North America
Socio-political context
The US is a large and wealthy federal republic with a written constitution and bill of rights. These guarantee a range of civil rights which are upheld by a robust rule of law system and a strong and independent judiciary. There is a large and vigorous civil society to hold federal and state governments to account. However, acts of terrorism within the US in 2001 were used by the government as a pretext to weaken fundamental civil and human rights. The new Obama administration replaced the administration of President Bush in January 2009 raising hopes of change, but it is not clear that the new president will undo all, or even most, of the troubling acts of his predecessor.
The damage done to the social fabric by years of slavery, followed by legally supported racial separation and discrimination, continues. African Americans are over represented among the poorest groups in society and at all levels of the criminal justice system. In addition to the legacy of racism, fear and mistrust of new immigrants and growing income disparity are increasingly damaging social cohesion.
In part as a result of its history of slavery and discrimination, the US is a very punitive nation. It maintains the largest prison system in the world and continues to use the death penalty despite international condemnation.
Criminal justice in North America
Because the US is a federation with fifty autonomous states, it does not have a single criminal justice system. The federal system, which is overseen by the US Department of Justice in Washington, has its own laws, law enforcement officers, courts and prisons. Each state also has its own law enforcement officers, laws, courts and prisons. Within the states themselves, counties and some large cities have their own jail systems.
Federal laws are binding on people in every state, as are the decisions of the US Supreme Court. The US Supreme Court interprets the US Constitution and Bill of Rights. Its interpretation of the meaning of the 8th amendment to the Constitution, which outlaws cruel and unusual punishment, defines unacceptable prison conditions and the limitations on the use of the death penalty in the states. However, the US does not have national standards or a national system for prison monitoring and inspection. There is no body of law for prison administration.
Penal reform challenges in the region
The major penal reform challenge in the US is to counter the effects of the politically-driven crime policies of the past 30 years that have resulted in a dramatic increase in the prison population – currently more than 2.3 million. One in every 100 adults in the US is behind bars. The financial recession has forced some states to reconsider their incarceration policies and move towards alternatives to incarceration for non-violent, particularly drug-involved, offenders. Some states have also allowed more prisoners out on parole and reduced the number of parolees being reincarcerated for technical violations of their parole conditions. However, budget problems have increased the pressure on overcrowded prisons and programmes for rehabilitation through education, substance abuse treatment and vocational training are being reduced.
Prisons and prison services are increasingly being transferred to for-profit companies despite problems inherent in their cost-cutting approach. The increase in the number of immigrants being detained – another reaction to the 9/11 terrorist attacks – has also benefitted the private prison companies who now receive a large part of the $1.65 billion spent on immigrant detention each year.
Other long-term problems within the prison system continue. The lack of public health provisions within the US results in an increasing number of people with mental health and substance abuse problems being detained in prison rather than in specialist care.
Young people under the age of 18, particularly African Americans, are regularly processed through the adult criminal justice system and into adult prisons, despite increasing evidence of the damaging effects. Many states still sentence children to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
How PRI is addressing these challenges
PRI believes that international human rights standards and norms are powerful advocacy tools for criminal justice reformers who have traditionally relied on civil rights and constitutional law. PRI’s main focus in the US is to bring an international perspective and understanding of the use of human rights laws, standards and norms to support the work being done by civil society and progressive prison administrators.
PRI has hosted a series of human rights workshops focusing on the use of United Nations mechanisms to advocate for criminal justice reform, international human rights laws and norms for juvenile justice reform, the use of human rights language to advocate for prisoners, and the rights and needs of women and girls pregnant in prison. In partnership with other social justice organisations, PRI has developed shadow reports in response to US submissions to the UN treaty bodies. PRI has also attended treaty body meetings to advocate for changes in policy and practice.
PRI supports reform efforts by sharing information and examples of good practice from other criminal justice systems. It achieves this in part by inviting reform experts from around the world to speak with their counterparts in the US. In support of PRI’s campaign for greater oversight of US prisons, prison inspectors from Europe have been invited to the US to meet with prison administrators, legal experts and reform advocates. PRI has similarly arranged for representatives from the Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT) to meet with corrections administrators to talk about the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture as an instrument to advance prison inspections. PRI has also co-sponsored a conference for prisoner rights advocates and prison administrators, with seminars led by international experts on prison inspections systems.