NCJ Number
191611
Journal
Prison Review International Issue: 1 Dated: July 2001 Pages: 46-48
Date Published
July 2001
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This article examines Brazil's decaying justice facilities.
Abstract
The overcrowding, violence, and corruption that in 1992 sparked a mass revolt in Brazil's most notorious prisons highlighted the dire state of its decaying justice facilities. Order in the prisons is maintained by violence, which is regulated by prison staff. In rebellions, it is common for prisoners to torture staff, because they have been tortured. The majority of the prisoners are piled up in cells with no beds, sharing one latrine. However, convicts with a university degree or in prominent social positions have the right to a special prison, with unlimited visits, no uniform, home food, and the services of private doctors. The article states that the prison system is far from being the major failure of the Brazilian State. Public health and education are in tatters and in the large urban centers most people have been the victim of violent crime. It suggests the use of alternative punishments such as community service for minor offenders, improved provision of free legal assistance to prisoners, and efforts to change "a dominant judicial culture" which has a hostile view of prisoners' rights.