David Fathi wrote about our “dysfunctional criminal justice system” for the Huffington Post. He points out the depressing statistics with the United States incarcerating 762 residents out of every 100,000. This figure compares unfavorably to other countries like Canada, that incarcerates 116 residents out of every 100,000; Japan incarcerates 63 residents out of every 100,000. The United States, it seems, is becoming more of a prison nation.

In Professor Joan Petersilia’s book When Prisoners Come Home, she wrote that in 1970, America incarcerated a total of 196,000 prisoners. In The Second Chance Act, Congress reported that America now incarcerates more than 2.3 million people. Does America feel safer with this increase that exceeds 1,000 percent?

The idea of closing prison camps is not without support from professionals who know prisons best. Earlier in my prison journey I had an opportunity to interview Warden Dennis Luther. At the time, Mr. Luther was the longest tenured warden in the Bureau of Prisons. As I was interviewing Warden Luther in his office as preparations for my master’s thesis at Hofstra University, he told me that prison camps did not serve a useful purpose. Anyone serving time in a camp, Warden Luther said, ought to be on home confinement or in a community based correctional program. That way those minimum security prisoners could pay their own costs of confinement while simultaneously providing service to society.

I have been incarcerated for 22 years, the past six of which I’ve served in three separate federal prison camps. I have held job assignments that have placed me in society without supervision. One job assignment required that I drive on a public road at midnight without staff supervision. I don’t grasp the purpose of such unnecessary imprisonment.

President Obama has called for cuts to unnecessary spending projects. Taxpayers ought to question the hundreds of millions it costs each year to confine nonviolent and nonthreating offenders in minimum-security camps.

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In my article Security Level Classifications, I described the criteria that administrators use when classifying inmates. Essentially, an inmate who does not have a history of violence or gang affiliation, and who is within ten years of his release date, is eligible for camp placement–provided the inmate does not have any history of escape attempts. The articles available in the catalog offer considerable amounts of information about the differences between prisons, as well as strategies to ensure that an individual serves his time in the prison of the lowest possible security level.

If Tina’s fiance received a ten-year sentence, current law would require that he serve approximately eight years and two months before he would be sent to complete six-months in a halfway house. If the inmate completed the 500-hour drug program, he could be released one year sooner. As I describe in various posts here, however, I expect that with President Obama and the new Congress, we will see prison reform that brings opportunities for nonviolent offenders to earn their release through merit.

For further questions about the prison system, please leave a comment or send a new question.

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I do not think staff members as individuals relate to prisoners with a common humanity. Staff policies discourage them from interacting with prisoners on a personal level. The reason for this separation is that close interactions between inmates and staff can threaten the security of a prison environment. Security and preservation of the institution trumps the system’s concern for the inmate’s development. If the system had concerns about preparing inmates for law-abiding, contributory lives upon release, they would offer opportunities for inmates to earn freedom through merit. Instead, all that matters is the turning of calendar pages. The infrastructure inside generates a lot of friction and callousness and cynicism. I would not go so far as to write that staff members want to see inmate failure, though the policies of the system seem to discourage staff members from focusing on anything that would have to do with correcting behavior.

My term in prison began in 1987. I began serving my sentence inside the walls of a high-security penitentiary. After several years, I transferred to a medium-security prison. Then administrators transferred me to a low-security prison, where I was held for eight years. In 2003, administrators transferred me to a minimum-security camp, and I expect to remain in camp until my release, in 2012. After having served more than 21 years in prisons of every security level, I would conclude that very little correcting goes on. Prisons are more like human warehouses. Changes may come, but for now there does not seem to be a lot that would suggest to me that the system particularly “cares” about inmates. The allegiance that administrators show is to society. Through their myopic view, they create infrastructures that alienate prisoners. They limit access to education; they disrupt family ties; they extinguish hope; they punish rather than incentivize. As a consequence of such un-American policies, prisons breed failure as high recidivism rates show.

That is my perspective as a long-term prisoner. Through my writing, I hope to help others understand more about America’s prison system and urge reform.

The post Does the Corrections System Care About Inmates? appeared first on Prison News Blog.

