The High School Journal of Law & Society Issue III

THE HIGH SCHOOL JOURNAL OF LAW & SOCIETY

ISSUE III

1 A Message from the Board The High School Journal of Law & Society began as a result of the lack of outlets for high school students interested in the fields of law and social science to publish their work. Its primary purpose still holds: to promote youth engagement in social science endeavours and discovery, and to highlight excellence in writing on such topics.

With our third issue, a fresh set of brilliant minds comprise HSLS’ Editorial Board. These students have united around a passion for social science, writing, and leadership, and are excited by the thought of honoring the hard work of their like-minded peers.

Across all of our submissions for this issue, we found an a wide-reaching interest in topics that are impacting modern day youth, including the American criminal justice system, abortion, and racism. The Board is thrilled and impressed with the content, research, and depth of writing in the pieces we have chosen for this publication. These five authors have now had the opportunity to work with one of our Board members to line-edit their works and subsequently hear from scholarly reviewers with expertise in their topic for content and argument based feedback.

The hope is that academics who read this journal will be inspired by the creativity, commitment, and unique thought these authors have brought onto pressing topics in modern day society.

Sincerely, Kaya Vadhan [founder] & the HSLS Editorial Board

2 The Editorial Board

Rania Dadlani Rania is a sophomore at McNair Academic High School. She is interested in learning how the legal system works and how it relates to race, power, and class, which is why she opted to join the board.

Alexandra Dishnica Alex is a senior at Lincoln Sudbury Regional High School and is passionate about public policy and political philosophy. She is especially interested in immigration policy and runs a podcast, Dishing on Immigration, which aims to share immigrant stories.

Mia McElhatton Mia McElhatton is a senior at Central High School in Philadelphia, PA. She has worked as the community organizer intern for the Women’s Community Revitalization Project, Central’s mock trial captain, a writer for her school paper, and assistant editor for a city-wide school district paper. Mia is also a University of Pennsylvania young scholar.

Maya Espinel Maya is currently a senior at McNair Academic High School in Jersey City, New Jersey. She is interested in all aspects of political science, international relations, and law. Her involvement with the journal has come from an excitement for the opportunity to create student-accessible spaces.

Enya Kamadolli Enya is a senior at Newton South high school in Newton, Massachusetts. She is interested in international relations, law, and business, and works on the journal due to a passion for social justice. In her free time, Enya enjoys debating, rock climbing, and reading.

Kaya Vadhan Kaya Vadhan is a Brookline High School (MA) alumni and a current freshman at Harvard University planning on studying social studies and psychology. She eventually sees herself pursuing a career as a lawyer or in criminal justice reform.

Tiffany Wen Tiffany is a junior at The Lawrenceville School in New Jersey. She is passionate about law and history. In her free time, Tiffany enjoys reading, writing, and playing the flute. She is thrilled to be working on the journal this year.

3 Issue III Reviewers

Julie Higgins, JD Julie Higgins is an Assistant District Attorney at the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office in Boston, Massachusetts and has been practicing law since 1996.

Sameer Hinduja, Ph.D. Sameer Hinduja is a Professor at Florida Atlantic's School of Criminology and Criminal Justice and a Faculty Associate at Harvard University's Berkman Klein Center. He has presented research at Capitol Hill, testified before the Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, and Homeland Security, and has served as a Fulbright Specialist Scholar.1

Mason Kortz, JD Mason Kortz is a clinical instructor at Harvard Law School’s Berkman Klein Center. He has his JD from Harvard Law School and has previously worked as a legal fellow at the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts and as a clerk in the District of Massachusetts.2

Jen Martin, Ph.D. Jen Martin is an interim high school Social Studies Department Curriculum Coordinator, history teacher, leader of Student Government, and manager of a Non-Fiction Writing Fellowship. She has her PhD in Education.

Rachel Wechsler, JD Rachel Weschler is a research fellow at NYU’s Center on the Administration of Criminal Law. She was previously the Associate Director of NYU's Lawyering program and has also received NYU Law School's Podell Distinguished Teaching Award. 3

1

https://www.fau.edu/sw-cj/sccj/faculty-and-staff/people/hinduja/ https://cyber.harvard.edu/people/mkortz 3 https://its.law.nyu.edu/facultyprofiles/index.cfm?fuseaction=profile.overview&personid=46961 2

4 The Whipple Award

Thanks to the Whipple Writing Fellowship, one of our outstanding papers has the chance to be honored with a $200 prize for excellence in writing. The Whipple Writing Fellowship is a program that operates out of Brookline High School, Kaya Vadhan’s alma mater. The fellowship was created to honor David Whipple (BHS Class of 2012, Yale Class of 2016) and his love of writing nonfiction. He was an exceptional writer and student who had a particular interest in the study of Law. He graduated from Yale University with a bachelor’s degree in Ethics, Politics and Economics. The Fellowship’s goal in offering this prize is to encourage young writers to rigorously research and write about topics that matter to them and the world. Special thanks to the Gladstone-Whipple family for their support of this nascent journal and its goal of celebrating young researchers and writers.

We have chosen to award this prize to Saahithi Sreekantham and her paper A Rape Victim’s Journey to Justice through the Courts: Barriers, Struggles, and Effects due to the significance of her topic, creativity in her approach, quality of her writing, and depth and nuance of her analysis.

5 Table of Contents

I. A Rape Victim’s Journey to Justice through the Courts: Barriers, Struggles, and Effects…

6

II. The Flaws in the U.S’s Punitive Prison System and the Importance of Rehabilitation…

30

III. The Geopolitics and Financial Obstacles to Abortion in the United States…

54

IV. An Asian Canadian Story: Re-educating the Next Generation Through Admittance of Wrongdoings and Promises of Improvements…

74

V. Post-Incarceration Societal Re-entry…

94

6

A Rape Victim’s Journey to Justice through the Courts: Barriers, Struggles, and Effects

By Saahithi Sreekantham

BASIS Chandler School, Class of 2024 Chandler, Arizona

Mentored by: Rachel Katzin, JD Candidate Edited by: Tiffany Wen Reviewed by: Rachel Wechsler

7 I.

INTRODUCTION Across the nation, countless victims house untold tales of rape and sexual assault;

victims who once had faith that the court system would provide justice for the crimes committed against them. Rape, a category of sexual assault involving unwanted penetration, and sexual assault, which is any form of unwanted sexual contact, are both sensitive topics with an abundance of stigma and stereotypes surrounding them. Because of this, assaults not only continue to happen, but also often go unpunished. Already, few victims turn to the criminal justice system, and for those who do, there are few successes. This paper examines the path a rape victim must take to receive justice through the court system, and how that system and those within it prevent victims from obtaining it. It is separated into three sections: (1) barriers to entering court, (2) struggles within the court, and (3) harm to future victims after court.

Prominent figures in the justice system include police, prosecutors, judges, and juries.

Their decisions reflect societal attitudes more often than not. In 1980, Gary D. la Free noted that “the court trial is the most public aspect of the criminal justice process” (Free, 836). Because of this, trial outcomes are often more indicative of “societal reactions to rape” rather than careful consideration (836). Society’s intense negative attitude toward rape allows us to imagine how often judges and juries allow rapists to go unpunished.

Social attitudes toward rape are highly influential in such cases, and the largest components of these attitudes are traditional or religious attitudes. Society and religion have historically disregarded rape and sexual abuse, dating back to ancient Babylon. Specifically, “the Code of Hammurabi, one of the earliest sets of written laws, considered the rape of a virgin as property damage against her father or husband” (Bishop, 2018). Such attitudes continued through

8 biblical times as well, as demonstrated in the passage: “[a] wife is not the master of her own body, but a husband is” (I Corinthians 7, 3-5).

Rape myths, or clear demonstrations of negative social attitude toward rape, remain present in media and literature. In his book, Ars Amatoria, Ovid (a famous Roman poet) claims that “women often wish to…give unwillingly what they really like to give,” with “what they really like to give” a synonym for sex (Campbell, 5). Playboy, an American men’s lifestyle magazine, told its readers in July 1974: “A lovely youn[g] maiden named Hood [m]et a randy young wolf in the wood. Though she said she would die [u]ndefiled ere comply[, s]he gave in when she saw how things stood” (5). Here, “undefiled ere comply” meant that Hood intended to die a virgin but gave up on this idea after the wolf’s harassment. This encourages the dangerous idea that with enough pestering, a woman will agree to sex. Additionally, in Mel Brooks’s movie, Young Frankenstein, “Frankenstein’s fiancee discovers true happiness while being raped by the monster” (5). Finally, in the book New Centurians, “the police joke about a rapist and explain if they had been the rapist[,] there would have been no charges filed because the woman would have been satisfied” (5). These examples reinforce another misconception that women accuse perpetrators of rape because they were not sexually satisfied.4 The media and literature play a prominent role in encouraging rape myths, and those rape myths will in turn affect legal decisions and can cause problems for rape victims in court and society.

These social views can heavily impact trials. It “wasn’t until 1871 that Alabama and Massachusetts became the first states to take this right [to legally beat a wife] away” (Mallicoat, 59). It was not until 1976 that Nebraska became the first state to outlaw marital rape, and it took

4

“Women” is used here and elsewhere in this paper, instead of a gender neutral term, because women are at higher risk of rape and sexual assault than men. One out of six American women are victims of attempted or completed rape, compared to one out of ten men (RAINN). However, the experiences of all rape victims are included and acknowledged in the topics covered by this paper.

9 until 1993 for all fifty states to follow suit (Bishop, 2018). This persists in rape cases not concerning marital rape as well--the amount of successful convictions in rape cases also remains extremely low, thus illustrating how daunting the court system is to a rape victim seeking justice.

II.

BARRIERS TO ENTERING COURT

A. The Court System 1. Reporting The first step in the path to justice is to report the assault to the police. However, the system itself often deters victims from doing so. Police often “unfound” rape reports, meaning they dismiss cases that they believe will not be successful due to “prosecutorial disadvantages” (LeGrand, 929). Approximately “one-fifths of rape cases [we]re ‘unfounded’” according to the 1971 FBI Uniform Crime Reports (928, Note 45). More recently, “[t]he 2017 national average was 36.5 percent, according to national crime-reporting statistics… [of] the FBI” (Perkins). The “founding” of a case is crucial, for police must believe the victim before the case to go to court.

In this, the system fails. Bryden and Lengnick compared the system “to a giant sieve [that] filter[s] out cases at every stage of the process,” especially at the reporting stage (Bryden & Lengnick, 1208). Multiple factors influence police decisions to unfound cases, including: “(1) evidence that the victim was intoxicated; (2) delay in reporting by the victim; (3) lack of physical condition supporting the allegation, (4) refusal to submit to a medical examination, [and] (5) the previous relationship of the victim and the offender” (LeGrand, 928). Almost none of these factors relate to whether the rape actually occurred, but rather the prosecutorial disadvantages they present in court that may ruin a prosecutor’s record. Thus, a rape may be

10 “unfounded” simply due to prosecutorial disadvantages, thus erasing the victim’s chance at justice.

If an officer does not unfound a case, they must make the arrest––however, half the time, this is not done. A “compilation of arrest rate statistics [since 1987] indicate that…[only] 40% to 52% of all founded rape complaints led to an arrest” (Bryden & Lengnick, 1220). According to the FBI, as of 2018, “33.4% [of reported rapes] resulted in an arrest,” proving that the issue continues today (2018 Crime in the U.S. FBI Data).

2. Prosecutorial Discretion Prosecutorial discretion is the ability of a prosecutor to choose whether to prosecute a case and, if so, what the exact charges will be.5 Prosecutors have virtually limitless leeway to accept or reject cases. The most common reason why prosecutors decline to charge in rape cases is that they deem some as “unwinnable.” In 1990, Frohmann found that “prosecutors screen out the[se] ‘unwinnable’ cases to improve their conviction rates, because this impresses their superiors and, if they are politically ambitious, the electorate” (Bryden & Lengnick, 1246). Other factors affecting these decisions are “the seriousness of the offense, the strength of evidence in the case, and the culpability of the defendant” (Holleran, Beichner & Spohn, 387). Though a prosecutor can opt for reduced charges in weaker cases, most assume the case is so weak that it is better to not file charges at all (Bryden & Lengnick, 1209). Predictions of a case being “unwinnable” are “inherently uncertain,” so prosecutors often compare the case to “stereotypes of genuine victims” in their decision to prosecute (Holleran, Beichner & Spohn, 390). This means they compare the case to what judges and juries are most likely to believe a true victim looks like--such as a victim of stranger rape or the ‘stranger-in-a-dark-alley’ circumstance.

3. Law and the Model Penal Code 5

This section will focus on the decision to prosecute in the first place.

11 There are not many laws in existence that actively or directly deter rape victims from reporting. The provision most relevant that deters rape victims from reporting and condones rape culture is in the Model Penal Code (“MPC”). Even though the MPC is not currently binding on any American legal jurisdictions, it is often used for reference when creating laws and is crucial to understand the history of sexual assault laws. The MPC was designed to help state legislatures update, integrate, and standardize federal penal codes of the United States. (Robinson & Dubber, 326).

The MPC defines rape as a man who has had sexual intercourse with a female who is not his wife, and only if the incident meets one or more of the following conditions: “(1) he compels her to submit by force or by threat of imminent death, serious bodily injury, extreme pain or kidnapping, to be inflicted on anyone, (2) he has substantially impaired her power to appraise or control her conduct by administering or employing without her knowledge drugs, intoxicants or other means [to prevent] resistance, (3) the female is unconscious, or (4) the female is less than 10 years old” (OLR Research Report, 1998). This definition tells us that (1) marital rape is not considered rape; (2) if the victim has not been subject to threat, serious injury, extreme pain, or kidnapping, it is not considered rape; (3) if the victim can control her conduct and is not intoxicated, it is not considered rape; (4) if the female is conscious, it is not rape; and (5) if the female is older than ten, it is not rape. These provisions cause uneasiness regarding how often the MPC is studied and used today.

B. Social Context There is a myriad of other factors that affects the decisions of rape cases in court. The most concrete examples are racial overtones of victims and religiosity of legal officials.

1. Racial Overtones/People of Color

12 A prosecutor’s decision to file charges is influenced by “downstream orientation,” or anticipation of how judges and juries will react (Holleran et al., 389). Elements of downstream orientation include stereotypes about victims and race (Kennedy, 12–14). For example, “prosecutors were 4.5 times more likely to file charges if the victim was white” and “least likely to file charges when the victim was black.” (Spohn & Holleran, 671). Additionally, “prosecutors were more likely to file charges against men who assaulted white women who were strangers to them than men who assaulted black women who were strangers to them” (Kennedy, 15).

Although prosecutors should remain unbiased, race has a substantial effect on prosecutorial discretion, often as an implicit factor. This is a significant barrier to entering court for a victim.

2. Religion Some religions condone the idea that women should be blamed for rape. Specifically, “men higher in religiosity…were more likely to believe that women who are promiscuous or who dress...provocative[ly]... deserve to be raped” (Edwards et al., 767). Religion and tradition may also be where many rape myths originate. Religion can substantially affect legal actors in the justice system. Within prosecutorial discretion, there is “potential for prosecutorial abuse...by possibly injecting impermissible criteria into the process,” such as religion (Heller, 1314, Note 19).

Religion also intersects with race. For Hispanic Catholics, women “are expected to protect their virginity at all costs and failing to do so will dishonor their family” (Parratt et al., 51). Religions and religious institutions across the nation sustain these beliefs about sexual assault, and decisions in the criminal justice system are heavily influenced by such notions.

III.

STRUGGLES IN COURT

13 A. Prosecutorial Discretion As discussed above, prosecutors choose whether to file charges and how punitive the charges will be. There is a complex network of legal and extralegal factors influencing a prosecutor’s decisions about the filing of charges in sexual assault cases.

Legal factors include downstream orientation and burden of proof. “Downstream orientation” predictions are “inherently uncertain,” making it difficult for prosecutors to predict the case in front of them. Prosecutors create a mental framework that combines stereotypes of “real crimes and genuine victims” (Holleran et al., 390). Another important factor is the “strength of evidence available”––the “heavy burden of proof” prosecutors face forces prosecutors to alter charges accordingly––victim testimony without corroboratory evidence is often not enough to prove the initial charge (392).

Prosecutors then focus on extralegal factors, including the background of the suspect and victim and their relationship to each other. Prosecutors know that these “extra-legal factors [can] influence the beliefs of police…and judges concerning the validity of a rape complaint” (Stewart et al., 164). Prominent extralegal factors include (1) “whether or not there is an eyewitness,” (2) “the degree of force used,” (3) “the existence of a prior relationship between the victim and the offender,” (4) “the sexual experience and general character of the victim,” (5) “the victim's behaviour and demeanour prior to and after the rape,” and (6) “the length of time between the assault and reporting” (164).

