Prisoners are Humans, Too

The lead article in today’s New York Times, “Justices Order California to Cut Prison Crowding,” shows that in the United States, with the notable exception of Guantanamo, we believe every person deserves certain inalienable rights, to be treated with a minimum of dignity and respect.

The 5-4 ruling by the Supreme Court mandated that California reduce its prison population by 30,000 people due to the extreme circumstances faced by inmates. Prisoners were living in gymnasium-sized common rooms with lockups into cells barely larger than a telephone booth with no toilet facilities. Medical and mental health care were atrocious.

The Court, as usual, split along ideological lines with Justice Kennedy providing the swing vote. Conservative Justices Alito and Scalia warned ominously of a coming crime wave when prisoners were released early to comply with the ruling.

But the majority opinion was, in my opinion, correct in that it affirmed that all people, no matter their station in life, even prisoners, are due a certain dignity and respect as human beings, that our values trump all other considerations. This is, indeed, a revolutionary thought in common with the founding of our nation, and perhaps that’s why it was so hard for the conservative Justices to swallow.

Because, in the end, the Constitution’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment is there for a reason, to be enforced in cases such as this one.