By Carey Wedler, Anti Media, March 11, 2015

(ANTIMEDIA) Though the problem of mass incarceration is a widely discussed issue, it is rare to see an outlet like Fox News addressing it. The corporate propaganda outlet, known for its tendency to lie, recently published an article titled, “Criminal Justice Reform: It’s time to tackle America’s jail problem.”

Of course, it was an opinion piece, but its very presence on the ultra-conservative Fox News website demonstrates that the problem is too big to ignore. The article, written by Marc A. Levin, policy director for Right on Crime and director of the Center for Effective Justice at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, addresses some very disturbing truths.

He discusses the gross misallocation of funds to the prison system:

“Over the past three decades, spending related to building and running local jails has increased by 235 percent, a faster rate of growth than for nearly all other public services. Annual admissions into jails during that period nearly doubled to 11.7 million. The percentage of arrests that result in jail time jumped from 51 percent to 95 percent.”

He calls out the inanity of jail time for non-violent crimes, acknowledging the burden on the poor and disenfranchised:

“Three out of four people jailed today are there for nonviolent crimes. More than six out of ten have not been convicted of any crime. They are being held in jail for increasingly long periods while waiting until they finally get a trial or agree to plea bargain, unable to afford bails that may be as low as $250 or $500.”

He elaborates:

“People land in jail for all sorts of reasons, like driving with a suspended license or not paying child support—a punishment that does not help people who are jailed to pay what they owe and provide for their families.”

Levin also highlights the detrimental effects of prison on the mentally ill:

“Six out of ten people in jail report symptoms of mental illness, and two-thirds suffer from substance abuse or dependence. Jails are not set up to provide treatment and should not be asked to do the job that professional community services can provide.”

In a very un-Fox News-like move, he praises bi-partisanship as a vital exercise to fix mass incarceration, naming those who call for change:

“Newt Gingrich and Van Jones, the ACLU and Grover Norquist, the Koch Brothers–they represent a real bipartisan movement toward reform.”

He even credits Barack Obama for proposing reforms like community policing (kindly ignoring that the president has perpetuated the problem):

“Take President Obama’s budget proposal for 2016: arriving in the midst of a growing chorus of bipartisan support for alternatives to incarceration, he includes a community policing initiative and expanded pretrial diversion programs.”

Naturally, Levin stays within the establishment lines. He fails to directly criticize the Drug War and still believes in punishment for using marijuana–albeit not jail time. He fails to discuss the prison-industrial-complex. Levin also neglects to address the problem of police brutality and abuse, which relates directly to the disproportionate number of people who are forced into prison because they were harassed by police.

Nevertheless, the fact that Fox News is willing to run a piece contradicting its talking points of “law & order” and obedience to the state is an overwhelmingly positive sign. Though essential elements of the problem of mass incarceration were excluded from Levin’s article, he effectively highlights a tragic problem to an audience conditioned not to care.

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