Prosecutors may resort to reduced charges if they cannot predict the downstream orientation of these factors. Most rape prosecutions are “dealt with as altered charges, as opposed to being retained on the original charge” (Minch, 15). As discussed above, prosecutors may reduce charges because of the lack of evidence supporting the charge, despite their own beliefs

14 about the case (Holleran et al., 386). For example, in a rape case study, “the prosecutor believe[d] [the] defendant [was] likely guilty, but because the evidence [was] weak, [they] offer[ed] a...sentence reduction instead of a guilty plea” (Turner, 2). There is no requirement that prosecutors choose a sentence that “proportionately” punishes the defendant (2). This “substantial discretion” leads to decisions that vary in the “reduction of charges, dismissal of charges, plea bargaining, [and] appeal of a conviction and/or sentence and maintenance of the original charge” in the course of a particular rape (Minch, 6).

B. Judge Prejudices Judges mentally categorize rape cases in their decision-making process. In a 1974 study, thirty-eight judges “appeared to divide rape cases into three basic types, giving each category a different degree of credibility” (Bohmer, 304). The first type is “genuine victims,” such as a “stranger leaping out of the shadows in the dark alley” (304). The second is “consensual intercourse,” which includes beliefs that the victim “ask[ed] for it” (305). Judges may also refer to this as: “friendly rape,” “felonious gallantry,” “assault with failure to please,” and “breach of contract” (305). These euphemistic terms illustrate how judges soften the initial impact that comes from the term “rape,” indirectly endorsing stereotypes and prejudices. The third category is “female vindictiveness,” in which judges believe the allegation is simply a woman’s “desire to get even with a man” (305). These categories indicate that judges may not believe allegations that do not fit their mental framework and social attitudes.

Prejudice can be seen in quotes from judges themselves. Judge Gabriel Hutton said to a guilty rapist, “I hope you’ll be able to keep your well-paid job and the couple of weeks you spend in prison will be treated by employers as part of your holidays” (Staveley, 2020). Judge Raymond Dean said, “[a]s the gentlemen on the jury will understand when a woman says no she

15 doesn’t always mean it” (Staveley, 2020). Another judge “considered the sixteen year old [victim]'s clothing and sentenced the convicted fifteen year old defendant to only probation…call[ing] for women to ‘stop teasing’ and for a ‘restoration of modesty in dress,’” clearly reflecting traditional attitudes and prejudices about rape victims (Lennon et al., 394, Note 18). The same judge said, “whether women like it or not, they are sex objects. Are we supposed to take an impressionable person 15 or 16 years of age and punish that person severely because they react to it normally?” (394, Note 20). Finally, Judge Thomas Low said to a convicted rapist, “[t]he court has no doubt that [the rapist] is an extraordinarily good man…. But great men sometimes do bad things” (Staveley, 2020).

These quotes not only have impacts on victims but also on juries. Victims who see these cases and quotes in the media may become wary of the criminal justice system and refuse to enter it. Judges’ beliefs impact juries heavily and thus cause more acquittals. This increased amount of acquittals also affects rapists, who might believe that they can escape punishment for rape. Such ideas are dangerous for citizens throughout the nation.

C. Jury Prejudices Jury prejudice is affected by numerous factors. The most prominent ones are (1) type of rape, (2) pre-rape behavior, and (3) rape myth acceptance (Rerick et al., 552).

Historically, the type of rape has had a substantial effect on juries. Acquaintance rape (when the rapist and victim previously knew each other) is the category most affected by jury prejudices. In an analysis of rape cases by Kalven and Zeisel, of the forty-two acquaintance rape cases “with no aggravating factor,” only three received a guilty verdict. This seven percent conviction rate “represents a…nullification of…rape in cases where the parties knew each other and no aggravating factor was present.” (Bryden & Lengnick, 1255, Note 402). Basically, “juries

16 in simple rape cases in effect rewrite the law of rape…acquitting the defendant of rape when they perceive that the alleged victim's conduct helped to precipitate the rape” (1258). In addition, “juries were four times more likely to convict when sexual assault cases involved aggravating factors such as stranger assailants, multiple assailants, or violence as compared to when they did not” (Hildebrand & Najdowski, 1061). This illustrates the idea that juries do not believe acquaintance rape is possible, or at the very least, is uncommon. This false perception causes a precarious situation for acquaintance rape victims who look for justice.

The pre-rape behavior of the victim is a highly influential factor on juries. Specifically, “the sex life of the victim but not the accused is open to the public investigation” (Campbell, 5).

Frequently, “juries in simple rape cases…acquit…the defendant of rape when they perceive that the alleged victim's conduct helped to precipitate the rape” (Bryden & Lengnick, 1258). When they decide that the victim “contributed” to the rape through their actions, juries either acquit or decide that the perpetrator is guilty of a lesser crime (Danow, 116).

Rape myth acceptance is often the biggest reason why juries acquit in rape trials. One study tested the youngest population that was eligible to be on a jury––college students. This study concluded that 17% to 75% of college students believed in “various rape myths” (Hildebrand & Najdowski, 1064). Specifically, 20.7% agreed that “[m]any females have fantasy dreams about rape,” and 29.7% agreed that “[w]omen often falsely accuse men of rape.” (1064).

College students are the youngest group eligible to be jurors––this study shows that a disconcerting amount of eligible jurors believe rape myths.

Pack conducted a study to better comprehend how rape myths affect juror decisions in rape cases. Participants were given a pre-test and then participated in a mock trial (Pack). After the deliberation, a post-test was given to participants, which “revealed that about 72% of people

17 that participated in the study accepted at least one of the fourteen rape myths on the post-test” (102). This illustrates how people have biases they do not even know about. “[A]lthough most people that participated in the jury panels seemed to deny the rape myths in the deliberations, they still accept them on an implicit or deeper level” (102). Although in deliberations, most of the jurors denied rape myths, they still endorsed them without realizing it. This implicit bias furthers the chance of acquittals for rapists and hurts rape victims trying to obtain justice.

D. Jury Instructions Jury instructions are “instructions for jury deliberation that are written by the judge and given to the jury” (LII). An example of more controversial jury instructions is in the MPC: “A [rape] charge…is one which is easily made, and, once made, difficult to defend against, even if the person accused is innocent. Therefore, the law requires that you examine the testimony of the female person named in the information with caution” (Buller, 12). While this instruction is no longer in the MPC, it still can carry heavy influence over jury instructions and jury verdicts.

Other instructions told jurors that an “unchaste woman is more likely than others to consent to sexual advances,” that “women who say no do not always mean no,” and that reluctant consent is not rape (12). These jury instructions are rape myths and may create and reinforce jury prejudices. Because of the judge’s “cautionary jury instruction…the judge encourages the jury to determine the defendant's guilt on the basis of the victim's reputation,” yet again reinforcing rape myths and stereotypes and creating even more barriers for victims to surmount. (Danow, 113).

E. Courtroom Pressures Courtroom appearances are often required when victims give their testimonies. However, “[c]ourtroom appearances have been cited as particularly traumatic for rape victims” (Free, 839).

Reasons why such appearances are traumatic for rape victims include (1) being in the same room

18 as the defendant, (2) the intimidating environment, and (3) victim blaming by juries, judges, and prosecutors (Daly & Curtis-Fawley, 6; Shapland, 135). For example, “sitting next to the defendant” causes “feelings of intimidation” (Shapland, 135). This affects victims’ tenacity and conviction, as well as their decision to enter the courtroom at all. The courtroom is an “impersonal and intimidating” environment that victims imagine when thinking about the justice system (Daly & Curtis-Fawley, 6 & 18). A courtroom full of people skeptical of your testimony would be daunting. This, coupled with juries scrutinizing the victims, “defense attorney inquiries[,] and the perpetrators insistence [of innocence]…makes [the] victims blame themselves” (6). These factors drive victims not to enter court in the first place and increase the chances of acquittal or dismissal.

IV.

HARM AFTER COURT A. Media Coverage Media coverage influences social attitudes, which in turn influence legal actors in the

court system. The most noticeable part of media coverage is headlines. Headlines can indirectly influence readers’ opinion of a piece before they even read it. For rape cases, headlines often focus on the perpetrator, highlighting positive traits that are irrelevant to the case. In the infamous Brock Turner case, media headlines read, “Brock Turner, ex-Stanford swimmer…”

(James). This description of Turner’s college and sport affects readers’ image of him. Another example is Conor McGregor––one headline read, “Conor McGregor, a UFC Fighter, Sued in Ireland over Rape Accusations” (Panja & Draper). Not only are McGregor’s achievements irrelevant to the crime but they also act as a buffer for the link between “McGregor” and “rape accusations.”

19 News coverage also involves the articles’ contents. The way articles “frame” a message is a “fundamental aspect of communication and processing” (Layman, 4). The language that journalists use in framing has huge implications on their readers. For example, “accuser” may “invoke a less sympathetic reaction” than the “victim” (5). Evasive terms such as “non-consensual sex” can also alter readers’ views of the crime by lessening “the perceived severity of the crime” (5). Additional examples include “sex,” “caressed,” and “fondled,” for they are often thought of as “pleasurable or consensual acts,” not crimes (5). These terms diminish readers’ belief in the intensity or actuality of the crime.

The media often focuses on either extremely common or uncommon cases. Concerning commonality, the media’s tendency to focus on the “stereotypical dichotomy of male perpetrator[s] and female victim[s]” leads society to believe that other experiences are unlikely or even impossible (Layman, 2l). In one study, 150 articles focused on cases with male perpetrators, but only one incorporated “a story about a female perpetrator” (Layman, 9).

Concerning uncommonality, journalists can create stereotypes of rapists by making them seem “monstrous” or “abnormal” in comparison to the average person. The idea that rapists are “[e]asy to spot” causes skepticism when perpetrators do not fit this stereotype (8). When rape cases are not similar to the stereotypes of those in the media, it “divert[s] the conversation away” from the sexual assaults that are much more common (9). This affects victims, because they will believe that acquaintance rape is impossible to pursue in court and thus refuse to report.

Media representation of women often sexualizes and objectifies them. Women are denoted “as sexual objects almost six times per hour during television shows popular among American college students” (Hildebrand & Nadjowski, 1068). Approximately “eighty-one percent of women were depicted as sex objects and women were more likely than men to appear

20 scantily clad and in… demeaning positions” (1068). Women are also more likely to be sexually objectified in advertising platforms. Specifically, women “are more likely than men to be portrayed in “two-dimensional” roles; that is, women [are] more likely to be sexualized and dehumanized” (1068). In another study, “fifty-two percent of [American magazine] advertisements used women’s sexuality to sell products (1069). Despite these harmful findings, “these studies do not even begin to address the pervasiveness of rape myths and sexual objectification in pornographic media” (1069). The media’s representation of perpetrators, victims, and stereotypes has substantial effects on future victims and rape in the court system.

B. Impact on Future Victims Future victims are often silenced by the criminal justice system. Those who do not report fear that they would be blamed, not believed, or not take them seriously (Stewart et al., 165).

Rape victims often do not report due to skepticism that they face when entering the legal process.

Examples include (1) “police...prosecutors [and juries] who allegedly have deterred reporting by failing to take accusations of acquaintance rape seriously” and (2) “a justice system that ‘puts the victim on trial’ and...intimidates many [victims]” (Bryden & Lengnick, 1224). Victims often do not report for fear of (1) “what the jury will think,” (2) “police refus[ing to] arrest,” and (3) “prosecutors dismiss[ing] prosecutions as ‘unwinnable’” (Lonsway & Fitzgerald, 135).

Perceptions of officials in the criminal justice system play a huge role in a victim’s decision to report (Bryden & Lengnick, 1196). This hesitation in believing rape victims discourages victims from reporting their cases to legal authorities.

Victims may fear legal consequences if they are not believed. Specifically, “some jurisdictions [have ruled that]...if a woman cannot prove that she was raped[,] she may herself be prosecuted” (Seiderman et al., 132). Victims who are aware of these laws may fear being in a

21 similar situation. In addition, “[r]ape victims are placed in the difficult and uncomfortable position of having to defend their actions to the justice system, becoming, in a real sense, defendants themselves” (Stewart et al., 161). This essentially puts the victims on trial instead of the prosecutors, further discouraging them from believing in the court system’s ability to help them in their path to justice.

C. Legal Outcomes Successful outcomes for rape victims in the criminal justice system are few and far between. Today, “[o]ut of every 1,000 sexual assaults, 975 perpetrators walk free” (RAINN). For convicted perpetrators, “the average term imposed was just under 14 years. About 2% of convicted rapists received life sentences” (Greenfeld, 2). Out of convicted sex offenders, “about 23,400...are under the care, custody, or control of corrections agencies…. Nearly 60% are under conditional supervision in the community,” meaning they are on conditioned parole or probation instead of in prison (2). Thus, perpetrators are more likely to be released on parole or probation instead of serving time for their crimes. For every offender in jail or prison, “there are almost three offenders on probation or parole supervision in the community reported” (Bureau of Justice Statistics). This scarcity of legal successes in the justice system forces victims to realize that justice may not be available to them.

V.

CONCLUSION Rape victims are denied fair treatment and justice at every stage of the American criminal

justice system. However, there are steps the nation can take to improve both the likelihood of victims reporting and their treatment in the justice system.

22 Police and prosecutorial discretion to deny rape cases is one of the biggest barriers to entry for rape victims. This power is often abused, and most of the public is unaware that this abuse even occurs. Increased internal review of such decisions by higher-ranking legal officials and judges is necessary. An alternative is creating a strict procedure for police and prosecutors in rape cases that allows as many rape cases as possible to enter the court system fpr victims who do wish to see the perpetrator incarcerated. Such procedures will restrain a police officer or prosecutor’s ability to deny a case due to their own biases.

Within the courtroom, allowing a victim to be present for court proceedings and limiting pressures on them will help exacerbate the victim’s testimony and help them receive justice.

Shockingly, victims aren’t always allowed in the courtroom––prosecutors may pursue the case without the victim being present, even if they wish to be. This is not an uncommon occurrence.

Even when a victim is present, their case is often simply reported and then handed off to actors in the legal system who handle it in their way. The justice system requires victims to come forward but does not require their presence afterward. Increasing a victim’s role in their case and making their opinions heard is crucial to achieving fair treatment in the justice system.

Courtrooms structured specially for rape victims could also increase their legal successes (Smith & Skinner, 17). In such courtrooms, using judges without juries may help victims, because it can be less intimidating for victims to face down a judge rather than a panel of jurors.

In addition, experts on domestic violence and sexual assault should be present (17). Legal personnel in these courts would be trained to handle rape cases so that such officials are aware of myths and stereotypes (17). This would offer a courtroom open to “information-sharing and advocacy” (18). For a short-term alternative, amending jury instructions may help limit the impact of rape myths on juries and increase legal successes for victims.

23 Of the thousands of crimes that happen daily across the United States, rape is one of the most horrific. To many, it is an unsavory and abhorrent topic, meant to be hidden in the shadows, where it has festered into a pandemic of its own sort. Victims are considered defiled and dirty, both in the “impartial” justice system and out. America’s court system is inherently flawed, especially when it comes to rape victims. It is critical for the nation to improve the criminal justice system to aid sexual assault victims in their journey to justice.

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28 Decisions in Sexual Assault Cases Involving Strangers, Acquaintances, and Intimate Partners.” Justice Quarterly, vol. 18, no. 3, Sept. 2001, pp. 651–88. DOI.org (Crossref), https://doi.org/10.1080/07418820100095051.

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29 “Women’s Access to Justice for Gender-Based Violence: A Practitioner’s Guide.” International Commission of Jurists, Feb. 2016, https://www.icj.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Universal-Womens-accesss-to-justice-P ublications-Practitioners-Guide-Series-2016-ENG.pdf.

30

The Flaws in the U.S’s Punitive Prison System and the Importance of Rehabilitation

By Wai Chi Ethan Leung

The Lawrenceville School, Class of 2023 Lawrence Township, New Jersey

Mentored by: Anna Windemuth, JD/PhD Candidate Edited by: Alexandra Dishnica Reviewed by: Sameer Hinduja

31 A. INTRODUCTION Prisons and jails are integral components of every criminal justice system globally, although the philosophy that underpins each incarceration system varies. In contemporary societies, prison system designs are based on correctional models that lie within a spectrum, where one end is rehabilitative and the other is punitive. A punitive approach focuses on penalizing the offenders, whereas a rehabilitative system emphasizes educating and facilitating the reintegration of offenders. Since the 1970s, the United States has adopted a punitive approach with questionable effects, suggesting reform is urgently needed. To determine the suitable reforms for the U.S., exploring the most pressing issues facing the country's prison system and investigating possible reform initiatives using examples from other countries are essential.

Unfortunately, the American public often stigmatizes and ostracizes prisoners and assumes that they are individuals who deserve no place in society. Many Americans subconsciously label inmates as “evil” human beings who deserve, at best, to live in isolation as a consequence of any “malicious” action (Moore). Society often disregards the well-being of the inmates and denigrates them as “second class citizens” which has, in turn, blinded the community from recognizing human-rights concerns in correctional facilities (Prisonfellopship.org). The U.S has become the country with the highest incarceration rate in the world, with 655 inmates per 100,000 of the national population and a total prison population of 2.2 million (Walmsley). This overwhelming incarcerated population has resulted in a substantial decline in the quality of our correctional facilities—violence, overcrowding, and poor hygiene are common problems, and initiatives to combat these issues have shown no significant progress.

Additionally, two out of three released prisoners have been re-incarcerated within three years of

32 their release, casting doubt on the value of the prison system. This system fails to secure a brighter future for offenders and ensure a safe public (HealthyPeople.gov).

