(click photos to visit original news stories) A story in the headlines this week highlights one of the US Justice System’s worst perpetrator of systemic injustice and upholder of the prison-industrial complex- the three strikes/“habitual offender” system. The dramatic headline reads “Black Man Serving Life Sentence for Stealing Hedge Clippers Granted Parole in Louisiana.” Fair Wayne Bryant was given a life sentence in 1997 for the crime of, as mentioned, stealing a pair of hedge clippers. The reason why he was able to be sentenced for a life term- the punishment we normally reserved for murderers and rapists- is that Louisiana has a “habitual offender” system, giving judges the ability to hand down life sentences for proportionally light crimes. Bryant had previously been convicted in 1979 for attempted armed robbery, in 1987 for possession of stolen goods, in 1989 for forgery of a check worth $150, and in 1992 for simple (unarmed) home burglary. The Louisiana Supreme Court voted 5 to 6 in favor of upholding his sentence this August. It is also important to note that “released on parole” is very different from “freed.” Bryant lost 23 years of his life, and is still not free.
Fair Wayne Bryant stands outside prison after release. Source: The Advocate
28 states have some variation of this “three strikes” “habitual offender” system, that allows for, and sometimes requires, a life sentence on the commission of a third felony, regardless of how much time has passed since the previous conviction. In most cases, only “violent” offenses count as a “strike” but some states have expanded what counts as a strike to include unarmed robbery, drug possession, and in California, even some misdemeanors (“Three Strikes Law”). The ACLU states that nearly 80 percent of those convicted as “habitual offenders” are Black. This is systemic injustice because it is being perpetrated by the government, in this case, the Louisiana state government, against its Black citizens- especially those living in poverty. When this fact is fed into knowledge of the prison industrial complex as a whole, the picture is even more sinister. At the bare minimum, punishments should fit the crime. In the bigger picture, abolishment of the for-profit prison system and crime prevention programs that focus on eliminating the underlying poverty that motivates property crime should be explored. Sources
Skene, Lea. “He Got Life for Stealing Hedge Clippers under Louisiana’s Habitual Offender Law. Now He’s Free after 24 Years.”
The Advocate, 15 Oct. 2020, www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/article_4ef13e22-0efa-11eb-b5e0-27db0371d9f8.html. “The Law That Sent a Man to Prison for Life for Stealing a Pair of Hedge Clippers – and What Prosecutors Can Do About It.” ACLU of Louisiana, 4 Oct. 2020,
www.laaclu.org/en/news/law-sent-man-prison-life-stealing-pair-hedge-clippers-and-what-prosecutors-can-do-about-it. “Three-Strikes Law.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 21 Oct. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-strikes_law. Vera, Amir, and Rebekah Riess. “Black Man Serving Life Sentence for Stealing Hedge Clippers Granted Parole in Louisiana.” CNN, Cable News Network, 17 Oct. 2020, www.cnn.com/2020/10/16/us/louisiana-supreme-court-fair-wayne-bryant-parole-trnd/index.html.
Such an interesting post regarding the injustices still prevalent in today’s court system. The fact that 80% of people who have been incarcerated due to this law are Black shows a great inequality of how Black people are treated in the legal system. Fair Wayne Bryant may have had multiple run ins with the law, however a life sentence for minor crimes proves that America is not worried about working with the citizens to become better people, but more concerned with throwing people in jail for monetary gains and power. I recently read that America houses 25% of all prisoners worldwide, which further proves your point that, at this point, jail is not even about keeping the rest of America safe.
The entire prison-industrial complex system is absolutely absurd. I think the main reason why we see this amount of absurdity and systemic racism in the system is because of for-profit motives and the racist laws put in place. By for-profit, I’m referring to the fact that the owners of these private prisons get an influx of cash everytime a person is incarcerated. In other words, the more people in the jail, the bigger their wallets. I firmly believe we need to completely abolish private prisons and transfer to a public system as well as abolish laws such as the three stirkes one.