Prisons

The Problem

We have got to have prison reform. Our prisons are over crowded. People sent to prison return even worse and more criminal than they were when we first sent them there. We are destroying the lives of our own citizens, our own children, and we are complacent about it. In our present situation, we need more prisons and upgrated or repaired prisons, but the people of the land are unwilling to spend more money or provide more places to build them. Something is desperately wrong, and it should not be like this.

I think we can do a better job on our prisons, for our prisoners and for our country. Traditionally, the way we Americans like to solve problems is to throw money at it and forget it. Obviously that did not work in this case, and we get angry when we see people coming out even more corrupt than they were when they went in. Instead of addressing the problem of criminal behavior, we have created gratuate schools for petty criminals to hone their skills and come out with a master's degree in crime. We're doing something desperately wrong, and it's got to stop. I think this country can have better prisons for less money and fewer inmates, that turn out more reformed people than before.

Reassessment

Prisons in the United States were designed for United States citizens. We never had the idea that we were building prisons for "them," for Germans, Swedes, Canadians, Mexicans and Italians. We build prisons for us, for our own children. When we have the "us" and "them" attitude, we are making war on our own children, or brothers, parents, and relatives. We are destroying families as well as people.

Our efforts to stop crime are, to a large part, futile. We have tried giving prisoners better education and more opportunity to grow in prison, but that failed. We also tried the philosophy that "Imprisonment is to punish people, not to coddle them," but that failed too. We are all in more danger than ever before from criminals that are released from prison.

There is only one reason that cause people to return from prison worse than they were when they went it, and that is because they associate with other criminals. Blank walls cannot teach a person how to do crime better. Blank walls cannot make a person become better in crime just for survival reasons. Blank walls cannot help a prisoner justify bad bahavior. It is only an association with other criminals that make bad behavior worse. This knowledge can benefit us.

Non-threatening Crimes

Let's look at the Biblical way of state correction. First understand that I'm not saying the way people handled their criminals three thousand years ago is relevant to us. I am saying if we at least look at it, maybe we can learn something from it. In my understanding, old Israel did two things: shun people who did crimes not worthy of death and stoned people who did crimes worthy of death. No one was sent to prison.

Let's divide crimes into two types: those that threaten other people and those that do not. Those people who are a threat others, such as armed robbers, need to be put away, in prison. But those who are not a threat, such as embezzlers, should not be put into prison. They should be put under house arrest and live at home. They should be with their families; if they are fathers and husbands, they should continue being fathers and husbands. Furthermore, they should go to work and bring in an income, but a percentage of their income should be kept back to repay those from whom they stole. If we can stop sending people to jail who are no threat to other people, that would reduce the prison overpopulation and the state cost of housing prisoners significantly.

Keeping non-violent criminals out of jail but working for a living under supervision would have tremendous benefits. It would keep families intact. It would reimburse victims. It would keep criminals from associating with other criminals and getting worse. It would relieve the state from housing them. It would remove the need for them to enter "half-way houses" when they leave prison. It will allow the community and local church to minister to their needs.

Some people may say that the reason they stole in the first place was because they needed the money. To force them to work but keep back part of their money will make matters even worse for them. But I say that to send them to prison would do the same thing and worse. Payment for crime involves punishment. Nobody expects it to be easy. It just will be easier and better for all people: the criminal, the family, the state and the community.

Violent Crimes

Violent crimes are crimes that threaten other people with violence, either actual or implied. These criminals need to be removed from society. There are different levels of violent crime, from a threat to "punch someone in the nose," to armed robbery, to actual murder. I'm not dealing with murder in any way here. I'm only dealing with violent crime that does not involve murder or the death of a person.

The legal system of the United States was based on the standard of "Let the punishment fit the crime." This is a fair and just way to run a government. In another country perhaps someone may have his hand cut off for stealing a loaf of bread. In this country we recognized that a human hand is worth more than a loaf of bread. One does not equal the other. And let's not forget who we're talking about; we're talking about our own children. If your son stole a bicycle, would you want his hand to be cut off? No, of course not. But would you want justice to be done and him to pay for the bike or return it, plus pay an affordable penalty for his crime? Of course you would. These are our own children and family members we're talking about. We don't go around dismembering each other for petty crimes. Our system is based of equity and fairness.

We are a nation of law. Our laws have determined that this penalty is applied to that crime. For example, let's say a person robbed a liquor store with a handgun. He's caught, is found guilty and the judge sentences him to 3-5 years in prison. That is what our law says. Three to five years in prison, confined and isolated from the world, is the just penalty for this particular crime. Notice what the judge and the law does not say. The man is not sentenced to prison for five years plus being confined to a box built for two men but is currently housing six because of prison overcrowding, plus being raped on a regular basis, plus being put in danger for his life if he does not learn greater criminal behavior just to protect himself, plus being taught better ways to commit crimes. That is not justice; that is an abuse of our justice system.

Call for Reason

We must end our hostility to prisoners. We must end the "us versus them" mentality. They are not "them." They are us. They are our children, our parents, our neighbors. We must care for our own. We must not deceive ourselves and put away somebody else with no thought or care just because they're not members of our immediate families. We're all one nation. These are "us" we are doing it to.

We must empty our prisons of non-violent criminals. They can work and pay for their crimes. That will remove a burden from the state to house them and to build more prisons. We must use the space and money that would otherwise be spent, to adequately house violent criminals, to keep them relatively but not completely isolated from other criminals, and to encourage as much interaction as we can between prisoners and free society, such as giving their families great visitation rights (not including conjugal) and encouraging other agencies such as churches to set up programs to deal with their needs.