Drugs enter institutions through visiting rooms, through the mail, and through corrupt staff members. The smuggling of drugs into prisons is particularly problematic in secure prisons. Ironically, in minimum-security camps, where prisoners enjoy significantly higher levels of freedom and interaction with the broader community, drugs are less of a problem. Administrators ought to learn a lesson from that truism.

Drugs are not such a problem in minimum-security camps for a variety of reasons. The most obvious, of course, is that minimum-security camps confine mostly offenders who were convicted of white collar crime and other nonviolent prisoners who are nearing their release dates. The people in minimum-security camp have more hope than those in higher security prisons. Although administrators in higher security prisons cannot change the type of offenders who are locked inside the boundaries, they can use their enormous power to encourage more hope.

Inmates who live without hope are vulnerable to negative adjustment patterns. Many ceaselessly plot and scheme to build a power base inside the penitentiary. They feel totally alienated from the world beyond prison boundaries, or recognize that they will not return to society for years or decades to come. Recognizing that many prisoners rely upon drugs to numb themselves to the pains of confinement, many prisoners traffic in drugs as a short-sighted way of easing their time in prison. Those activities contribute to many problems inside the chaotic world of the penitentiary.

Although administrators must make appropriate use of security measures, another tool they should consider to stop the flow of drugs into prisons would be implementing a meaningful incentive program. Rather than simply relying upon the threat of punishment to discourage bad behavior, prisons should make use of incentive programs that encourage good behavior. Inmates should have opportunities to work toward meaningful privileges that would improve their quality of life inside.

Some examples of incentives that would drive inmate choices might include opportunities for inmates to enhance their ties to society. For example, they could offer access to e-mail programs, better visiting access, more telephone access. Administrators limit those programs. If they allowed prisoners opportunities to earn privileges like more food, preferred housing within the penitentiary, or access to movies, music, or books. Since administrators control the infrastructure, they could control inventives that would motivate desirable inmate adjustment patterns.

The threat of punishments and further sanctions extinguish hope and contribute to the oppressive atmosphere. Incentives, on the other hand, would open and encourage motivations to grow. That shift in management would help stop the flow of drugs into prison.

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Reforms must include both legislative and administrative changes. Members of Congress have passed laws that rely upon long-term imprisonment to punish offenders. That approach may satisfy a collective thirst for vengeance, yet high recidivism rates suggest the ancillary effects of prolonged incarceration fail to make society safer. The longer a person serves in the corrections system, the less likely that person will emerge as a contributing, law-abiding citizen. Besides passing laws that punish criminal behavior, Congress ought to pass legislation that would encourage offenders to reconcile with society. Too many prisoners serve lengthy sentences’ without hope.

Individuals who hail from disadvantaged backgrounds fill our nation’s prison system. Most are people who have felt motivated by the pursuit of immediate gratification for their entire lives. When confronting terms of years or decades, many prisoners lack the sustained will power necessary to consider, much less preparing for the challenges that will await release. As Congress passes stimulus packages designed to jump start the American economy, Congress could pass new laws that would motivate prisoners to work toward redemption.

The way laws now stand, prisoners feel as if they have no control over their futures. Only the turning of calendar pages matter in computing release dates. With those policies in place, many prisoners adjust poorly. Instead of investing the energy to educate themselves in ways that will help them find employment upon release, prisoners numb themselves to the pains of confinement. They waste hours each day with television, table games, and obsessive devotion to recreational activities. Rather than building resources that will help them emerge successfully, prisoners distance their thoughts from the outer society. Without hope of having any influence over release dates, many prisoners adjust to confinement in ways to help them forget their predicament.

Legislative changes could reverse the troubles that accompany prisoner apathy. Punishment should not be the only factor in the equation. Congress should implement new laws that provide offenders with mechanisms to earn their freedom through merit. Such legislation could come through the reinstatement of a parole board. Congress could create laws that would encourage prisoners to work toward advancing their release dates with measurable accomplishment. Achievement of educational credentials, job skills, or community contributions, for example, could gradually increase levels of freedom.

