Book Review CJ 620

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University of Mississippi *

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Arts Humanities

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Apr 3, 2024

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1 Introduction The book, “America’s Jails: The Search for Human Dignity in an Age of Mass Incarceration” by David Jeffreys (2018) describes the U.S. jail system and highlights the unsettling conditions of inmates by using a sociological, philosophy, history, and personal experience approach to human dignity. Jeffreys, a professor of humanities and religion, uses his knowledge to shift public perception and understand the context of mass incarceration by examining its effects on those incarcerated and the criminal justice system. Most previous research on correctional facilities focuses on the inmates and correctional officers, primarily on mass incarceration. The increasing awareness of the effects of mass incarceration is becoming extremely popular. However, the discussion of imprisonment takes a turn, ignoring the actual challenges of reversing the damage of irrational and violent policies. They must consider the contemporary jail’s moral legitimacy by focusing on inmate-on-inmate and staff violence. Jeffreys (2018) expands the literature by introducing a different approach focusing on human dignity and how the penal system degrades and damages it. Jeffreys was granted access to the Cook County Jail in Illinois, the nation’s largest single-site jail for the research. By focusing on inmates' experiences and dignity, the author reveals the emotions of being viewed/in prison, followed by stigma and collateral consequences. He also describes the issues of mass incarceration, beginning with the bail system and issues within the jail, such as overcrowding, understaffing, lack of resources, and sanitary conditions. Incarceration is primarily determined around politics; law and order in politics improves public perceptions among political officials (Ouellette & Applegate, 2022). Ultimately, the book reveals a need for reforming the U.S. jail system by shifting public perceptions of jail inmates by eliminating the stigma of their incarceration.

2 Throughout the book, Jeffreys begins by identifying problems in all U.S. jails, such as the ethical concerns of mass incarceration and how these concerns have violated inmates’ human dignity in these jails. Beginning with human dignity, he describes the U.S. jail system and that it degrades inmates and destroys their human dignity by identifying the many problems in the jail system. These problems include jail conditions, violence between officers and other inmates, sexual assaults, psychological damage, inadequate health care, and stigmatization. To protect human dignity in jails, we need monitoring and transparency to counter abuses of power (Jeffreys, 2017). While inmates are stigmatized, and their dignity is taken away from them. The author addresses the primary concerns of the jail as it is more of a punishing institution than rehabilitation. Institutions are focused more on punishing; they often neglect their physical and mental health needs, which decreases their chances of reentering society once released successfully. Once released, some cities will ban repeat offenders (Robinson, 2017). He describes that these jail systems are organized where they receive inadequate care and support for vulnerable inmates, specifically those suffering from mental health. Jeffreys also notes that the privatization of prisons which hold many immigrants—a vulnerable population. This population faces numerous types of abuse, especially in private prisons; since they have little federal oversight and are vulnerable, their abuses will go unreported. Privatizing prisons not only diminishes the dignity of vulnerable populations, but it also includes profit-driven motives rather than motives of rehabilitation of inmates. In private jails and prisons, inmates suffer from inhumane, or as Jeffreys describes it, a “repulsive environment” where inmates suffer from brutality from officers and inmates and receive inadequate health care. Many are housed in jails due to mental illnesses, homelessness, or lack of

3 money for bail; some use these vulnerabilities as revenue. While some jails place these vulnerable populations in jail, he provides evidence from the Cook County Jail by proposals of restorative justice as an alternative to punishment, such as drug treatment programs and increasing mental health care in society to prevent an arrest from happening. Cook County Jail Jeffreys proposes many policies to support his arguments in the book by considering the history of the Cook County Jail. In 2008, the Duran Consent Agreement and the Department of Justice released a report of the jail's conditions, which included numerous federal violations relating to sanitation, staff behavior, and medical care. Following the report, the Cook County Jail agreed to hire additional correctional and medical staff, better use-of-force procedures, improved sanitation and fire safety, and better medical and mental health care. Therefore, the 2010 Consent Agreement ensured that the Cook County Jail would take measures to improve the jail's conditions. The many changes to improve the conditions such as passing the 2015 Accelerated Resolution Act, which seeks to reduce the number of minor property offenders; adopting measures to reduce staff violence toward inmates by defining excessive force, prohibiting the use of force to retaliate against inmates, and adequately report use-of-force incidents, install cameras for authorities to review use-of-force incidents; ensuring inmate intake mental health screenings from competent authorities; the Affordable Care Act (2010), which signs inmates for Medicaid if they quality, and the option if eligible to enroll in Illinois’ CountyCare; creation of the Mental Health Transition Center, which helps inmates transition out of jail. As a result of these changes, in 2017, Judge Kendall ruled that the Cook County Jail met the terms of the 2010 Consent Decree and would no longer be under federal supervision.

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