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TWENTY-FIVE POINT
PRISON REFORM PLATFORM
Anderson Andrews
(April 2020)
www.TransformationalNovels.com
TWENTY-FIVE POINT
PRISON REFORM PLATFORM
Anderson Andrews
(April 2020)
www.TransformationalNovels.com
‘
Show me a prison, show me a jail, show me a prisoner whose face has gone pale, and I’ll show you
a young man with so many reasons why, there but for fortune, may go you or I … these lyrics were sung
by Joan Baez over 60-years ago … but they are just as appropriate today as they were back then.
Supposedly, inmates housed in our nation’s Federal and State correctional facilities have certain
fundamental rights protected by the U.S. Constitution … these rights are meant to include the following:
1. The right to humane facilities and conditions
2. The right to be free from sexual crimes
3. The right to be free from racial segregation
4. The right to express facility condition complaints
5. The right to assert their rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act
6. The right to medical care and attention as needed
7. The right to appropriate mental health care
8. The right to a hearing if they are to be moved to a mental health facility
These topics are very limited and vague … and are often not followed … which is why there are
so many lawsuits being filed by inmates against the prisons throughout the country; however, prisoners
must exhaust internal prison grievance procedures before they file suit in federal court and must pay their
own court filing fees (monthly installments are permitted), but courts have the right to dismiss any lawsuit
they find to be frivolous, malicious, or state an improper claim. Each time one is dismissed, the prisoner
has a strike issued against them. After three strikes, they can no longer file another lawsuit unless they
pay the entire court filing fee up front (unless they are at risk of immediate and serious physical injury).
Prisoners cannot file a claim for mental or emotional injury unless they can show that they also
suffered a physical injury. Prisoners risk losing credit for good time if a judge decides that a lawsuit was
filed for the purpose of harassment, that the inmate lied, or that the inmate presented false information.
Clearly, the current system of guarantees and rights is severely lacking.
As Americans, we are all guaranteed … life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness … and yes,
incarceration does take away some of these basic human rights … but it should not completely destroy
an offender’s spirit or that of their families. The truth is … one of the biggest problems our prisons face
has to do with immense overcrowding … but by now we’ve gone far beyond that, so we’re confronting
a system that is so profoundly broken in so many ways that you just can’t fix ‘one problem’ alone without
fixing the other problems as well; however, basic Sociology 101, teaches us what happens when you put
too many rats in a cage … so just by reducing the number of offenders incarcerated would certainly go a
long way in taking some of the pressure off of this ticking time bomb of anger and frustration.
Another problem, and perhaps the most crucial, is that the entire criminal justice system is based
upon Old Testament beliefs about ‘the system of payback’… an eye for an eye mentality that still lingers,
even though all of the research about punishment shows that it just doesn’t work. Think about it…it’s no
longer recommended that we punish children, or even our pets for that matter, so why would you think
that punishing offenders of the law would be any different? Dr. Karl Menninger, in the 1950’s, wrote a
book called, The Crime of Punishment, which proved that incarcerating offenders did not reduce the rate
of crime and did not rehabilitate anyone … it only made matters worse. Since then, this same finding has
been proven time and time again by the world famous ‘Pew Research Center.’
In 2018, the Trump administration made an attempt at passing prison reform legislation.
The First Step Act of 2018 gave early release to a small number of federal inmates, but did nothing
for the other 99% in our nation’s state prisons … but polls show that most Americans, including victims
of crime, now support less punishment for offenders and more time towards actual rehabilitation.
However, rehabilitation alone is not enough … and what does that mean, anyway?
Is it just about job training … or does it include mental health, and all of the various other
challenges most offenders will have to face upon returning to outside world?
Another big problem the prison system faces is the lack of outside support newly released inmates
receive, so in many ways, it almost guarantees that the individual will fail, and return back behind bars.
This is because of stress, which is one of the most physical and brain damaging things many of
us must face, but it’s generally overlooked until it’s too late. The nature of stress is to paralyze the body
and the mind, until it kills you, which is the ultimate form of paralysis. It can cause depression, P.T.S.D.,
and is also the cause of suicide, strokes and heart attacks. Most of us are able to handle a little bit of stress
just fine, like going to the gym and lifting a 30-lb. weight, but stress is often cumulative, so that each
year you take on a little more … after ten years, it’s like trying to lift 300-lbs., and it crushes you.
In my opinion, the reason why most people commit a crime is because of too much stress, and
because stress paralyzes the mind, they just can’t think straight. Yes, they know the difference between
right and wrong, but if the brain is under too much stress, it can temporarily block that out.
When inmates are released from prison, they must often return to their old life and face the same
stressors they faced before incarceration … the same ones that got them into prison in the first place.
So unless these stressors can be eliminated though social services, or mental health programs,
they are destined to return to an unjust criminal justice system, this time labeled … a repeat offender.
So it begs the question … are we a nation that believes in second chances, and really want to see
all Americans succeed, or are we just hell-bent on punishment, and don’t really give a damn about any
of those who make mistakes and offend us. Remember, someday it could be you facing a lengthy sentence,
so how would you want to be treated … treated like a dog, or like a like human being?
Our world is constantly changing, everything is becoming different, and ‘so it must be’ with our
criminal justice system as well. Below, is my 25-point prison reform platform for the times we live in.
For even more information, please visit my website at … www.4peace.org … and please read my
novel, A Conscious Transformation, which is in two parts, The Crystal Prison and The Crystal Chrysalis.
Just go to … www.TransformationalNovels.com … or, www.TheCrystalPrison.com
♥ ♥ ♥
1. First-time nonviolent offenders must be offered a reasonable alternative to incarceration …
2. We must eliminate the current non-refundable bail bond system …
3. We must eliminate ‘for profit’ prisons that are run by corporations …
4. We must offer better pay and training for prison guards …
5. Judges and juries must consider prior good deeds at the time of sentencing …
6. We must have a uniform process for parole and relaxed standards for early release …
7. We must have meaningful rehabilitation available for all inmates …
8. There must be humane living conditions provided for all inmates …
9. There must be no more mandatory hard labor for those incarcerated …
10. We must pay at least the minimum wage to inmates performing labor services …
11. We must not have mandatory work-release for restitution or for fines owed …
12. Better support services to be made available to victims of incarcerated offenders …
13. Support services must be made available for families of those incarcerated …
14. Support services must be made available to all recently released inmates …
15. No employment or housing discrimination allowed against recently released inmates …
16. For nonviolent offenders, seventy-years-old is the maximum age for incarceration …
17. No suspension of Social Security benefits for incarceration …
18. Upon completion of their sentence, a felon’s full voting rights must be restored …
19. We must eliminate the ‘death penalty’ as a means of punishment …
20. We must eliminate segregation and solitary confinement as a means of punishment …
21. We must stop prosecuting minors as adult offenders …
22. We must stop incarcerating the mentally ill and provide better mental health services …
23. Mandatory mental health services must be made available to all violent offenders …
24. We must encourage judges to give offenders shorter sentences across the board …
25. We must begin replacing judges and juries with artificial intelligence …
♥ ♥ ♥
1. First-time nonviolent offenders must be offered a reasonable alternative to incarceration …
In this year’s 2020 presidential election, prison reform is on the forefront of the issues
being discussed. The primary issue is … first-time nonviolent offenders. Former President Barack
Obama said, we are a nation that believes in forgiveness. President Donald Trump said, everyone
deserves a second chance. Senator Joe Biden said, first time offenders should not go to prison.
