If, as Fyodor Dostoevsky wrote, “the degree of
civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons” then we are a
nation of barbarians. Our vast network of federal and state prisons, with some
2.3 million inmates, rivals the gulags of totalitarian states. Once you
disappear behind prison walls you become prey. Rape. Torture. Beatings.
Prolonged isolation. Sensory deprivation. Racial profiling. Chain gangs. Forced
labor. Rancid food. Children imprisoned as adults. Prisoners forced to take
medications to induce lethargy. Inadequate heating and ventilation. Poor health
care. Draconian sentences for nonviolent crimes. Endemic violence.