What can the government do to solve the issues of substandard correctional facilities and improve the effectiveness of the prison system in the U.S.? The core problem lies with America’s ideology that prisons should be structured punitively. To resolve the issues haunting America’s correctional facilities, the country should consider a combination of alternative sentencing strategies and rehabilitative approaches, which are growing in popularity in other countries.

B. DIFFERENT PHILOSOPHIES OF INCARCERATION Modern incarceration systems typically fall within a spectrum where one end is punitive, and the other is rehabilitative. Punitive prison systems, sometimes referred to as punitive justice or retributive justice, are fixated on punishing criminal offenders while rehabilitative prisons systems, or rehabilitative justice, attempt to seek justice by offering physical, mental, or cognitive aid and education so that criminal offenders can reintegrate into society (Criminal Justice Online Blog).

1. Punitive Approach In modern prison systems, rehabilitative approaches, compared to punitive methods, are more beneficial financially and socially. If one were to break down the underlying intent of punitive justice and rehabilitative justice, it would be discipline and reintegration respectively (Criminal Justice Online Blog). From the perspective of a newly convicted individual, punishment need not entail an understanding of one's crimes. The issue with punitive justice is its superficial reasoning: if one does something wrong, he or she gets punished and locked up so society will not have to suffer from further disturbances. While this ideology may seem

33 straightforward and correct to many, it fails because the problem is never resolved; Instead, it is merely hidden. If prisons adopt a punitive approach, punishing the offenders becomes the reason for the prison to exist. This approach becomes questionable because punishment cannot be an end goal in itself. Society should be accountable and take responsibility for its own failures.

Resources must be diverted to support and rehabilitate those who have behaved in socially unacceptable ways. As the punitive approach to imprisonment attributes all the blame to the offender, it is shortsighted because the offender’s unique circumstances and background is often ignored.

2. Rehabilitative Approach The rehabilitative approach recognizes that in addition to the offenders, society needs to share the blame for the crimes committed. Rehabilitation focuses on ensuring that the offenders understand their actions and the harms they have caused while providing opportunities for their future reintegration into the community. Although it is more costly, this approach is favored by many countries because it carries considerable benefits (Manudeep). First, by adopting a rehabilitative justice system and emphasizing the goal of “reintegration,” society ultimately benefits economically. Through education in prisons, inmates develop the skills necessary to find work when they finally rejoin society. Currently, 68 percent of all males in prisons have not received a high school diploma in the U.S. A rehabilitative approach and the provision of basic education to inmates would most certainly equip them with the necessary skills (Hanson). A 2008 survey reported that of those who were released from prisons two years or less, 31 percent of them remained unemployed. Providing inmates with vocational training, education, guidance on decision making and emotional self-regulation, and where applicable, overcoming drug

34 addiction or psychiatric help must be the first step in making sure these inmates have a place in society.

Additionally, when offenders lack the training or skills to re-engage in society, they can be easily caught in a vicious cycle and succumb to crime again. By focusing on rehabilitation, prisons can help reduce recidivism rates by addressing the cause of the offense. Studies have also found a positive correlation between poverty and mass incarceration. Currently, two-thirds of detainees in jail report annual incomes lower than $12000 a year (Center for Community Change). For prisoners to overcome the obstacles established by imprisonment—such as employment barriers, criminal debt, and difficulty accessing public benefits—equipping former detainees with the basic skills needed to overcome these challenges is a must. If not, the rate of recidivism would only continue to increase.

Moreover, a rehabilitative approach is economically beneficial to prisons and communities. Adopting a rehabilitative approach, if done correctly, should result in a reduction of recidivism rates. In addition, rehabilitative systems would reduce the number of convicted individuals for misdemeanor crimes. Thus, it would lower the financial costs of prisons as the populations of inmates should be significantly reduced (Bandyopadhyay). By rehabilitating the prison populations, which often hold a significant portion of the population, there would be a stronger workforce, which would undoubtedly result in economic benefits (Urban.org).

C. HISTORY OF PUNISHMENT IN THE UNITED STATES The U.S’s first prison, the Walnut Street Prison, built in the 1790s, took a rehabilitative approach, reflecting the Quaker’s belief in man's ability to reform through reflection and remorse (dwc.org). It aimed to address the needs and remedy the defects of criminal offenders. The prison

35 housed inmates with life sentences and limited their contact with society beyond its wall. Despite Walnut Street Penitentiary having horrendous living quarters, it was aimed at providing inmates with the opportunity to reflect on their misdeeds just like most correctional facilities in the 18th-19th century (Sweet). Similarly, Eastern State Penitentiary, one of the largest prisons that stayed operational for 141 years, was established based on the belief that strict discipline reformed inmates and integrated them back into society through enforcing repentance and regret (Eastern State Penitentiary). However, in the shifting political climate of the 1970s and the midst of rising crime rates and drug use, skepticism about the effectiveness of rehabilitation grew. The philosophy underlying our criminal justice system gravitated to crime prevention through deterrence. President Richard Nixon’s “war on drugs” in 1971 marked the start of an era where the legislatures enacted strict mandatory minimum sentencing laws in order to punish drug abuse sternly (UChicago). Practices that emphasized punishment as a form of deterrence were extended to cover less severe offenders, including potential nonviolent drug users (The Sentencing Project). The results were overcrowded prisons, where rehabilitation was no longer a goal (ACLU).

D. CURRENT PROBLEMS WITH THE U.S. SYSTEM 1. Overcrowding As discussed above, the U.S. prison population has reached astounding numbers, higher than ever before. The problem is that American prisons were not designed to accommodate this vast population. With tight financial and human resources, limited training for prisons staff and lack of adequate facilities, overcrowding undermines the system’s ability to meet basic human needs, provide rehabilitation, and fund staff training (Criminal Justice Programs). The Equal

36 Justice Initiatives has reported on the dreadful conditions inside prisons (EJI). There were reports about maggots found in foods provided for inmates (Perkins). Mental and physical abuse of inmates is a common result of the hostile predatory culture that prisons foster. Lack of property, dignity, privacy, and long-term isolation can also cause depression, psychological regression, and even cognitive dysfunction, but these issues are often ignored. The Equal Justice Initiatives also reports that correctional officers aren’t well trained and are often overly aggressive (EJI). In Georgia, for example, senior prison officials failed to intervene when guards brutally beat handcuffed inmates. Further, California correctional officers encouraged combat, placing rival gang members together in the prison yard, and shooting them when the fights got too chaotic (ACLU). Additionally, many inmates, especially female inmates, face the threat of sexual assault (Bozelko). All these problems are attributed mainly to overcrowding. The U.S. Constitution protects all American citizens, including prisoners, “from cruel and unusual punishment,” but it is uncertain if American penal practices honor this protection. It is essential that their rights be safeguarded and that inhumane treatment be eliminated.

2. Mental Illness If our overcrowded and under-resourced prison system is stressed and cannot satisfactorily deal with healthy inmates, it is extremely ill-equipped to deal with inmates with psychiatric conditions. The punitive nature of the American justice system results in deleterious impact on inmates' mental health. Society often disregards the well-being of inmates after they are locked up, and human-rights concerns in correctional facilities are ignored. Clinical studies have shown that on average, while incarcerated, 8 to 19 percent of prisoners have psychiatric disorders and another 15 to 20 percent have some forms of psychiatric intervention (Metzner).

The Marshall Project in November 2018 published data indicating that 30 percent of California

37 state prisoners suffer from psychiatric conditions that require necessary treatment. The numbers in New York and Texas are 20 percent and 21 percent respectively (Lyod). The statistics depict a systematic failure of our prison system. Punitive approaches dehumanize inmates to where they are susceptible to mental health illness: there are many factors in prisons that negatively affect mental health, including overcrowding, violence, solitude, lack of privacy, lack of meaningful activity, isolation from social networks, and inadequate health services (including mental health services), in prisons. (WHO).

Further, prisons are often used as dumping grounds for people with mental disorders.

People who commit crimes due to mental illnesses are often inappropriately swept into prisons instead of being assigned proper help. While prisons are neither intended nor equipped to treat mental conditions, the responsibilities often fall on them because of the lack of external support, resources and public attention. The situation worsens as mental disorders impair the ability of these inmates to cope with environments that are harsh even for healthy inmates, making them more likely to be exploited by other inmates and prison officers alike. As prisons rely on obedience and highly regimented routine, when mentally ill inmates cannot comply with the expectations laid out for everyone in jail, the result is a vicious cycle of greater and greater punishment, and the end-of-the-line could be solitary confinement (Davies). Correctional facilities must reform immediately to avoid worsening the psychological state of those inmates who are already susceptible to the stressful setting within the prison walls.

3. Racism A by-product of the high incarceration rate in the US is a system that disproportionately affects Black, Latino and Indigenous people. The Sentencing Project reports that Black people are incarcerated in state prisons at about 5.1 times the rate of white people (The Sentencing

38 Project). To put that into perspective, in some states, 1 in 10 Black men are incarcerated at any given time (Sawyer). The Criminal Justice Policy Program (CJPP) report at Harvard Law School confirms that Black and Latinos are overrepresented in Massachusetts’ criminal justice system and receive longer sentences than their white counterparts when convicted (DW.org). The report also found that racial disparities were particularly extreme for defendants facing drug and weapons charges. Black and Latinx defendants facing drug and weapon charges were more likely to be convicted, incarcerated, and receive longer sentences than white people facing similar charges. Prison terms are life-altering experiences for most inmates and the detrimental consequences arise from the obstacles prison terms create to rebuilding stable life. As the Black and Latino are disproportionately incarcerated, the communities where these inmates come from are also suffering from the consequence disproportionately when the inmates are unable to fit in upon release (The Sentencing Project).While the culprit is not the prison system itself but the criminal justice system as a whole, in particular the law enforcement agencies, the Black, Latino and indigenous communities have to disproportionately bear the social cost of incarceration.

4. High Recidivism Rate The point of incarceration in the U.S. is also questionable as public safety is not ensured despite the country’s high incarceration rate (Steman). In May of 2018, the U.S. The Department of Justice reported that long-term recidivism among prisoners released from the U.S. showed an abysmal 83 percent re-arrest rate over a nine-year study period (Department of Justice).

Additionally, the U.S. Sentencing Commission reports that recidivism among federal prisoners released on January 24, 2019, showed a 39.8 percent recidivism rate for nonviolent and about 64 percent recidivism rate for violent prisoners over eight years (Clarke). These numbers demonstrated that the U.S. prison system has not only failed in helping offenders to rehabilitate

39 and reintegrate, but arguably, it may be doing a disservice to public safety. The risk of recidivism is high because without appropriate rehabilitation, inmates may acquire criminal habits while incarcerated, return to their prior criminal network upon release, or simply suffer from the consequences that derive from incarceration, such as loss of employment, loss of stable housing, or the disruption of family ties, forcing them to engage in crime again.

5. Respect for Human Dignity While punishment serves an essential role in deterring future crimes, depriving inmates of acceptable living quarters and basic human rights is uncalled for; incarceration is already a form of punishment as inmates are excluded from society, especially their families. Additionally, inmates receive punishment in the form of limited freedom through designated eating hours, small living quarters, and finite food options, for example. It is unnecessary to impose additional punishments such as solitary confinement and unsanitary, crowded living quarters, especially ones that result in detrimental and lasting impacts that encourage inmates to commit more crimes in the future. The March 2016 issue of the New York Times Magazine described the life of inmates in a maximum-security prison (Benko). In Florence, Colorado, inmates confined in ADX, a supermax prison, reside within a 12-by-7-foot cell that has thick concrete walls, metal doors, and nothing but a tiny slot on the interior of the door for outside contact. Former warden Robert Hood describes the cell as a “clean version of hell.” (Benko) Furthermore, solitary confinement has become the convenient solution, instead of a last resort, to deal with problematic inmates. By trapping inmates inside a two-by-three-meter cell, prisons are responsible for unethical punishment, as solitary confinement creates irreversible life-long physiological effects. However, considering many of America's facilities are large, lack

40 rehabilitative programs and other meaningful activities, and contain a large population of mentally ill inmates, establishing respect is definitely not an easy task.

E. AN EXAMINATION OF OTHER CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEMS The issue of how to address and respond to crime has always been a matter of debate. An examination of the approaches taken by other countries sheds light on the right mix between the punitive and rehabilitative approaches.

1. Norway Norway emphasizes rehabilitation: treatment and support to help the offender become a law-abiding member of society. This includes developing skills to improve employability or treating mental health problems. Though technically a maximum-security prison, Halden Prison has earned itself the nickname “the world’s most humane prison” (Weller). Ample access to windows allows prisoners to look at the grass and trees planted around the facility; rooms are furnished with a desk, air conditioning, and even an individual television; rooms are available for inmates to make music, exercise, or lounge; in the canteen, prisoners can use real silverware, cook and eat with each other as well as buy fresh fruit off the commissioner.

While prisons in Norway go against the conventional norm that prisons are unsanitary and unenjoyable, they are successful in decreasing the recidivism and incarceration rates in their country. In 2014, Norway had an incarceration rate of only 75 per 100,000 people (Dorjsuren).

Additionally, Norway has one of the world’s lowest recidivism rates in the world, being only around 20 percent which is less than half of the United States’ prison population (Denny).

How could this be? What separates Norway and other countries is that it makes an effort to make prisoners feel at home. The government believes that by making the difference smaller

41 between life inside and outside the prison, the easier the transition would be from prison to freedom. Building on its so-called "normalization principle," the inmates at Halden Prison, for instance, spend their typical days similar to other Norwegian citizens. (Williams).

Further, what makes the Norwegian system truly an outstanding one is the post-release support provided by the government. After release, in Norway, there are programs put in place to help offenders reintegrate into society such as active labor market programs set up to help ex-convicts find a job and access various social support services such as housing, social assistance, and disability insurance (Manudeep).

2. Germany and The Netherlands Germany’s Prison Act and Netherland’s 1998 Penitary Principles state that their sole aim of incarceration is to reintegrate prisoners into a life of social responsibility, free of crime.

Through normalization, individuals have a fair amount of freedom and choices over their personal lives. For example, they get to choose their clothing and meals. In addition, work and education are required to instill self-worth in prisoners. The correctional staff working with inmates have undergone training similar to that of social workers and behavior specialists in the U.S (Vera.org). It is evident that instead of punishing prisoners and hoping they would learn their lesson through re-education and support , both countries are hoping to rehabilitate inmates to be valuable assets in the country's society.

3. United Kingdom The U.K adopts a model that stands ideologically in the middle of the U.S.’s punitive approach and a typical European rehabilitative approach. Although the U.K has a high prison population per capita, the highest in western Europe, the country has experimented with initiatives aimed at diverting low-level offenders away from prisons. An example is Operation

42 Checkpoint, which is run by Durham Constabulary. This “deferred prosecution scheme” allows low harm offenders to avoid criminal prosecution if they agree to participate in programs directed at addressing their causes of offense (such as mental health issues or substance abuse).

The results from this program are staggering: a 15 percent reduction in reoffending rates compared to similar offenders who did not participate (The Conversation). While there are similar efforts in the US, for instance, a recent effort including the USSC’s “First Offenders/ Alternative to incarceration” Proposed Amendment at the Federal level, the momentum needs to increase substantially (The Sentencing Project).

4. India An independent organization, the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), demonstrated how free education could potentially help prisoners in jail (”IGNOU Educates”).

To democratize education for Indian prisoners, the university has set up 94 study centers in prisons across the country, offering free training to inmates. These centers provide inmates with a University Certification for academic pursuits, gain employment and workplace education. The courses offer vocational skills like baking, welding, tailoring, and understanding motorcycle mechanics. IGNOU has also provided released inmates with chances of employment. For example, Mr. Raju, a graduate in Social Work from IGNOU, was offered a job as Assistant Business Development Manager at Taj Group of Companies (”IGNOU Educates”). Education in prisons not only functions to teach inmates, but it also helps them feel connected to society when living in a stressful environment.

F. COMPARING FOREIGN MODELS WITH THE U.S. SYSTEM 1. Perception of the Offenders

43 The foreign examples showcased an approach that views inmates with a sense of humanity that some in America do not share. The public must understand that inmates are members of our society, equally protected by the Constitution. However, no matter the success of these programs, it would not be feasible to transplant them, given the size of the U.S. prison population and the financial burden they entail. Nonetheless, we should appreciate that they focus on fully equipping inmates for the departure of prisons. (Starks). The American prison system must transition away from strict punishments and towards more rehabilitative practices ranging from education and vocational training, support for mental illness and overcoming drug addiction where necessary to give inmates chances for a better life upon release (Starks).

2. Incarceration is to Rehabilitate, Not Punish It is important to note that rehabilitation is possible in those foreign examples because incarceration is used differently than in the U.S. Incarceration is used as a primary form of punishment in America, including first-time and nonviolent offenders, and prison sentences are much longer. European countries rely much less on incarceration as a form of punishment, and only on rare occasions would one be sentenced to more than 20 years in jail. In Germany and the Netherlands, around 91 to 95 percent of prisoners are sentenced to two years or less in jail.

Additionally, 75 percent on average have their sentence suspended, leaving very few who serve time in prison (Muenster). In contrast, the average stay for American prisons is three years.