All of the other presidential candidates have said similar things; and, don’t forget what Jesus said,
to turn the other cheek … which also means, everyone must be given a second chance; otherwise,
we are nothing more than a nation that believe in punishment and retribution, no matter what.
There is no one who has not made a serious mistake in their life, but some mistakes are
legal, and others are not. Giving someone a second chance does not mean there should be no
responsibility for one’s actions … no, there must be, but first-time nonviolent offenders should
be guaranteed a reasonable alternative to incarceration, such as … fines, probation, restitution,
community service, diversion, education, mental health treatment, and medical treatment.
Jails and prison in almost every state are filled with first-time nonviolent offenders.
Americans say, they believe in redemption, but there is very little to show for those words.
For too long, judges have been under the belief that if you sit behind bars long enough,
you will see the errors of your ways and never commit another crime again … but this is a serious
mistake in logic. Being in jail for only 2-weeks, can cause an offender to lose his job, which could
be the sole source of income for his family. Children’s lives get disrupted and are often sent to
live in foster care … in fact, the entire fabric of the family unit becomes changed for the worse.
According to the American Psychological Association … because of budget shortages and
staffing shortfalls, as well the punitive philosophy of many judges, today’s prisons are not only a
horrible environment in which to live, but are highly unlikely to rehabilitate prisoners.
Incarceration creates resentment, anger, mental health problems and also leaves a stigma
on the offender who can usually not find a decent job for at least 5-years after being released.
Incarceration only makes things worse for both the individual and for society.
2. We must eliminate the current non-refundable bail bond system …
By eliminating cash bail, states can ensure that poverty isn’t the only reason a defendant
stays behind bars, and can end the predatorization of low-income people by a commercial bail
bond industry motivated more by profit than protecting public safety. It doesn’t keep dangerous
criminals off the streets. It just keeps the poor in jail and finance companies rolling in profits.
The stated purpose of cash bail is to ensure that defendants show up in court and that
dangerous people stay off the streets. By requiring money up-front and threatening further cash
penalties, defendants are motivated to comply. Or so the theory goes. But it’s increasingly clear
that cash bail doesn’t accomplish these goals either fairly or efficiently, and that alternatives that
don’t require defendants to pay for their release are actually more effective. In the large swaths
of the country that still rely on cash bail, it’s all too often the poor, not the dangerous or delinquent,
who remain behind bars when they can’t afford to purchase their freedom. Those who do pay bail
often find themselves in another kind of prison: shackled for months or years to a debt that
hobbles their opportunities to get ahead. These days, tracking devices are much cheaper than they
were in the past and cost almost nothing… there is no sound reason for not using these instead.
It’s the government, prodded along by a powerful bail lobby, that enables the industry’s
privileged position by providing a steady stream of clients, by protecting the industry’s right to
collect, and by setting bail amounts that leave defendants little choice but to finance their freedom
with a bondsman. While shows like Dog the Bounty Hunter have popularized the idea of fearless
bondsmen on the hunt for dangerous suspects, real-life bail bonding has more in common with
the sketchier side of the financial services industry than it does law enforcement. New research
finds that alternatives to bail work better to ensure that defendants show up in court. One study
found that ‘unsecured’ bonds, which require no money up-front, but are due in full if someone
skips town, are just as effective as traditional cash bail in ensuring court appearances.
In fact, New York State’s sweeping new bail reform law has shown so far that critic’s fears
of a crime wave were wrong … and that it will actually reduce recidivism in the long haul.
3. We must eliminate ‘for profit’ prisons that are run by corporations …
A private ‘for-profit’ prison is an institution where people are held by a third party that is
contracted by a government agency. Its purpose is to make money for a corporation’s shareholders
and to save the government’s taxpayers money in the incarceration of prisoners or detainees, but
their true focus is on protecting their own bottom lines. In order to lower operating costs, these
facilities cut corners by hiring fewer employees and paying and training them less.
The Department of Justice found that private prisons provide fewer services at
greater security and safety risks to inmates and staff without producing any substantial
savings. More than a decade ago, researchers found that private facilities pay their officers
less, provide fewer hours of training and have higher inmate-to-staff ratios, a combination
which may account for their much higher turnover rate among correctional officers, as
well as the increase in inmate assaults. They do not deliver on their promise of significant
savings, and the greater risk far outweighs the small fiscal benefit they provide to those
within the walls. There are actually some judges who get paid by the corporation when a
defendant is convicted, but not when he is acquitted. The concern is obvious…we mistrust
arrangements that might lead actors in the system to stray from their duty to administer
justice impartially. Also, the companies that build and run private prisons have a financial
interest in the continued growth of mass incarceration, and have less interest in things like
living conditions, early release, or offering better pay and training for prison guards.
4. We must offer better pay and training for prison guards …
Unpredictable inmates, long hours, high turnover, and incapable bosses. These are just
some of the challenges of working as a corrections officer. Prison guards tend to be a cloistered
group, protected by unions that work in a world largely invisible to the public.
A college degree should be required in the areas of psychology, sociology, or social work,
and the job should offer better pay, more training, and higher ratios between guards and inmates;
but most states only require prison officers to have a high school diploma, offer low pay, and long
work hours. Although they prefer applicants with a degree in law enforcement, criminal justice,
or experience in counseling or security, there is generally no requirement for them to have it.
In some states, prison violence has become a problem because no one is willing to take
the risk of working at such an underpaid job, which has resulted in massive shortages of staff.
Lawmakers in many states have had little appetite for confining fewer people or raising
officers’ salaries, especially in Mississippi, where starting pay for guards is $25,650 a year.
Officers at privately run prisons in the state start at around $23,400.
The best way to discuss this topic is with actual comments from officers themselves.
“Sometimes I feel like an overpaid babysitter who gets to subdue some smelly naked man,
covered in blood, who is a well-known AIDS carrier, and is irate, threatening suicide!”
“We are so underpaid, there’s a revolving door of correctional staff. At my facility, guards
are getting so burnt out from working 16-hour shifts its putting us all in danger.”
“Prisoners, especially mentally ill ones, manipulate the system and are disrespectful.
“I had an inmate in seg once who swore that all of us officers were evil leprechauns who
had kidnapped him and locked him up. He kept trying to unlock his cell with his toothbrush.”
“I don't feel bad for any inmate that has trouble following simple rules. She was assaultive,
manipulative, angry, and a threat to staff…so, we just did what we had to do.”
“What gets me are some of the stupid things inmates fight over…pet mice, a bottom bunk,
noodles, and even toilet paper. Do I really want to get involved in all of that?”
“The common sentiment around here is this…when it comes to punishment, most of the
prisoners are just asking for it. The fact is most people don’t even know we exist until something
goes terribly wrong. We are thought of by convicts’ families as just a bunch of brutal assholes
that could care less…because that’s what the inmate tells them.”
The bottom line is this … conditions in prisons will only continue to deteriorate until we
either, quit sending so many people to prison, or have better paid guards with better training.
5. Judges and juries must consider prior good deeds at the time of sentencing …
At the time of sentencing, most judges typically only consider mitigating factors that
include the defendant's past criminal record, age, education, the circumstances under which the
crime was committed, and whether the defendant genuinely feels remorse. Rarely, is a convicted
felon ever given any credit for the good things they’ve done in their life.
