Prison Reform
We seek reform in an ever changing list of areas such as the death penalty, prison conditions, and education.
Death Penalty
- The recent Supreme Court decision eliminating the death penalty for retarded persons
- The death penalty was abolished in New Jersey on December 17, 2007.
Thirty-seven States in the United States still allow the death penalty. - The Illinois governor being morally compelled to remove all inmates from death row because of the many innocent cases uncovered.
- The conflict in several states over the use of the injection method.
- The numerous private initiatives in many states to terminate the death penalty.
These events all reflect the growing trend for the termination of the death penalty. From a humanitarian and/or an economic standpoint, there is little justification for the death penalty which appears to be more an act of vengeance than an act of justice.
In the western world, the United States is the only country that still has the death penalty.
Let us not only pray, but do whatever we can to bring an end to this barbaric practice.
Prison Conditions
The prison population in the U.S. has escalated in the last 30 years and exceeds two million at the present time. It has doubled in the last 12 years. For the first time, as reported in a New York Times article, we have more than one in 100 American adults behind bars. This inordinate rise has caused severe financial problems for the states, many of which are searching for answers to stop the hemorrhaging.
Several factors have caused this enormous growth in the prison population:
- Sentences given to offenders have more than doubled in the last 30 years.
- Because of an absence of meaningful rehabilitation and the lack of employment opportunities and support upon a prisoner's release, recidivism rates nationally exceed 60%.
- Statutes have created new categories of crime, especially related to illegal drugs.
The United States now imprisons a higher percentage of its residents than any other country, surpassing Russia, South Africa, and the states of the former Soviet Union. The U.S. incarcerates its residents at a rate roughly five times higher than the countries of Western Europe, and twelve times higher than Japan. (ABA Kennedy Commission Report)
Education
Most studies, such as one conducted by Boston University, show single digit numbers regarding return rates of those who complete post-secondary education degrees while in prison. This is opposed to the general population numbers of up to 65% return rates. These ex-prisoners are finding their place in society and paying taxes. Instead of being liabilities, they are now assets.
While involved in the education process, prisoners are the least difficult for prison officials to manage. It is much less difficult to guard a man who is doing his homework than one engaged in other activities.
It is difficult to measure the importance of improved communication skills, which prisoners gain as a result of higher education. Instead of communicating with curses, threats and violence, they learn new and constructive ways to express themselves, ways that produce positive results both for themselves and society at large.
The sense of accomplishment that comes from obtaining a higher education displaces the sense of worthlessness many felt both before and after coming to prison.
The exposure to classes such as cross-cultural communications, interpersonal communications, philosophy, psychology of man and sociology forces prisoner students to think beyond themselves and create within themselves the ability to empathize with others. This is an essential part of rehabilitation.
The end result is a better citizen and neighbor for society in general. Hope replaces despair as prisoners discover that they can learn.