Unless you have been living under a rock this past year, you have probably heard of the Netflix original series “Orange is the New Black.” The show currently is in production for season three, which will be released sometime in the summer of 2015.
The show revolves around protagonist Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling), who is sent to a minimum-security for a one-year duration.
More often than not, television shows and films tell non-factual stories about realistic fields; they often exaggerate for the purpose of entertainment. Unlike other shows and films, “Orange is the New Black” actually sheds some light on the inner workings of America’s broken correctional system.
Firstly, correctional officers are often underpaid, which promotes widespread corruption. The low pay of correctional officers induces them to smuggle in contraband on behalf of the inmates as depicted in “Orange is the New Black,” which often includes drugs, weapons and cigarettes. Chiefly among these are cell phones; for example, Reuters reports that the number of contraband cellphones discovered by corrections staff jumped to more than 15,000 in 2011, more than 10 times the 1,400 seized in 2007.
Kevin Melton was able to bribe a prison guard for a cell phone to use inside his cell that he then used to conspire a kidnapping with his fellow gang members. In April of 2014, gang members operating on the outside mistakenly kidnapped Frank Janssen of North Carolina from his home after they mistook him for his assistant district attorney daughter, Colleen Janssen. Colleen Janssen had recently successfully convicted and sent a high-ranking gang member, Kelvin Melton, to prison for life; the kidnapping was revenge. It doesn’t take much to bribe someone who barely makes above minimum wage.
Additionally, prison inmates have a tendency to associate only with those of their own race. Blacks hang out with Blacks, Whites hang out with Whites, and Latinos hang out with other Latinos. The Asian population isn’t large in the prison system, so Asians often have the luxury of choosing which group they’ll be with; this often comes down to which race they resemble the most. In “Orange is the New Black,” the White group adopted an Asian female because of her skin color. As evident by prominent prison gangs such as the Aryan Brotherhood, the Black Guerilla Family and the Mexican Mafia, associations in prison invariable fall along racial lines.
The show briefly explores the sad truth of recidivism. Recidivism essentially describes an offender’s relapse back into criminal activity. In the show, character Taystee is granted parole; unfortunately, she quickly reenters prison two months later. She blames her inability to obtain a job because of her incarceration record, her lack of education, her non-helpful parole-officer, and the comfort that she felt in prison.
The problem of recidivism is epidemic in the U.S. as evidenced by a study conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics that tracked 404,638 state prisoners from 30 states who were released in 2005. The study found that 67.8 percent of the prisoners were re-arrested within three years of their release and 76.6 percent were re-arrested within five years.
Finally, the show also touches on the concept of disproportionate sentences. In the first episode of the show, it is explained that Piper, the main character, is given a one-year prison sentence for criminal conspiracy for money trafficking; she simply carried a briefcase on one occasion through an airport.
Her prison counselor, upon viewing her case file, states that he “does not understand prison sentencing” despite being employed within the prison system for over 20 years. In response to widespread sentencing disparities across the U.S. Congress tried in 1984 to create more uniform punishments with the Sentencing Reform Act. However, judges still have the ability to exercise discretion; thus, sentencing disparities still exist.
For example, a study conducted for The Associated Press by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse used data for the past five years; it concluded that defendants convicted in the Southern District of California for drug offenses received an average of 17 years before Republican-appointed judges, as opposed to six years before Democratic-appointed judges.
And lastly, the show briefly shows how state prosecutors often bully defendants into plea bargain deals. With the threat of years or even decades-long sentences, defendants are often coerced into taking plea deals they do not want to take (the New York Times reports that 97 percent of federal cases and 94 percent of state cases end in plea bargains as of 2012).
The sixth amendment of the U.S. Constitution allows for any American citizen or resident the allowance for a fair trial; but plea bargains allow for a defendant to relinquish this constitutional right to prosecutors in the hopes of securing a lesser sentence. Prosecutors like plea bargains because it is much quicker and simpler than an actual trial.
In sum, “Orange is the New Black” deserves some applause for its accurate portrayal of all the problems that hamper the U.S. correctional system’s ability to operate ethically.