I once thought that eugenics were a part of the past. Forced sterilization of society's "undesirables" was supposed to be a heinous relic of the past. However, this does not turn out to be nearly as true as I once thought. Many Americans still see certain groups of people as "undesirable," even if this is less obvious. Perhaps the most undesirable group within the United States is the criminal population. These individuals have committed a myriad of crimes from murder and rape to drug abuse and theft, but even with these crimes, prisoners deserve human rights, too. Among the imprisoned, one may find a disproportionate level of black males. Although studies have shown that both black and white men use drugs comparably, black males are six times more likely to be incarcerated (World Report 2016: United States). Additionally, female prisoners are often in male-dominated prisons, leading to inadequate healthcare, specifically when it comes to reproductive care. Within surveyed prisons, sexual assault may occur to as much as 10.8 percent of the female population, whether by staff or a fellow inmate. The unequal access to reproductive health care, the right to personal safety, and additionally, the rate of coerced sterilization to incarcerated females proves unsettling (Committee Opinion No. 535). There are many human rights injustices committed within the United States prison system, but as a country we must ask, does the punishment fit the crime?

A California study conducted over a period of six years revealed that 144 female inmates had been sterilized, roughly a third of these without consent. Whether this was due to falsified medical documents, coercion, or mental incapacity, the rights of female prisoners had been taken away, along with their right to someday choose to have a family (Johnson). After this study was released, the Governor of California, Jerry Brown, passed a bill in 2014 outlawing the sterilization of California prisoners without their consent (California Bans Sterilization of Female Inmates Without Consent). This move proved to be unprecedented, further defining the right to reproduction as not only woman's right, but as an incarcerated woman's right.

The reiteration of prisoners' lack of human rights can be seen through the use of solitary confinement. In 2015, it was revealed that of the 2.37 million prisoners in the United States, over 100,000 of these were being held in solitary confinement. With an already controversial record number of prisoners held, the most worldwide for any country, the excessive use of solitary confinement proves startling. The American Civil Liberties Union notes that among the side effects of solitary confinement are revenge fantasies, blunting of affect and apathy, self-mutilation, and a lack of impulse control (Abuse Of The Human Rights Of Prisoners In The United States). In 2015, it was revealed that over 100,000 of the 2.37 million prisoners across the United States were currently being held in solitary confinement (World Report 2016: United States). Despite solitary confinement being used to punish prisoners, either for lack of discipline or lawlessness, solitary confinement is proven to make prisoners worse, rather than better. The ACLU called for restrictions involving solitary confinement rather than the complete end of it, calling for anyone who is under 18, has been diagnosed with mental illness, or who is facing a life sentence to be disqualified from receiving this treatment, instead encouraging other forms of punishments which will not impact the social development or hinder mental processing of prisoners (Abuse Of The Human Rights Of Prisoners In The United States).

Additionally, we are the only country to try children under the age of 18 to full life sentences without parole (World Report 2016: United States). Over 2,225 individuals who are under the age of 17 are currently serving a life sentence without parole. Many still have years of adolescence ahead of them. And like all teenagers, they are still facing years of brain development, specifically in the areas of impulse control and risk assessment. (Cruel and Unusual). Even the Supreme Court has argued that these children are developmentally unable to be classified amongst the worst prisoners, yet they are.

In this country, we have not stopped labeling members of society as undesirables, but instead have hidden them away, silencing their cries for equality because they are criminals. Many of the sentences and treatment that is given to prisoners would face outcries of "unconstitutional" and "inhumane" if dealt to, say, a 35-year-old white male. Because they have committed a crime, they are now a "threat," and their conditions are ignored.

There is something frightening about living in a society where the human rights of an individual can be taken away in an instant. It does not matter that these non-consenting women have had their right to become mothers someday stripped from them because they have broken the law. It doesn't matter that people are locked in solitude for days at a time, driven to the literal brink of insanity, because they're felons. And it does not seem to matter to us as a country that children are being locked away for life without parole, children whose brains are undeveloped and would have had a lifetime to change, because they made a decision that wound them up in a dirty prison cell.

For a country based upon justice and equality for all, how do we go about ignoring the torturous conditions of our own people? Yes, some made horrific, blood-chilling decisions, while others grew up in a drug-fueled world that dropped them here. This does not ignore bad decisions or despicable decisions, but questions whether or not these punishments are ethical. If we cannot let a UN Investigator on torture visit our prisons, wouldn't it seem that something is wrong (Nebehay)? Injustice is brewing within our system of justice, America. It is time to wake up and begin asking when the rights we believe we are born with will truly be considered human rights.

“Committee Opinion No. 535.” Obstetrics &Amp Gynecology, vol. 120, no. 2, Part 1, 2012, pp. 425–429. doi:10.1097/aog.0b013e318268052d.

Johnson, Corey G. “Calif. Female Inmates Sterilized Illegally - USA TODAY.” USA Today, 20 June 2014, http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2014/06/20/california-female-inmates-sterilized/11037129/.

Nebehay, Stephanie. “U.N. Torture Envoy Appeals Again for Visit to U.S. Prisons ...” Reuters.com, 8 Mar. 2016, http://www.reuters.com/article/us-rights-un-usa-torture-iduskcn0wa2b8.