James Whitman, the Ford Foundation Professor of Comparative and Foreign Law at Yale Law School, stated that defendants in Europe are considered “particularly troubled and challenging social welfare state clients” rather than incurable individuals (Muenster).

G. HOW THE U.S. SHOULD FIX ITS SYSTEM

44 The problems associated with the U.S. prison system’s problems are unique. The prevalence of gun ownership and the degree of wealth inequality are just some of the unique reasons attributed to the bias for a punitive system; the unique culture of overcriminalization and excessive reliance on punitive enforcement has given rise to mass incarceration and the decay of our prison system today. While modeling the U.S. prison system on a more progressive version such as that of Norway is a positive direction, the approach will have to be complemented with a strategy involving alternative sentencing for the prison system to become fully functional as an integral part of the criminal justice system.

1. The Ultimate Goal: Rehabilitation in an acceptable living environment Experience from other countries supports the shift from punishment and deterrence to rehabilitation as the primary objective of prisons. While the process of rehabilitating inmates is more costly than simply locking up the offenders, prisons are meaningless unless they allow inmates to better their lives (Manudeep). Under this approach, educational and vocational training and counseling for substance abuse and psychiatric conditions are crucial to provide proper rehabilitation to offenders and reduce recidivism (Manudeep). Some may argue that prisons that provide televisions, education, and spacious living quarters are unnecessary and extravagant and that inmates do not deserve a high quality of living. Allowing televisions is highly controversial in that prisoners should not have living standards that significantly outperform the middle class; however, at a minimum, while emulating the Halden experience would be farfetched, U.S. prisons should invest and provide clean facilities and treat inmates respectfully (Technical Guidance for Prison Planning). Most importantly, correctional facilities should allow inmates to connect with the outside world. Prisoners get disconnected from their families or past when they are incarcerated, making them feel like they are entering a foreign

45 world when finally being let out. Allowing inmates to keep those connections would ease the process of leaving jail and their mental health (APA.org). Further, prisoners, once leaving prison, with acquired knowledge and skills are better equipped to resist a life of crime and gain employment. Programs that treat alcohol and drug addiction similarly impact in helping rehabilitate prisoners. Contrary to common belief, prisoners released are less likely to be rearrested because they are given a chance to socialize with their families or make connections with the community (APA.org).

2. Alternative Sentencing This paper acknowledges that other reforms would be necessary to reach this rehabilitative goal. Most importantly, the U.S. should strive to accelerate alternative sentencing measures. First and foremost, the prison population has to be reduced. Any changes to the current prison system are unlikely to yield any benefit unless the prison population is reduced to a manageable size. Many sentences could have had better effects if they were served outside prison walls, keeping the population within prison walls under control. The majority of those incarcerated today are nonviolent offenders, so alternatives to incarceration can be utilized to reduce overcrowding, appropriately sentence convicts, improve prison conditions, protect offenders' families, and reallocate valuable prison resources towards rehabilitating inmates who remain incarcerated. We can perhaps look to the example of Operation Checkpoint in the U.K., which offers a successful model to deal with offenders with mental illness and offenders arrested for mild forms of substance abuse. Currently, in the U.K., many courts will allow crimes that are less severe such as drug, alcohol, or psychiatric problems to serve their time, instead of in jails or prisons, in rehabilitation or treatment programs (Crime Defense Lawyer). These practices should

46 be encouraged and elevated from services generally provided by quasi-government organizations to service provided at the federal and state levels.

With limited programs such as Operation Checkpoint, there are many alternatives to incarceration available in the U.S. as long as lawyers and courts are willing to use them. Unless mandatory sentences are required by the law, judges have access to broader discretion to use alternatives. Whether negotiating a plea agreement or sentencing in convictions, defense attorneys and the courts should be encouraged to include an alternative plan to incarceration, especially in less serious and nonviolent crimes. Courts are familiar with non-prison sentences such as fines, restitution, and community service for misdemeanor crimes as an alternative to jail. Community service, for instance, should be encouraged in particular as it not only offers the offender an opportunity to contribute to the community but can also promote self-esteem and be highly educational. Probation as an alternative to jails and prisons is also quite common and is available in both misdemeanor and felony cases. On rare occasions, work release can also be an option. To avoid losing a job while serving a jail sentence, offenders often request this alternative which will most likely be available to offenders with minimal criminal records and are not considered a flight risk (Baldwin). These alternatives should be heavily promoted for offenders of relatively mild crime because these measures enable them to avoid the pitfalls of imprisonment and alleviate the pressure caused by overcrowding in the prison system.

H. CONCLUSION In the U.S., overcriminalization and excessive reliance on punitive enforcement have led to mass incarceration. These trends have resulted in prison overcrowding despite increasing evidence that mass incarceration is ineffective in achieving public safety. Further, incarceration

47 in its current scale leads to a breakdown of the system that was never designed for the immense size of the prison population. As a result, it gives rise to pressing humanitarian problems such as unacceptable living conditions, mental illness, and racial inequality. Consistent with the belief that now is the time to reform our prison system, experience from foreign countries supports a shift from punishment and deterrence to rehabilitation as the primary objective of prisons.

Countries like Norway, the Netherlands, and Germany have adopted rehabilitative prison systems with notable success. They attempt to treat people who experience incarceration with a sense of humanity that those in America do not share. While various aspects of these programs would not be feasible given the size of our prison system, there are valuable ideas that merit their incorporation into our system, such as the aim of fully equipping inmates for the departure of prison.

Given the urgent need for our prison system to undergo profound and lasting reform, a strategy is needed first to tackle the problems of overcrowding and its consequences, followed by a revamp of the prison system in its ability to rehabilitate prisoners. As the size of our prison population is likely to remain bloated in the foreseeable future, it is unrealistic to alter our sentencing policies overnight. The ideal solution to prison overcrowding lies in the increased use of alternatives to imprisonment such as fines, restitution, community service, inpatient drug/alcohol rehabilitation, and inpatient psychiatric treatment. In the long term, the prison system must evolve into one that focuses on rehabilitation and treats offenders as members of our community who require help instead of considering them as “irredeemable individuals” who should be locked away. This is the only direction the U.S. prison system can take now to tackle the poor prison conditions, lower recidivism rates, enhance public safety, and end mass incarceration.

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54

The Geopolitics and Financial Obstacles to Abortion in the United States

By Anshumi Jhaveri

Dulles High School, Class of 2022 Sugar Land, Texas

Mentored by: Rachel Katzin, JD Candidate Edited by: Mia McElhatton Reviewed by: Mason Kortz

55 I.

INTRODUCTION Throughout American history, the fight for women’s reproductive rights has been heated

and divisive, with legislative decisions and court cases sparking debate from the highest levels of government to everyday citizens. While to many people, reproductive rights are human rights, this does not seem to be a universal sentiment. The argument for reproductive rights is at the intersection of religious rights, women’s rights, and constitutional rights, among others. The intersectionality of reproductive justice is particularly important because there are so many different liberties being fought for all at once––for instance, reproductive freedom can be seen as religious freedom, lest a woman’s decision about her body be determined by the religious belief of another.

While “reproductive rights” is an umbrella term for a multitude of healthcare laws and procedures, there is one subset of these practices that many people think of when they first hear the term––abortion. Abortion is defined as “the termination of a pregnancy after, accompanied by, resulting in, or closely followed by the death of the embryo or fetus” (Merriam-Webster).

Abortion has been one of the most controversial topics in American political history, with both sides of the debate being extreme advocates for their causes.

As a native Texan woman, this author has observed the local debate surrounding abortion rights and restrictions. Not only is the argument against abortion heavily based on religious ideologies, but there also seems to be little regard for science or the actual impacts on women who are denied abortions. The matter tends to be viewed with only regard to the abortion itself, with no thoughts surrounding why a woman may need one and why abortion may be their best option. Pro-life organizations in Texas take pride in how much they believe they advocate for the right to life, yet they do nothing to reform systems that are already in place, such as the foster

56 care system or welfare. Furthermore, the idea that a woman obtaining an abortion is a “baby killer” instead of an individual making a decision about what is best for her and her child is deeply rooted in patriarchal norms suggesting women cannot make proper and educated decisions for themselves (Mcbain). Finally, women are not a large part of groups making decisions that impact Texas healthcare legislation. Instead, decisions about their bodies are made almost solely by men (Ura et al.).

A.

Structure of the Analysis

This paper will apply an economic lens in its analysis of partisan abortion laws.

Specifically, this paper will apply a supply/demand analysis of abortion providers and abortion seekers. The analysis is as follows: when restrictive abortion laws are enacted, the supply for abortions decreases. As abortion clinics begin to close, one of two things can happen. Either the demand increases and whichever clinics are still open receive more traffic, or there’s a large increase in cost needed to obtain an abortion - so while the demand stays the same, less of the demand will be met.

As the costs - both financial and otherwise - of obtaining an abortion increase, women’s access to what should be a simple healthcare procedure becomes a frightening journey of navigating legal and social systems that do not support them. To dive deep into these different issues, this paper will be divided into the following sections: Section 2 will discuss politically “red states” with regards to their policies on abortion rights, with a deep dive into Texas, the nation’s largest battleground for reproductive rights. Section 3 will discuss “blue states” with regards to their policies on abortion. Finally, Section 4 will discuss a “purple state” and what it looks like when a state tries to fit in the middle of the abortion rights spectrum.

B.

The Right to Privacy

57 In the 1960s and 1970s, the Supreme Court held that there is an implied right to privacy in the U.S. Constitution. Throughout this period, the Supreme Court set precedent establishing that the government could not interfere with personal decisions surrounding family life; this includes choices surrounding procreation, marriage, and more. First, in Griswold v. Connecticut (1965), the Supreme Court held that “a state statute making it a crime to use birth control violated married couples’ right to privacy” (Planned Parenthood, 1). Then, in 1972, in Eisenstadt v. Baird, the Supreme Court extended this right to unmarried people (1). This right to privacy opened the door for parties to sue for the right to abortion, as it was related to familial matters, procreation, and the idea of individual choice surrounding healthcare decisions. The right to privacy is, in general, considered an extremely important right, as it created the notion that the government is not allowed to interfere within certain private matters of its citizens. Privacy is key in the foundation of citizens’ rights and is a major reason why Roe v. Wade, a landmark case, recognized the right to abortion. The right to privacy is riddled with complexities; for the purpose of this paper, all the intricacies will not be heavily analyzed.

C.

Roe v. Wade

The right to privacy paved the way for Roe v. Wade (“Roe”), one of the nation’s most influential and controversial Supreme Court cases. Roe recognized women’s autonomy over their own bodies and was essential toward the societal recognition of women’s rights to make their own choices. In Roe, the Supreme Court struck down a Texas statute that criminalized abortion done for purposes other than saving the life of the mother (Planned Parenthood, 1). This was a monumental decision, recognizing for the first time that the constitutional right to privacy “is broad enough to encompass a woman’s decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy” (Roe v. Wade). Roe became the case that led to the legalization of abortion in the United States.

58 Prior to Roe, abortion was considered illegal in a large majority of states with few exceptions made in the case of rape, incest, or anomalies with the fetus (Planned Parenthood, 1).

Roe declared this previous statute as unconstitutional and therefore the right to abortion became legal nationwide, a ruling that expanded women’s access to healthcare nationally. “This decision also set a legal precedent that affected more than 30 subsequent Supreme Court cases involving restrictions to access to abortion (1).” Since this landmark case, the fight for abortion rights has shaped American law and advocacy.

Roe’s holding was controversial when it was handed down, and even today, nearly five decades later, it continues to have passionate advocates on both sides. Anti-abortion groups work not only to get Roe overturned but also to create as many obstacles as possible in a woman’s path to receiving an abortion. Roe had a sweeping 7-2 majority in the Supreme Court, with six of the seven Justices in the majority having been appointed by Republican presidents. In December 2021, the Supreme Court will hear a Mississippi case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (“Dobbs”), that may have serious implications for Roe (Sorkin). The ruling could result in the overturning of Roe, especially with states such as Utah joining Mississippi in the fight. This raises questions about what happens to those who seek abortions but face temporary bans under the state-level laws as their legality pends at the Supreme Court.

II.

CONSERVATIVE “RED STATES” AND THE ANTI-ABORTION MOVEMENT A.

Introduction to “Red States”

Many states that align with Republican, conservative values have been working to pass laws that make getting an abortion extremely difficult or criminalize abortion altogether. The anti-abortion argument is closely connected to the separation of Church and State, or the lack

59 thereof. Religious texts are often cited as reasoning why women cannot get abortions, thus intruding upon non-Christian religious freedom and the Establishment Clause.

In 2021 alone, Arkansas has added at least twenty new restrictions on abortion access––the highest number of restrictions a state has set in 2021 thus far (Herzog). Arkansas recently passed the Arkansas Unborn Child Protection Act or Senate Bill 6 (SB6), which says that an abortion can be performed only if the mother is in danger (Herzog). While this move may be frightening to many, it does not come as a surprise—Arkansas was named the “most pro-life state in the nation” according to the 2021 ranking by a national advocacy organization, “Americans United for Life” (Herzog).

SB6 also creates criminal penalties for doctors who are caught performing abortions: up to ten years in prison, as well as felony charges (Herzog). This move has a significant impact on both the supply and demand for abortion. If it becomes illegal for doctors to perform abortions, the supply for abortions begins to massively decrease. Next, a two-fold process will occur. First, the demand for abortions will increase at facilities that remain open in Arkansas and its neighboring states. Abortion clinics will receive more patients than they are equipped to handle, causing a backlog in not only providing abortions but also other necessary women’s healthcare services, such as contraceptives and neonatal care. Second, the demand will be too much for the current supply to handle, and therefore wont be met (or women will resort to dangerous self-help methods). This is precisely the purpose of what these restrictions aim in the first place—to step-by-step, begin dismantling Roe with small laws that block women’s ability to access abortions.

In addition to laws like SB6 that directly target abortion access, many Arkansas laws also indirectly restrict abortions. One measure is known as the “Arkansas Student Protection Act,”

60 which prohibits public schools from engaging in any transactions with abortion providers, including accepting any type of free instruction from them, such as sex education (Herzog).

Representatives from Planned Parenthood have previously provided educational lessons to students on topics such as contraception, sexual orientation, and much more to students in Arkansas; this will not be permitted in public schools anymore under this law (Herzog). The consequences of this restriction are counterproductive: If teenagers are not educated about safe sexual practices, they will experiment on their own—a dangerous move that can more often than not lead to unwanted pregnancies, thus resulting in increased demand for abortions.

Senator Breanne Davis, a Republican Senator from Arkansas who co-sponsored the Student Protection Act, stated that they are the “[n]umber one most pro-life state based on policy that was passed, but have the highest birthrate amongst teenagers” and that at a certain point in, the state’s policies needed to align with their actions (Herzog). But minimizing discussions surrounding sex education does not mean that students will abstain from engaging in sexual activity. Instead, by taking away access to both sex education and abortion access, conservative lawmakers throw students into the very vicious cycle they claim to be working to end.

While Arkansas is one example of a state that has enacted harsh policies condemning abortion, other states are engaging in similar actions, as well. Texas, Louisiana, and North Dakota are all examples of states where the majority of the counties do not have abortion providers, and their governments have been anti-abortion for years (CBS 2011). To better understand the ramifications for women living in states that vehemently oppose reproductive freedom, this paper will conduct a case study on Texas, one of the nation’s most conservative states with regards to abortion policies, both in the past and at present.

B.

Texas

61 Currently, Texas is one of the biggest battlegrounds for reproductive justice in the nation.

While certain laws have placed a spotlight on Texas in the past few years, the state’s battle with reproductive freedom dates back more than 50 years. In fact, Texas was the birthplace of Roe v Wade, as discussed above. The battle for abortion rights began in this southern, conservative state and continues to rage on today, both in Texas and throughout the country.

1.

The Heartbeat Bill

In May 2021, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed the “Heartbeat Bill” (SB8), which is known to be “one of the nation’s strictest abortion measures,” as it bans abortion as early as six weeks (Namjabadi). Six weeks is before most women know they are pregnant, as it is usually only about two weeks after a woman’s missed menstrual cycle (Namjabadi). SB8 is considered the strictest abortion law in the nation. For perspective, Dobbs, the Mississippi case that the Supreme Court is due to decide, deals with a law that bans abortion after fifteen weeks. Given the massive controversy surrounding a fifteen-week ban, six weeks seems unreasonably harsh.

SB8 is especially dangerous to reproductive freedom due to legal provisions making it much harder to be overturned by courts. In the past, abortion providers or healthcare agencies have sued state governments to prevent harsh abortion laws from becoming reality (Namjabadi).

However, the Heartbeat Bill, SB8 says that the government would not be the one enforcing this law; rather it would be the private citizens of Texas (Namjabadi). Specifically, any person would be allowed to sue either an abortion provider or someone who received an abortion, regardless of whether they have any connection to the provider or patient. This creates a difficult situation for abortion rights advocates, who may have a harder time convincing courts that the law is unconstitutional, as government officials have no role in the statute’s enforcement. Furthermore, those who sue abortion providers and patients may win more than $10,000, providing a monetary

62 incentive for people to bring these lawsuits (Namjabadi). This puts a large amount of power in the hands of everyday citizens, giving them the ability to both profit off of and question the rights of any individual.

