Criminal Justice Inequalities

Piper Kerman is a best-selling author and advocate for prison reform in America. She had first-hand experience with our country’s justice system when she served a 13-month sentence in a women’s prison for an old drug-related crime. Her memoir was so well received that it was turned into a Netflix original series, Orange is the New Black. On January 25, 2017, the COMPAS Program brought Piper Kerman to The Ohio State University to talk about inequality in our justice system. She spoke about several things that play a role in how someone is treated in the courts and in prison, including gender, age, race, and social class. She focused mainly on gender, and how her experience was different because she served her time in a women’s prison.

America has the highest incarceration rate in the world, which increased 500% in the past 40 years. 1 in 6 black men had been imprisoned at some point in their life as of 2001. Women’s incarceration rates have grown over 700% since the 1980s. There are many factors that may contribute to this, including the War on Drugs, unequal representation, and racial bias. This is an issue that has been discussed a few times in my classes, and every time I hear these statistics they become more daunting. Piper acknowledged that there is no easy solution to the problem, and that many things will need to change in our country to start towards a resolution.

I am a huge fan of Orange is the New Black, and I think that actually made her presentation more convincing for me. There are many characters in the show (based on real people) that have incredible backstories that demonstrate real-world examples of how people can end up incarcerated. Her presentation was very motivating and made me think more about law school and the types of issues it would prepare me to deal with.