SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2008 AT 01:20AM
I'm cautiously optimistic that President-Elect Obama and a new liberal Congress will initiate substantial prison reform. Such reform has been lacking for over two decades. I hope that his administrators will look at all non-violent offenders and implement sensible reforms. Let me be clear. I believe that all non-violent offenders need to be held accountable for their crimes. I disagree with the methods used and the lengthy sentences imposed.
I've been in prison for nearly 7 months. I've seen the system first hand and it's not working. At the end of the day, America's taxpayers and the inmates they take care of are losing miserably. Nearly 7 out of 10 prisoners fail upon release and return to prison. Our system is simply a revolving door where inmates return nearly as quickly as they leave. My goal is to see changes that encourage more inmates to work toward preparing for their return to society. Let's see changes that enhance an inmate's opportunity to reconcile with society. Let's give inmates an opportunity to earn more good time credits by completing specific programs designed to increase their odds upon release.
Tons of prisoners would participate in stringent pre-release classes if they knew it would help them get home sooner and help them succeed. These results would be significant. First, taxpayers would spend less to fund a bloated system and inmates, due to their thorough preparation, would have a better chance to succeed upon release. My main concern is that this approach seems too easy and at the end of the day the situation will probably stay the same.
