On Monday, metal bars encircled the Rock in a protest of the American prison system, while a handful students slept nearby.
During the protest, dubbed “Starving the Prison Industrial Complex,” fifteen people fasted and camped out by the Rock for 24 hours to protest the harshness of American prisons, especially in regards to drug offenders. Many protesters are members of NORML-SSDP, a group that advocates for legalized marijuana.
NORML-SSDP Vice President Joel Handley said the event was a different way to engage students.
“We’ve been bringing a lot of speakers, watching films, so we wanted something a little more interactive, a little more involved,” the Medill junior said.
Protesters first gathered Sunday evening for an educational panel composed of a lobbyist, a heroin user and experts on metropolitan affairs and ex-offender outreach. Sociology Lecturer Tom Durkin and recovering addict Stacy Johnson spoke Monday at noon.
Kaitlyn Patia, a member of the College Democrats who helped organize the events, said she was impressed by NORML-SSDP, which stands for National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws — Students for Sensible Drug Policy.
“I think it’s cool,” said Patia, a Communication junior. “The protesting, fasting, sleeping outside… It’s something I don’t think you see too often on Northwestern’s campus.”
The event’s Facebook page highlights the fact that the United States is home to five percent of the world’s total population, but houses 25 percent of the world’s prison population.
“We have the largest prison population of any nation in the world,” said NORML-SSDP’s president, James Kowalsky. “And a large increase has happened in the last 20 to 30 years, due to increases in the harshness of drug penalties.”
The Communication junior says that Americans should release the more than half-million incarcerated drug offenders, and give them treatment, he said.
“It’s less expensive, it would get them off of drugs, and it’ll help them become more productive members of society,” he said.
Kowalsky added that even more problems face ex-convicts once they get out of prison: Many have difficulties finding jobs because of their criminal records, increasing the chance that they resort to crime.
“Are we saying that if you broke the law once, you’re forever a criminal?” Kowalsky asked. “Or are we saying that if you serve your time, you’ve paid your debt to society, and you should be allowed to get back in.”
“We’ve tried putting people in prison to solve our problems, and it hasn’t worked,” he added.
Handley wasn’t sure how much Northwestern students would retain about the American prison system itself, but hoped that seeing the protest would have a long-lasting effect on some.
“It might stimulate some sort of student involvement,” he said. “Not necessarily our club, but just any club, any issue.”