 million people behind bars. California alone has the third largest prison system in the world.
If you want to learn more, I suggest seeing Mother Jones' Debt to Society and 360degrees. Angela Y Davis also makes some interesting points here. Also, Mike Davis. I also suggest reading some Richard Walker.
This discussion of white collar crime intrigues me. Who do you think would be the first to benefit from decreased prison cell availability? Are they going to let out violent offenders or white collar criminals first? Clearly white collar criminals will be seen as the least dangerous, and let free. So if you're interested in punishing white collar (non-violent) criminals, you'd better start building some prisons...
Anyway, sorry to make this such a politically charged thread... I just don't like irrationality. Also, I never said the majority of illegal immigrants end up in jail. I said its no wonder there are so many in jail, given that by definition all illegal immigrants are criminals. I don't blame them for their choice to come here, after all we turn a blind eye to it, but they are still criminals. That has nothing to do with what color their skin is, that is fact.
As supporting evidence, according to the center for immigration studies, "illegal aliens make up about 17 percent of [the] federal prison population, even though they're only 3 percent of the general population." That's not a majority, but its too many.
I also take issue with the myth that the country would collapse without the virtual slave labor we accept in this country through illegal immigration. No, only the employers would suffer from reduced profit. To assume that the cost savings of illegal immigrant labor is actually being passed on to the consumer is naive. No one will do the work because it pays too little for a citizen to bother. Rather than pay a fair wage for the work, employers find illegal aliens who have no rights and can be oppressed through threat of deportation. This is not cool.
Anyway, too many issues to cover here. Suffice it to say, neither of the presidential candidates has a real solution to any of these problems.
Well look, what I take issue with is this:
So if you're interested in punishing white collar (non-violent) criminals, you'd better start building some prisons...
The subtext of this line (white-collar=non-violent) is that everyone else in prison is in there for violent crimes. That's False and prejudiced. Thousands and thousands of people are in there for non-violent offenses...drug-related ones. Also, many people are in there for petty crimes that involved no violence against anyone. Your "illegal immigrant criminals" are one example of your contradictory logic. They harmed no one and they are no more of a criminal than you or I are. Well, I'm not so sure about you, since it sounds like you are one upright citizen.
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.