Prison Management Suggestions

Benefits of Prison Reform

 I received a wonderful article on an effective prison industries program that once operated in the Lansing State Correctional Facility in Lansing, Kansas. The article described a partnership between a private company and officials in the Kansas State prison system. The progressive program would work well in any prison setting, contributing to safer communities, safer […]

F is Still For Failure

Read F is Still For Failure by Michael Santos on Change.org: http://criminaljustice.change.org/blog/view/f_is_still_for_failure

Catastrophe in the Gulf: Utilize Prisoners as Manpower

Wednesday, 2 June 2010 Early this morning I heard an NPR broadcast report that Attorney General Eric Holder had traveled to New Orleans to investigate the massive oil spill caused by British Petroleum. Mr. Holder announced that the Justice Department had opened a criminal investigation into the disaster, and that if the investigation concluded that […]

Prison Lobbyists vs Prison Reform

Read Michael’s recent posts on Change.org: Most Popular Posts by Michael Santos What Happened to Prison Reform? Do Longer Prison Sentences Make the Public Safer? The View from Inside: Prison Time Doesn’t Equal Justice Take Action on Long-Term Imprisonment Bring Back Federal Parole And here’s a related article addressing the issue of prison lobbyists vs. […]

Michael Hamden is Mad As Hell About the Failed U.S. Prison System

The following article is featured on Change.org http://criminaljustice.change.org/blog/view/mad_as_hell_about_the_failed_us_prison_system Mad As Hell About the Failed U.S. Prison System by Michael Hamden category: Prison Reform Published March 10, 2010 @ 05:34AM PT Yeah, I’m angry. I’m all riled up because our misguided criminal justice policies destroy individuals, families and entire communities. I’m steamed because at a time […]

Intelligence Trumps Force, Professor David Kennedy Suggests

David Kennedy, a professor at New York’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice, uses common sense to reduce crime and keep communities safer. In the February 9, 2009 issue of Newsweek, Suzanne Smalley reported on Kennedy’s techniques and the significant drop in crime (in 2008, one Nashville community saw a 91% decrease in drug crimes and […]

Prison Administrators Should Not Discourage Successful Adjustments

Many years have passed since I read A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. When I read the story, I was locked inside the impenetrable walls of the United States Penitentiary in Atlanta. I was in my early 20s then, and staring down the long end of a 45-year prison sentence. A character from […]

Prisoners Must Learn to Thrive Despite Administrative Obstacles

My lovely wife, Carole, sent me a copy of a legal decision recently published by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. The case of Bonner v. Outlaw illustrates the position I have known many prison wardens to take. Although the inmate prevailed in this case, the warden’s attempted defense evidenced a dereliction of his duty […]

Reform the Pardon Process

President Obama ought to order the Department of Justice to reform the pardon process. Access to a Presidential pardon could be an effective tool in motivating prisoners to commit to prison adjustments that would help them emerge as successful, law-abiding citizens. For pardons to serve as a force for good, however, the President must order […]

Squandering Billions on Corrections

America squanders $59 billion each year on a system that ridiculously calls itself corrections. According to the famous social scientist James Q. Wilson, society should limit the purpose of this system to isolating and punishing offenders.  I wonder when American citizens will tire of this failed public policy. Too many American citizens live with delusions […]

Bad Leadership in the Bureau of Prisons

We have bad leadership in the Bureau of Prisons! The Second Chance Act of 2007 provided federal prison administrators with the authority to release prisoners to halfway houses one year before their sentences expired. That Act also urged administrators to expand programs that would help prisoners build stronger family and community ties while the prisoners […]

Furloughs Reduce Recidivism

All prisoners hope for furloughs, but not all prisoners qualify. I have never known a prisoner to deny a furlough. Though many prisoners recognize that they do not meet the criteria for furlough consideration and so do not apply. In federal prison, a prisoner must advance to within two years of his release date to […]

Prison Administrators Resist Change

Through the Second Chance Act, Congress found that those who spent lengthy terms in prison lost touch with society. When prisoners released, they lacked sufficient support to establish themselves. Such weakness led many prisoners to recidivate, lifting the costs for society. In passing the Second Chance Act, Congress hoped to help lower recidivism rates. Prison […]

Incentives Would Improve Prison Culture

The U.S. Congress published findings that show how much prisons cost taxpayers to operate. They swallow more than $59 billion each year. According to the Pew Report, those funds are diverted from social programs like education, health care, and unemployment assistance. What taxpayers may find especially troubling is that despite the massive expenditures, recidivism rates […]

Utilize the Family Structure to Prepare Offenders for Re-entry

More than two years have passed since I’ve heard my mother’s voice. I have not spoken with my younger sister, Christina, in the same length of time. During those two years I’ve seen my older sister, Julie, three times. I hardly know my nieces and nephew, as prison rules prohibit me from playing a significant […]