2.

House Bill 2 a.

TRAP Law Restrictions

Whereas SB8 is the harshest abortion law Texas has seen to date, as discussed above, there was a law that passed many years prior which can help us understand what the potential ramifications of SB8 may truly be––House Bill 2. “In the summer of 2013, Texas passed House Bill 2 (HB2), a TRAP [Targeted Regulation of Abortion Provider] law that restricted abortion services in 4 ways: (1) physicians performing abortions must have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of the facility, (2) medication abortion must be administered according to the mifepristone label approved by the Food and Drug Administration (with some dosage exceptions), (3) most abortions at or after 20 weeks “postfertilization” are banned, and (4) all abortions must be performed in facilities meeting the requirements of an ambulatory surgical center (ASC)” (Gerdts et al., 857).

TRAP laws are state laws that are applied strictly to abortion providers, imposing licensing fees, personnel regulations, and other restrictions that are not placed on similar medical facilities (Medoff, 577). “According to many pro-choice supporters, the explicit or implicit goal of TRAP laws is to drive abortion providers from the market and reduce the supply of abortion services.” By imposing increased personnel requirements and annual fees on abortion doctors, an additional financial burden is imposed upon them—a burden they may not have the financial ability to meet. Legal abortion is one of the safest and cheapest medical procedures out there, meaning that TRAP laws serve little logical purpose and are solely enacted to limit abortions.

63 While HB2 ended up getting struck down by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional, it had devastating impacts in the three years it was enforced. b.

Cost-Benefit Analysis in Abortion-Seeking After HB2

The Theoretical Decision Making Model of Fertility Control was created post-Roe by Gary Becker and Robert Barro. Under this model, five costs determine whether a woman will obtain an abortion: mondetary, search, travel, time and emotional (Medoff 578). All of these costs increased after HB2 passed.

This model heavily impacted behavior post HB2. Specifically, "the number of Texas facilities providing abortions declined, from 41 in 2012 to 17 in June 2016. Women whose nearest clinic closed traveled farther to access abortion services than those whose nearest clinic remained open. Overall, abortions declined 14% in Texas between 2013 and 2014” (Grossman 437). As can be seen from these statistics, geographical distance is one of the most important costs in determining whether women will choose to receive an abortion.

While abortions were still occurring in Texas, their frequency and geographical availability significant decreased. Specifically, “[i]n 2012, 66,098 abortions were performed among Texas residents (97 out of state). In 2014, 53,882 abortions were performed among Texas residents (754 out of state). Of 254 counties, there were 41 facilities in 17 counties in 2012 and there were 21 facilities in 6 counties in 2014” (Grossman 438). In this two-year difference, the number of abortions occurring out of state increased eightfold but, even with out-of-state options, the overall number of abortions still decreased. This is likely because many people are financially or otherwise unable to travel outside of the state for an abortion. Many people who chose to leave Texas to receive an abortion even had to take out a loan simply to cover the cost

64 of the procedure (438). Thus, an increase in distance was connected to a large decrease in abortion access.

However, even in areas where abortion facilities remained open, there was a decrease in abortion due to the facilities’ inability to meet the new, massive demand (438).

While HB2 did not shut down every facility in Texas, it had impacted facilities that stayed open as well. Particularly, “HB2 affected women who were...directly affected by the closure of the clinic they would have used, as well as women whose nearest or preferred clinic did not close, but who nevertheless were burdened by the law through the discontinued offering of medication abortion, longer wait times for appointment availability, or higher costs of the procedure at one of the remaining facilities” (Gerdts et al., 858). Hence, regardless if a facility closed or remained open the end result was the same: HB2 succeeded in preventing abortions and other forms of reproductive healthcare from occurring.

Women in Texas battled factors other than geographical distance, as well. Not only was there an increased cost and travel time to obtain an abortion due to the geographic issue, but also many women reported additional health issues from high stress surrounding the abortion (Fuentes). While obtaining an abortion is a stressful decision to begin with, HB2 did not make this easier, as the enforcement happened quickly and with poor communication: “After having appointments canceled or being turned away from closed clinics, more than half of women reported being confused about where they could go for abortion services and frustrated with the

65 lack of clarity about which clinics remained open.” This shows that once the legislation went into place, there was mass confusion with regards to what still was and was not a possibility, leaving women stranded (Fuentes). Abortion providers were also confused, due to a massive lack of communication and understanding. This led some women to be referred to more distant clinics when closer facilities were actually open (Fuentes). All of this resulted in a significant emotional burden for women seeking an abortion, which led many of them to make decisions they never would have before the passing of HB2.

Many of these decisions both crossed individuals’ emotional boundaries and infringed on women’s right to privacy. In particular, “[w]omen also reported that they needed to ask for more help than they would have if there had been a local provider, and in the process, they had to reveal their abortion decision to people they might not have told otherwise” (Fuentes). In other words, women had to compromise their right to privacy - the very foundation upon which Roe was built - as it was too difficult to navigate the harsh process of getting an abortion as a Texan alone. However, this violation of the right to privacy ended up playing a role in getting HB2 blocked three years later, making basic access to abortion accessible again for Texas women.

Since HB2 was blocked, Texas has continued to restrict women’s access to their reproductive rights. With the Heartbeat Bill effective as of September 2021, it may become common for neighbors to get involved in each other’s personal health affairs. Abortion providers have already begun to sue Texas Officials over the Heartbeat Bill, stating that “85% of those who obtain abortions in Texas are at least six weeks into their pregnancy” and that these restrictions are there to enforce an “ideological agenda” (Pérez-Moreno). However, if these lawsuits fail, the Heartbeat Bill will go into full effect. While the Heartbeat Bill would not be the first private-citizen suit provision in Texan abortion law, navigating these new provisions looks to be

66 an uphill battle for abortion providers.

III.

“BLUE STATES” AND THE PRO-CHOICE MOVEMENT A.

Introduction to “Blue States”

Whereas red states are known for harsh restrictions on reproductive freedom, blue states generally provide a stark contrast in both policy and ideology. “Blue” states are states that typically align with Democratic values and vote “blue” in national elections. Historically, northern states have been dark “blue” states and remain “blue” when it comes to abortion––New York, Virginia, and New Jersey have little-to-no restrictions at all (Hubbard). This further shows that the debate on abortion is deeply political.

Demographic differences, such as higher education, play a large role in the beliefs people tend to align with. For example, the Northeast has a 29.8% average college-educated population, as opposed to the 19.7% average in the South (US Census Bureau). An almost ten percent difference in those who have a higher form of education may contribute to why those in the South tend to place firmer belief in ideology rather than science.

B.

New York

In contrast to the harsh restrictions in Texas, New York has few restrictions with regard to its abortion policies. The only abortion restriction in New York is a Viability Restriction, under which an abortion cannot occur after a specific period (usually 24-28 weeks) in a woman’s pregnancy where the baby will have a high survival rate (Danielsson; Guttmacher Institute).

Other common restrictions, which can be found in other states, are not enforced in New York, as can be seen in the figure below (Hubbard).

67

C.

“Blue States” Conclusions

Two conclusions can be drawn from this analysis of the blue states. First, the direct relationship: because there is a supply for abortions, the demands will be met. Due to the lack of restrictions on abortion laws in blue states, there are many abortion clinics in these states. As of 2017, New York had 113 abortion clinics (Guttmacher Institute). That’s nearly four times the amount of clinics in Texas, which has a population more than three times larger than that of New York and is geographically larger, as well (United States Census Bureau). Despite a majority of blue states being smaller than red states, there are far more opportunities for women to obtain an abortion in blue states. This shows that when there is an ample supply of abortion providers, there is a demand for abortions, as women know that they have the choice in case they need it.

Furthermore, strong political and demographic trends contribute to the pro-choice policies that exist in blue states. While some people strongly believe other states should model the reproductive policies and freedoms in blue states, it is important to remember that there are external factors heavily influencing the red states in the same way. Education, politics, and geography, amongst many other factors, play a role in the fierce anti-abortion movement that runs rampant in the south.

IV.

A “PURPLE” STATE AND THE ABORTION MIDDLE GROUND

68 A.

Introduction to the “Purple States”

While it may seem that states only seem to align with either “red” or “blue” when it comes to abortion policies, there is another color that lies in between these polar ends of the spectrum––purple. A purple state is one that does not consistently vote “blue” or “red” in national elections. Purple states are also where many of the abortion policies seem to not fit within either a pro-choice or a pro-life ideology.

B.

Arizona

Arizona is a perfect example of a purple state. One survey indicated that 49% of Arizonans believe that abortion should be legal, while another 49% believe that it should not.

(Roseberry). This is almost a near-perfect split in belief, illustrating how “purple” politics carry over into the abortion debate.

In April of 2021, Governor Ducey of Arizona signed a bill into law making it a crime to perform abortions based on genetic conditions such as Down Syndrome or Cystic Fibrosis (Polletta). This restriction appeals to both the “red state” goal of reducing abortions overall, while also appealing to “blue state” politics that better support people with these genetic conditions. As a result, “[w]hile many attorneys and OB-GYNs stated that this [law] was medically unsound and unconstitutional,” it raises moral questions about whether there ever is a reason where an abortion might be unethical: Would obtaining an abortion because one does not want to raise a child with special needs be ableist? Would aborting a baby because it is a girl be sexist? These are not easy questions to answer. Thus, this law in Arizona is considered controversial and requires conversations about whether abortion is always permissible, no matter the reason.

C.

“Purple States” Conclusions

69 While this paper does not propose any specific policy recommendations based on purple state restrictions, purple states open a larger conversation as to the ethics of abortion. While some may say aborting a child because it will have special needs is ableist, others may argue that it is not morally sound to bring a child into the world when the parent could not provide the treatment and support they deserve. Other people may also say it is cruel and selfish to bring children into a world where there is already so much suffering. These are all questions of ethics, which are deeply personal decisions and not for the law to make.

The beauty of the pro-choice argument is just that: it gives every woman a choice.

Whether that choice is influenced by her ethics, values, financial abilities, career aspirations, whatever it may be, all women should get to make that decision for themselves. As a result, a key takeaway from the purple states is that abortion is not a light topic. There are many hard questions to answer and difficult decisions to make, but each woman should have the ability to arrive at these decisions on her own.

V.

CONCLUSION At the time the majority of this paper was written, SB8 had not yet gone into effect.

Today, the lives of millions of Texan women are in peril; SB8 was passed, and Texas women’s access to reproductive healthcare has been attacked. The Supreme Court declined to block SB8 with a 6-3 vote, a shocking blow to women and men across the nation. However, they are yet to rule on whether SB8 is unconstitutional. Lawsuits against abortion providers have begun, and Texas has moved far backward in terms of gender equality, reproductive rights and freedom. In light of the Texas law, other states have moved to draft similar “heartbeat bills.”

While those with a uterus may be the ones directly suffering from harsh abortion laws,

70 this is a fight that involves everyone, including men. While this paper calls upon both men and women to advocate for furthering and protecting reproductive rights, men, in particular, should use their platform and position of power to work to keep abortion legal. A person’s power is in their voice––using your voice when you are in a position of power to do good is one of the noblest feats.

The fight for reproductive justice is a long and hard one. The power to change these laws starts with all of us.

71 Works Cited “Abortion: 19 States with Toughest Laws.” Www.cbsnews.com, 27 July 2011, www.cbsnews.com/pictures/abortion-19-states-with-toughest-laws/. Accessed 24 Aug. 2021.

Barry, Matthew. Abortion at or over 20 Weeks’ Gestation: Frequently Asked Questions. , 2018.

Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, 2021 WL 1951792 (U.S. May 17, 2021) (appeal granted).

Eisenstadt v. Baird, 405 U.S. 438 (1972).

Fuentes, Liza et al. “Women's experiences seeking abortion care shortly after the closure of clinics due to a restrictive law in Texas.” Contraception vol. 93,4 (2016): 292-297. doi:10.1016/j.contraception.2015.12.017 Gerdts, Caitlin et al. “Impact of Clinic Closures on Women Obtaining Abortion Services After Implementation of a Restrictive Law in Texas.” American journal of public health vol.

106,5 (2016): 857-64. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2016.303134 Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479 (1965).

Grossman D, White K, Hopkins K, Potter JE. Change in Distance to Nearest Facility and Abortion in Texas, 2012 to 2014. JAMA. 2017;317(4):437–439. doi:10.1001/jama.2016.17026 Herzog, Rachel. “Array of New Arkansas Laws Focus on Abortion.” Arkansas Online, 6 June 2021, www.arkansasonline.com/news/2021/jun/06/array-of-new-laws-focus-on-abortion/.

Hubbard, Katia. “A Guide to Abortion Laws by State.” US News & World Report, U.S. News & World Report, 2021, www.usnews.com/news/best-states/articles/a-guide-to-abortion-laws-by-state.

72 McBain, Sophie. “Why It’s so Dangerous When Trump Describes Abortion as Baby Execution.”

Www.newstatesman.com, 29 Sept. 2019, www.newstatesman.com/world/north-america/2019/04/why-it-s-so-dangerous-when-trum p-describes-abortion-baby-execution. Accessed 24 Aug. 2021.

Medoff, Marshall H. “State Abortion Policies, Targeted Regulation of Abortion Provider Laws, and Abortion Demand.” Review of Policy Research, vol. 27, no. 5, 30 Sept. 2010, pp.

577–594, 10.1111/j.1541-1338.2010.00460.x.

Najmabadi, Shannon. “Gov. Greg Abbott Signs into Law One of Nation’s Strictest Abortion Measures, Banning Procedure as Early as Six Weeks into a Pregnancy.” The Texas Tribune, 19 May 2021, www.texastribune.org/2021/05/18/texas-heartbeat-bill-abortions-law/.

Pérez-Moreno, Heidi. “Twenty Abortion Providers Sue Texas Officials over Law That Bans Abortions as Early as Six Weeks.” The Texas Tribune, 13 July 2021, www.texastribune.org/2021/07/13/texas-heartbeat-bill-lawsuit/.

Polletta, Maria. “Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey Signs Sweeping Anti-Abortion Bill into Law.” The Arizona Republic, 27 Apr. 2021, www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/arizona/2021/04/27/arizona-anti-abortion-bill-bec omes-law/4855859001/.

Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973).

“Roe v. Wade: It’s History and Impact”. Planned Parenthood. January 2014. https://www.plannedparenthood.org/files/3013/9611/5870/Abortion_Roe_History.pdf.

PDF file.

Roseberry, Jeffrey. “Undue Burden and the Law of Abortion in Arizona.” Arizona State Law

73 Journal, vol. 44, 2012, p. 391, heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/arzjl44&div=15&id=&page=.

Accessed 24 Aug. 2021.

Sorkin, Amy Davidson. “The Unique Dangers of the Supreme Court’s Decision to Hear a Mississippi Abortion Case.” The New Yorker, 27 May 2021, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/06/07/the-unique-dangers-of-the-supreme-courts-de cision-to-hear-a-mississippi-abortion-case.

“State Bans on Abortion throughout Pregnancy.” Guttmacher Institute, 4 Mar. 2019, www.guttmacher.org/state-policy/explore/state-policies-later-abortions.

Ura, Alexa, and Carla Astudillo. “In 2021, the Texas Legislature Remains Mostly White and Male.” The Texas Tribune, 11 Jan. 2021, apps.texastribune.org/features/2020/2021-texas-legislature-representation/.

74

An Asian Canadian Story: Re-educating the Next Generation Through Admittance of Wrongdoings and Promises of Improvements

By Amonda Li

Branksome Hall School, Class of 2022 Toronto, Ontario

Mentored by: Rachel Smilan-Goldstein, PhD Candidate Edited by: Kaya Vadhan Reviewed by: Jen Martin

75

I.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Given the recent surge in anti-Asian hate crimes across Canada, a supposedly diverse and

accepting country, it is important to analyze the roots of these crimes. They can be found in how Canadian students are taught about Asian Canadian history. As a student who has studied the mandatory Ontario grade 9 Canadian history course, I do not feel fulfilled by the lack of education on the Canadian government’s past actions and sentiments toward Asian Canadian citizens in Canadian history textbooks. The only way to improve upon past wrongdoings is to educate the next generation to not repeat history by acknowledging the harsh truth head-on with new and up-to-date course materials. This paper aims to analyze the amount of textbook content that focuses on Asian Canadian history in Ontario’s public secondary schools’ three main approved textbooks. Minimal concentration on significant events in Asian Canadian history was found with information only appearing in subsections of chapters. Ontario public schools should include more recent and relevant historical events specific to the Asian Canadian story in full chapters for longer lesson time for students to have a more well-rounded viewpoint.

II.

DEFINING KEY TERMS: Canadian Identity, Multiculturalism, History Textbooks, Asian Canadian Identity, Adequate Truth, Transparency

Though Canada prides itself on being “a defender of human rights and cultural diversity,”6 acts and displays of racism and prejudice towards Asian Canadians have never been more prevalent in the country. Recent anti-Asian hate crimes across Canada (linked to 6

Pashby, Karen, et al. “Discovering, Recovering, and Covering-up Canada: Tracing Historical Citizenship Discourses in K-12 and Adult Immigrant Citizenship Education.” Canadian Journal of Education / Revue Canadienne de L’éducation, vol. 37, no. 2, 2014, pp. 1–26, dpl6hyzg28thp.cloudfront.net/media/Pashby_et_al.pdf.

