Let's say you agree with prison reform and with the concept of helping those released from prison reenter society successfully. Maybe you decide to get your church involved in a prison ministry, going into the prisons to work with offenders, perhaps to do Bible study, maybe to teach life skills classes in the hope that you can make a difference in a life gone wrong. Are you thinking, "Good for me!" "Good for my church!" Probably so. And prison ministry is good for you and for your church, but not in the way you may think.
Prison ministry is not just a "feel good" exercise, as my own church quickly learned. Those guys in kakhi outfits are going to be released one day, and when they've served their time, paid their debt, how will my church and yours respond? After all, it's one thing to go into the prisons to visit and quite another to have one of those released inmates walk into your pretty neighborhood sanctuary. I mean, Jesus didn't say, "bring those prisoners into the temple," he said, "visit those in prison." Right? I wonder what that reasoning would have meant for Paul? Not only did Paul continue to preach, write, and teach after he was released from prison, Jesus kept him on as a disciple. Wow! And what about all those sinners that Jesus ran around with? Seems to me that Christ meant for us not to abandon our neighbors, any of our neighbors.
This week, I hope my church can find the courage and the faith to be the face of Christ to one of these newly released felons. As a church we won't go into this blindly, or naively. We understand that 5-years inside has changed Michael, and the world outside has also changed. We realize that he went to jail because, for whatever reason, he didn't consider the ramifications of his actions. The fact that he was stoned when he committed his crime doesn't absolve him of his responsibility for that act. The question I want to ask is, what were the circumstances that created his underlying drug adiction to begin with?
Now that he's been drug free for 5-years and completed a substance abuse course, how will he be able to stay clean on the outside? Who will be his mentors? What support systems will he find if not the church? He's going to be out on the streets regardless. So we, the church, have 2 choices as I see it. We can help Michael be accountable for his actions by inviting him into our hearts and our congregation, or we can turn our faces away and pretend not to see him.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
Life Sentence with No Parole on the Rise
A recent article in the New York Times brings focus to the increasing number of inmates serving life sentences across the U.S. Here's just one example in an article reprinted here from Prison Fellowship.com.
By SOLOMON MOORE
Published: July 22, 2009
More prisoners today are serving life terms than ever before — 140,610 out of 2.3 million inmates being held in jails and prisons across the country — under tough mandatory minimum-sentencing laws and the declining use of parole for eligible convicts, according to a report released Wednesday by The Sentencing Project,a group that calls for the elimination of life sentences without parole. The report tracks the increase in life sentences from 1984, when the number of inmates serving life terms was 34,000.
Two-thirds of prisoners serving life sentences are Latino or black, the report found. In New York State, for example, 16.3 percent of prisoners serving life terms are white.
Although most people serving life terms were convicted of violent crimes, sentencing experts say there are many exceptions, like Norman Williams, 46, who served 13 years of a life sentence for stealing a floor jack out of a tow truck, a crime that was his third strike. He was released from Folsom State Prison in California in April after appealing his conviction on the grounds of insufficient counsel.
The rising number of inmates serving life terms is straining corrections budgets at a time when financially strapped states are struggling to cut costs. California’s prison system, the nation’s largest, with 170,000 inmates, also had the highest number of prisoners with life sentences, 34,164, or triple the number in 1992, the report found.
In four other states — Alabama, Massachusetts, Nevada and New York — at least one in six prisoners is serving a life term, according to the report.
The California prison system is in federal receivership for overcrowding and failing to provide adequate medical care to prisoners, many of whom are elderly and serving life terms.
Margo Johnson, 48, also an inmate at the women’s prison here, has served 24 years of a life sentence for a 1984 murder. She has been recommended for release four times by the state parole board, but she said that Mr. Schwarzenegger had rejected the board’s recommendation each time.
“Sometimes I wonder, is it just a game they’re playing with me?” Ms. Johnson said.
Seven prison systems — Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and the federal penitentiary system — do not offer the possibility of parole to prisoners serving life terms.
That policy also extends to juveniles in Illinois, Louisiana and Pennsylvania. A total of 6,807 juveniles were serving life terms in 2008, 1,755 without the possibility of parole. California again led the nation in the number of juveniles serving life terms, with 2,623.
