By Bonnie Watson Coleman

On Aug. 21, prisoners across the country began a three-week strike to draw attention to the deplorable conditions that exist in many of the over 7,500 prisons and jails in the United States. By the time it ends, it may prove to be the largest prison strike in American history.

We need to face a hard truth: the United States has a prison problem. We are home to less than four percent of the world's population yet house 22 percent of the its prisoners. Our rate of incarceration dwarfs that of some of the most oppressive regimes in the world -- Cuba, Syria, Russia, Egypt, Iraq, and Venezuela don't come close.

Here in New Jersey we saw our prison population increase by 278 percent between 1975 and 2015. One in 250 New Jersey residents currently reside in one of our prisons -- about 35,000 people.

The War on Drugs, among other practices of overcriminalization, led to overcrowding. Overcrowding compounded already deplorable conditions. We regularly hear reports of abuse by guards, negligent medical attention, terrible sanitary conditions, and even county sheriffs pocketing hundreds of thousands of dollars meant for feeding inmates while serving substandard meals. Practices like indefinite solitary confinement, including of juvenile offenders, exist in no other free country on earth, yet are commonplace here.

To be incarcerated in the U.S. is to be subject to dehumanization on a scale that is unconscionable in a free society. We should never forget that the ability of the incarcerated to share in humanity upon their release is directly linked to the humanity they experience while incarcerated.

In response to these trends and conditions, prisoners around the country have gone on strike. Some have organized boycotts of the prison commissary, some have staged sit-ins at their prison jobs (where the average wage is 20 cents per hour) while others have begun hunger strikes. They've asked supporters outside the prison walls to boycott agencies and companies that benefit from prison labor.

All of this is to draw attention to a list of 10 demands:

Immediate improvements to the conditions of prisons and prison policies that recognize the humanity of imprisoned men and women. An immediate end to prison slavery. All persons imprisoned in any place of detention under U.S. jurisdiction must be paid the prevailing wage in their state or territory for their labor. The The An immediate end to the racial overcharging, over-sentencing, and parole denials of Black and brown humans. Black humans shall no longer be denied parole because the victim of the crime was white, which is a particular problem in southern states. An immediate end to racist gang enhancement laws targeting Black and brown humans. No imprisoned human shall be denied access to rehabilitation programs at their place of detention because of their label as a violent offender. State prisons must be funded specifically to offer more rehabilitation services. Pell grants must be reinstated in all states and territories. The voting rights of all confined citizens serving prison sentences, pretrial detainees, and so-called "ex-felons" must be counted. Representation is demanded. All voices count!

Each of these demands is important, reasonable and deserves to be heard.

If we are to live in a peaceful and safe society, we should not aspire to put more of our fellow citizens into jail and throw away the key. We must have a system based on public safety and rehabilitation, not revenge and dehumanization -- a failed system that begets a cycle of arrest, release, and re-arrest, wasting lives and taxpayer dollars.

There are several bills in Congress meant to address these issues.

The Reverse Mass Incarceration Act would reward states that reduce rates of incarceration without seeing spikes in crime. Kalief's Law would provide pre- and post-release mental health screenings and social services to individuals who are incarcerated. And my own End For-Profit Prisons Act would phase out existing contracts with private prison companies as well as provide to prisoners, as part of prerelease procedures, information and counseling about criminal record expungement; educational, employment, and treatment programs; and applications for public assistance programs.

I stand with these prisoners exercising their First Amendment right to petition their government for a redress of grievances, demanding that their humanity be restored to them so that we may all live in a safer and more free nation. We can't be the society or the country that we aspire to be until we correct the failings of our criminal justice system -- and that includes our prisons.

Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, a Democrat, represents the New Jersey's 12th Congressional District.

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