News FeedReform 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 […]
An Open Letter to President Obama from a Prison Wife
April 16, 2009 President Barack Obama The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20500 Re: Michael G. Santos, #16377-004 Dear President Obama: I write this letter in support of the Petition for Commutation of Sentence submitted by my husband, Michael G. Santos, federal registration number 16377-004. President Obama, you will find no better […]
Action on Michael’s Petition for Commutation
Michael had some interesting/exciting news yesterday. He learned that someone from the US Pardon Attorney’s office called administrators at Taft Camp with a request for his most recent progress report. In late March, Michael submitted an updated petition for commutation of sentence to the US Pardon Attorney. His petition has been on file since 2003, but […]
Quit Rewarding Failure
As I listened to the NPR broadcast at 5:00 AM this morning, I heard that many Americans were livid that executives at AIG would be splitting a bonus pool of $160 million. Executives at AIG had led a failed business model that has contributed to our global economic crisis. Taxpayer funds have been used to […]
The Ridiculous Manner of Prison Managment
I don’t think prisons exist to help criminals. They are a public resource to help society. It simply turns out that the ridiculous manner in which prisons operate today, they lead to high operating costs, high recidivism rates, and corruption in society. We need prison reforms that will improve corrections. The Pew Report showed the […]
President Obama’s Prison Reform Advisor
If I were a policy advisor to President Barack Obama on the niche subject of prison reform, I would urge him to bring the exact leadership skills that have exemplified his young presidency. That means I would want President Obama to embrace the findings of academia, Congress, and think tanks. Those findings strongly suggest that […]
Conservative Prison Policies are Ridiculous
Duke Cunningham was a Republican congressman who now serves a lengthy prison term. Ted Stevens was a Republican senator from Alaska who was convicted of crimes that will yield a prison term. Scooter Libby was a key player in the Bush white house. Had it not been for executive clemency, he would have been but […]
Alternatives to Prison
The U.S. Sentencing Commission issued a report that said “alternate sanctions [to imprisonment] are important options for federal, state, and local criminal justice systems.” The report went on to hold that “alternatives to incarceration can provide a substitute for costly incarceration. Despite the published statements by the United States Sentencing Commission, judges rely on imprisonment […]
Prison Administrators Can Lower Recidivism Rates by Offering Incentives
As I watched political news shows this past Sunday morning, I heard many Republican pundits assailing President Obama’s economic stimulus package with accusations that it lacks incentives for success. I wish those conservatives would support the use of incentives when deliberating over strategies for prison reform. For more than 21 years I’ve served time in various […]
Overhaul the Prison System: Prison release based on merit not calendar
If society does not expect prisons to do anything more than warehouse human beings, then prisons succeed brilliantly. Yet, if taxpayers want a better return on their massive investment of public funds, then they need to overhaul the prison system.I am hopeful that the change our political leaders promise to bring to our country will […]
We need President Obama to appoint a new Director in the Bureau of Prisons
The President appoints Director of the Bureau of Prisons. The Director presides over an agency that employs more than 25,000 people and incarcerates more than 200,000 people. The Director sets the policy for the Bureau of Prisons. All employees of the BOP carry out the Director’s mission, and the prisoners must live within the rules […]
Let Freedom Ring!
New York Times reporter Solomon Moore published an article titled Records of Obama and McCain as Lawmakers Reflect Differences on Crime. Moore wrote about a speech McCain gave to the National Sheriffs Association earlier this year. During that speech, McCain called for tougher punishments and disagreed with Obama’s refreshing observation that America’s prison population is […]
Effective Prison Reform: Restore Hope
Prisons operate with 70 percent recidivism rates for a simple reason. They extinguish hope. Instead of encouraging prisoners to develop values, skills, and resources that will help them live contributory lives, prison policies and the infrastructure of the prison system crushes the spirit and humanity of every man serving time. Overcoming the pervasive negativity requires […]
Prison culture encourages prison rape
In higher security prisons, where prisoners serve lengthy sentences and have histories of violence, prison inmates pursue power on a primal level. Criminals that are more sophisticated may have political skills, though many equate power with instilling fear in other men. Some predators rape weaker inmates in an effort to create illusions or reputations of […]
Why Don’t More Prisoners Take Advantage of Improvement Programs?
America is a magnificent country because it inspires hope in all of its citizens. Anyone who applies effort and works toward excellence can succeed. Every American has the power within to reach meaningful goals. Those who live in prison, on the other hand, struggle through constraints that are much more like communism than the society […]
