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Les Miserables by Victor Hugo begins in 1815 as the peasant Jean Valjean, just released from 19 years' imprisonment in the galleys  — 5 for stealing bread for his starving sister and her family and 14 more for numerous escape attempts — is turned away by innkeepers because his yellow passport marks him as a former convict. He sleeps on the street, angry and bitter, but is then shown kindness.  Eventually, he succeeds in business and tries to make the world a better place.  French writers like Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas appreciated the evils of incarceration in prisons or ship galleys.    We see the theme of incarceration in the literature of most Western nations.  Some great Russian, English and French authors have either experienced some form of incarceration themselves, in connection with their families, or read about people who were embittered by years in prison.   

General Alexandre Davy de la Pailleterie, also known as Alexandre Dumas, (25 March 1762 – 26 February 1806) was the famous African European general in French history and remains the highest-ranking person of color of all time in a continental European army. [1] He was the first person of color in the French military to become brigadier general , the first to become divisional general , and the first to become general-in-chief of a French army. [2] Dumas shared the status of the highest-ranking black officer in the Western world only with Toussaint Louverture (who in May 1797 became the second black general-in-chief in the French military [3] ) until 1989, when the American Colin Powell became a four-star general , the closest United States equivalent of Général d'Armée , Dumas's highest rank. Born in Saint-Domingue , Alexandre Dumas was of mixed race , the son of a white French nobleman and a black slave mother. He was born into slavery because of his mother...

The statistics for this blog show which countries have the highest number of blog pageviews.  The top 3 countries, in order of pageviews, are as follows:  USA, Russia, Germany. Although this blog is American, writes in English and focuses attention on the USA, both Russia and Germany have histories of massive state slavery in the form of labor, concentration and extermination camps, torture, horrific prison conditions and inhumanity. We are glad the blog has readers in Russia and Germany ... those who forget the lessons of history are bound to repeat them.  The USA had not repeated the horrific injustices perpetrated by Stalin and Hitler; we have not sunk that low. But the scale of our incarceration presents similar problems, inefficiencies and waste.  The problems of incarceration and the places where they were most acute in the twentieth century provide food for thought.     

Speech by Attorney General Eric Holder It’s time – in fact, it’s well past time – to address persistent needs and unwarranted disparities by considering a fundamentally new approach. As a prosecutor; a judge; an attorney in private practice; and now, as our nation’s Attorney General, I’ve seen the criminal justice system firsthand, from nearly every angle. While I have the utmost faith in – and dedication to – America’s legal system, we must face the reality that, as it stands, our system is in too many respects broken. The course we are on is far from sustainable. And it is our time – and our duty – to identify those areas we can improve in order to better advance the cause of justice for all Americans. Even as most crime rates decline, we need to examine new law enforcement strategies – and better allocate resources – to keep pace with today’s continuing threats as violence spikes in some of our greatest cities. As studies show that six in ten American children are exposed to ...

Prison Reform = Modern Day Abolitionism = Smaller Government = Better U.S. Economy = Tradition = Scripture = More Effective = Original Intent of U.S. Constitution = Prison Industry Re-Vitalization Through Free Enterprise Hiring Prisoners = More Rehabilitation = Less Recidivism = More Deterrence = Less Incapacitation = More Liberty = Admitting Past Failures = Fewer Prisoners = What George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln & Theodore Roosevelt would do = Proven By Experience  ...   ...   ...                   

Some people look forward to the expanded Medicaid available through ObamaCare.  More prisoners will obtain mental healthcare under ObamaCare.  Ultimately, this will shift costs from state and county prisons and jails to the federal government.  The total cost of incarceration will rise, but be spread across all the states through the federal government.  Even citizens in states that opt out of the new Medicaid expansion will pay more. In government shut-downs, pubic funds still fully support the incarcerated.  This inelastic expense requirement, supporting prisoners, demonstrates why cutting the incarcerated population in half would save the federal, state, county and city governments untold amounts of money.  How much money should we spend to make an inefficient punishment better?       

Here's a simple argument against excessive incarceration, not applicable to everyone, but only to those who should be punished by other means:  " We cannot afford it ." (This is a follow-up to the last post.)