Accessed 22 Aug. 2021.

76 COVID-19) have increased by 717% in Vancouver from 2019 to 2020. Toronto is surging towards the city’s statistic with the second highest number of cases following Vancouver7.

Moreover, as Project 1907 reports, “Canada has a higher number of anti-Asian hate crime incidents per Asian capita compared to the US.” 8 This statistic is not representative of our Canadian identity and the unique experiences and characteristics that shape Canada’s diverse narrative, and we need to work towards rectifying the situation by addressing the root of the problem: a lack of education.

On the basis of demonstrating true Canadian identity, it is crucial to provide well-rounded and transparent information about the citizens that make up Canadian multiculturalism. In Ontario, for instance, approximately 5.7% of the population is Asian Canadian, the second largest visible minority group in the province.9 History textbooks in Ontario schools, however, do not provide adequate information about the Asian Canadian experience as there are minimal sections speaking from their points of view. Due to minimal education about Asian Canadians from a non-victim lens, the general perception of the group is “intrusive” and “competitive” — a narrative that hurts the Asian Canadian community. Taking Ontario public schools as an example, this paper aims to demonstrate why and how the lacking curriculum in Canadian history textbooks, which currently display Asian Canadians in a victim lens, ought to be more well-rounded in its Asian Canadian chapter to truly represent Canadian identity.

7

Liu, Stephanie. “Reports of Anti-Asian Hate Crimes Are Surging in Canada during the COVID-19 Pandemic.”

CTVNews, 17 Mar. 2021, www.ctvnews.ca/canada/reports-of-anti-asian-hate-crimes-are-surging-in-canada-during-the-covid-19-pandemic-1.5 351481.

8 “Our Work.” Project 1907, www.project1907.org/reportingcentre.

9 Government of Canada, Statistics Canada. “Census Profile, 2016 Census - Canada [Country] and Canada [Country].” Statcan.gc.ca, 2016, www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=PR&Code1=01&Geo2 =PR&Code2=01&SearchText=Canada&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=Visible%20minority&TABID=1 &type=0.

77 Dedicated to the idea of the “Canadian identity,” textbooks often insert this narrative into the very first chapter for students to consider. Questions like “what does it mean to be Canadian?” or “how is the Canadian experience unique?”10 are asked of students to frame the layout for the rest of the course. For that curriculum year, students need to connect events and concepts back to Canadian identity. However, the degree of emphasis on the concept requires that it truly reflects the real-world environment.

In 2017, the Ontario Education Action Equity Plan highlighted “strengthening inclusive and culturally responsive and relevant teaching, curriculum, assessment and resources” as a main goal.11 Subpoints mention an aim to “enhance the Ontario curriculum… to ensure diverse perspectives and experiences are reflected in the curriculum.”12 However, the four textbooks that are approved by the Ontario curriculum have not been updated since the publishing of the Action Plan. Given the emphasis on BIPOC13 education and representation in the past year with most schools in Canada establishing a diversity, equity, and inclusion statement in school models,14 this is the perfect time to make revisions to the textbooks or use more recently published materials. Statistics about the percentage of Canadian citizens experiencing racially biased verbal and physical abuse and harassment should be recognized as a dark part of our history and our present.

While Canada’s dedication to multiculturalism and diversity is evident from the Canadian Multiculturalism Act of 1988, this dedication must be evident in education as well. The 2017

10

Big Ideas Student Print Resource Eguide Teacher Resource Student EText Global and Regional Conflicts Have Been a Powerful Force in Shaping Our Contemporary World and Identities.

11 Ontario’s Education Equity Action Plan 2 0 17. , 2017.

12 Ibid 13 Black, Indigenous, Person of Colour 14 PHE Eps Canada. Return to School 2020: Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. 3 Sept. 2020, phecanada.ca/sites/default/files/content/docs/Home%20Learning%20Resource/Equity,%20Diversity%20and%20Inc lusion.pdf.

78 Ontario Education Equity Action Plan is a start to this initiative, with the mission and objectives to “combat persistent systemic inequities and improve student well-being and achievement” within the public school system.15 However, current efforts do not reflect the intended result of the action plan and also do not ensure that these results are maintained in students’ post-secondary lives. There have been no new additions to the mandated history textbooks since 2016, including the Asian Canadian experience with xenophobia and discrimination. A lack of change in the status quo demonstrates a lack of dedication to the Action Plan, which in turn encourages the very trait the action plan is targeting: inequities in classrooms and an extension to inequities in societies. For impressionable students, it is vital that the information they are learning are accurate, up-to-date, and are displayed from more than one perspective. Only with an accurate and representative history education can we begin to turn around the students’ fates.

III.

LITERATURE REVIEW According to Plato's philosophy of education, the invaluable tool of passing down

knowledge is a “means to achieve justice, both individual justice and social justice."16 In other words, if justice is not achieved in a specific area, education has not successfully played its part in reforming the next generation. With the power of words and accurate historical representation, school curriculums and teachers can make a difference in the viewpoints of students and future generations.

When Asian Canadian experiences are discussed in Canadian history courses for grades 9 and 10, immigration is often the central focus. In the late 1800s, an influx of Chinese workers immigrated to Canada's west to help build the Canadian Pacific Railway. Promised with a future 15

Ibid Lee, Myungjoon. “Plato’s Philosophy of Education: Its Implication for Current Education.”

E-Publications@Marquette, 2010, epublications.marquette.edu/dissertations/AAI9517932/.

16

79 for their families in the west, the Chinese migrant workers hammered tirelessly by the hour to build Canada's first transcontinental railway that is still "proudly Canadian" today.17 However, Canadian citizens quickly assumed that the Chinese migrant workers were taking away job opportunities, a false belief that brought more polarization to the country.

As a result, the Canadian government imposed a Chinese head tax that forced every person of Chinese origin immigrating to Canada to pay a fee of $100 to $500.18 With no other groups in Canadian history given a similar imposition, the head tax was a clear display of discrimination and injustice from the Canadian government. From 1900 to 1923, approximately 81,000 Chinese immigrants have paid the head tax, providing millions of dollars to the government. In 2006, Prime Minister Stephen Harper apologized in the House of Commons and organized $20,000 in redress to offer to all surviving individuals who had paid the head tax.19 However, reparations are not enough to discount the generational trauma and oppression the Chinese citizens have felt for years. This event is one of many things that should be included in a chapter. In order to prevent repeating history, we must solve the issue at the root of its problem and begin to reframe the narrative for future generations.

Echoing aforementioned points, the first line of an academic study conducted in 2020 states that "Ontario educational policies are expected to work towards antiracism but presently do not include the voices and experiences of Asian Canadians, which leave Asian experiences in education as silenced, ignored, or neglected."20 More generally, a paper explains that Canadian textbooks have a "tendency… to ignore important aspects of the history of non-white racial groups as well as their contemporary situation." There are many significant events in the BIPOC 17

McRae, Matthew. “The Chinese Head Tax and the Chinese Exclusion Act | CMHR.” CMHR, 2019, humanrights.ca/story/the-chinese-head-tax-and-the-chinese-exclusion-act.

18 Ibid 19 Ibid 20 Louie, Monica, and St Catharines. From Academic to Personal: Addressing Asianness in Ontario Education. , 2020.

80 community that are rarely mentioned in textbooks: "the extermination of the Beothuk Indians of Newfoundland…, the history of the [Black Canadians]… characterized by blandness and superficiality…, [and] treatment of the Japanese Canadians in the Second World War." 21 Pratt also discusses the difference in tone when describing French Canadians and minority groups in Canada. Results from the study show that the tone used for French Canadians was in between ambivalent and totally favourable (score of 79.2/100) whereas the tone for Arabs, Indigenous groups, and Black Canadians were categorized between totally unfavourable and ambivalent (44.4, 34.6, and 32.6, respectively).22 As evidenced by these two research studies, the current education material for students is lacking in substance and accuracy, and is negatively biased.

When it comes to Asian Canadian history in particular, the beginning of the Chinese Immigration Act to instances of targeted racialized acts since COVID-19 must be included as at least a whole chapter that can successfully deliver information to students.

It is important to recognize that “textbooks influence students indirectly, [but] by influencing instruction, it also has the potential to affect students' attitudes directly."23 Coming from a source of credibility and authority, textbooks and teachers are the influencers of the next generation for historical studies. The power of credible textbooks on students' opinions and attitudes can not be overlooked as the core foundation of our future will be rooted from these very pages.

IV. 21

METHODOLOGY

Mallea, John R., and Young. Cultural Diversity and Canadian Education: Issues and Innovations. Google Books, McGill-Queen’s Press - MQUP, 1984, books.google.ca/books?hl=en&lr=&id=8no897R1FXcC&oi=fnd&pg=PA290&dq=ontario+history+textbooks+on+a sian+canadians&ots=3h7Reb67DT&sig=lBmzyWhAs954aPDt-2n5AcWbzmY&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=fals e. Accessed 22 Aug. 2021.

22 Ibid 23 Ibid

81 To gain a fuller picture of Asian Canadian representation in history education, this paper will analyze mentions of Asian Canadian history in the three history textbooks that are approved by the Ontario ministry of education for grades 9 and 10. By categorizing findings into topics and subtopics that are mentioned in the textbook, the areas that the textbooks do and do not place emphasis on will become apparent. This study will also analyze approximately how long a lesson or a unit discusses a particular topic relating to the Chinese Canadian experience. The three textbooks that will be analyzed are Pearson’s Think History: Canadian History since 1916, McGraw-Hill Ryerson’s Creating Canada: A History - 1914 to the Present Second Edition, and Nelson’s Canadian Sources: Investigated (Revised Edition). The textbooks will be shuffled through an online program (command+F for PDF documents) in search for keywords. The chapters with the key words will then be read more closely to determine how much Asian-Canadian perspectives are presented in terms of the textbook as a whole.

V.

FINDINGS The table below displays select Asian Canadian-specific content on the left column with

the three analyzing textbooks in the right columns. Mere mentions of a certain topic are noted with “yes” or “no” and parentheses explain contents discussed as more than a reference. As labeled below, a subtopic is within a section, which is within a chapter. Japanese and Chinese perspective inclusion in textbooks are noted as the two groups of Asian perspectives as they have had the longest history in Canada and are the two largest East Asian ethnicities present in the country. The topics in the “contents included” column were selected as the most relevant and most commonly discussed topics throughout the three titles. Based on tables of contents, it is seen that Japanese internment camps and the emphasis on the “Canadian identity” narrative were

82 discussed in all three textbooks with varying frequencies. Opposingly, the concept of racism and Chinese immigration were rarely chapter or sub-section titles, but simply quick references to another topic. While most of the topics are only discussed as a reference, a subtopic, or a section, the only subject discussed to its completion is the notion of a “Canadian identity.”

Table 1: Textbook content Contents included

Textbook Think History

Creating Canada

Canadian Sources

Immigration (in general)

Yes (subtopic only)

Yes

No

Chinese Immigration

No

No

No

Chinese head tax and Chinese Exclusion Act

No

Yes (subtopic only)

Yes (subtopic only)

Chinese-Canadian soldiers

Yes (subtopic only)

No

No

Japanese internment camps

Yes (subtopic only)

Yes (subtopic only)

Yes (section)

Racism

Yes

No

No

Emphasis on "Canadian identity" narrative

Yes

Yes (one chapter)

Yes

* subtopic is within a section, a section is within a chapter In Think History: Canadian History since 1914 by Pearson, racism is mentioned as a general topic across several chapters. In those chapters, mentions of injustices toward refugees and immigrants are not specific in ethnicity. Any specific mentions of minority groups do not appear in more than one sub-chapter. For instance, information on Chinese Canadian soldiers solely supports a larger message in a chapter speaking of the riots at Christie Pits.24 There is no focused lesson or chapter on the Chinese Canadian experience, preventing students from gaining well-informed education on the history of Canada. In addition to student textbooks, the provided teacher guides also emphasize asking "how has Canadian identity changed or stayed the same?" in the sole chapters that mention Asian Canadian or any other large immigrant groups. These are

24

On August 16th, 1933, a riot broke out in Christie Pits park in Toronto, Ontario with over 10,000 participants and spectators. The riot was initiated by Nazi-inspired youth flying a swatika flag during a baseball game to antagonize and provoke Jewish Canadians.

83 chapters 2, 3, and 9, respectively covering "national identity," "new culture[s] emerg[ing]," and "multiculturalism in Canada."25 This textbook did not reference immigration policies pertaining to Chinese Canadians and the promises that were broken after the railway was built. This is another event that is essential for Canadian history textbooks that is currently not described from an accurate point of view.

One of the main objectives in Creating Canada: A History - 1914 to the Present by McGraw-Hill Ryerson is to "describe the social trend toward multiculturalism."26 Through the information presented in the textbook, specific events about Chinese Canadians were only present as references to a bigger message in certain chapters. For instance, the Chinese Head tax and the Chinese Immigration Act were only referred to in a chapter discussing "changing perspectives."27 In this chapter, “changing perspectives” refers to negative attitudes toward minority groups and government efforts to inflict laws upon these communities to reflect the new attitudes. The chapter included the Indian Act and the residential school system to assimilate Indigenous groups to the western ideal. As an important and devastating piece of Canada’s history, events regarding the Asian Canadians, Indigenous groups, and the Quebecois should not be grouped in one chapter that fleetingly discusses past wrongdoings. All three groups have a unique experience that cannot be combined into one synopsis. The only way for students to receive an in-depth view of Canada’s racial injustices is to include more than the surface material of their history. Each event should be covered in more than one chapter and discussed as more than a reference. When represented with more relevance in relation to Canadian history,

25

Big Ideas Student Print Resource Eguide Teacher Resource Student EText Global and Regional Conflicts Have Been a Powerful Force in Shaping Our Contemporary World and Identities.

26 Torne, Carolina. Study Guide Creating Canada a History - 1914 to the Present. 2013, www.icslearn.ca/-/media/files/canada/pdf/samplelessons/007-high-school-sample-lesson.pdf?la=en&hash=44E9183 88B9076837F9AB7FBAC26860FE629BDA3.

27 Ibid

84 impressionable students will have a more focused perspective on these communities, rather than seeing them as a supporting player to an event pertaining to “white Canadians”.

The Canadian Sources: Investigated (Revised Edition) (2014) by Nelson textbook includes a section within a chapter dedicated to the internment of Japanese Canadians.28 This is the most focused section in all analyzed textbooks about a significant event for Asian Canadians.

However, in all other instances, Asian Canadians are only mentioned as witnesses or third parties to historic events. The clear lack of content surrounding Asian Canadians also directly translates to the students of the priorities of history. Impressionable students only understand what little information the textbook provides of a community, which does not do justice to Canada's true multiculturalism. Similar to women fighting for their rights throughout history (highlighted in more than three sections in different chapters), Asian Canadians are also a minority that needs recognition for their lasting fight.

As the notion of the "Canadian identity" is mentioned multiple times throughout the books, the message often "connects the value of human rights and peacekeeping to the idea that Canadian national identity is ever evolving."29 Avoiding specificity, many of the text materials are vague about what "human rights" means. While citizens may recognize that Canada's human rights status is not the gold standard, it is vital for our education tools to explain the true situations and relevant historical events of ethnic minorities to the leaders of our future. When history education on specific groups is lacking, students often resort to an incorrect understanding, believing that Canada’s contribution to human rights and peacekeeping represents all of the progress in Canadian multiculturalism.

28

“Canadian Sources Investigated 1914-1919.Pdf.” Docs.google.com, docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=c21jZHNiLm9uLmNhfGNoYzJkLXdpdGgtbXMtd2hpcHB8Z3g6N GM5YjQ0M2FhMGNkM2Q1OQ. 29 Ibid

85

Discussion It is because of the lack of the information and focus that textbooks currently provide on Asian Canadian racism, or racism in general, that students do not have a well-informed background on discrimination and prejudice throughout Canadian history.

Although there is a clearly laid out plan from the Action Plan, the goals of “identifying and eliminating discriminatory practices, systemic barriers and bias from schools” are currently not met.30 Researchers have found that opportunities in educational curricula to advocate for liberal social justice discourses are "taking a background to those that promote social cohesion and a narrow vision of Canadian identity and history".31 As supported by Pashby and colleagues, the lack of Asian Canadian content in the aforementioned three textbooks is an ongoing trend that displays the true priorities of history: to convey the multiculturalism narrative only from a European- Canadian lens. However, the Action Plan promises "to realize the goal of ensuring equity," a goal that has not yet made any sufficient progress for the Asian Canadian students. 32 The study also suggests that the Ontario Canada and World Studies grade 10 history curriculum shows a hint of the interconnected social action discourse when it focuses on Canada's international contributions. For instance, an exercise provided for teachers to give their students asks students to "describe how Canada's participation in selected world events and contributions to international organizations and agreements (ie. UN and the UDHR; peacekeeping) have contributed to an evolving sense of national identity."33 The attempt to promote this exercise that 30

Ontario’s Education Equity Action Plan 2 0 17. , 2017.