Before imposing a sentence, the court is only required to afford counsel an opportunity to
speak on behalf of the defendant. The court will address the defendant personally and ask the
defendant if they wish to make a statement on their own behalf and to present any information in
mitigation of punishment. In many state courts, victims may also have the opportunity to address
the court and recommend leniency or strictness for the sentence.
Several historical accounts suggest ‘prior good acts’ have traditionally been viewed as a
mitigating factor. A 1644 report by the clergy to the Massachusetts General Court noted that
judges should have discretion to mitigate an offender’s sentence as in the case of good public
servants. The practice of showing leniency to veterans dates as far back to at least the Civil War.
Military service or other previous good character evidence has also, on occasion, resulted
in acquittals or executive clemency. While some states explicitly identify good acts as a mitigating
sentencing factor, such recognition is rare. North Carolina has perhaps the most explicit policy
regarding prior good acts: its felony sentencing statute provides for the mitigation of a defendant’s
sentence if he has been honorably discharged from the United States armed services, or if he has
been a person of good character, or has had a good reputation in the community.
In other words, just being an overall ‘good guy’ might offset years of imprisonment.
Prior good acts that should be considered at sentencing hearings in all states, and at the
federal level…are honorable military service, public service, such as a police officer, firefighter,
or other public official, as well as those who have been schoolteachers, or have done charitable
or volunteer work, or made charitable contributions. In my own case, I told the judge about my
many years of prior good acts…having been a Peace Corps volunteer, a volunteer firefighter, and
a volunteer coach for youth sports. Unfortunately, my good acts fell upon deaf ears.
6. We must have a uniform process for parole and relaxed standards for early release …
In America, from arrest to sentencing, a lot of attention is given to the process of sending
someone to prison, with rules and standards meant to ensure fairness and predictability; but in
sharp contrast, the processes for releasing them from prison are relatively ignored by the public
and by the law. State paroling systems vary so much that it is almost impossible to compare them.
Parole systems should be uniform and give every incarcerated person ample opportunity to earn
release and have a fair, transparent process for deciding whether to grant it. Unlike in movies,
most parole hearings don’t consist of a few stern parole board members and one nervous inmate.
Most states don’t have face-to-face hearings at all, and instead do things like send a staff person
to interview the prospective parolee. The staff person then sends a report to the voting members,
who vote (perhaps in isolation), the inmate never has a chance to present their case or their parole
plans to voting members, to speak to their crime, or rebut any wrong information the board has.
Most states, by legislative mandate, also give prosecutors and crime survivors a voice in
the parole process, which is unfair if they know nothing about the progress the inmate has made.
There should always be face-to-face parole hearings and a process by which someone
seeking release can challenge incorrect information that the board may use to deny parole.
Prosecutors should not be permitted to weigh in on the parole process. Their voices belong in the
courtroom when the original offense is litigated. Parole should not be contaminated by outdated
information that was the basis for the underlying conviction or plea bargain. Survivors of crimes
shouldn’t be allowed as part of the parole decision if they have not had emotional counseling.
Supportive testimony should also be encouraged when presenting evidence for early release.
Also, every inmate should be eligible for parole. Some state legislatures have stripped the
parole board’s power to grant release but to only a few individuals, like Truth in Sentencing
Statutes, which limits inmates for parole until they have almost completed their sentences.
Each state should have presumptive parole, which gives an inmate a list of specific things
they must do to make parole, all but guaranteeing their release at a predetermined date if they
fulfill the requirements. This would inject fairness into the system and allow inmates and their
families to better prepare for release. Parole board members should not use subjective criteria to
deny parole. The most common reason for denial is the serious nature of the offense, which is
just a way of saying, come back next time. No more than a year should elapse between a parole
denial and a subsequent review. Case managers should be provided within six months of an
inmate’s arrival in prison to inform them of what programs they need to take, work with them to
prepare for the hearing and connect them to outside agencies after parole is granted. Every inmate
should have access to any documents or records the parole board relies on to make its decision.
Parole boards should have guidelines to help them make unbiased parole decisions, and
those should be shared with the public. Parole boards should be required to issue yearly public
reports that explain deviations from outcomes recommended by parole guidelines. Individuals
who are denied parole and fit all the requirements should be able to appeal a denial and get either
a rehearing or receive a credible explanation for that denial based on objective factors.
7. We must have meaningful rehabilitation available for all inmates …
We need clear definitions as to what actually constitutes ‘rehabilitation.’
The American criminal justice system was founded on the belief that by incarcerating an
offender it will somehow create meaningful rehabilitation. The idea is, that if someone sits behind
bars long enough, they will have time to contemplate their sins and will change their ways upon
release, but time and time again, research has shown…this is just not true. If anything, a term of
lengthy incarceration not only creates more problems for an individual, but for society as well.
When a person is incarcerated in a dark secluded place, oftentimes made to sit alone for
long periods of time, something inside of them changes, and it’s not for the better.
They lose a part of their heart, a part of their mind, and a part of their soul. They become
bitter, defeated, and lose their self-esteem, which upon release might take years for them to heal,
if ever at all…but upon release there is no time for healing, for they must begin to scramble to
find a way to earn a living and make money to survive, but they are often barred from participating
in the employment system, often for up to five years after release from incarceration, so they
become very stressed out, violate their parole, and wind up back behind bars again.
Incarceration destroys the nuclear family. It affects friends, spouses, sons, and daughters.
All of these relationships must be rebuilt upon release … if they can.
If a person must be incarcerated, they require meaningful rehabilitation, which can’t be
done so long as a person must return to an isolated cell at night and deal with their despair and
loneliness … so once you provide a positive living environment for an inmate, with mental health
services, then meaningful job training and education programs can be provided that will prepare
them to deal with the outside world when they’re finally released.
8. There must be humane living conditions provided for all inmates …
Prison living conditions should not be an additional punishment. Far too many prisoners
are housed in quarters that threaten their health, safety, and human dignity on a daily basis.
An example of this would be the current corona virus epidemic. Jails and prisons are often
dirty and have really very little in the way of infection control,” said Homer Venters, former chief
medical officer at New York City’s notorious Rikers Island jail complex.
Lots of people use a small number of bathrooms where the sinks are broken or not in use.
You may have access to water, but nothing to wipe your hands off with, or any access to soap.
Sharing in a 6’ x 12’ concrete cell with a total stranger and having an uncovered toilet right
next to your bed, in my opinion, amounts to cruelty. Everyone should be entitled to a little privacy.
A jail or prison cell should be a structure that does not resemble a cage built to contain
some kind of wild animal. It should have decent living space, and a toilet separated from that.
Nonviolent offenders must not be housed with violent ones … or with the mentally ill.
It really comes down to … how would you want to be treated if you were in there …?
International law prohibits cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment to anyone, including
prisoners of war, and is banned at all times, in all places, including during times of war. So why,
in the United States, do we continue to treat offenders of the law in such a horrible manner?
It doesn’t take a genius or someone with a Ph.D. in sociology to know that humane living
conditions would promote self-respect and self-esteem for all inmates … something that is direly
needed for a released inmate to succeed on the outside, and to prevent recidivism.
We need to get rid of that image in our heads about an ogre with a club standing in front
of a dungeon door in the cellar of a medieval castle … and replace it with a more pleasant image
that does not teach … that the only way to make others behave properly is through violence.
For thousands of years we have been brainwashed to believe that punishment is the best
and only disciplinary tool that works when dealing with those who have offended us … but it was
Jesus who said … treat others as you would want to be treated. It seems, no one was listening.
