Prison reform
The September 12–19, 2016, issue of Time, in its Ticker section on page 12, has a short entry: “President Obama commuted the sentences of 111 prisoners on Aug. 30, bringing the number of early releases he has granted to 673—more than the previous 10 Presidents combined. Most were drug offenders.”
Those who appreciate the unfairness of the harsh mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines baked into the punitive sentencing guidelines of the “War on Drugs” (the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986), clap with one hand for the president’s actions.… Read the rest
This November 8th, three states are asking voters for a thumbs up or thumbs down on the death penalty. The proposed laws illustrate how the death penalty in this country is not standardized (whatever happened to equal protection?) and is thus susceptible to political influence.
Nebraska voters are casting ballots for Referendum 426, which asks whether they want to repeal or maintain a 2015 law eliminating the death penalty that Nebraska’s Republican governor vetoed.… Read the rest
The fate of California’s death penalty is up for a vote. Two competing yes/no propositions are on the November 8th ballot. Should the state end the practice of killing condemned convicts, and should the botched ways of ending these lives finally be stopped?
Background
Since 1976, as reported by CNN, 87 percent of the 1,391 executions over the last forty years in the United States have been by lethal injection, and 11 percent have been by electrocution.… Read the rest
In a recent blog I wrote about the dank, colorless, and claustrophobic environment of imprisonment. A one-word description of jail and prison decoration is “austere.” There’s no color. There’s certainly no charm. Jumpsuits are blue with gold lettering, and inmates dress in many shades of gray. Because colors adopted by gangs can cause flash-point combat, all primary colors and gradations thereof are restricted.… Read the rest
What does prison reform mean to you? What does it mean to your friends, the general public, issue-aware people, and inmates? The connotations are fluid and depend on the depth of knowledge or caring a person has about why prison reform is an imperative.
There are several categories of people who have strong, visceral feelings about what prison reform should look like.… Read the rest
Most people have no idea whether offenders (ex-cons) have the right to vote. My barber, who knows a lot of things about a lot of stuff, made the wrong assumption about me. “How can an ex-con,” she said in her caring tone, “vote? Didn’t you lose your right to vote and to run for president?”… Read the rest
Visits from family and friends impact positively on an inmate’s well-being. Detachment from friends and family—in particular one’s children—is devastating and works on the mind, invading the realm of self-esteem. “If I’m not worthy of visitation, what good am I? What kind of parent am I?” I’ve heard that sentiment from distraught men time and again.… Read the rest
Our dysfunctional justice system and greed provide a foundation for for-profit prisons. What are for-profit prisons? Also called private prisons, they are places where inmates are physically confined—incarcerated—by private companies that contract with states or the federal government to alleviate overcrowding in their respective prison systems. These private companies fill a need created by cruel conviction and sentencing practices, high rates of recidivism, illegal immigration allegations, and the continuing war on drugs.… Read the rest
I was self-introduced to the emperor of Norway while waiting for chow at the California Institution for Men (CIM). CIM is a state prison in Chino, California. At the time, I didn’t know Norway had an emperor. The monarch and I were sitting at a stainless steel chow table when I was so informed.… Read the rest