“The expansion of life sentences suggests that we’re rapidly losing faith in the rehabilitation model,” said Ashley Nellis, the report’s main author.
De Angelo McVay, 42, is serving a life term with no possibility of parole at the maximum security state prison in Lancaster, Calif., for his role in the kidnapping and torture of a man.
He said in an interview Wednesday that he had used his 10 years in prison to reform himself, taking ministry classes, participating in the prison chapel program, becoming vice chairman of his prison yard and avoiding behavioral demerits.
“I’m remorseful for what I did,” he said. “But I got no chance at parole, and I know guys who have committed killings and they have parole.”
By SOLOMON MOORE
Published: July 22, 2009
More prisoners today are serving life terms than ever before — 140,610 out of 2.3 million inmates being held in jails and prisons across the country — under tough mandatory minimum-sentencing laws and the declining use of parole for eligible convicts, according to a report released Wednesday by The Sentencing Project,a group that calls for the elimination of life sentences without parole. The report tracks the increase in life sentences from 1984, when the number of inmates serving life terms was 34,000.
Two-thirds of prisoners serving life sentences are Latino or black, the report found. In New York State, for example, 16.3 percent of prisoners serving life terms are white.
Although most people serving life terms were convicted of violent crimes, sentencing experts say there are many exceptions, like Norman Williams, 46, who served 13 years of a life sentence for stealing a floor jack out of a tow truck, a crime that was his third strike. He was released from Folsom State Prison in California in April after appealing his conviction on the grounds of insufficient counsel.
The rising number of inmates serving life terms is straining corrections budgets at a time when financially strapped states are struggling to cut costs. California’s prison system, the nation’s largest, with 170,000 inmates, also had the highest number of prisoners with life sentences, 34,164, or triple the number in 1992, the report found.
In four other states — Alabama, Massachusetts, Nevada and New York — at least one in six prisoners is serving a life term, according to the report.
The California prison system is in federal receivership for overcrowding and failing to provide adequate medical care to prisoners, many of whom are elderly and serving life terms.
Margo Johnson, 48, also an inmate at the women’s prison here, has served 24 years of a life sentence for a 1984 murder. She has been recommended for release four times by the state parole board, but she said that Mr. Schwarzenegger had rejected the board’s recommendation each time.
“Sometimes I wonder, is it just a game they’re playing with me?” Ms. Johnson said.
Seven prison systems — Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and the federal penitentiary system — do not offer the possibility of parole to prisoners serving life terms.
That policy also extends to juveniles in Illinois, Louisiana and Pennsylvania. A total of 6,807 juveniles were serving life terms in 2008, 1,755 without the possibility of parole. California again led the nation in the number of juveniles serving life terms, with 2,623.
“The expansion of life sentences suggests that we’re rapidly losing faith in the rehabilitation model,” said Ashley Nellis, the report’s main author.
De Angelo McVay, 42, is serving a life term with no possibility of parole at the maximum security state prison in Lancaster, Calif., for his role in the kidnapping and torture of a man.
He said in an interview Wednesday that he had used his 10 years in prison to reform himself, taking ministry classes, participating in the prison chapel program, becoming vice chairman of his prison yard and avoiding behavioral demerits.
“I’m remorseful for what I did,” he said. “But I got no chance at parole, and I know guys who have committed killings and they have parole.”
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Support and Accountability work
There are over 2 million inmates in prisons across the United States, making the U.S. the leader in incarceration rates in the world. That's not a leadership role to which we should aspire, but our "tough on crime" politics, "3-Strikes and you're out" attitude and minimum sentencing laws set us on a fast track to this sort of dubious success.
Coming to a Neighborhood Near You
Let me ask you a question: If you had no money, no job, no transportation, no particular job training, and a big hole in your work history for the past several years, how likely would you be to succeed over the next 3 years? Right! Not very likely, at least not without help.