9. There must be no more mandatory hard labor for those incarcerated …
Penal labor is a generic term for various kinds of unfree labor which prisoners are required
to perform, typically manual labor. The work may be light or hard, depending on the context.
Forms of sentences involving penal labor have been called involuntary servitude, penal servitude,
and imprisonment with hard labor. If an inmate refuses, they can be punished with things like
solitary confinement, revoking visitation, or other measures. Whenever inmates go on strike it is
almost always over prison labor or living conditions that prisoners call ‘prison slavery.’
The Thirteenth Amendment to our constitution forbade slavery and involuntary servitude,
“except as punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.”
However, this amendment must be changed.
Convicted offenders in most government-run correctional facilities cook food, perform
janitorial duties, wash laundry and conduct a range of other daily operations necessary for prisons
to function. The vast majority of the country's working prisoners do their jobs often without labor
protections, even though prisons throughout the country also function like factories, with inmates
manufacturing a myriad of products sold to government agencies and, to a much lesser extent,
nonprofits. Despite their hard labor, inmates receive little, if any compensation for their work.
The truth is … that many prison systems just can’t operate without exploiting prison labor;
the prisoners must clean, cook the meals, do the laundry, provide maintenance work, cut the grass,
work as clerks and teachers’ aides, and so much more. Without the use of low-cost or free prisoner
labor, our prison systems would grind to a halt. Many prisoners are coming to that realization,
insisting, they will no longer voluntarily participate in a slave system where economics are placed
over humanity. This is just one of many reasons why we must stop incarcerating people, because
it’s just not fair. For those who volunteer to do hard labor, they must be paid the minimum wage.
10. We must pay at least the minimum wage to inmates performing labor services.
Inmates are exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act, which requires that all workers
be paid at least the federal minimum wage, which makes it completely legal for states to exploit
inmates for free or cheap labor. Currently, most inmates receive very little pay for their labor,
ranging from $0.12 cents to $0.40 cents an hour to manufacture things like license plates, or run
inmate-staffed recycling plants, or run farms where prisoners grow and harvest all the crops and
even run canneries, or operate slaughter houses that process chickens, cattle, and hogs.
Many southern states use ‘road gangs’ to mow, pick up trash, and maintain state highways.
Forty percent of the firefighters battling California’s outbreak of forest fires in 2017 were
prison inmates working for less than $2.00 an hour. Practices like these are disturbingly common,
but if these programs were to pay decent wages, they could increase the economic stability of
inmates, effectively easing their path to re-entry. Fair wages for a day’s work would allow inmates
to pay off debts from their interactions with the justice system and reduce recidivism.
Critics say the system is set up to exploit inmates and leaves them with nothing to prepare
them for life outside of prison, creating a vicious cycle that becomes nearly impossible to break.
Paying inmates at least a minimum wage could drastically improve recidivism rates
Granted, this is not a cure-all, but well-paid jobs within the prison system could go a long
way in helping to put these soon-returning citizens on the road toward having a secure future.
Unfortunately, the criminal justice system in America has historically relied on a system
of punishment and exploitation instead of one that is truly focused on true rehabilitation, but we
can change this going forward if we want to. Simply treating incarcerated people like human
beings, and paying them for their work is a very good place to start. Study after study has found
what common sense would suggest; that prisoners who gain professional skills while locked up,
and those who earn a decent wage for their work, are far less likely to end up back behind bars.
11. We must not have mandatory work-release for restitution or for fines owed …
Nearly two centuries ago, the United States formally abolished the incarceration of people
who failed to pay off debts, yet in recent years have witnessed the rise of modern-day debtors’
prisons … the arrest and jailing of poor people for failure to pay legal debts they can never hope
to afford, through criminal justice procedures that violate their most basic rights.
State and local courts have increasingly attempted to supplement their funding by charging
fees to those convicted of crimes, including things like, fees for public defenders, prosecutors,
court administration, jail operation, and probation supervision. And in the face of mounting
budget deficits at the state and local level, courts across the country have used aggressive tactics
to collect these unpaid fines and fees, including for traffic offenses and other low-level offenses.
These courts have ordered the arrest and jailing of people who fall behind on their
payments, without affording any hearings to determine an individual’s ability to pay or offering
alternatives to payment such as community service; but any system of debtors’ prisons impose
devastating human costs. They lead to coercive debt collection, forcing poor people to forgo the
basic necessities of life in order to avoid arrest and jailing. Debtors’ prisons waste taxpayer money
and resources by jailing people who may never be able to pay their debts. This imposes direct
costs on the government and further destabilizes the lives of poor people struggling to pay their
debts and leave the criminal justice system behind. And most troubling, debtors’ prisons create a
racially-skewed, two-tiered system of justice in which those who are poor receive harsher, longer
punishments for committing the same crimes as the rich, simply because they are poor.
Ultimately, debtors’ prisons in any form are not only unfair and insensible, they are also
illegal. Imprisoning someone because they cannot afford to pay court-imposed fines or fees
violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s promise of due process and equal protection under the law.
12. Better support services to be made available to victims of incarcerated offenders …
Most states offer compensation programs for victims of violent crime that provide them
with financial assistance and a chance to recover restitution at the time of trial…plus, there are
domestic violence centers that provide crisis intervention and support services to adult victims of
domestic violence and their children. But most of this takes place before an offender is sentenced.
What happens to victims after incarceration often goes neglected … but learning how to
forgive the offender for what they did is paramount to actually healing the victims themselves.
I find it very sad that some of these victims go their entire lives saying that what happened
to them can never be forgiven … or in the case of murder, where an offender sits in a death row
cell for twenty years and finally gets executed, the victim says, finally, I can put this behind me;
but the same is often true for victims of crimes like rape, robbery, and home invasion.
Why would anyone want to carry that burden of hate around for such a long time?
Why not provide support to those who hurt so bad and teach them how to forgive the past?
Forgiveness training and emotional support should be made available to victims of crime
after the offender has been incarcerated, and will go a long way in assisting the mental state of
the offender upon release. Do you remember from the book or the movie, Les Misérables, when
Jean Valjean stole the Bishop’s candlesticks and was forgiven, it changed his entire life?
It was the magical power of forgiveness that finally restored his faith in humanity, so if
we can help victims learn to do that, it will not only free them from the stench of that horrible
burden, but it will also bring an end to a lot of the shame our offenders face upon release.
13. Support services must be made available for families of those incarcerated …
Support services for families of those incarcerated are just as important, if not more so,
because the emotional wounding, anger, and resentment that incarceration causes to the sons,
daughters, spouses, and parents can sometimes run deeper than that of a victim of a crime.
Families get ripped apart and destroyed, economic support systems are taken away, and
the shame that an inmate feels is often passed down to them, to the point that they refuse to come
and visit, or feel shunned by friends and neighbors … and this can last for years and years.
A child should not be punished for the sins of his father or mother, yet in ancient times
this was the case. If a man betrayed the king, not only him, but his entire family would be put to
death so there would be no one left to seek revenge for the taking of his life in later years.
Unfortunately, some people, like relatives and neighbors, still hold on to senseless beliefs.
If a parent is incarcerated for even two weeks, they could lose the family’s only source of
income … families of those put behind bars need to have both economic and emotional support
made available to them … as well as forgiveness training, similar to that of crime victims.
