As the Pew Report shows, 1 in 31 Americans serve under the authority of the criminal justice system. Prisons are not changing these people for the better. Congress has reported on the high recidivism rates that make this clear. We need prison reform to change these dismal results.

By blocking prisoners from nurturing strong family ties, policies in the prison condition the perpetuating cycles of failure. Rather than restricting access to telephone, visiting, and e-mail, administrators ought to encourage prisoners to nurture family ties. Society pays the price with high recidivism rates when administrators hinder prisoners from connecting with family and positive role models.

Prison administrators could encourage more offenders to reform and work toward law-abiding lives if they offered mechanisms through which prisoners could earn gradual increases in freedom. Such mechanisms have not existed in prisons where I have been held. All that has mattered has been the number of calendar pages that turned and the avoidance of disciplinary infractions. Such policies do not encourage money. This is the fundamental flaw that keeps both recidivism rates and prison operating costs high. Prison reforms that offer incentives can persuade more prisoners to adjust in positive ways.

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In a previous article I wrote that prison camps waste taxpayer resources. I’ve been confined to various prison camps since 2003. No physical boundaries prevent prisoners in camp from walking away. Since camp prisoners serve time according to an honor system, and administrators have classified camp prisoners as not posing a threat to society, I argued that prison camps ought to close and those assigned to camps ought to serve community-based sanctions. Jesus observed that most white-collar offenders who were sentenced to prison served their terms in prison camps. He asked how I thought society should punish white-collar criminals if camps were shut down.

The Pew Report documents the billions of dollars taxpayers spend to fund America’s prison system. That report showed that $9 of every $10 spent on corrections goes to fund prisons. Community confinement centers, on the other hand, cost taxpayers far less to operate. Such sanctions may present opportunities for offenders to pay their own costs of supervision. Yet not all offenders would be appropriate for such diversions or alternatives to incarceration.

I am of the opinion that citizens ought to measure justice by an offender’s efforts at reconciling with society. Those citizens who evaluate an offender should take into consideration much more than calendar pages that turn. An enlightened society such as ours has many options. Though as Justice Kennedy said in his speech to the American Bar Association, we incarcerate far too many people, and our prisoners serve for too long.

An offender like Madoff, who bilked billions, and who was more concerned about his own affairs than the interests of his victims or reconciling with society ought to face imprisonment. In some cases, society may deem it just to keep a criminal like Madoff in prison for life. Since he is 70 already, that may not be much longer.

Whether an offender is convicted of a white collar crime or another type of crime, I believe society would reap more rewards from its criminal justice system if it offered offenders mechanisms through which they could work to redeem themselves and earn gradual increases in freedom. Once they earn minimum-security status, however, they ought to release to a community-based sanction. Camps waste taxpayer resources.

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When I think of correcting, I think of making something right. To me, when discussing the context of the prison environment, an emphasis on corrections would imply an emphasis on preparing offenders to emerge as law-abiding, contributing citizens. The irony is that statistics show that the longer society exposes an individual to corrections, the less likely that individual is to function successfully upon release.

Since statistics show that 70 percent of the people who serve time in prison return to confinement after their release, and independent researchers like those who produced The Pew Report show that prison expenditures divert tens of billions each year from social programs like education and health care, it would seem to me that the “institutionalized lifestyle” does not function so well as a tool for correcting. On the other hand, prisons perform brilliantly as a system for warehousing human beings. They are extremely effective at facilitating cultures where gangs and antisocial values proliferate. They encourage us-versus-them attitudes. Perhaps one of the greatest successes of the prison system is that, thanks to prison lobbyists, they have generated billions in profits for the businesses and organizations that provide the goods and services to keep the industry growing. Those accomplishments have come at the cost of losses in funding for programs that actually reduce crime, especially educational funding, but prisons have been booming for longer than two decades.

As a long-term prisoner, I have considered it my responsibility to overcome the challenges that confinement presents. I began serving my term at 23, and I felt a deep sense of remorse for the shame and disappointment my criminal convictions had brought to my family. That remorse motivated my prison adjustment. I wanted to adjust in a way that would help me redeem the bad decisions I had made as a younger man. By educating myself, I hoped to prepare for release and for reconciliations with society.

I’ve served more than 21 years in prisons across the United States, and I’ve lived through the pernicious influences of the penitentiary system. I feel as if I have a duty to help Americans understand more about the failure this system breeds. It is not because I expect changes will advance my release date. I’ve served my time and expect to continue until my sentence expires. Yet as a citizen of this country that I love, I feel as if I must debunk the myths that prison propaganda perpetuates.

Our country incarcerates far too many people and prisoners serve sentences that are far too long, as Justice Anthony Kennedy of the U.S. Supreme Court expressed. We need prison reforms that will serve the interests of American citizens, not the interests of those who profit from warehousing humanity.

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Katie A., a college student,  asked what kind of policy changes I would suggest to increase the possibilities for correction in America’s prison system.

Naturally, I recognize the need for prison staff members to maintain security and order within an institution. Prisons exist to protect society. When policies create oppressive environments, however, they lessen the likelihood of encouraging reform among the offenders that prisons hold. High recidivism rates make this clear. The Pew Report recently published findings that show how our prison system has grown. Despite $9 of every $10 in correctional spending going to confine people in prison, the Second Chance Act published findings that show seven of every 10 prisoners recidivate. Although I’ve been a prisoner for more than 21 years, that data suggests to me that this public policy is in need of reform.

We need prison reforms that do not necessarily make prisons more lenient, but rather provide incentives that would encourage offenders to work toward earning freedom through merit. When administrators implement policies that extinguish hope, that require staff members to do nothing more than guard, they miss an opportunity to create an environment where real growth can take place.

The policies that I would change would be those that totally isolate offenders from hope of making meaningful contributions to society. Rather than telling prisoners that the only matter of importance is the turning of calendar pages, I would recommend reforms that offer mechanisms through which prisoners can work to reconcile with society.

If prisoners perceived that they could work toward making a positive change in their classification and status through merit, prisons would inspire hope. That hope would lessen the troubling tendency of negative adjustments. The high rates of failure that our nation’s prisons condition are well documented. My experience convinces me that prison reforms that include incentives would create an atmosphere where corrections can take place. Such reforms would lower recidivism rates, lower operating costs of prisons, and lead to safer societies.

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Richard is a criminal justice student who wants to know what I believe we can expect with regard to prison reform. Obviously, as a long-term prisoner I do not have an inside track on information. Nevertheless, I can infer that President Obama will act decisively. I base my influence on what I have read of his leadership thus far.

Matt Kelley reported on The End of Federal Raids on Medical Marijuana Dispensaries. That change marks a decisive break from the policies that existed under Bush. It provided further evidence that President Obama would not allow politics to drive his leadership. He recognized that science trumped ideology when it came to leadership.

In speaking about his decision to provide federal funding for stem-cell research, President Obama clearly stated that he would rely upon objective data from qualified experts to influence his decisions. I feel strongly that President Obama will use that same criteria when it comes to prison reform.

The Pew Report recently published data that shows the extraordinary expenditures Americans waste on confining more than 2.3 million people. Justice Anthony Kennedy, of the U.S. Supreme Court, said that our nation confines too many people and American prisoners serve sentences that are too long. Senator Jim Webb has called for prison reform panels. Many from academia have published findings showing that taxpayers receive more benefit through community-based sanctions for nonviolent offenders.

Prison lobbyists have driven the prison boom over the past two decades. And a paucity of leadership from prior presidents has resulted in extraordinarily high costs for taxpayers. I expect to see prison reforms under President Obama’s leadership that will change these trends.

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