The fact is that two-thirds of the incarcerated will be released one of these days and will return to their former home towns. Unfortunately they are ill prepared to meet the challenges of life on the other side of the prison walls. They lack job skill training and so have a hard time finding a job. They are often naive about finances and lack budgeting skills, causing them to overdraw checking accounts and have vehicles repossessed. No vehicle, no job in many areas where public transportation is restricted by city limits. They don't understand how to navigate the world, use a computer, contract for services, or protect their own rights. Many have learning disabilities that further limit their progress in all these areas and more. So is it any wonder so many end up back in jail within the first 3-years?
Circles of Support and Accountability
I want to bring your attention to a program out of Canada that is designed to reduce recidivism, especially in high risk offenders, by providing support through a mentoring program that holds the released accountable for their actions. Circles of Support and Accountability (COSA) began in Ontario 10-years ago. Today, similar projects have been seeded all over Canada, the U.S. and through Eastern Europe, South Africa and Bermuda. Follow up studies have shown a 70% decrease in recidivism by sex offenders, 57% reduction in all types of violent crime recidivism, and an overall reduction of 35% in all types of crimes. Think of the reduction in taxes this level of reduction would deliver!
So there is a proven method of supporting men and women released from prison. Supporting them in such a way that they can become productive members of society again - tax paying citizens, rather than tax burdens on society. But, as the saying goes, "it takes a village." Psychologist, Ida Dickie, PhD.,C, Spalding University, Louisville, Ky and her colleagues Robin Wilson, PhD., C. Psych, Humber Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning, and Eileen Henderson, B.A., Mennonite Central Committee, Ontario, remind us that, "the community lives in fear of offenders and responses to dealing with this fear are varied throughout history. At the end of the day, reduced recidivism is every one's business - offender, victim and community."
In my next blog I'll outline exactly how COSA is organized and show you why it works, but for now, think about it. We are all responsible aren't we? We're either part of the problem due to fear, or we're part of the solution through community action.
Coming to a Neighborhood Near You
Let me ask you a question: If you had no money, no job, no transportation, no particular job training, and a big hole in your work history for the past several years, how likely would you be to succeed over the next 3 years? Right! Not very likely, at least not without help.
The fact is that two-thirds of the incarcerated will be released one of these days and will return to their former home towns. Unfortunately they are ill prepared to meet the challenges of life on the other side of the prison walls. They lack job skill training and so have a hard time finding a job. They are often naive about finances and lack budgeting skills, causing them to overdraw checking accounts and have vehicles repossessed. No vehicle, no job in many areas where public transportation is restricted by city limits. They don't understand how to navigate the world, use a computer, contract for services, or protect their own rights. Many have learning disabilities that further limit their progress in all these areas and more. So is it any wonder so many end up back in jail within the first 3-years?
Circles of Support and Accountability
I want to bring your attention to a program out of Canada that is designed to reduce recidivism, especially in high risk offenders, by providing support through a mentoring program that holds the released accountable for their actions. Circles of Support and Accountability (COSA) began in Ontario 10-years ago. Today, similar projects have been seeded all over Canada, the U.S. and through Eastern Europe, South Africa and Bermuda. Follow up studies have shown a 70% decrease in recidivism by sex offenders, 57% reduction in all types of violent crime recidivism, and an overall reduction of 35% in all types of crimes. Think of the reduction in taxes this level of reduction would deliver!
So there is a proven method of supporting men and women released from prison. Supporting them in such a way that they can become productive members of society again - tax paying citizens, rather than tax burdens on society. But, as the saying goes, "it takes a village." Psychologist, Ida Dickie, PhD.,C, Spalding University, Louisville, Ky and her colleagues Robin Wilson, PhD., C. Psych, Humber Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning, and Eileen Henderson, B.A., Mennonite Central Committee, Ontario, remind us that, "the community lives in fear of offenders and responses to dealing with this fear are varied throughout history. At the end of the day, reduced recidivism is every one's business - offender, victim and community."
In my next blog I'll outline exactly how COSA is organized and show you why it works, but for now, think about it. We are all responsible aren't we? We're either part of the problem due to fear, or we're part of the solution through community action.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Watch a lot of TV?
If you do, then your concept of prison facilities and inmate life is probably somewhat skewed. Let's take a look at some facts about security levels and inmate assignments in Federal prisons.
There are 5 levels of security in Federal prison facilities: Minimum, Low, Medium, High and Administrative.
