The U.S. Constitution provides the President with the power to pardon people convicted of federal crimes. Different types of pardons exist, however. Through acts of executive clemency, the pardon can forgive or excuse a criminal conviction, amnesty can absolve an individual or a class of individuals from criminal prosecution, a reprieve can postpone the imposition of sanctions, and a sentence commutation can lower the severity of a criminal sentence.

President Obama should reform the pardon process because the federal prison system has become too large. Federal prisons confine more than 200,000 prisoners, and as the pardon process exists today, only the well connected have a chance of making an effective case for the President to consider whether an individual merits consideration for clemency.

When the founders of our country imbued the office of the President with the power to pardon, they did not envision criminal sentences that would confine hundreds of thousands. Further, long-term imprisonment should require some type of review. The interest of justice should warrant an inquiry as to whether multiple decades in prison meet the need of our evolving society. Without a federal parole board in place, the President ought to have a more effective system to evaluate whether continued incarceration is appropriate for all federal prisoners.

 Although an act of executive clemency is really an act of grace, or compassion, if offenders had a mechanism through which they could work toward earning meaningful consideration for clemency, many more prisoners would strive to build records that might advance their candidacy. I would like to see a system in place that would reward those who built long records of working to reconcile with society. President Obama could instruct those within the pardon office to evaluate such offenders on a regular basis, and political connections should not have as much influence on decision as records of merit.

With 200,000 people in federal prison, it seems inconceivable to me that the pardon attorney should consider so few for the grace of clemency. More clemency requests were granted when our nation’s prison system confined fewer than 40,000 prisoners. That evidence suggests the President and the Department of Justice ought to reform the pardon process.

The post Reform the Pardon Process appeared first on Prison News Blog.

 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 candidate deserving of a Presidential commutation.  Michael lives as an extraordinary example of leadership, of hope, and of accomplishment despite the adversity and obstacles erected by the prison system. Michael deserves to have his petition granted. He is well prepared to lead a law-abiding, contributing life as a taxpaying citizen.

Michael has been imprisoned since 1987. During the past 21-plus years of his confinement, he has built an extraordinary record of accomplishments that is unmatched by any other prison inmate. He educated himself, earning both undergraduate and graduate degrees. He is a respected contributor to academia, and a published author of six books describing prisons, the people they hold, and strategies for growing through confinement. Michael writes about the need for those who are in prison to accept responsibility, to make amends with society, and to earn their freedom by preparing for a contributing, law-abiding life upon re-entry to society.

Michael is a different man today than he was in 1987. His commitment to values, to discipline, and his efforts to grow into the best human being possible motivate and inspire those around him as well as those who study his work. With determination and discipline, his commitment to contribute to society-despite two decades of confinement in prison-is evident in everything he thinks, everything he says, and everything he does. Michael receives hundreds of letters and electronic messages from university students, leaders in business, leaders in society, academic scholars, citizens of America, and citizens of the world that are written in support of his efforts to earn his release from prison.

Michael is now 45-years old. He embodies the concept of rehabilitation in tangible ,extraordinary, and incomparable ways. He is no longer a reckless twenty-two-year old. In me, he has a loving, supportive wife. His family has remained by his side throughout his imprisonment, and the expansive network of academic, professional, and community support he continues to attract during his confinement includes solid offers for employment upon his release. We all will be there to assist him upon his release.

What benefit to society and to taxpayers is achieved by Michael’s continued confinement? Please grant my husband a Presidential commutation so that he may come home now.

Yours truly,

Carole Santos

The post An Open Letter to President Obama from a Prison Wife appeared first on Prison News Blog.

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 this is the first action he is aware of since filing it six years ago.

Now we know that someone in the US Pardon Attorney’s office is looking at Michael’s petition. As Michael’s wife, it’s hard not to feel hopeful at this development. I want him to come home. For more than 21 years, Michael has consistently produced extraordinary achievements from prison.  He has earned his freedom in every way it is possible to measure such an accomplishment.  

President Obama could find no better candidate who is deserving of a Presidential commutation. Michael lives as an extraordinary example of leadership and hope and accomplishment despite the adversity and obstacles erected by the prison system. Michael deserves to have his petition granted. 

