For those in the know… the last few months have seen my mind consumed with my latest project, a cyberpunk/genderpunk near dystopian sci-fi story that aims to point out a rather poignant problem with America’s penal system, and the issue of common recidivism.
RECIDIVISM: a tendency to relapse into a previous condition or mode of behavior
especially : relapse into criminal behavior
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/recidivism
June 26, 2019
It hasn’t been the easiest piece I’ve ever written, and much like my flash fiction, Click, this WIP has taken a rather poignant and painful piece out of me. I actively researched stories from convicts, and carefully communicated with parolees who were willing and allowed to talk, as well as free, fully served individuals who “killed their time.”
What it painted for me, was a less-than-pretty picture.
America holds roughly a quarter of the acknowledged global incarcerated population, despite only hosting about 5% of the overall global population, and it has turned jails and halfway houses into a for-profit enterprise.
That wasn’t the bad.
The bad, is that the American system appears hell-bent on punishing the accused even after release. In most states, jobs and housing can be refused simply on the grounds of having a criminal past. The whole system stacks against them, even slapping them with additional fees that were “earned” during incarceration.
I heard stories of cruelty, of abuse, of rape, of unfair incarceration. Real court cases and documents were sent my way, detailing police reports that exonerated the accused, only for the judge to take a personal dislike, and slap the defendant with a maximum sentence, and although it shouldn’t surprise me, I saw a painfully high level of this performed as racist or homophobic action. Yes, some were guilty, and they admitted freely as to why they had been incarcerated, but those that claimed innocence willingly handed over proof to a curious Canadian… because at least I listened.
Turning to my friends in Canada, some of whom were coworkers of mine, I compared their lives to that of their neighbors to the south. Yes, there are problems with Canada’s system, but not to the caliber of America.