Minimum Security Prison Camps (FCPs) have a low inmate to staff ratio and may have no peremeter fencing. These camps are often adjacent to a larger facility and inmate labor supports the needs of the larger institution.
Low Security Federal Corrections Institutes (FCIs) have dormatory or cubical style housing and have strong work and program components with an inmate to staff ratio lower than in other institutions.
Medium Security Prisons (FCIs and USPs) have a higher level of security with detection systems, double fencing, high inmate to staff ratios. These prisons offer a wide range of treatment programs and opportunities to work and learn a trade while in prison.
High Security, often called United States Penitentiaries (USPs) have the highest level of security and tightly restrict inmate movement.
Administrative Prisons have different missions. Some house prisoners awaiting trial while others house inmates with severe mental or medical disorders, those deemed extremely violent or escape risks.
Back to my comment about television and its impact on our thinking, we tend to imagine all prisons as being the kind we see on T.V. - High Security. However, most of the current inmate population in the U.S. reside in low to medium security facilities. Some 75% of the prison population has a learning disability or emotional condition that makes personal learning and growth difficult, and in some cases is the root cause for their having committed a crime.
There are 5 levels of security in Federal prison facilities: Minimum, Low, Medium, High and Administrative.
Minimum Security Prison Camps (FCPs) have a low inmate to staff ratio and may have no peremeter fencing. These camps are often adjacent to a larger facility and inmate labor supports the needs of the larger institution.
Low Security Federal Corrections Institutes (FCIs) have dormatory or cubical style housing and have strong work and program components with an inmate to staff ratio lower than in other institutions.
Medium Security Prisons (FCIs and USPs) have a higher level of security with detection systems, double fencing, high inmate to staff ratios. These prisons offer a wide range of treatment programs and opportunities to work and learn a trade while in prison.
High Security, often called United States Penitentiaries (USPs) have the highest level of security and tightly restrict inmate movement.
Administrative Prisons have different missions. Some house prisoners awaiting trial while others house inmates with severe mental or medical disorders, those deemed extremely violent or escape risks.
Back to my comment about television and its impact on our thinking, we tend to imagine all prisons as being the kind we see on T.V. - High Security. However, most of the current inmate population in the U.S. reside in low to medium security facilities. Some 75% of the prison population has a learning disability or emotional condition that makes personal learning and growth difficult, and in some cases is the root cause for their having committed a crime.
Single Item Art Auction
Most of us have heard it said that there is a slim line between genius and insanity, between creativity and crime. Well, here's proof. Kerry DuPont, a former resident of the State of Kentucky Prison System has created this amazing piece of molded paper art out of toilet paper! Mr. DuPont developed his paper making technique while incarcerated. Art supplies inside prisons are, to say the least, limited, so DuPont worked with what was available - toilet paper. Creating sheets of hand made paper for small art projects, he expanded his idea upon his release and developed the molding process used in this piece. The 4' piece shown above is being offered in a limited auction to benefit Luther Luckett Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Minimum bid is $399.00. Bids opened at 3:00 p.m. EST on July 7th and will close on July 10th at 5:00 p.m. EST. (Buyer pays shipping in addition to bid price). Bids may be submitted to: niki.hendricks@insightbb.com
Current high bid: $ (no bids received at this time).
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Welcome to Mission Possible.
Thanks for your interest in prison reform and supported release programs. Let's begin with a short history of the prison system in the U.S.
Remember the cross of Christ? In Biblical times people who committed crimes, or were thought to have done so, were stoned, whipped, branded, even cruicified. Even children were subject to such tortures. Young and old alike often died from disease before serving out their sentence. Well, the world had gotten a little more civilized by the 18th Century. By then the death penalty was reserved for those who had committed murder or other such terrible crime. Burglars, theives and the like were sent to work camps or were shipped off to British Colonies such as America or Australia. (Yes, we're mostly all decended from some sort of crook) By the end of the century, prisoners at hard labor were being housed in prison hulks or ships. These ships were anchored at dock and prisoners returned to them at night to eat and sleep. Conditions on these hulks were terrible, as you might imagine, but the concept of housing prisoners away from society had a popular following. Prison hulks were the fore runners of modern day prisons.