There are some private groups and ministries that believe in preserving the dignity of both
the family members and individuals convicted of crimes, but they are very scarce, even though
incarceration touches every single one of us. In the U.S. alone, more than 6.6 million people are
in prison, in jail, on probation, or on parole. More than 2 million men and women are behind bars
at any one time. The annual cost of incarcerating and managing inmates, probationers, and
parolees exceeds 80 billion dollars. Yet, beyond the price tag, incarceration and recidivism takes
a toll on communities and families by creating broken relationships, victimization, depression,
suicide, and instability. It’s time for everyone to wake up to this crisis and for the government to
step up and provide assistance the families of inmates trying to weather the storm of incarceration.
14. Support services must be made available to all recently released inmates …
A person with mental disabilities, and even those who are legally insane, can only be held
in a mental facility for 72-hours for observation, and if they do not present a danger to themselves
or to others, they must be released, but if they break the law they wind up in our prisons for years,
so no doubt, they will need special assistance upon being released. However, even those who are
considered ‘normal’ recently released offenders are also often in need of emotional support and
counseling, much like a military soldier who has returned from combat. Incarceration might cause
some of ‘normal people’ to suffer from a form of P.T.S.D. (post-traumatic stress disorder).
Just think about it, for offenders who have had to endure solitary confinement for a lengthy
period of time … the experience could be very similar to that of a prisoner of war … or if they
were severely beaten, raped, or sodomized behind bars, they would also be traumatized by the
experience and left with symptoms similar to P.T.S.D. … unfortunately, there is very little help
available if one does not have an insurance policy to cover such treatment.
Some statistics say that one out every twelve men are raped in prison, but those numbers
only come from the ones who are willing to admit it … so it could be much higher.
When an inmate is released on parole, many times, the parole officer’s only concern is if
the individual can find a job, thinking that somehow, just going to work every day will keep him
from being rearrested … but recently released offenders often need so much more than that.
Besides employment … just to get their lives back … they may be in need of things like,
affordable housing, job training, health care, a small loan, legal services, mentoring programs,
drug and alcohol programs, parenting skills training, and short-term emergency relief for things
like childcare assistance, transportation, or a domestic violence safety plan. Some support is made
available through reentry programs available at the time of release, but are horribly ineffective.
After that, individuals must often rely on community centers, churches, halfway houses,
or emergency relief agencies, such as Salvation Army or the St. Vincent de Paul Society … but
at the moment there are very few programs available to recently released offenders with P.T.S.D.
that show any real promise for reducing recidivism … especially the primary focus has only to
do with employment, on the job training, and subsidized jobs. The problems recently released
individuals face are multidimensional in nature … that require a multidimensional solution.
Again, it’s time for everyone to wake up to this crisis and for the government to step up
and provide assistance to those who have been recently released from prison … otherwise, the
vicious cycle of recidivism will continue to rise, wreaking havoc upon the soul of our nation.
15. No employment or housing discrimination allowed against recently released inmates …
We talk a lot about discrimination in our everyday lives, and just about everyone agrees
how wrong it is, but by far, ‘the ex-con’ is discriminated against more than any other individual,
and yet we hear very little about that. Labels, like felon, criminal, convict, inmate, or prisoner
cause all sorts of bells and whistles to go off in the minds of many, causing them to step back,
think twice, fear, and avoid recently released individuals at all costs. The use of words like that
should be considered politically incorrect … perhaps, just say ‘offender’ instead.
But believe it or not, most of these shunned individuals are just normal humans, like you,
who made a mistake in judgement and are now seriously remorseful … but too many times the
recently released offender faces a restitution payment, sometimes, right out of prison, for things
like victim compensation, fines, court costs, or probation fees, and if they can’t meet the monthly
costs of this, then they’re often sent back to jail again. What happens, is that a revolving door is
created by the court system that the individual cannot get away from because no one will hire
them, or they can only find a job that pays minimum wage, and can’t afford the payments.
More and more employers and landlords are requiring background checks, and there is an
unwritten rule that many follow, which is, they will not hire an individual, or rent to them, if the
applicant has been in prison within the last five years. They justify this policy saying that those
coming out of prison may be dangerous, so they must first prove themselves worthy by staying
free from behind bars for at least that long. But what this means for those who are recently
released, is that they’re lucky if they can find a job flipping hamburgers or even a room to rent.
Regardless of the excuse, it is still blatant discrimination … and it must stop, because the
system is literally ‘set up’ for released inmates to fail by making it impossible for them to succeed.
One solution would be to pass a law that forbids discrimination against recently released
individuals simply on the basis that they previously served time in prison.
Another solution would be for the government to give employers and landlords a monetary
incentive … perhaps by offering them some kind of income tax break for choosing a recently
released individual, or to offer a sizable rebate after one year of employment or renting to them.
Still, reducing crime and the prison population should be the concern of everyone, and
laws like that or incentive programs should not be necessary. Every employer and landlord should
be willing to help the situation by reaching out to these individuals and taking them in.
Again, it’s time for everyone to wake up to this crisis and realize that finding employment
and decent housing are essential for reducing recidivism, so we must do whatever it takes to find
a way to make sure that these are available to recently released individuals.
16. For nonviolent offenders, seventy-years-old is the maximum age for incarceration …
There is no maximum age for incarceration, and if you Google the opinions of other people
you will find an array of thoughts, feelings, and beliefs. Unfortunately, there are still some who
hold to the catch phrase that says, do the crime, do the time, but too much time is the problem.
Just because someone did a heinous crime and is sentenced to life in prison, should they
still remain there indefinitely when they are 80-years-old, can barely move, or have Parkinson’s,
or cancer, or some other end-of-life disease? Some states still keep people like this until they die,
even though there is no doubt whatsoever that they will never commit any kind of crime again.
I suppose it’s just a matter of opinion, but in my opinion, we should have a law that says,
for nonviolent offenders, the maximum age for incarceration should be seventy-years-old.
First-time nonviolent offenders should always have a second chance, but no doubt, many
will violate their probation and wind up back behind bars; and yes, at the age of seventy, someone
could still commit a nonviolent offense, but what I’m suggesting has more to do with someone
who has already served a number of years for a crime committed when they were younger.
There’s something about ‘getting old’ that brings about a change in most people, so by the
age of seventy, they should have learned their lesson and be given parole.
The fact is, someone who commits a crime at the age of fifty, is no longer that same person
at the age of seventy. At best, all you are doing is incarcerating a shadow of what once was.
At the age of seventy, they might not even remember what crime they committed.
The other reason is simply one of compassion. Is it really fair for someone who is that old
to spend their final days on earth in a prison cell for committing a nonviolent offense?
Some of you may again take the position that there must be consequences for bad behavior,
or that bad conduct should not be rewarded, but that’s not what all the research shows.
A belief in punishment as a way to teach a lesson is a toxic teaching that has poisoned the
minds of people for thousands of years. The whole system of punishment as a disciplinary tool
of chastisement and correction is not inborn in humanity. One could even make the argument that
this is where we went wrong as a species, because humans are hardwired for unconditional love,
and function at their best when this kind of energy is bestowed upon them.
Humans resist being oppressed in any form … so any kind of punishment, retribution,
revenge, or payback will never teach any sort of good lessons … but only fosters hate.
Masters have been delivering this message to humanity for a very long time, and now the
research actually proves it … but many of us still have a long way to go before we finally get it.
However, the first step towards cultivating unconditional love is by showing compassion,
which is something that should be easy to do for someone who is seventy-years-old.
17. No suspension of Social Security benefits for incarceration …
Being sent to jail or prison has other consequences that most people aren’t aware of.
