News FeedPrison Reform
Earlier this year, Senator Jim Webb introduced a bill in the senate to establish a committee that would study the need for reform of the entire criminal justice system. His announcement came with a considerable amount of media attention. Parade magazine featured a front-page spread, and numerous other national publications publicized the proposed legislation. Over the past several months, however, I haven’t seen any developments with regard to this pane, and it saddens me.
I understand that Americans are inundated with concerns—health care, two wars with no end in sight, and high unemployment rates—that affect millions of American families across the nation. I share those concerns. Yet as Senator Webb wrote when introducing his bill, our country incarcerates 2.3 million people. That’s more than any country in the world. Either Americans are the most evil people in the world, or we’re doing something wrong.
My release isn’t scheduled for about four more years. I have a responsibility to serve these four years, though I feel my country needs me now. I’d like to follow the leadership of the former governor of Alaska, and “resign” from my responsibility so I could pursue the greater vision of contributing to America. If I could resign from serving the rest of my term—as Governor Sarah Palin did—I would work tirelessly to reform our ridiculous system of justice and advance it to a smarter criminal justice system.
Public institutions that provide health care, education, and other social services need an effective voice to refute the loud voice of the prison industrial complex. As lobbyists call for more wasteful spending on the prison system, Americans who need access to social services continue to suffer. Billions of dollars that should flow to health care, education, and social services are diverted to the prison system.
If Americans understood more about the absurdity of confining nonviolent offenders for multiple decades, and if they were disillusioned from the propaganda spewed by the prison industrial complex, they would show more support for prison reform. It’s an issue that should concern every American. As the hypocritical conservatives like to quote: “For tyranny to prevail, Americans only have to do nothing.”
INCARCERATING PEOPLE “FOR PROFIT” IS IN A WORD….WRONG!
Even if one does not ask or pretends not to see the rope and the flashing red flag draped around the philosophical question standing solemnly at attention in the middle of the room, it remains apparent that the mere presence of a private “for profit” driven prison business in our country undermines the U.S Constitution and subsequently the credibility of the American criminal justice system. In fact, until all private prisons in America have been abolished and outlawed, “the promise” of fairness and justice at every level of this country’s judicial system will remain unattainable. We must restore the principles and the vacant promise of our judicial system. Our government cannot continue to “job-out” its obligation and neglect its duty to the individuals confined in the correctional and rehabilitation facilities throughout this nation, nor can it ignore the will of the people that it was designed to serve and protect. There is urgent need for the good people of this country to emerge from the shadows of indifference, apathy, cynicism, fear, and those other dark places that we migrate to when we are overwhelmed by frustration and the loss of hope.
My hope is that you will support the National Public Service Council to Abolish Private Prisons (NPSCTAPP) with a show of solidarity by signing “The Single Voice Petition”
As a prisoner’s wife and a resident of Virginia, I am very proud of the steps Senator Webb is taking. I feel that *elected* officials should not be the ones responsible for the lives of others. Most of them can’t keep their own lives in tact, but aside from that when people are pursuing individuals and giving out enormous crime sentences, it becomes less about justice and more about getting re-elected.
The Senator really stepped outside of the box, but obviously there seems to be more pressing issues that require immediate attention. I agree wholeheartily that prison reform should be near the top because it ultimately has an affect on all social services.