    A Warning from the Accountants  by  John Dewar Gleissner A widely cited Associated Press article recently reported that New York City's annual cost per inmate was $167,731 in 2012.  Every year, hundreds of millions of dollars are spent a year to run a 400-acre island in the East River that has 10 jail facilities, staff, a power plant and bakery.  The city's Independent Budget Office annual figure of $167,731 ($460 per day for the 12,287 average daily New York City inmates last year) was based on $2 billion in total operating expenses for the NYC Department of Correction.  They have transportation costs; 261,158 inmates had to visit court last year. The former commissioner wanted to put the jails near the courthouses, but residents don't like that idea. Los Angeles reportedly spent $128.94 a day, or $47,063 a year, for 17,400 inmates in fiscal year 2011-12, per its sheri...

To our Russian readers :  The Tsar abolished judicial corporal punishment, which was applied at the village level.  This was about 1861, when serfdom was ended.  Russian peasants were skeptical, because punishment was taken out of their hands and away from their view.  Russia transitioned to the centralized punishment model.  Fast forward to the Stalinist era, and the doubts of the Russian peasants make sense.  When punishment is centralized, as in the GULAG Archipelago, more oppression, injustice and abuse are then possible and likely. 

To our readers and followers outside the English-speaking world: for your convenience, a TRANSLATE feature has now been added to this blog website page.  You will find it on the right side, near the bottom of the page.  Thank you for reading the blog.  We hope this TRANSLATE feature assists you.

PLEASE GET INVOLVED:      Please write your governors, sentencing commissions and elected representatives and tell them you would like a judicial corporal punishment sentencing option to reduce mass incarceration promote rehabilitation deter crime lower the crime rate reduce government expenses  boost the economy enhance probation, parole and Drug Court follow the Bible   They can read what they need to know on Westlaw :  "Prison Overcrowding Cure: Judicial Corporal Punishment of Adults" Vol. 49, Issue 4, The Criminal Law Bulletin , Art. 2 (Summer 2013)

My plan to cut the American prison population in half has now been published in The Criminal Law Bulletin and is available on Westlaw for those who are interested: "Prison Overcrowding Cure: Judicial Corporal Punishment of Adults," Volume 49, Issue No. 4, The Criminal Law Bulletin , Art. 2; 49 NO 4 CRIMLAWBULL ART 2 (Summer 2013).  Before freaking out, please know that this is the same punishment mandated in the Bible ( Deuteronomy 25:1-3) and advocated by George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt, all the presidents carved into Mt. Rushmore, for use on white and black citizens. John Dewar Gleissner, Esq.

Authority, Supporters & Advantages of Judicial Corporal Punishment ("JCP"), in a Nutshell: The Book of Deuteronomy in the Bible  (Deuteronomy 25: 1-3) George Washington Thomas Jefferson Abraham Lincoln Theodore Roosevelt Use throughout history  Lower crime rates in modern nations using JCP Lower incarceration rates in modern nations using JCP Behavioral science regarding learning, brain signatures, neurological studies Federal Writers' Project Slave Narratives Opponents of mass incarceration in USA today Faster than incarceration Much less expensive than incarceration Promotes rehabilitation compared to terrible moral environment of prison Prison is a failure in terms of recidivism, rehabilitation, retribution & deterence JCP is in public and provides the benefit of example, a much better deterrent JCP is repeatable and supports probation and parole, allowing offenders access to more normal society, religious organizations, families, marriages...

      To cut the American prison and jail populations in half, it will not be easy.  Please remember what the coach said: "No pain, no gain." 

The Criminal Law Bulletin will publish "Prison Overcrowding Cure: Judicial Corporal Punishment of Adults" by John Dewar Gleissner on or about July 15, 2013.  Please watch for it!

