"Years ago I recognized my kinship with all living things, and I made up my mind that I was not one bit better than the meanest on the earth. I said then and I say now, that while there is a lower class, I am in it; while there is a criminal element, I am of it; while there is a soul in prison, I am not free."

                                                -Eugene Debs-

I think we would all be better off if we had independent inspections that were published and subject to review by the legislature who has a responsibility for oversight. I wish you had talked about the medical care of prisoners which I think is well done in comparison to other state prisons.

Is the criminal justice system color blind? I did a study of the prison inmates with known home zip codes and found that 75% of those with Iowa zip codes (about 2000 total) came from 67 home zip codes. All of them were urban neighborhoods with high poverty, crime rates and minority populations. There were no significant racial population enhancements for Asians in prison with respect to the home zip code and the enhancements for American Indians and Hispanics depended on the particular home zip code. Black enhancements with respect to the home zip code ranged from 2 to 4 (which are too high) but not as high as 10 as your article suggested.

It is an open secret that the sentencing and revocation practices vary from county to county and I would not be surprised if they were not factors but I think recidivism is the most important factor. A very large fraction of the prison population is serving short sentences (less than five years) for drug and property crimes and a large percentage of that group are returnees. In one data set I found a Black male prisoner from Polk County who was serving a sentence for a drug offense who had been admitted to prison nine times. Who would think such a feat would be possible? Recidivism is eating our lunch.

I think we would all be better off if we had independent inspections that were published and subject to review by the legislature who has a responsibility for oversight. I wish you had talked about the medical care of prisoners which I think is well done in comparison to other state prisons.

Is the criminal justice system color blind? I did a study of the prison inmates with known home zip codes and found that 75% of those with Iowa zip codes (about 2000 total) came from 67 home zip codes. All of them were urban neighborhoods with high poverty, crime rates and minority populations. There were no significant racial population enhancements for Asians in prison with respect to the home zip code and the enhancements for American Indians and Hispanics depended on the particular home zip code. Black enhancements with respect to the home zip code ranged from 2 to 4 (which are too high) but not as high as 10 as your article suggested.

It is an open secret that the sentencing and revocation practices vary from county to county and I would not be surprised if they were not factors but I think recidivism is the most important factor. A very large fraction of the prison population is serving short sentences (less than five years) for drug and property crimes and a large percentage of that group are returnees. In one data set I found a Black male prisoner from Polk County who was serving a sentence for a drug offense who had been admitted to prison nine times. Who would think such a feat would be possible? Recidivism is eating our lunch.

 "Years ago I recognized my kinship with all living things, and I made up my mind that I was not one bit better than the meanest on the earth. I said then and I say now, that while there is a lower class, I am in it; while there is a criminal element, I am of it; while there is a soul in prison, I am not free."

                                                -Eugene Debs-