Breaking Out: Mass incarceration is everywhere, even at USC

Among the various sports teams, student organizations and chapters of Greek life at USC, there is a relatively unrecognized community of system-impacted students who are negatively affected by the incarceration of a loved one and have suffered from and persevered in the hands of the prison system.

With mass incarceration sweeping the nation, it is no surprise that students at USC feel its devastating effects as well. Results from an anonymous survey conducted over a two-week period show that out of a pool of 127 USC students, 20.5% of them have a family member that has been incarcerated at one point in their lives, while 11% of students have a close friend that has served time in prison at one time or another. Currently, 8.7% of students have a friend or family member currently incarcerated, with 15% being arrested in California and 14.4% being convicted in the last five years.

While the survey results show that many participants have had an incarcerated loved one, these statistics of systems-impacted students are a small representation of a much larger picture. The United States is the leading country in incarceration worldwide, housing up to 25% of the world’s incarcerated population between federal and state prisons and local jails. Currently, there are 2.3 million people incarcerated in the United States, which is a 700% increase since 1970. 

Mass incarceration is a societal problem as much as it is a systemic one. While there are many policies that contribute to this, we as a society can do better to understand this monumental issue and demand policy change on behalf of those behind bars. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, by passing policies that reduce or eliminate sentencing for nonviolent offenders, strengthening and streamlining alternative programs and increasing transparency, accountability and transitionary programs, we can move closer to ending mass incarceration. 

While a substantial amount of the prison population is incarcerated due to felony charges, many are in jails awaiting trial for a crime they haven’t been convicted of yet. According to the Prison Policy Initiative, there are over 600,000 people that are held in local jails who have not been proven guilty or convicted of crime and may very well be innocent, yet are wasting valuable time incarcerated because they cannot afford a cash bail or adequate defense. Trials can be extended weeks, months and even years. Eliminating cash bail would be a step forward in ending mass incarceration by reducing the population of people who are not serving a mandated prison sentence.

Others are serving time as a result of the three-strikes rule, mandatory minimums or outdated crime policies from the “tough on crime” era. Occasionally, new repeals of these laws that are meant to reduce incarceration are not made retroactive, which neglects those who have been impacted by older laws and who have suffered for a longer time.

Mass incarceration disproportionately affects Black and Latinx communities. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, one in three Black men can expect to serve time in prison at one point of their lives, and one in six Latino men can expect the same, as police notoriously patrol communities of color where there is also less community resources. Additionally, the Sentencing Project reported that people of color makeup 37% of the U.S. population yet 67% of the incarcerated population. 

Implicit racial bias, sentencing policies and socioeconomic barriers contribute to mass incarceration of Black and Latinx communities, yet they benefit white people whose cases will not be hindered by racial bias.

Some anonymous survey takers chose to leave comments about their loved ones’ convictions.

“She was convicted for a bunch of drug related crimes,” an anonymous participant wrote. “She is out now and has a worse addiction than before. She also served three years longer than she was sentenced for fighting and such.”            

According to the Bureau of Prisons, the most common cause of conviction is a drug-related charge, which makes up 46% of the incarcerated population. However, with such populous prisons, officials are rarely able to offer incarcerated people the resources they need for rehabilitation. In light of a 67.8% recidivism rate within the first three months of release, the effectiveness of prison resources is highly disputed. There are about 50,000 federal, state and local legal restrictions that make it difficult for former incarcerees to reintegrate back into society, such as strict probation standards and mandatory disclosure ofcriminal records to potential employers.     

“My brother-in-law, convicted at age 19, has been incarcerated for five years and has 11 more to go,” another anonymous participant wrote. “My cousin, also convicted at age 19, has been incarcerated for 15 years with 18 more to go.”

Currently, 78.1% of the federal prison population is serving a sentence greater than five years, with 2.9% of the population serving a life sentence. 

Another participant wrote that the cause of their loved one’s incarceration was linked to mental illness. Before their conviction, many incarcerated people have low socioeconomic status, little to no education and have been diagnosed with a mental illness. With a number of mental health institutions shutting down since the 1970s, approximately 40,000 to 72,000 people in prisons who would likely have been in mental hospitals in the past are now being given criminal sentences. The rates of mental illness are high among the incarcerated population, with a 64% mental illness diagnosis rate in county jails, 54% in state prisons and 45% in federal prisons.

Mass incarceration costs taxpayers $80 billion annually. Since 1980, California has built 23 prisons and one University of California campus. 

“Although no one in my family has faced incarceration, I know quite a few friends who have family members who are mass incarcerated,” another anonymous participant wrote.

With 2.3 million people serving time in the U.S. prison system, many people, places and policies are affected by mass incarceration. Millions of people behind bars must adapt their lives to the daily constraints prison systems bring. Systems-impacted families and friends must bear with the ineffable devastation of having their loved ones locked in cages far away from them, only to be acknowledged by their inmate ID number.

There is a need for societal awareness of the causes for mass incarceration and support for change necessary. If more people understand the link between incarceration and race, poverty, mental health and lack of resources, then we will have a better roadmap as a society. 

Victoria Valenzuela is a junior writing about criminal justice and prison policies and reform. Her column, “Breaking Out,” runs every other Thursday.