If you are in a correctional facility, you are no longer eligible to have your private health
insurance company pay for your medical treatment. Instead, you must depend upon the facility.
If you receive Social Security or Disability benefits, your benefits will be suspended if
you’re convicted of a criminal offense and sent to jail or prison for more than 30 continuous days.
Your benefits can be reinstated the month following the month of your release.
Also, Veteran’s Disability benefits will be reduced or terminated as well.
If you were already receiving Medicare before you went to jail, you will still be eligible
for Medicare benefits while in jail for the first 30-days, but it stops after that because Medicare
is linked to Social Security. Instead the correctional facility must provide and pay for your care.
Needless to say, this is just not fair … because it discriminates against the poor.
The premise is based on the assumption that since you are behind bars, that somehow all
of your financial needs are being met, which is ludicrous. Inmates have bills that need to be paid,
and for the poor, Social Security is their only source of income. And what about commissary
privileges where inmates can purchase things like shampoo, snacks, and other items? Why must
they depend on friends or relatives to put money into their commissary account when they could
have their social security check deposited there? Your monthly social security check is your
money, that you earned over your lifetime, and they have no right to withhold that from you.
And as to taking away your Medicare benefits, it’s common knowledge that you receive
horrible medical treatment in jails or prisons … why should you be forced to rely on a correctional
facility to provide you with medical treatment when they do everything they can to save money?
Why shouldn’t you be permitted to use your Medicare benefits, which again is rightfully yours?
Of course, the same applies to those receiving Veterans’ benefits and Disability benefits.
The five most common medical problems found in prisons are those with arthritis (13%),
hypertension (11%), asthma (10%), heart problems (6%), followed by tuberculosis (4%) and
those with kidney problems (4%) … and yet state prisons often only provide medical care when
you have a life-threatening condition. One inmate told me … he had to fake a heart attack and
fall to the ground in the cafeteria to get seen by a doctor. Therefore, things such as Medicare,
Social Security, and private insurance must remain available to all eligible inmates.
Think about it, what if you need a hip replacement or a back surgery, or anything serious
for that matter … do you think for a moment that your medical needs will be adequately met?
We must quit targeting the poor and discriminating against those in jails and prisons just
for one simple reason … because it’s not right, and because … it’s not the loving thing to do.
18. We must restore full voting rights to all convicted felons …
Prisoners are not able to vote in person. They must register for a postal or a proxy vote,
however, felony disenfranchisement is among the collateral consequences of criminal conviction,
usually restricted to the class of crimes resulting in incarceration for more than a year, or a fine
exceeding $1,000. Jurisdictions vary as to when such disfranchisement becomes permanent, or to
restore it after a person has served a sentence, or if they’ve completed parole or probation.
In several Southern states, felony disenfranchisement was implemented as a strategy to
bar blacks from voting by implementing Black Code which established severe penalties for petty
crimes and were used for the purpose of targeting black Americans.
Proponents argue that those who commit felonies have shown poor judgment by breaking
the social contract, and have thereby given up their right to participate in a civil society. Therefore,
they should not have a voice in the political decision-making process. Opponents argue that this
conflicts with principles of universal suffrage and creates political incentives to skew the law in
favor of disproportionately targeting groups who are political opponents of those who hold power.
It is up to the States to decide which crimes could be grounds for disenfranchisement, and
are not formally bound to restrict this to felonies; however, in most cases, they do.
Felons who have completed their sentences are now allowed to vote in many states.
Between 1996 and 2008 twenty-eight states changed their laws on felon voting rights,
mostly to restore rights or to simplify the process of restoration. However, it’s time for us to stop
it with all the political games and just admit that felony disenfranchisement is ridiculously stupid.
19. We must eliminate ‘the death penalty’ as a means of punishment …
Supporters of the death penalty often cite retribution for violent crimes as being needed to
have justice. However, research has shown that taking the life of another human through capital
punishment only perpetuates a cycle of violence. Flaws in our justice system has also led to the
innocent being prosecuted, the guilty set free, and a plethora of other biases being present in
capital punishment cases. Below are ten reasons why the death penalty should be abolished.
1. The death penalty is moral hypocrisy. Mahatma Gandhi said…an eye for an eye makes
the whole world blind. There is no arguing that crimes associated with the death penalty, such as
premeditated murder, are reprehensible, but if we are to agree that taking the life of another human
can be categorized as the upmost heinous of acts, therefore, how can we justify treating such a
crime with a punishment that mirrors the very thing we so adamantly condemn?
2. The death penalty has been proven to be unconstitutional. The Eighth Amendment of
the United States Constitution states … that the use of ‘cruel and unusual punishment’ should be
prohibited. If we can consider the methods of torture used by the CIA against Afghanistan rebels
to be ‘cruel and unusual,’ the punishment of death must also be considered unconscionable.
3. The death penalty does not deter crime. Countless other research studies have shown
that use of the death penalty does not deter criminals from committing violent acts, and that states
which do not enforce the death penalty tend to have a lower occurrence of crime.
4. What if an inmate sentenced to death is later found to be innocent of their convictions?
What if this innocence comes after a lethal injection has been administered? Life sentences serve
as a better alternative to the death penalty in order to protect the potentially innocent.
5. The cost of the death penalty as opposed to a life sentence without parole is exponential.
Due to the extra measures taken in judicial proceedings, lawyer fees, extended trials, and expert
witnesses, costs end up being higher. A cost study by the Sacramento Bee noted that California
would save $90 million per year if it were to completely eliminate the death penalty.
6. There is clear evidence of racial discrimination and the death penalty. Research has
shown that along with African Americans and other minority criminals making up the majority
of those executed or put on death row, the death penalty is sought more often for murder victims
who could be classified as Caucasian rather than African American and Hispanic victims.
7. People with substantial income can afford the best defense teams when going to trial,
whereas those of low socio-economic status cannot. Verdicts are largely dependent on the quality
of one’s defense team, and the price of a good lawyer can equate to that of an entire mortgage.
This spotlights a flaw within America’s justice system that leads to the innocent being prosecuted
and guilty being set free. The Associated Press expounded upon this point in 1994 by noting that
death row ‘is not a place for the rich’ and that a slew of practitioners and veteran scholars could
not think of any ‘affluent people’ who were subjected to death row or execution.
8. Vengeance may be a strong natural emotion, but has no place in our justice system.
Arguments for the death penalty are based on retribution for the victim of a murder by the victim’s
family and friends. A desire for revenge is understandable, but it’s based on heated emotions, and
in the criminal justice system, decisions should not be based on passion. The decisions made in
trials are meant to be based on factual evidence and justice. In fact, sympathy toward those who
have experienced the loss of a loved one due to crime, revenge and an eye for an eye mentality
has not been shown to create healing. The death of an offender will not negate that loss, but it has
been shown that forgiveness can be instrumental in healing, as well as in moving forward.
9. Medical ethics suffers a gross infraction when a licensed physician waives his oaths
taken as a medical professional in order to participate in the execution of another human being.
10. Lastly, the death penalty denies any opportunity for rehabilitation. Individuals charged
with capital punishment crimes are often mentally and/or emotionally unstable. Murders occur in
a moment of passion, or due to a psychological disability, or because of substance abuse.
These characteristics call for rehabilitation rather than execution.
Rehabilitation not only helps convicted criminals, they help society in understanding the
motivations behind criminal actions and can prevent similar crimes from occurring in the future.