With this newest development, if you support Michael’s efforts to earn his freedom, please contact the US Pardon Attorney’s office by letter or by email and voice your support for Michael’s immediate release. Letters advocating a Presidential commutation for Michael should be directed to the President of the United States and mailed to the Office of the Pardon Attorney.

Letters must reference Michael’s full name (Michael G. Santos) and registration number (16377-004). The following example can be used as a guide for beginning a letter.

Date:

Re: Inmate Michael G. Santos #16377-004

Petition for Commutation of Sentence

Dear President Obama:

(body of letter follows)

Phone: (202) 616-6070

E-mails to the Department of Justice, including the Attorney General, may be sent to AskDOJ@usdoj.gov

Thank you for your support!

The post Action on Michael’s Petition for Commutation appeared first on Prison News Blog.

Our prison system, however, operates a little like AIG. The more failure this system seems to generate, the more money taxpayers seem to throw at it. In the Second Chance Act, Congress found that our prison system costs taxpayers $59 billion each year to operate. The Pew Report shows that expenditures on prisons have taken more than ten percent of many state budgets. Prison spending has driven the great state of California to the brink of bankruptcy. Despite the high expenditures, recidivism exceeds 60 percent.

Helena Garcia is a criminal justice student who is understandably perplexed by the prison problem. She asked my opinion on why more prisoners didn’t follow the example I tried to set of taking advantage of educational opportunities. The reasons are obvious to me as a long-term prisoner, though I understand why they would be opaque to outside observers.

Thriving through prison required an individual to master self-discipline and will. Despite a system that likes to call itself “corrections,” it seems to perpetuate failure. Rather than encouraging excellence, the management focuses on preserving the sanctity of the institution. The prison takes precedence over the individual. That means administrators implement controls that stifle creativity, motivation, and will instead of offering incentives to inspire personal growth.

Prisoners do not “earn” good time, contrary to public opinion. Administrators award good time automatically to prisoners who avoid disciplinary infractions. That means an individual who wastes years playing table games and watching television receives the same credit as the individual who disciplines himself to prepare for success upon release. Prisoners cannot “earn” access to programs that will lower recidivism. Many sanctions and controls exist to punish and discipline, but the system of corrections does not offer mechanisms to reward excellence. Recidivism rates and high prison operating costs show the consequences of this fundamentally flawed policy. Like the AIG executives, however, those who lobby for the prison machine want more taxpayer funds to expand the ridiculous system.

The concept of punishment is inconsistent with our enlightened society. The same may be said for theories about “genetic predispositions” to crime. Rather than focusing on punishment, or vengeance, American citizens ought to demand leadership. Prisons should exist to make society safer, and the data suggests that a focus on oppressive controls, or punishment, fail to reach this goal.

Racists might argue that blacks and Hispanics have a “genetic predisposition” to crime. After all, they constitute a disproportionate representation within our prison system. John Locke was a philosopher who argued that we as human beings come into the world with a blank slate, and our exposure to society made impressions upon us that conditioned our behavior. Our behavior was not “predisposed” by our own genetic makeup, but rather by the influences of our surroundings. Our new President was influenced by a mother who valued education and leadership; many of the prisoners with whom I served time were influenced by gang members and hopelessness.

It is easy to continue locking people in cages. We have seen the results of this emphasis on punishment. Leadership requires a new approach. That’s why I call for prison reform that would make society safer and lower recidivism.

The post Quit Rewarding Failure appeared first on Prison News Blog.

The Pew Report showed the troubling findings of prison expenditures. To meet a cost of nearly $60 billion each year for state and federal prisons, useful programs like education, health care, and public assistance must receive budget cuts. Such myopic policies do not contribute to a more enlightened society. They need reform.

Rather than striving to lock prisoners in cages at a high cost to taxpayers, prison reforms ought to make more effective use of prison resources. As Justice Kennedy said, we incarcerate too many people in America. Even the U.S. Sentencing Commission issued a report calling for more effective use of alternative sanctions. Some state prison systems are under siege with prison operating costs. We need reforms at all levels.

I am convinced that society should reserve prisons for offenders who prey upon society. There comes a point of diminishing returns when we lock all offenders in cages and measure justice by the number of calendar pages that turn.

