Dismantling the Prisonhouse of Nations: A Socialist Prison Reform Proposal:

[Moorbey]

"The United States deserves the title, the Prisonhouse of Nations[i] :

· The US imprisons more of its citizens than any nation in the world. (http://www.kcl. ac.uk/depsta/ law/research/ icps/worldbrief/) As of midyear 2008 over 2.3 million US citizens were behind bars and the prison population continues to expand as a result of the growing inequality and increasing marginalization of working people across the nation. (http://www.ojp. usdoj.gov/ bjs/prisons. htm)

· The US is also a world leader in executing its citizens, following only the repressive political regimes of China, Iran, and Saudi Arabia in the number of executions in 2008. The US and Japan are the only states in the developed world that continue to impose capital punishment on their citizens. (http://www.amnesty. org/en/death- penalty)

Both of these repressive social practices -- mass incarceration and the continuing use of the death penalty -- are direct results of the reactionary US prison policies that have been in effect for the last 30 years. This Socialist Prison Reform Proposal (SPRP) provides a starting point to reverse these trends of political repression and secure justice for working people in the US." "The United States deserves the title, the Prisonhouse of Nations[i] :

· The US imprisons more of its citizens than any nation in the world. (http://www.kcl. ac.uk/depsta/ law/research/ icps/worldbrief/) As of midyear 2008 over 2.3 million US citizens were behind bars and the prison population continues to expand as a result of the growing inequality and increasing marginalization of working people across the nation. (http://www.ojp. usdoj.gov/ bjs/prisons. htm)

· The US is also a world leader in executing its citizens, following only the repressive political regimes of China, Iran, and Saudi Arabia in the number of executions in 2008. The US and Japan are the only states in the developed world that continue to impose capital punishment on their citizens. (http://www.amnesty. org/en/death- penalty)

Both of these repressive social practices -- mass incarceration and the continuing use of the death penalty -- are direct results of the reactionary US prison policies that have been in effect for the last 30 years. This Socialist Prison Reform Proposal (SPRP) provides a starting point to reverse these trends of political repression and secure justice for working people in the US."