20. We must eliminate segregation and solitary confinement as a means of punishment …
Albert Woodfox was held in solitary confinement for more than 40 years in prison before
being released in 2016, when he was 69-years-old. In his book, Solitary, Woodfox writes that,
“every morning I woke up with the same thought, will this be the day? Will this be the day I lose
my sanity and discipline? Will I start screaming and never stop?” At least 61,000 inmates, on any
given day, are in solitary confinement across the country, spending 23-hours-per-day in cells not
much bigger than elevators, mostly young men … Hispanic or African American. The majority
will spend a couple of months in it, but at least a couple of thousand people have been in solitary
confinement for six years or more. Some, like Woodfox, have been held for decades.
Research has proven that solitary confinement causes extreme suffering, particularly over
prolonged periods of months. Effects include anxiety, panic, rage, paranoia, hallucinations, and,
in some cases, suicide. Many practices in the US criminal justice system are harsh, ineffective,
even absurd, but placing people in solitary stands out as a huge violation of human rights.
Well over a century ago the practice fell out of favor, partly because of its capacity for
psychological harm. Yet starting in the 1980s, its use in prisons and jails exploded again, primarily
because of overcrowding that created a lot of stress for everyone … and a belief by prison officials
that they needed ‘segregation’ to increase safety and security for staff and inmates.
The desperation people feel in solitary confinement can lead to psychological breakdown,
self-harm, and suicide. The American Psychiatric Association released a statement in 2012 that
said…with rare exceptions, people with serious mental illness should never be placed in solitary.
Yet prisons and jails often do just that. In a Bureau of Justice Statistics analysis of data in 2012,
nearly 30 % of those held in solitary in prisons reported severe psychological distress, with a
further 20 % to 25 % reporting mood and anxiety disorders. Furthermore, researchers agree that
the risks to young people in solitary confinement are particularly severe. Depriving young people
of sensory and social contact has a heightened risk of serious and lasting effects.
Factually, studies on the impact of increased solitary confinement have not shown any
reduction in violence among those being held. Plus, there’s no evidence that solitary meaningfully
improves safety for the staff in prisons….and since the vast majority of people housed in solitary
will eventually be returned to the community, where they are expected to function, solitary makes
that transition even more difficult for them to do that because it lacks any standard of decency.
It’s definitely time to immediately abolish this horrendous and inhumane practice.
21. We must stop prosecuting minors as adult offenders …
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies have made it possible for scientists to watch
the rate at which the brain matures, and have discovered the male brain doesn’t fully develop
until the age of twenty five (25) … for most women, it is the age of twenty one (21), which also
accounts for what so many people call ‘those crazy teenage years.’ In fact, recent research has
also found that adult and teen brains work differently. Adults think with the prefrontal cortex, the
brain’s rational part that affects how we regulate emotions, control impulsive behavior, assess
risks, and make long-term plans; whereas teens depend more upon the cerebellum, involved in
the coordination of muscles that helps us to be graceful, a good dancer, or a good athlete, but
teens also use it to smooth out difficult intellectual processes, to navigate their complicated social
life, and to try to somehow get through these often difficult and confusing years smoothly.
“Stupid acts of violence could just be the result of brains that have yet to fully develop,”
said Howard Forman, assistant professor of psychiatry at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
Does that mean young offenders, say 18 to 21-years-old, should receive the same punishment as
a 35-year-old who commits the same offense? Both would be guilty, but might not deserve the
same punishment. It’s not about guilt or innocence … but about how should we punish them?
The traditional rule previously required that when a teen was under the age of 18, they’d
be tried in a juvenile court, but in recent years, almost every state now allows juveniles below the
age of 18 to be tried as adults in certain circumstances. A juvenile case can get transferred to an
adult criminal court through a process called ‘a waiver’ … when a judge waives the protections
that juvenile court provides. Juvenile cases subject to waivers often involve more serious crimes,
minors who are older, or have been in trouble before. Although being tried in adult court gives a
juvenile more constitutional protections, it has distinct disadvantages … including the potential
for a more severe sentence and the possibility of serving time in an adult correctional facility that
carries more of a social stigma and may actually put the youth in physical danger.
However, teens are often tried as adults simply to satisfy public outrage for a heinous act
of violence … but in my opinion, regardless of the crime, they are still teenagers, and should be
treated as such. There is nothing sadder than to read about a seventeen-year-old kid who gets put
away for fifty years for a violent crime. We must give all of these kids an opportunity to grow up.
22. We must stop incarcerating the mentally ill and provide better mental health services …
Deinstitutionalization began in the 1960’s as a government policy to move mental health
patients out of state-run insane asylums into federally funded community mental health centers
as a way to improve treatment of the mentally ill while also cutting government budgets, but those
who got into trouble, as would be expected, wound up getting arrested. In fact, in just about any
mental health crisis, people are more likely to encounter police than get medical help. As a result,
two million people with mental illness are booked into our nation’s jails each year.
“The truth is, the correctional system struggles to meet the vast needs of the increasing
number of inmates with mental illness,” says Thomas Fagan, PhD, professor emeritus at Nova
Southeastern University in Florida and a former administrator for the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
We lock up those with mental health problems when we should be treating them in the
community. In the absence of that, prisons and jails have become ‘de facto’ treatment centers.
Prisons are not properly equipped or staffed to do this, nor do they want to be.
A 2008 study showed that 20% of the males in state prisons, and 25% of the females had
a serious mental illness while incarcerated. Approximately 40% of all the inmates had ‘a history’
of mental illness. There are more than 500,000 inmates with serious mental illness in our prisons.
Typically, they consist of both men and women with major psychiatric disorders such as anxiety,
schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression, schizophrenia, and other psychotic disorders.
Mentally ill prisoners are not only the most misunderstood class of inmates, but they are
also disproportionately placed in solitary confinement as a response to their various behavioral
difficulties, often causing their mental health to deteriorate further … which contributes greatly
to prison violence. Because they’re a vulnerable population, they’re also at a higher risk for abuse
by other inmates and correctional staff. We must return to a system that allows the mentally ill to
be treated in mental hospitals or in outpatient clinics … not housed in our state prisons.
Being in prison changes people, altering their spatial, temporal, and bodily dimensions;
weakening their emotional life; and undermining their identity. This kind of confinement creates
serious psychological risks for all prisoners, even healthy ones. Many of them experience panic,
anxiety, rage, depression, and hallucinations, especially when confined for long periods of time.
There is also a real mental disorder recognized by psychiatrists that is created by being in
prison, known as Post-Incarceration Syndrome (PICS), that occurs either while one is in prison,
or after their release. Symptoms are most severe for those who encountered extended periods of
solitary confinement and institutional abuse, such as homicide offenders. Even though this is now
a real recognized mental disorder, PICS is rarely treated while one is incarcerated, and then,
they’re put back into society and are expected to somehow function as a normal human.
To imprison those suffering with mental illness not only creates huge burdens on our law
enforcement and corrections systems, but depletes state and local budgets. It does not protect
public safety and ignores people who are in need of help. We must stop incarcerating those with
mental illness and provide better mental health services to all of those who are imprisoned.
23. Mandatory mental health services must be made available to all violent offenders …
It has always been my opinion that anyone who commits a violent crime of just about any
nature does so from being under too much stress or suffers from some sort of mental illness.
Either way, they must receive mental health services before being released into the public domain.