Recidivism rates suggest that the longer society incarcerates an offender, the less likely that individual is to function upon release as a law-abiding citizen.

We need the types of prison reform that Justice Warren Burger suggested more than two decades ago in his speech Factories with Fences. All prisoners should have opportunities to work toward earning freedom through merit. Such a fundamental change would not have the purpose of helping criminals, per se. Rather, the change would help society. Such prison reforms would:

*lower recidivism

*lower operating costs

*improve safety in society

*lower prison overcrowding

The post The Ridiculous Manner of Prison Managment appeared first on Prison News Blog.

Congress has shown that prisons cost taxpayers nearly $60 billion each year to operate. The Pew Report shows that 1 in every 31 people in America is under the correctional system’s supervision. Academics have shown that prisoners who worked to educate themselves were the least likely to recidivate. Yet more expenditures have gone to erecting prison boundaries than have gone to preparing offenders for law abiding lives upon release.

One improvement President Obama could make would be to order the Director of the Bureau of Prisons to abide by the recommendations of Congress as published in The Second Chance Act. That Act suggested that administrators implement programs to help prisoners nurture family ties. Family ties represent the surest way to prepare offenders for success upon release. The Director should immediately lift restrictions that block prisoners from being able to nurture ties with family through the telephone, visits, and e-mail.

President Obama should also use the power of his office to influence legislation that would encourage prisoners to work toward earning freedom through merit. Congress ought to provide an objective path for offenders to follow that would allow them to reconcile with society. Those who built records that demonstrated they could function in society as law-abiding citizens, and redeemed themselves through merit, should find graduated increases in freedom.

Finally, I would suggest that President Obama order the Pardon Attorney to evaluate all prisoner petitions who seek executive clemency. Those prisoners who have earned freedom ought not be barred from access to acts of compassion, as Justice Kennedy of the U.S. Supreme Court urged.

Our country has been wrong in measuring justice through the turning of calendar pages. A better measurement for our enlightened society would be to measure justice by an individual’s efforts toward reconciling with society. Alex Gomez was a criminal justice student who inspired these thoughts through questions he asked me.

The post President Obama’s Prison Reform Advisor appeared first on Prison News Blog.

There is a tremendous amount of hypocrisy when it comes to conservative viewpoints on confinement. When Republicans find themselves exposed to the wrath of the criminal justice system, they instantly find the wisdom of liberalism. Christina West, a criminal justice student, asked whether I thought prison reforms could include some kind of balance to appease conservative views that call for long prison sentences.

I do not think it is wise for American citizens to call for long prison sentences. Instead, they should call for an effective prison system. The conservative system of long-term imprisonment is one that is rife with corruption, and one that does not serve the interests of our enlightened society.

George Monbiot reported on Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan. They were two conservative judges recently convicted of ordering the imprisonment of 2,000 people in Pennsylvania in exchange for bribes from private prison companies. I doubt those conservatives argued for long-term imprisonment in their cases.

As Justice Kennedy stated, America confines too many people and American prisoners serve sentences taht are too long. We need prison reforms that will change the way we measure justice. Rather than the number of years or decades that an individual serves in a cage, we ought to measure justice in terms of an individual’s efforts to reconcile with society through merit. Those who earn freedom should not remain in prison for periods that are longer than necessary.

Statistics from the Pew Report show that Americans waste billions each year on corrections. Yet the longer society exposes an offender to corrections, the less likely that indivudal is to function upon release. The only people punished by long-term imprisonment seem to be the taxpayers who fund the system. The offender adjusts. Yet citizens must cope with lost resources for education, health care, and useful social programs. They must also struggle with the high recidivism that follows the myopic management of policies managed by vengeance.

This system needs reform. Prisons should only confine those who present a threat to society. For other offenders, society ought to demand alternative sanctions.

The post Conservative Prison Policies are Ridiculous appeared first on Prison News Blog.

Despite the published statements by the United States Sentencing Commission, judges rely on imprisonment in increasing numbers of cases. Over a ten-year period, the report showed that judges increased their imposition of prison terms over alternative sanctions by 10 percentage points, from 75.4 percent to 85.3 percent. Prison is becoming America’s de facto response to all offenses.

