Cages: Hair Analysis

Words: 1064
Pages: 5

Cages
Security. How secure can life be in an unsecure world? For many, security is the idea that life is protected from the bad intentions of others. Because of this, society has created laws, and to enforce those laws, police. The idea of policemen has varying opinions among all U.S. citizens these days. To some, the word police means security while for others, insecurity. Although I am almost never breaking laws, nerves still rattle me when a cop stands near. At this very second, there is someone out in the world committing a crime, but this person is not a criminal. Sadly, this person will forever be branded with a mistake that happened when they were young and naive. This mistake won’t only manifest into social trouble but also serious
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Hair analysis has caused innocent people to serve debilitating prison sentences. In fact, the hair analysis of 13 stands sent Santae Tribble to prison. Decades passed before a “court-ordered DNA testing found that none of the hairs matched Tribble's — and one belonged to a dog” (Kaufman, 133). Saddening that one of the hairs used to rob a man of his freedom wasn’t even human. However, there is a happy ending to this story, somewhat. “Tribble was exonerated in 2012 at age 51 after spending more than 26 years in prison, where he contracted hepatitis C and HIV from heroin use” (Kaufman, 133). Tribble did receive his freedom eventually, but he lost his life. He spent close to 30 years in prison. In that time he could have had a family; stable career, soon to retire from; grandchildren. More so, he left prison with addiction and fatal diseases. In the words of his lawyer suing the District of Columbia for restitution, “‘[prison] ruined his life, leaving him broken in body and spirit and, quite literally, dying’” (q.t.d in Kaufman, 133). Now imagine you are Santae …show more content…
Solitary confinement is a crippling punishment in correctional facilities. “In Mississippi, prison system officials acknowledged that they had gone overboard in assigning prisoners to the notorious isolation wing of the state penitentiary at Parchman. The wing produced more instead of less violence among prisoners, as well as assaults on staff” (Katel, 769). In essence, this prison admitted that this was an unhealthy practice. Solitary is causing more harm than good. Now granted solitary confinement is necessary, but it is not being properly used. The time served in isolation needs to be greatly reduced, and the inmates properly monitored. Anthony C. Graves spent 18 years in solitary. In that time he, “‘would watch guys come to [isolation] totally sane, and in three years they don't live in the real world anymore’” (q.t.d in Katel, 767). Most of the inmates in supermax prisons, complete isolation facilities, are there for years, but they are still released. These people are serious offenders and prisons are completely detaching them from human interactions. It is understood that these are very hazardous people to have in normal circumstances, but imagine how much more of a threat they are to public safety after their release. This is no way to treat a human being, especially if correction is the