Then in 1777, John Howard, founder of the Howard League, called for wide ranging prison reform. His reforms included paid prison staff, oversight of prisons, and proper sanitation and diet for prisoners. The resulting 1799 Peniteniary Act specified 1 inmate per cell with proper nutrition, sanitary conditions, silence, and hard labor. In 1877 prisons came under the control of the prison commission and were used to deter, not correct behavior leading to crimes. Men and women were no longer housed together and children and youth had their own faclities.
In 1933 the first "open prison" was built based on the concept brought forward by Sir Alex Patterson, who said, "you can not train a man to freedom in conditions of captivity." In 1948 the Criminal Justice Act abolished penal servitude, hard labor and flogging. And finally, in 1993 the prison system became an agency of the United States Government.
Today, prisons house about 1 out of every 100 residents in the U.S. That means that everyone knows more than one family whose loved one is in jail. Prisons often house 4 times the number of inmates the facilities were designed to hold. Facilities have achieved sanitation and nutrition goals, but inmates reenter society with few skills, no money and even less community support. Prisons are often run by private companies, but even still the cost to house 1 inmate for 1 year in jail ranges from $15,000 to $30,000 depending on facility. Sex offenders constitute a growing number of incarcerated individuals and find reentry nearly impossible as laws continue to restrict their ability to live and work in the free society to which they have been released. It's time for another prison reform. A reform that seeks not just to correct behavior, but to identify and cure underlying causes of such behavior. It's time we asked ourselves, "what causes someone to commit a sex crime, murder, robbery, etc., and what therapy can be brought to bear upon such a cause?"
Thanks for your interest in prison reform and supported release programs. Let's begin with a short history of the prison system in the U.S.
Remember the cross of Christ? In Biblical times people who committed crimes, or were thought to have done so, were stoned, whipped, branded, even cruicified. Even children were subject to such tortures. Young and old alike often died from disease before serving out their sentence. Well, the world had gotten a little more civilized by the 18th Century. By then the death penalty was reserved for those who had committed murder or other such terrible crime. Burglars, theives and the like were sent to work camps or were shipped off to British Colonies such as America or Australia. (Yes, we're mostly all decended from some sort of crook) By the end of the century, prisoners at hard labor were being housed in prison hulks or ships. These ships were anchored at dock and prisoners returned to them at night to eat and sleep. Conditions on these hulks were terrible, as you might imagine, but the concept of housing prisoners away from society had a popular following. Prison hulks were the fore runners of modern day prisons.
Then in 1777, John Howard, founder of the Howard League, called for wide ranging prison reform. His reforms included paid prison staff, oversight of prisons, and proper sanitation and diet for prisoners. The resulting 1799 Peniteniary Act specified 1 inmate per cell with proper nutrition, sanitary conditions, silence, and hard labor. In 1877 prisons came under the control of the prison commission and were used to deter, not correct behavior leading to crimes. Men and women were no longer housed together and children and youth had their own faclities.
In 1933 the first "open prison" was built based on the concept brought forward by Sir Alex Patterson, who said, "you can not train a man to freedom in conditions of captivity." In 1948 the Criminal Justice Act abolished penal servitude, hard labor and flogging. And finally, in 1993 the prison system became an agency of the United States Government.
Today, prisons house about 1 out of every 100 residents in the U.S. That means that everyone knows more than one family whose loved one is in jail. Prisons often house 4 times the number of inmates the facilities were designed to hold. Facilities have achieved sanitation and nutrition goals, but inmates reenter society with few skills, no money and even less community support. Prisons are often run by private companies, but even still the cost to house 1 inmate for 1 year in jail ranges from $15,000 to $30,000 depending on facility. Sex offenders constitute a growing number of incarcerated individuals and find reentry nearly impossible as laws continue to restrict their ability to live and work in the free society to which they have been released. It's time for another prison reform. A reform that seeks not just to correct behavior, but to identify and cure underlying causes of such behavior. It's time we asked ourselves, "what causes someone to commit a sex crime, murder, robbery, etc., and what therapy can be brought to bear upon such a cause?"
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