This tough-on-crime stance may sound effective, but it comes at a high cost to American citizens. The Pew Report showed that the costs of America’s prison system have grown faster than any other agency besides Medicaid. The funds pilfered by the prison system result in slashed budgets for education, health care, and public assistance. Those short-sighted policies result in more crime and thus more prison spending. Even Justice Kennedy says that America incarcerates too many people, and American prisoners serve sentences that are too long. I would introduce legislative prison reforms that would allow prison administrators to implement incentive systems through which  prisoners could work to earn freedom through merit. Such a fundamental shift would encourage more prisoners to adjust in positive ways. Those who followed administrative guidance to work toward earning freedom would return to their communities with a higher order of values, more skills, and perhaps a sponsoring network that would allow them to contribute as law-abiding citizens.

Zuleyma Sarmiento, a criminal justice student, asked how I thought such reform would influence society. They would:

*lower prison operating costs

*lower recidivism rates

*lessen prison overcrowding burdens

*contribute to safer communities

*leave more funding available for education and social programs in society

By not implementing these kinds of reform, society can expect the cycle of failure to continue.

The post Alternatives to Prison appeared first on Prison News Blog.

As the federal prison system operates today, prisoners do not have a mechanism through which they can work toward earning freedom. That is a tragedy. It is a flawed policy that contributes to high recidivism rates, higher prison budgets, and a growing us-versus-them subculture that threatens the fabric of society.

We need prison reforms that would encourage offenders to work toward meaningful incentives. Prison administrators do not serve the interests of society when they govern with policies that extinguish hope. Administrators rely upon a rigid disciplinary code to punish bad behavior; we need prison reforms that will introduce an equally objective incentive system to reward positive adjustments.

Incentives do not have to increase prison budgets. Prisons are total institutions, where administrators control the infrastructure by which all prisoners live. In setting prison policies, administrators dictate how much access prisoners have to telephone, visits, education, food, clothing, recreation, and housing. Through the use of incentives, they can encourage prisoners to strive toward graduated increases in freedom. They may earn more telephone access, more family time, more control over housing assignments through positive adjustments. A proper incentive system would encourage prisoners to work toward earning freedom through desirable adjustments.

In designing a meaningful incentive system, administrators could induce more offenders to prepare for law-abiding lives upon release. That would lower recidivism rates and make society safer. It is the reason I call for meaningful prison reform through which offenders can earn freedom.

The post Prison Administrators Can Lower Recidivism Rates by Offering Incentives appeared first on Prison News Blog.

Prisons cost taxpayers more than $60 billion each year to fund. They continue a cycle of failure, as statistics show that seven of every ten people who serve time return to confinement again after release. The reason behind these dismal results is that the infrastructure of confinement does not encourage those in prison to prepare for law abiding lives upon release. Instead, the entire focus is on preserving the security of the institution and warehousing humanity. That toxic combination encourages prisons to focus on serving time rather than preparing for release. The longer an individual is exposed to “corrections,” the less likely that individual is to succeed upon release.

Some prisoners have no interest in living as contributory citizens. Many more, however, would welcome opportunities to earn their freedom through merit. I advocate an incentive system, as I am a firm believer in the power of positive reinforcement. If prisons were not so effective at extinguishing hope, more people in prison would strive to improve their skills. Those with higher skill sets would be more likely to emerge as law-abiding citizens.

One of the biggest problems in America’s prison system, in my opinion, is that administrators provide no path through which an inmate can redeem himself. The prisoner is categorized according to past deeds, yet no mechanisms exist for the prisoner to reconcile with society. A better approach, I think, would be to offer an objective path to full citizenship. The turning of calendar pages alone does not help prepare an offender for society, as he has no control or influence on the passing of time. Without steps that he can work toward, a prisoner frequently focuses on penitentiary life. That adjustment pattern leads to continuing failure.

I am convinced that prisoners should have opportunities to work toward a better life. Effective prison reform would encourage prisoners to envision the type of citizen they wanted to become. They ought to work in programs that will allow them to learn new skills and values. By isolating prisoners from society and extinguishing hope that they may change their lives for the better, these institutions breed continuing failure. That is a bad public policy.

I’ve written about more specific suggestions through articles available at www.criminal-indictment.com.

The post Overhaul the Prison System: Prison release based on merit not calendar appeared first on Prison News Blog.