Nordic countries make use of ombudsman panels in their criminal justice systems. As I understand that system, a panel of citizens from the prisoner’s community evaluates the offender’s history. Together, the offender and the ombudsman panel establish a schedule the offender could follow through his imprisonment. They would design that schedule in a way that enabled the offender to make amends to society and to work toward re-entry. Through the more enlightened ombudsman system, the Nordic countries punished illegal behavior while simultaneously encouraging offenders to work toward becoming contributing citizens.

Besides legislative changes, real prison reforms would require administrative changes a well. We need policies that allow and encourage inmates to prepare for successful re-entry. Administrators place too much emphasis on preserving the sanctity of the prison system. Such policies come at the expense of programs through which prisoners could build stronger resources. Rather than creating obstacles that restrict inmate communication with society, effective prison reforms would encourage inmates to build and nurture ties with legitimate society.

Effective prison reform would eliminate restrictions on telephone and visiting access. They would implement e-mail systems that would allow prisoners to join the 21st century and interact with society. Administrators would encourage inmates to participate in work-release and community study programs while they served their sentences. Those prisoners whom administrators classified as minimum-security should serve their sentences in environments that would allow them to earn a living; they could pay for the costs of their confinement while simultaneously contributing to the support of their families or to accounts that would assist them upon release.

American taxpayers fund these human warehouses with $60 billion per year. Strong unions that represent correctional officers and lobbyists that represent businesses supplying goods or services to prisons urge the perpetuation of these failure factories. Yet with President Obama’s election, and a more liberal Congress, possibilities for meaningful prison reform are more likely than ever. Strategies to govern from the bottom up should not leave out America’s 2.4 million prisoners. We crave reforms that would allow us to work toward redemption and toward becoming a part of the mosaic that makes America truly a great and enlightened society.

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As one moves higher in security level, on the other hand, the relationship between staff and inmates becomes much more antagonistic. Guards, who prefer to be referred to as officers, seem much more concerned with citing prisoners with disciplinary infractions. Prisoners feel as though they are being invaded, or that their sense of manhood is constantly being violated. That leads to a hostile atmosphere. The higher the level of security, the more it becomes understood that prisoners and staff members have nothing in common. Those prisoners who do cultivate relationships with staff may find themselves targeted by recalcitrant prisoners.

I have always kept a respectful distance from staff members. As a long-term prisoner, I understand that staff members have a job to perform and that they are not interested in me as an individual. They do not support efforts I make to prepare for release; to them I am more of a prisoner than a man. I am always respectful of staff authority. Yet I know that they focus on preserving the security of the institution. Regardless of how friendly they may seem, I know they have the power to disrupt me and my family by transferring me to a prison thousands of miles away. I am respectful, but not cozy with staff.

During the 21 years that I have served, I have known very few altercations of a physical nature between inmates and staff. One of the prisoners with whom I was confined in the penitentiary, killed a guard with a hammer. I’ve known a few others who punched a guard. Yet those altercations were rare, as all prisoners knew that severe consequences followed any inmate assault on staff.

Most prisoners understand and respect the job that staff members have to perform. They accept a high degree of mistrust and cynicism from the staff. Yet it is not unusual for prisoners to serve many years without altercations or confrontation with staff. There are frustrations, of course, but frustration is part of living with others, in or out of prison.

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Some of the men who are locked in ADX cells will serve the rest of their lives without much to stimulate their senses. Although many of the ADX prisoners have been convicted of crimes that other citizens would consider reprehensible, I do not doubt that the men inside of those cells miss being a part of humanity.

In high security prisons, conditions are more open than in the supermax. Yet prisoners inside those oppressive atmospheres live without hope. They serve long sentences, sometimes without any possibility for release. Since they cannot envision ways in which they can distinguish themselves in positive ways, some look for opportunities to distinguish themselves inside the twisted world of prison. They become more violent, or psychopathic. They cannot hope to play meaningful roles in the lives of their family or society. Consequently, they join cliques or gangs; they engage in hustles or try to narcotize themselves through the time. Some whose prior decisions forced them serve their sentences in high-security prisons miss the feeling of safety, or living without the thick pressure of evil that seems to pervade the penitentiary.

