News FeedPoor Prisoners Differ From Rich
Bernard Madoff swindled billions of dollars from thousands of victims. Despite his crime, a judge did not incarcerate him immediately upon the government’s discovery of Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. Scooter Libby was a lawyer and a highly placed official in the Bush administration. He was convicted of a crime and a federal judge sentenced Libby to serve several years in prison. Bush granted Libby an act of clemency, however, and the rich man did not have to endure the prison experience that ordinary Americans endure.
According to a report published by the U.S. Sentencing Commission, almost half of all the people who are sent to prison lack a high school diploma. The statistics seem to show that while the poor and uneducated are saddled with lengthy prison terms for criminal convictions, our system of justice gives more consideration to the rich and well connected.
My roommate, David, is a poor young man from a Hispanic family. He did not enjoy the life of power and privilege that criminals like Madoff and Libby exploited. David did not graduate high school and he made the bad decision of selling drugs to earn an income. He did not use weapons or violence, and he sold drugs to consenting adults. Yet his lengthy sentence suggests that our system of justice held David, a poor Hispanic man, to a higher standard than it holds the rich. That is an injustice, in my eyes.
Maria Perez is a criminal justice student who asked why I worked to help prisoners like David. As a long-term prisoner, I feel as if I have a responsibility and a duty to help all of my fellow prisoners. This is my calling, my ministry, the way I serve society and serve God. I strive to live as an example inside prison boundaries, and to inspire my fellow prisoners to work toward achieving their highest potential. Also, by writing about the prison system and the people it holds, I hope to apprise citizens of what goes on inside prisons and to influence prison reforms that will improve this wretched system.
Hi Michael ,
My son an indian citizen was in the USA to study . He was dyslexic and had multiple learning disabilities, and because there were no facilities for learning disabled students in India we emptied all our savings to send him to the USA to graduate . Unfortunately, he failed in one or two key subjects due to his learning disabilities and was ashamed to let us know, keeping his failure a secret from us for 3 years. We finally ran out of funds to keep him in the USA, and asked him to abandon his education and return home. He was unable to do this,because he knew the credits he had earned so far could not be transferred to the indian education system. He ran away from us feeling abandoned and alone, was evicted, and lived on the streets for a year during which time he learned to deal drugs. He saved the money he got from this and went back to college on his own steam. His apartment got searched and he was convicted. He now faces 12 and a half years imprisonment. he finally managed to complete the last lap of his graduation requirements while out on bond pending his case hearing. He has graduated, finally.. but went to prison even before his graduation was confirmed. Another tragedy and another victinm of the american prison system.. If he were deported, we , his family would help him get his life back. If he were back in India he could not be any threat to the USA. He is a wonderful human being , has never been in trouble , and has a record of an international award he got for his outstanding international social service for the learnign disabled before he left for the USA .
Such a fine human being with so much potential , and a life destroyed because he made a desperate decision to fund his education ( he could not find work beause he was rendered illegal when we didnt pay his tuition in college) and graduate and failed to understand the depth of the consequences and the price he would have to pay.
We cant even afford the air fare to go visit him there all the way from India. I , his mother, managed to visit him just once since he was incarcerated a year and a half ago. What can i do ? I dont know . Our whole family and 150 people who wrote letters to the judge from India are devastated and brokenhearted at his incarceration. Even two Catholic bishops from India who know of his work and his character prior to him leaving india wrote to the judge offering to take full responsibiity for him should the judge deport him to india instead of incarcerate him in the USA, but those letters didnt make an ounce of difference.
Can you help us? can anybody help us? Jeanette
Hi Michael,
Immigrant inmates are not permitted to be transferred to the prison camps.
My son currently incarcerated in Beaumont low security prison on a drug related charge ( for 12 years ) has his points down to only 4 and ordinarily would be eligible to be moved to the Camp, but because he is an now an alien illegal immigrant ( he used to be a student alien legally in the USA prior to his conviction, but since he is no longer a student he is rendered illegal) he cannot be transferred to the camp. He is non violent and anyplace with gangs is definitely not for him. What can we do to give him a chance at the camp? If the fear is escape, wouldnt it be simply fairer to just put on a tracking device instead and send the deserving illegal immigrants to the camp anyway?
Jeanette Fernandes
Mr. Santos,
I believe that there is an injustice in our justice system for the poor and the uneducated. As a sociology major, I learned a lot about the criminal justice system. There seems to be biases and prejudices that affects the lives of people in our society, whether prisoner or not. I think that as a society that we hold people who have money and power to a different standard. When the rich breaks the law, they are treated as if they are above the law. The law should have no biases or injustices towards any people, regardless of race, class, or gender. Our system is not a very effective one, there are much work to be done inside of our criminal justice system. It is great that you are trying to help those who are mistreated by the law.