Neuro-scientists have found that a tendency towards violence often occurs from low a
level of brain hormones, like serotonin and endorphins. Research has shown that deficiencies of
these neurotransmitters are linked to a wide range of behaviors and conditions which include
depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, impulsive behavior and alcoholism, but more
recently it has been shown that low serotonin levels also play a key role in aggression.
Serotonin dysfunction influences aggression differently, depending on the individual’s
impulse control, emotional regulation, and social abilities. The Journal of Biological Psychiatry
says, fluctuations of serotonin levels in the brain can even occur if someone hasn’t eaten enough,
or is stressed out, which will affect brain regions that enable people to regulate their anger.
You have all seen this with both adults and children, when they get hungry, they become
very irritable. The fact is … even the criminally insane have responded positively to intervention
with brain chemistry. What if all our violent criminals could be cured or rehabilitated by simply
taking a pill to increase their serotonin levels? Then, to actually solve the problem, all that would
still be needed is to remove the things that were causing their stress to begin with.
As I’ve said before, humans are hardwired for unconditional love, and function at their
best when this kind of energy is bestowed upon them. The first step is for all of us to show more
compassion when dealing with violent offenders and to provide them with whatever mental health
services are needed to get them back into society … not to lock them up and throw away the key.
24. We must encourage judges to give offenders shorter sentences across the board …
The question comes down to this … how much time behind bars is too much?
When I was in college in Texas, in 1970, the penalty for mere possession of marijuana
was ten years in prison. Today, it only incurs a small fine and will soon be legal. But can you
imagine spending ten years behind bars for anything? Seriously, take a moment and put yourself
in that situation. Unless you have killed someone or you’re considered a threat to the community,
only a couple of years at best should atone for almost any sin against mankind.
It is said … if drugs were made legal, 80% of today’s prison population wouldn’t be there.
If you look at the percentage of those who are black or brown, it certainly gives a very
strong argument for racism … meaning that more people of color are intentionally incarcerated.
Not only must judges give offenders shorter sentences, but must also be impartial and fair
to protect the rights of everyone. The fundamental promise of our justice system was meant to be
equal justice under the law…so when you come to court to resolve your dispute you should have
confidence that the judge deciding your case will act in a neutral manner.
The American Bar Association Model Code of Judicial Conduct says … A judge shall act
at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the independence, integrity, and
impartiality of the judiciary, and shall avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety.
However, if you look at sentencing from state to state or from judge to judge, there is very
little consistency. In one state, car theft might generally carry a 36-month stay in prison, while in
a neighboring state the average sentence might be less than a year for the very same crime.
Even in the same county, one judge might send 70% of his offenders off to prison, while
another judge in the next courtroom over only sends 30% of his offenders to prison.
Of course, the other problem you face is that of a judge’s ego. Sometimes, a judge will
determine his sentence based on his feelings, not the law. It happens a lot. In fact, in my own case,
the judge told me that he was personally offended that money he paid into an insurance fund had
been used to repay my clients for their losses. He also said that he was determining my sentence
based upon a similar sentence that ‘his friend’ received for a similar crime. He said…there is just
no way I can give you something less than what my friend got, no matter what the circumstances.
In the future, the only way to avoid situations like mine is to replace judges with artificial
intelligence … which has led me to add this last and final point to my platform for prison reform.
25. We must begin replacing judges and juries with artificial intelligence …
The idea of replacing judges and juries with A.I. is seriously being considered. After all,
judges and juries have an ego, get emotional, and often make mistakes in judgement, whereas,
after logging in the data from any particular criminal case, a computer could be programmed to
make legal decisions based upon all of the relevant laws, statutes, opinions, and judicial decisions
of any given jurisdiction … and then render a fair and impartial decision, not only as to guilt or
innocence, but also as to what a fair restitution, punishment, or sentence should be.
However, the idea of using this technology is meeting resistance from those in positions
of power who doubt that computers can replace a judge or jury; but it simply comes down to this,
… can computers adjudicate? The answer is a very strong yes … certainly for simple cases, and
in the foreseeable future, also for more the complex ones. The basis for this is the assumption that
human law is based on rules, values, case-based reasoning, and data science … which is where
computers clearly outsmart humans. Just look at how computers can beat the best players of chess.
Recently, Google’s DeepMind A.I. system demonstrated an ability to learn independently
from its own memory, to show intuitive behavior, and beat the world’s best ‘Go’ players.
We are on the verge of a technology-driven society where human and machine intelligence
will be interwoven. The challenge lies in finding a solid balance between the two; so if we can
formulate the law in an exact and clear way, computers will be able to litigate and remain neutral,
but we are not there yet … because computer algorithms are still being created with social data
that reflect society’s biases and prejudices, such as being sexist or raciest … and algorithms will
amplify these to improve their performance metrics, but eventually, they’ll work this out.
♥ ♥ ♥
My closing argument for massive prison reform would simply be this …
That America’s prisons represent the ‘Shadow Self’ of our nation’s soul.
Carl Jung’s work, Psychological Types, was published in 1923, and it was in his Jungian
psychological model that he showed the western world for the first time that this ‘shadow aspect’
of the personality exists in all of us. He called it, ‘The Unconscious Dark Side of the Personality.’
“For the sake of understanding an individual person,” he explained, “it’s better to detach
the man you see before you from his unconscious shadow, otherwise, he does not conform to his
conscious psychology.” What he meant…is that what you see on the surface of a man may not be
what lies hidden within the darkness of his own unconscious mind. He also emphasized…that
‘everyone of us’ has a Shadow Self hidden deep within our consciousness, which can be described
as the Dark Side of the personality and lies deep within the collective unconscious of all humanity.
The Shadow is the part of us we don’t want to look at, often because it represents a taboo
against society, or a feeling we don’t want to admit exists. It could be something like hate, racism,
incest, anger, resentment, fear, sexual deviancy, or other immoral thoughts of decadency.
The nature of our current reality is reflective … much like a mirror, so what we perceive
in others also reveals how we feel about ourselves … but rather than face that, and honestly admit
that each of us has broken the law at some point in our life, probably many times, we find it easier
to blame and judge others, and then lock them away and throw away the key … just so that we
don’t have to look at the truth about who we really are deep inside.
The truth is … that just about everyone in this country is committing offensive acts.
Doctors and hospitals steal money from Medicare and insurance companies.
Lawyers rip off their clients, and bankers do predatory lending.
Wall Street managers are known for doing insider trading on a regular basis.
Congressmen are notorious for taking bribes and taking payments from lobbyist.
You name it, almost every profession is ripe with dishonest acts against the public.
But those are the ones who rarely go to prison … at best, they might have to pay a fine.
For those who are just ordinary individuals, they are much more likely to be villainized,
blamed, and judged, then sent away to spend their lives behind bars.
Those who are in power habitually imprison offenders of the law, banishing them into
dark recesses and out of sight, refusing to look into the mirror and realizing, that those very same
qualities that exist within the Shadow of themselves … so it’s time to face the truth.
This 25-Point Prison Reform Platform was created by Transformational Novels.
Remember … if we do nothing, we are nothing. You are welcome to share this information.
When you go to: www.TransformationalNovels.com … you’ll see all of our books …
‘Novels that were written for those from all walks of life … to Awaken and to Activate
consciousness.’ You’ll especially enjoy reading … A Conscious Transformation, in two parts.
The Crystal Prison - Part One … www.TheCrystalPrison.com
The Crystal Chrysalis - Part Two … www.TheCrystalChrysalis.com