In both medium-security and low-security prisons, prisoners have a bit more hope. Many have release dates that they can at least grasp. The release date may stretch out for ten or twenty years, yet at least they can see a glimmer of hope. Prisoners in those institutions sometimes fight to hang on to memories of the lives they led prior to prison. They miss the world. They are not always ready to embrace the prison culture completely because they believe that something will change. They miss their families, their freedom, the ability to feel as if they are independent men.

In minimum-security camp, all prisoners are within 10 years of their release dates. The atmosphere is much less oppressive. Significant portions of the camp population are within weeks or months of release. With the rapid turnover in the camp population, prisoners miss their freedom. Yet they can see that it will come.

During the 21 years that I have served so far, I have missed all that others take for granted. Prison has become a part of me, yet I have never stopped working to prepare myself. I am determined to emerge successfully, unscathed by the experience. What I miss most is my wife. I want to kiss her and hold her and sleep with her and love her. I want her to feel proud of me, to let her know that she has been the inspiration for every breath I have taken through prison. I miss her touch, and I work daily to prove myself worthy of the love and sacrifices she so freely gives to me.

The post What Prisoners Miss Most appeared first on Prison News Blog.

I recently read of a well known lawyer who supposedly offered a prison staff member use of his season tickets for an NFL team. The lawyer was a convicted felon serving time in a California minimum-security camp at the time, and he likely was lulled into believing that he and the officer shared a common humanity. The guard, however, was charged with the responsibility of keeping order in the camp. The guard may have played the incoming prisoner, engaging in conversation with the former high-flying lawyer as if the two were friends. The prisoner, enjoying the conversation, likely offered the tickets as a token of good will. Despite his being a lawyer, the prisoner did not appreciate the clear lines that are drawn between staff and inmates. Whereas the former lawyer likely saw the offer as a friendly gesture, staff members would have considered his actions as an attempt to bribe an officer. That prohibited act resulted in the former lawyer’s transfer to a higher-security prison in Arizona.

The less restrictive atmosphere of minimum-security camp makes a difference for the prisoner and those who love him. Although the prisoner may adjust to any environment, it is much easier on family members when the prisoner serves his time in a camp. With that goal in mind, prisoners ought to understand more about living in prison before they self-surrender.

Prisoners who are coming into the system should read the articles I wrote about how to avoid problems in prison. I have been incarcerated for more than 21 years, and my disciplinary record remains clean. I know how to thrive in prison, and I know to avoid problems with both staff and other prisoners.

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I rely on my wife, Carole, to send me hard copies of articles that I have written in years past. Once I receive them, I spend time reading through the postings and making changes as necessary. I edit a few each week. Besides that editing project, I’m also updating the Web sites. Previously, loading content was a real hassle. Since Carole is not an Internet programmer or Web designer, we paid a Web master to load each document. This past quarter, however, we’ve made some changes to the site. Carole hired a new Web designer to make modifications to our Web site projects so that she can load what I write as soon as she receives the content from me. With this new technology, my writing will intensify. I intend to write many articles that will help others understand more about our nation’s prison system. I also want people to understand the strategies that have been so helpful to me in navigating my way through 20 years of imprisonment.

I just finished interviewing a man who is serving a one-year term for violating the conditions of his supervised release. Specifically, the man used a credit card without letting his parole officer know. That violation cost him an additional 365 days in prison. It is important for me to document this kind of information. I want to help others make decisions that will ensure they succeed upon release. The more I can tell people what to expect, the better prepared people will be to make the right decisions. I have another interview scheduled with a man who says that he was wrongfully convicted. I’ve heard such claims of innocence frequently, and they are not all plausible. Still, I think it is important to tell each man’s story. The more readers know, the less likely it will be that they fall victim to a wrongful prosecution.

In addition to those two articles, I intend to write an article with some guidance for people who are about to begin serving sentences in minimum-security camps. I want them to be aware of the types of conduct that can lead to disciplinary infractions, time in the Segregated Housing Unit, and possible transfer to higher security prisons. I urge readers to use this information and to share with their loved ones.

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