Pashby, Karen, et al. “Discovering, Recovering, and Covering-up Canada: Tracing Historical Citizenship Discourses in K-12 and Adult Immigrant Citizenship Education.” Canadian Journal of Education / Revue Canadienne de L’éducation, vol. 37, no. 2, 2014, pp. 1–26, dpl6hyzg28thp.cloudfront.net/media/Pashby_et_al.pdf.

Accessed 22 Aug. 2021.

32 Ontario’s Education Equity Action Plan 2 0 17. , 2017.

33 Pashby, Karen, et al. “Discovering, Recovering, and Covering-up Canada: Tracing Historical Citizenship Discourses in K-12 and Adult Immigrant Citizenship Education.” Canadian Journal of Education / Revue 31

86 focuses on UN contributions as the sole meaning of Canadian multiculturalism increases the erasure of the Chinese Head tax, which is warily avoided, and is not what multiculturalism looks like. Not only are the textbooks outdated, but teachers’ guides and manuals are also not catalysts for positive change.

When a major theme communicated throughout each textbook is the concept of the “Canadian identity,” it is crucial we aid students in defining that identity. It is evident that the current curriculum does not provide well-rounded and centralized information on Asian Canadian history, a perspective that is equally important when defining Canadian identity as European-Canadian perspectives. Not only is this harmful for students' understanding of the culture, but it is also harmful for Asian Canadian students. It is important for Asian Canadian students to see an accurate portrayal of their culture as it aids in developing their sense of self-discovery, identity, and self-acceptance. It is often forgotten that Canadians of non-western descent may often find themselves lost in their identity. From being away from the country of their ethnicity to assimilating in a different culture, it is only natural for students to go through a journey of self-discovery. Learning about their culture in school can foster an internal pride and a clear sense of much-needed belonging. Seeing the impacts of history education on their culture in the real world will aid in their acceptance of being proudly Asian Canadian.

When we, all students of Ontario (not just Asian Canadian students), officially recognize the dark history that Asian immigrants had to endure to provide for their families, it is an opportunity for sympathy and compassion for the community. This will not only promote growth and self discovery, but it is also a crucial step for people with racially biased thoughts. In history class, students with a skewed mindset on racism will be able to look at events through a factual

Canadienne de L’éducation, vol. 37, no. 2, 2014, pp. 1–26, dpl6hyzg28thp.cloudfront.net/media/Pashby_et_al.pdf.

Accessed 22 Aug. 2021.

87 lens, without the influences of social media, news sites, or even their parents. By deciding their opinions in their own minds with accurate information, they will be able to see what these historical events truly mean for minority communities. They will be taught how rights and privileges are given to or withheld from certain communities because of their skin color.

Through primary education that instills justice in students' mindsets, history education will build a safer and more understanding environment. The main goal for history education is to shape the minds that will lead the future, to shape the minds that will determine the mechanism to improve human rights in Canada, and to shape the minds that we will depend on to put an end to racially targeted attacks on the Asian Canadian community.

Policy options and recommendations Only when we admit the wrongdoings and fully commit to restoring justice and faith can we truly begin reaching for the goal of "ensuring equity." As the problem has been clearly identified, a solution must be put in place to remedy the situation. There are two viable solutions to include more content on Asian Canadian history in all ministry-approved textbooks.

One of the main issues with the current history curriculum is the lack of time to discuss the vast amount of content in depth and become deeply connected with any one subject. A possible tangible solution is to dedicate a week to Asian Canadian education in May (in honor of Asian Heritage month) or require at least 7-8 hours of class time to learn about Asian Canadian history. Each topic (noted in the table in Findings) should have a dedicated chapter of its own, especially the course content on Asian Canadians. This not only allows the teachers to have a clear sense of schedule, but also gives the students an immersive experience into the history of a particular minority group. While this solution is being implemented into the current education

88 curriculum, school boards can also provide supplementary materials for teachers to teach the missing content. While there were optional teaching resources for teachers to use in the status quo, these materials should be mandatory while textbooks are making changes. A nuanced education is what will shift students' mindsets and what will change the current behaviours toward Asian Canadians in Ontario. As history continues to evolve everyday, it is vital to include relevant events in our history in new updated textbooks. So I urge you to not take this as a suggestion, but as a demand to improve the current insufficient course material. With these changes, Ontario public education can truly have the societal impact they aim for in the Action Plan.

In this new edition, it is crucial to include the rising number of targeted attacks since the spread of COVID-19. There have been numerous reports conducted by organizations, including Project 1907 and the official Stop AAPI hate organization, that quantify the rising hate crimes.

Additionally, political leaders have led many constituents astray in their mindsets on diversity.

For instance, when former U.S. president Donald Trump refers to the COVID-19 as the “Kung Flu” or the “China Virus,” he influences impressionable believers that that perspective is the correct one. A perspective of hate, prejudice, and unaccountable action will only cause the future to continue down that path. While this does not occur in Canada as often or explicitly as it does in the United States, these are impactful influences that turn the progress of anti-racism and inclusion. These are the topics that must be included in history textbooks as the political and social climate of Canada changes.

Another solution would be similar to the education advances in Illinois, United States, where a new bill requires every public school to include in its curriculum a “unit of instruction

89 studying the events of Asian American history.” 34 While Ontario has always included Asian Canadian history in textbooks, there was never an urgency to truly and solemnly teach these topics. What Ontario education needs is a new start to pick up the momentum With acts of xenophobia, prevalent racism, and targeted discrimination occuring frequently, the ministry must implement new textbook content to highlight the importance of learning Asian Canadian history.

This is why new textbook editions will be the spearheading action that works towards the ministry’s Action Plan goals.

Conclusion As an Asian Canadian student who has learned the Canadian history curriculum and was left feeling unsatisfied, this topic is particularly personal. I noticed how little time I spent learning about my culture and the legacy the migrant workers left in the 1900s. Most importantly, I noticed how little impact the few lessons on Chinese Canadian history had on my classmates. After the PowerPoints had been shut down and the textbooks were shoved back in the lockers, nobody gave the topic another thought, including my teachers.

Utilizing only the three grades 9-10 history textbooks, I have found that course content discussing Asian Canadian history or racism is not nearly enough to truly have an impact on students. In order to successfully meet the goals of Ontario’s Education Equity Action Plan, course content must be improved with up-to-date historical events and more frequent text changes for students to receive the education that can have a positive impact on Asian Canadian communities.

34

“Illinois General Assembly - Bill Status for HB0376.” Www.ilga.gov, 9 July 2021, www.ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=376&GAID=16&DocTypeID=HB&SessionID=110&GA=102.

Accessed 22 Aug. 2021.

90 I wish for thoughtful change that is evident in every Canadian's sentiments. I wish for tangible change that results in less verbal and violent attacks. It is time to restore the meaning of Canadian identity and that can only be done by starting from the beginning.

91 Works Cited Armstrong, Julia, et al. Canadian Sources: Investigated : 1914 to Present, Revised Edition.

Blackline Masters. Toronto, Ontario, Nelson Education, 2015.

Big Ideas Student Print Resource Eguide Teacher Resource Student EText Global and Regional Conflicts Have Been a Powerful Force in Shaping Our Contemporary World and Identities.

“Canadian Sources Investigated 1914-1919.Pdf.” Docs.google.com, docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=c21jZHNiLm9uLmNhfGNoYzJkLXdpd GgtbXMtd2hpcHB8Z3g6NGM5YjQ0M2FhMGNkM2Q1OQ. Government of Canada, Statistics Canada. “Census Profile, 2016 Census - Canada [Country] and Canada [Country].” Statcan.gc.ca, 2016, www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&G eo1=PR&Code1=01&Geo2=PR&Code2=01&SearchText=Canada&SearchType=Begins &SearchPR=01&B1=Visible%20minority&TABID=1&type=0.

“Illinois General Assembly - Bill Status for HB0376.” Www.ilga.gov, 9 July 2021, www.ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=376&GAID=16&DocTypeID=HB&S essionID=110&GA=102. Accessed 22 Aug. 2021.

Lee, Myungjoon. “Plato’s Philosophy of Education: Its Implication for Current Education.”

E-Publications@Marquette, 2010, epublications.marquette.edu/dissertations/AAI9517932/.

Liu, Stephanie. “Reports of Anti-Asian Hate Crimes Are Surging in Canada during the COVID-19 Pandemic.” CTVNews, 17 Mar. 2021,

92 www.ctvnews.ca/canada/reports-of-anti-asian-hate-crimes-are-surging-in-canada-during-t he-covid-19-pandemic-1.5351481.

Louie, Monica, and St Catharines. From Academic to Personal: Addressing Asianness in Ontario Education. , 2020.

Mallea, John R., and Young. Cultural Diversity and Canadian Education: Issues and Innovations. Google Books, McGill-Queen’s Press - MQUP, 1984, books.google.ca/books?hl=en&lr=&id=8no897R1FXcC&oi=fnd&pg=PA290&dq=ontari o+history+textbooks+on+asian+canadians&ots=3h7Reb67DT&sig=lBmzyWhAs954aPD t-2n5AcWbzmY&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false. Accessed 22 Aug. 2021.

McRae, Matthew. “The Chinese Head Tax and the Chinese Exclusion Act | CMHR.” CMHR, 2019, humanrights.ca/story/the-chinese-head-tax-and-the-chinese-exclusion-act.

Mhr. Creating Canada - a History - 1914 to the Present Second Edition. 2nd ed., Nelson, 31 Aug. 2014.

Michael William Cranny, and Garvin Moles. Think History : Canadian History since 1914.

Toronto, Ontario, Pearson Canada Inc, 2016.

Ontario’s Education Equity Action Plan 2 0 17. , 2017.

“Our Work.” Project 1907, www.project1907.org/reportingcentre.

Pashby, Karen, et al. “Discovering, Recovering, and Covering-up Canada: Tracing Historical Citizenship Discourses in K-12 and Adult Immigrant Citizenship Education.” Canadian Journal of Education / Revue Canadienne de L’éducation, vol. 37, no. 2, 2014, pp. 1–26, dpl6hyzg28thp.cloudfront.net/media/Pashby_et_al.pdf. Accessed 22 Aug. 2021.

93 PHE Eps Canada. Return to School 2020: Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. 3 Sept. 2020, phecanada.ca/sites/default/files/content/docs/Home%20Learning%20Resource/Equity,%2 0Diversity%20and%20Inclusion.pdf.

Torne, Carolina. Study Guide Creating Canada a History - 1914 to the Present. 2013, www.icslearn.ca/-/media/files/canada/pdf/samplelessons/007-high-school-sample-lesson. pdf?la=en&hash=44E918388B9076837F9AB7FBAC26860FE629BDA3.

94

Post-Incarceration Societal Re-entry

By Maya Sai

Milpitas High School, Class of 2024 Milpitas, California

Mentored by: Leah Ammon, School Supervisor & Rachel Katzin, JD Candidate Edited by: Mia McElhatton Reviewed by: Julie Higgins

95 I.

INTRODUCTION

“They want you to go back out and fail. Try to rob somebody and try to hustle. So now they got you back and you’re another number you’re not a name anymore. You’re a number. And that’s more percentage of that money from [the city]; to allocate more money. We’ll see you back in here. And they say that! Most of the guards say that. And, they do usually see them back in there.

I don’t know what the percentage is, but there is a high percentage of repeat offenders. But I think the programs just don’t care. We sit around in these one on ones and you’re like what’s up?” (Bowman and Travis 12).

These are the words of a male participant in a study conducted by the Advancement Project Los Angeles, examining post-prison societal re-entry (“prison re-entry”) in Los Angeles and trends of recidivism. This perspective calls attention to widespread problems in the prison system. The United States prison system incarcerates more than 2.5 million individuals and releases more than 650,000 individuals each year (USDOJ). American society makes it difficult to be successful post-prison. Stigma, barriers to finding housing and employment, and a lack of support systems all make life after incarceration more difficult. The prison system’s goals are to rehabilitate inmates and deter future wrongdoings but releases them into a society where crime is often a necessary fallback.

Recidivism occurs when a formerly incarcerated individual commits a crime after re-entering society, causing them to return to the prison system. Stigma is the discrimination against an individual based on certain assumptions, characteristics, or preconceived ideas of that individual. Racism is predjudice and discrimination—inidvudally and systematically—towards an indivdual belonging to a specific racial or ethnic group. This paper will explore multiple facets of prison re-entry, the flaws of our prison re-entry process, what works in the system, and what does not. Section One will examine how racism impacts recidivism; specifically, it will discuss (1) racism as an overall factor in the prison system, (2) how racism impacts life for formerly incarcerated individuals, (3) how racism is a prominent factor in their recidivism, and

96 (4) future steps to take to help combat this issue. Section Two will analyze how employment impacts recidivism; it will discuss the difficulty of formerly incarcerated individuals in finding a job, the causes and effects of this difficulty, and the importance of ex-convicts having a job.

Section Three will explore mentorship, its effect on individuals post-prison, and the difference it can make in one’s life on their journey of reentering society. In order to help formerly incarcerated individuals, we must implement community support programs, make services more accessible to formerly incarcerated individuals, and focus on the barriers that prevent people from a successful life after prison.

II.

THE IMPACT OF RACISM ON RECIDIVISM Racism is a significant challenge to successful prison re-entry as it plays an important

role in many aspects of the justice system. In fact, a study from Indiana University found that “[o]f the 2.1 million men and women in U.S. jails and prisons at the end of 2003, 44 percent were African Americans, though African Americans comprised only 12.3 percent of the U.S. population” (Nixon, et al. 23). Fourteen years later, Pew Research produced statistics showing, “[i]n 2017, blacks represented 12% of the U.S. adult population but 33% of the sentenced prison population. Whites accounted for 64% of adults but 30% of prisoners. And while Hispanics represented 16% of the adult population, they accounted for 23% of inmates.” These numbers show the disparity across minority groups’ incarceration rates. The prison system, courts, and law enforcement favor white people, directly or indirectly––their incarceration rates are extremely low compared to those of Black and Hispanic people. By paying attention to these rates, society can recognize the problem, which is the first step toward decreasing incarceration rates.

97 Once a minority leaves prison, they face a double stigma of being a minority and an individual with a criminal conviction. An individual’s life before prison directly impacts an individual's success post-prison. A study, by Nancy G. La Vigne, Christy Visher, and Jennifer Castro, analyzing arrest data in Chicago, described factors relating to post-prison success, stating: “[R]espondents who had not used drugs or been intoxicated in the six months prior to prison and those who improved their educational level while in prison (e.g., obtained a GED) were less likely to be reconvicted, while respondents who scored higher on family support scales before prison and those who showed prerelease anticipation of reentry difficulties were less likely to be reincarcerated” (Vigne, et al. 14).

Prisoners that had a photo ID, did not do drugs, had an occupation when interviewed, and lived in a safe neighborhood were also less likely to return to prison (14). It is a possible explanation that many minority groups live in certain situations (neighborhoods) that make it more likely that they face specific challenges (the ones listed above) that make them more prone to reincarceration.

A study by David S. Kirk, a professor at Oxford, analyzing the racial discrepancy in arrest data, explained, “blacks...live in areas characterized by higher levels of concentrated poverty than other groups, whereas whites live in areas with the lowest levels of concentrated poverty” (Kirk). This racial disparity indicates that “concentrated poverty” leads to higher arrest levels of individuals, who happen to be racial minorities. These neighborhoods are communities that lack necessary skills, don’t have stable connections to employment, and only minimal organization of the transition from prison. In addition, such issues are a result of past offenders returning to communities that already face “economic disadvantages”. This often damages

98 communities (Brown 7). The reason for living in these “unstable communities” may come from the racial income gap, the income difference between different minority groups. Across a thirty-year period, from 1983 to 2013, “[w]hite households saw their wealth increase by 14%.

But during the same period, Black household wealth declined 75%. Median Hispanic household wealth declined 50%” (Amadeo). When minorities reenter society with insufficient incomes, their lack of income is an immediate barrier to successful re-entry. As a result, they cannot access necessary services and programs. This can lead to more difficulty in finding jobs, housing, and other social services. These difficulties can be specifically seen in employment, one of the most important aspects of a successful life after prison (Couloute and Kopf).* This double stigma causes much harm to their daily lives and prosperity, as elaborated on in Section Three. This harm can cause the individual to recidivate. Race is a correlating factor to recidivism as Black offenders are very probable to recidivate (32.8%) and White offenders are less prone to (16%) (Lyles-Chockley 262). The impact of the community disparities is that “poor black [and other minority groups] communities have become incubators for recidivism” (Lyles-Chockley 263). *35 Unemployment Rate for

Unemployment Rate for

General Population

Formerly Incarcerated

Black Women

6.4%

43.6%

Black Men

7.7%

35.2%

White Women

4.3%

23.2%

This table is adapted from Out of Prison & Out of Work: Unemployment among formerly incarcerated people.

35

99 White Men

4.3%

18.4%

Overall

5.2%

27.3%

Society must shift to an equal perception of all individuals, no matter their race, in our institutions and daily life. Yet, racism is psychologically rooted and cannot be completely solved with any policy. Along with this, we need to focus on fixing the systematic disadvantages that minorities currently have. That said, we can create more services to help individuals prosper.