Proposed Structure of Needed Reforms:               First, federal and state statutes prohibiting the manufacturing, purchase, sale and shipment of prison-made goods should be repealed.   Prison-made goods should be allowed to move in interstate commerce to the same extent as any other product, without special labeling requirements. The states, through federal preemptive legislation or otherwise, should eliminate their restrictions on prison industries and prison labor.               Second, complete freedom of contract should prevail between prison employers, prisoners, and federal and state correctional institutions.   Prisoners and private businesses would negotiate on a laissez-faire basis.   Federal and state governments should encourage contracts between private business and prisoners regarding negotiated wages, hours and conditions of e...

In early America, fines, public punishment (whipping, stocks, pillories and mutilation), the death penalty, banishment and shaming punished criminals. Those who could not pay fines, including slaves, servants and women, were more likely to receive corporal punishment.   Corporal punishment included cropping ears, nailing    ears to wood and ripping the ears away, branding and other forms of permanent disfigurement, but usually corporal punishment was imposed with a whip or cat-onine-tails. Movements promoting democracy, social equality, pacifism and idealism caused societies to abandon corporal punishment, but it was not abandoned due to ineffectiveness. Just and appropriate punishment has proven social value in connection with a reward structure, social interaction, religion, goals and families. William Penn came to America in 1682 with a charter from King Charles II allowing his pacifist colony to incarcerate under hard labor as an alternative...

In ancient societies and in the medieval period prisons were too expensive to maintain, so the authorities opted for capital or corporal punishments or some form of slavery.   Corporal punishment through the ages was more commonly imposed on soldiers, sailors, serfs, slaves, criminals and lower social classes. All slave-holding societies in history controlled slaves with corporal punishment, while elites usually exempted themselves from this punishment. The ancient Romans, for example, only flogged non-citizens, as the Apostle Paul reminded a Roman who was about to flog him. During the Tudor monarchies, English authorities executed large numbers of criminals by hanging. In 1603, England punished about 50 capital crimes. By 1815, the number of hanging offenses in England had risen to over 200.          Dungeons and prisons historically held prisoners temporarily, before or in lieu of trial, during interrogation, until ranso...

Slavery and criminal punishment have many things in common. Each keeps people in low social strata. Criminal punishment in various cultures resulted in forms of slavery. In different Western legal systems throughout history, the punishments used to control slaves eventually made their way into criminal laws applicable to everyone.  Penal servitude and slavery were in some cultures practically indistinguishable. Chattel slavery was usually milder than galley slavery, penal servitude and convict leasing, because the slaveholder had a direct investment in the life of the slave rather than merely the use of labor for some years.  A delusion of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, originating as a humanitarian movement, was the idea that people would get better with time if placed in cages or cells. This misconception brought about yet another form of slavery, which is now more prevalent in the United States than in any other country. We have not reached the final cha...

Excerpt from Prison & Slavery - A Surprising Comparison , Chapter One   We humans often delude ourselves with the idea of progress while continuing to make the same mistakes. We developed advanced technology and then fought the most destructive and cruel war in the history of the world, the Second World War.  We invented chemicals and drugs, but not always the wisdom to use them. Our species became prosperous and then destroyed its families. People, organizations and societies are often inept at making the best decisions. Our wars, upheavals, environmental problems and financial crises display the persistent follies of the human species. “Madness is rare in individuals – but in groups, parties, nations and ages it is the rule.” The longest delusion of the twentieth century grew out of the idealistic desire to stop the exploitation of labor, free oppressed workers and peasants, abolish capitalism, stop wars and create a workers’ paradise while the state and religi...

from PROLOGUE to Prison & Slavery - A Surprising Comparison   Prisoners are the least popular segment of society and prison the most disreputable place. As a result, few think or talk about prisons or prisoners. Most of us never see the inside of a prison or talk with anyone who readily admits to having lived there. Offenders deserve punishment, so why should we care?  The United States now has over 7,300,000 people in its correctional population, an economically and socially debilitating number of convicts and offenders. With only 5% of the world’s population, the U.S. has 25% of its prisoners. If the correctional population were a state, it would be America’s thirteenth largest state by population. Grossly inefficient state slavery, which is what incarceration amounts to, is worse than people think, and is bad for the public, taxpayers, crime victims, prisoners, the economy and the families of the victimized and incarcerated. We can reduce the number of Ameri...