These services include re-entry programs, mentorship, and educational services. We can push for more guidance in helping individuals, specifically, those of minority racial groups, prosper. One of the most prominent barriers during re-entry is employment, and knocking out this barrier can make all the difference in a formerly incarcerated individual's life.

III.

ENTERING THE WORKFORCE A.

BARRIERS TO EMPLOYMENT

Obtaining employment as a formerly incarcerated individual is not as easy as one may think. The primary cause for this is the aforementioned stigma surrounding criminal convictions.

Employers use criminal convictions to judge a candidate’s character. As The New York Times states, “[s]urveys show roughly nine in 10 United States employers check databases of criminal records when hiring for at least some positions.” It can be inferred that, to many employers, criminal convictions indicate that the person is dangerous, untrustworthy, and has a poor work ethic. Amanda Agan and Sonja B. Starr from the University of Michigan Law School studied the callback rates of almost 3000 job applications of formerly incarcerated individuals. They found that “[c]allback rates were 8.5 percent and 13.6 percent for applicants with and without convictions, respectively. That is, applicants without convictions received 60 percent more

100 callbacks (5.1 percentage points)” (Agan and Starr 561). In addition, “[i]n New York City, applicants without records received 80 percent more callbacks than those with records; in New Jersey this difference was 45 percent” (Agan and Starr 562). If there is background information on an applicant regarding their past criminal convictions, the employers are highly likely to use it. The smallest charge on a record can have the biggest impact on the decision of an application.

As a result, “the unemployment rate for formerly incarcerated people is nearly five times higher than the unemployment rate for the general United States population” (Couloute and Kopf) (emphasis modified). In addition, “having a record reduces employer callback rates by 50%” (Couloute and Kopf). This stigma behind the records is partly what makes it difficult for formerly incarcerated individuals to get a job.36 Formerly incarcerated individuals currently obtain jobs in similar ways as regular37 job-seekers. A Research Brief by the Urban Institute entitled Returning Home: Understanding the Challenges of Prisoner Reentry, analyzes employment data and challenges of 740 male ex-convicts. It states, “[m]ost participants (86 percent) used multiple strategies to find a job, including talking with friends and relatives, responding to newspaper or help-wanted ads, speaking with their parole officer, and contacting their former employer” (Visher, et al. 3). Many formerly incarcerated individuals felt that their parole officer was helpful in terms of finding a job (3). Individuals without any criminal convictions find their jobs primarily through networking—connecting to their different connections, using job search platforms, social media, family, and friends. The two groups find jobs in similar ways, yet we see that their job chance

Lack of work experience and education, as well as the conditions of their neighborhood can also harm their chances of employment success. See, for example, Urban Institute, 2004 (available at http://webarchive.urban.org/UploadedPDF/311115_ChicagoPrisoners.pdf) and Prison Policy Initiative, 2018 (available at https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/education.html).

37 The term “regular” here is used to describe job applicants that do not have a past or current criminal conviction.

36

101 outcomes are completely different. Even if they do secure a job, “[t]he most common types of jobs [after incarceration are] construction or general manual labor… maintenance...and assembly line or factory jobs” (Visher, Debus, and Yahner 3). Formerly incarcerated individuals rarely get high-paying jobs such as positions in engineering, business, marketing, medicine, and law. One can conclude that this is partly because of their education levels and the stigma surrounding their work ethic. Many might argue that prisoners and ex-convicts have access to programs that may help them achieve their intended degree but this is simply not true. From the research brief, many prisoners were not aware of community programs, but “[o]f those who knew of education and employment programs (60 percent), participation rates ranged from 29 percent for GED classes to 61 percent for employment skills programs” (Visher, Debus, and Yahner 4). Respondents explained that not joining post-release programs was because of not knowing they were there and other barriers like transportation and cost. Existing programs do not offer formerly incarcerated individuals the tools to achieve high-paying jobs and fight biased perceptions of their character that automatically disqualify them from even being considered for employment. When establishing education programs for formerly incarcerated individuals, it is important to consider (1) the different barriers that they may have in accessing the programs; (2) the actual content of the program and how one can make these programs as helpful as possible; (3) how to reduce the stigma around formerly incarcerated individuals; (4) networking for individuals to obtain the job; and (5) how to help more formerly incarcerated individuals obtain jobs in high-paying sectors.

A job can make or break post-incarceration success. Post-incarceration employment can reduce recidivism rates. The Research Brief on the Returning Home: Understanding the Challenges of Prisoner Reentry explained this saying, “[offenders] who worked in the 6 months before prison were nearly half as likely to be reincarcerated 12 months out as those who had not

102 worked…. Similarly, the more wages earned two months after release, the lower a respondent’s likelihood of reincarceration” (Visher, Debus, and Yahner 8). While considering the amount of money earned to recidivism rates is important, it is important to note that being employed is better than not being employed at all. “Also notable was that respondents who participated in job training classes while in prison (about a fifth of the sample) were less likely to be reincarcerated one year out—with a difference approaching significance...of 13 percent compared with 22 percent.” (Visher, Debus, and Yahner 8). As stated, recidivism can be a result of not being able to find a job. It is a cycle: an individual can not find a job after leaving prison and there is no other way to support their family. As a result, the individual turns to an income involving illegal activities such as selling drugs. Law enforcement catches the individual, who serves their time in prison, and once they get out, they need money. But because of the many barriers they face, they cannot obtain a job. So, they may resort to illegal activity to survive or support their family, and the cycle continues.

One way to fix this issue is to reduce the stigma surrounding criminal convictions of formerly incarcerated individuals. We can do this by raising awareness of these issues and educating people that just because someone has a criminal record, they are not necessarily dangerous or a bad person. Moreover, we need to focus on establishing efficient work and education programs for formerly incarcerated individuals. But their success won’t just come from employment. Mentorship and support systems will also play a vital role, as discussed in Section Four.

B.

INTERSECTIONALITY: RACE AND EMPLOYMENT

The stigma of having a criminal conviction is enough to jeopardize employment success, but the added stigma of being a minority can further lower the chances of finding a job. As

103 mentioned above, finding a job with a criminal conviction is already hard enough with callback rates being much lower. These rates only worsen when the stigma extends to individuals based on their race. A paper in The Annals of the American Academy, analyzing the employment success for individuals with criminal convictions, found that “...the magnitude of the criminal record penalty suffered by Black applicants (60 percent) is roughly double the size of the penalty for whites with a record (30 percent). This interaction between race and criminal record is large and statistically significant, which indicates that the penalty of a criminal record is more disabling for Black job seekers than whites” (Pager, Western, and Sugie 199). When we view employment barriers for formerly incarcerated individuals, it is critical that we also consider the unique barriers minorities face. As such, enforcing and promoting more services for minorities in regards to employment is extremely important as well as doing what we can to reduce stigma and unfairness around the individuals and their treatment.

IV.

MENTORSHIP AND SUPPORT Support for formerly incarcerated individuals through their journey of prison re-entry is

essential to their success. Support systems include various types of mentorship. In this paper, we will categorize the different types of support systems into general support by family and friends and community-based mentorship by peers and parole officers.

A.

GENERAL SUPPORT: FAMILY AND FRIENDS

Family support is helpful during a prison sentence and after release. A Minnesota-based study of over 16,000 prisoners found that “prisons who received visits were 13 percent less likely to be convicted of a new felony offense” (Mooney and Bala 3). Additionally, they saw that “visitation within the last twelve months of an individual’s sentence reduced the odds of

104 reconviction within two years of release by over 30 percent” (Mooney and Bala 3). While visitation is an important factor in an individual’s success, unfortunately, there are many barriers to visitation. Some of these barriers are simply logistical: many times prisoners do not have anyone to come and see them. In other situations, the distance, costs, and regulations for visitors who want to visit individuals in prisons, may pose a challenge that makes it impractical to visit.

There are many barriers to obtaining support during a prison sentence. Many times, when a prisoner’s family lives far away from the prison, they visit their family member less often. This can have detrimental impacts on the prisoner and leave them with no support. Another barrier is the number of restrictions involving the connection between outside visitors and prisoners. These restrictions can include the type of mail prisoners receive—if the message on the mail is too long, if the postcard is on a certain type of paper, or if the message has pictures with it, the visitor’s message may not even go through to the prisoner. Other regulations, such as limits on how they can visit, what they can do while visiting, and things they can say, might lead to negative experiences of visitors and prompt them to lessen or completely stop their visits.

Moreover, the costs of visitations can lead to family and friends to lessen or stop their visits. In many prisons, especially private prisons, there is a fee for calling prisoners and visiting them.

There are also time limits on these calls which make the experience all the less intimate.

Allowing for more connection between prisoners and visitors can help lead to success while the individual is still in prison. Although, it can make an even bigger difference when support is shown when the individual is released. Family members do not only provide emotional and interactional support but also physical support in terms of income, housing, transportation, and sometimes even employment. Research has proven, “[f]amily members are far more likely to overlook the negative stigma attached to “having a record” than other members of society…. In

105 fact, families tend to mark a relative’s release with a celebration to express their affectionate support” (Mowen, et al.). Support can decrease recidivism rates and can lead to an individual’s post-release success.

B.

COMMUNITY-BASED MENTORSHIP: PEERS AND PAROLE OFFICERS

Formal mentors and parole officers (“community-based mentorship”) can also facilitate success in the prison re-entry process. Parole officers provide supervision and guidance to incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals. They have the potential to be extremely helpful in the transition back to one's community. Unfortunately, they often fail in that goal. A study done analyzing arrest data in Chicago described their respondents' thoughts on their parole officers, noting, “the majority (74 percent) reported meeting monthly with their parole officers (POs), with the average visit lasting 5 to 30 minutes” (Vigne, Visher, and Castro 13). Many expressed positive feelings toward their parole officer “although only half (52 percent) said their [parole officer] had been helpful in their transition to the community” (Vigne, Visher, and Castro 13). The study further found that “[o]nly about one-third of the respondents” said that parole supervision would help them stay crime/drug-free and 45% agreed that supervision would help them stay out of prison (Vigne, Visher, and Castro 13). Yet research has proven that supervision is highly effective as it reduces an individual’s involvement in crime (13). Making parole officers more actively useful to incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals is sure to help them in their post-release success.

Mentors involved in rehabilitation programs can be especially helpful in the concrete terms of post-release success such as employment, mental health, and overall guidance. A research paper analyzing the Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative (SVORI) Data

106 which studied 2,500 adults and juveniles in 14 different states found that pairing a mentor and mentee “based on gender, race, mutual interests, and expectations of what their relationship should look like; and involving the youth’s parents” tends to improve the relationship and outcome” (Workman 8). For adults, they found that “[m]entored offenders reported an average of 1.37 crimes post-release, slightly higher than the non-mentored group average of 1.26 crimes” (Workman 21). Additionally, the paper found, “those who reported having received mentoring reported a three percent decrease in the rate of post-release criminal offenses compared to their non-mentored counterparts” (Workman 23). Another study measuring the effect of peer-mentored community re-entry found that “clients receiving standard reentry services plus peer mentorship showed significantly lower levels of recidivism than those receiving standard reentry services alone” (Sells, et al. 13). They also saw that involvement with their peers helped to “mitigate addiction cravings and negative affect…increase self-efficacy, social support, and quality of life…foster adherence to treatment and drug abstinence, and lower recidivism” (Sells, et al. 13).

Mentorship can be extremely impactful to a formerly incarcerated individual’s success after prison, which is why it is vital that we help to facilitate programs that support mentorship.

Rehabilitation and prison reentry programs must integrate mentorship resources, as well as prisons themselves. In addition, there should be no significant visitation barriers, and visitation should be made more accessible overall.

V.

CONCLUSION Society continuously turns a blind eye to how demeaning our prison system is and how it

continues to impact felons even after their release. Prisons release millions of people each year,

107 who return to the same communities and lifestyles that prompted them to commit the initial crime in the first place. The prison system sets up formerly incarcerated individuals to fail. We must reduce the stigma surrounding criminal convictions and provide more resources for prison re-entry support programs. Stigma is something no one can fully solve, but we can progressively work to inform the public about prison re-entry struggles. We need to encourage discussions about successful prison re-entry, spread information about prisons and re-entry programs and encourage people to not judge a person based on their criminal past. The key to reducing stigma is to educate.

An essential goal should be to establish, promote, and encourage involvement in effective re-entry programs. Effective prison re-entry programs would consist of carefully constructed educational and vocational classes, mentorship, therapy, and overall assistance. They should actively encourage participation by especially vulnerable individuals, hire professionally trained employees, and work towards the betterment of the individuals attending the programs. Another characteristic of a strong re-entry program would be helping ex-convicts obtain jobs, such as through networking and teaching them interviewing and application tips.38 Aside from these two main solutions, other solutions may include the following: Financially, (1) To improve employment and income for ex-offenders, we can provide short-term income when prisoners are first released, either in the form of a loan or other given amount of money; and (2) we could make social safety nets, such as food stamps, more accessible.

Relating to employment, (1) We should consider making the background check system more accurate and holistic, taking into account more than the individual's criminal past; (2) to 38

For more information on successful re-entry programs, see American Psychological Association (available at https://www.apa.org/pi/ses/resources/indicator/2018/03/prisons-to-communities) and Crime Policy Report (available at http://webarchive.urban.org/UploadedPDF/410213_reentry.PDF).

108 increase employment rates for ex-convicts, we may also provide employers with insurance or tax incentives if they hire ex-convicts; and (3) we may make it easier for these individuals to obtain jobs by creating an easier pathway for state licenses for different jobs, such as nursing.

In terms of social support, (1) To improve the overall support and well-being of formerly incarcerated individuals, we can make it mandatory for them to have some type of registered mentors, such as a family member, trusted individual, significant other, or parole officer; (2) we can also help prisoners plan for their future, while still in prison, for when they are released;39 and (3) in prison and post-prison, we need to initiate mental health programs specific to helping prisoners.

With additional research and the right programs, we can truly make a difference. Every life matters, including the ones of formerly incarcerated individuals. Past wrongdoings should not jeopardize their lives. It is important that we consider and carry out the proposed solutions in order to combat this issue.

39

Examples may include holding workshops and creating specific programs for this planning.

109 Works Cited Agan, Amanda, and Sonja B. Starr. “The Effect of Criminal Records on Access to Employment.”

American Economic Review: Papers & Proceedings, 2017, pp. 560–564. PDF, https://repository.law.umich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2892&context=articles.

Amadeo, Kimberly. “Racial Wealth Gap in the United States.” The Balance, 23 November 2020, https://www.thebalance.com/racial-wealth-gap-in-united-states-4169678.

Bowman, Scott Wm., and Raphael Jr. Travis Jr. “Prisoner Reentry and Recidivism According to the Formerly Incarcerated and Reentry Service Providers: A Verbal Behavior Approach.”

THE BEHAVIOR ANALYST TODAY, vol. 13, no. 3, 4, 2012, p. 19. PDF, https://psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/2013-27003-003.pdf.

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Couloute, Lucius, and Daniel Kopf. “Out of Prison & Out of Work: Unemployment among formerly incarcerated people.” Prison Policy Initiative, July 2018, https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/outofwork.html.

Gramlich, John. “The gap between the number of blacks and whites in prison is shrinking.” Pew Research Center, 12 Jan 2018, https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/04/30/shrinking-gap-between-number-of-bla cks-and-whites-in-prison/.

110 Kirk, David S. “The Neighborhood Context of Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Arrest.”

Demography, 2008, pp. 55-77. NCBI, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2831379/.

Lyles-Chockley, Adrienne. “Transitions to Justice: Prisoner Reentry as an Opportunity to Confront the Counteract Racism.” Hastings Race and Poverty Law Journal, vol. 6, no. 2, 2009, pp. 259-303. PDF, https://repository.uchastings.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1058&context=hastings_rac e_poverty_law_journal.

Mooney, Emily, and Nila Bala. “THE IMPORTANCE OF SUPPORTING FAMILY CONNECTIONS TO ENSURE SUCCESSFUL RE-ENTRY.” R STREET SHORTS, no.

63, 2018, p. 6. PDF, https://www.rstreet.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Final-Short-No.-63-1.pdf.

Mowen, Thomas J., and Richard Stansfield. “Family Matters: Moving Beyond “If” Family Support Matters to “Why” Family Support Matters during Reentry from Prison.” Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, vol. 56, no. 4, 2018, pp. 483-523. NCBI, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7205225/#R38.

Nixon, Vivian. “Life Capacity beyond Reentry: A Critical Examination of Racism and Prisoner Reentry Reform in the U.S.” Autumn, vol. 2, no. 1, 2008, pp. 21-43. PDF, https://dpl6hyzg28thp.cloudfront.net/media/25594997.pdf.

Pager, Devah, et al. “Sequencing Disadvantage: Barriers to Employment Facing Young Black and White Men with Criminal Records.” The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 2009, pp. 195-213. PDF, https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/pager/files/annals_sequencingdisadvantage.pdf.

111

Sells, Dave. “Peer-Mentored Community Reentry Reduces Recidivism.” CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND BEHAVIOR, vol. XX, no. X, 2020, p. 20. PDF, https://www.continuumct.com/files/news/Sells%20et%20al%202020%20Mentors%20Re duce%20Recidivism%20SCPS%20pg%205.pdf.

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