As a long-term prisoner, I am particularly interested in reforms that President Obama and a more liberal Congress will bring to our nation’s system of justice. Recently I finished reading Change We Can Believe In: Barack Obama’s Plan to Renew America’s Promise , a paperback articulating the platform positions of Obama’s campaign for the Presidency. The book mentioned on several occasions that as President, Barack Obama would ensure fairness in our nation’s criminal justice system.

I have followed the past six Presidential campaigns during my long and continuing odyssey through America’s federal prison system. President-elect Obama was the first candidate I ever heard who spoke about the need to reform sentencing disparities, about launching prison-to-work incentive programs, about reforming our nation’s correctional systems to break down barriers for ex-offenders who strive to reconcile with society.

Soon after President-elect Obama collected more votes for President than any American in history, and won an electoral landslide, I read an announcement that he had selected Eric Holder as our nation’s next Attorney General. The Attorney General has been the cabinet position that interested me most. From what I’ve read about Eric Holder, he seems an ideal candidate to usher in the reforms we need and that President-elect Obama has said our country needs.

As our nation’s first African-American Attorney General, Eric Holder brings a fresh viewpoint to the injustices that run so rampant through the criminal justice system. Mr. Holder has expressed concern in the disproportionately high number of people from minority groups who fill our nation’s jails and prisons. In a profile on Eric Holder that The New York Times published on 1 December, I read that the redemption of Malcolm X during his prison term inspired our country’s future Attorney General. That news encouraged me.

In 1987, when I began serving this lengthy sentence, I read The Autobiography of Malcolm X. I was 23-years-old then and I was struggling to come to terms with the possibility of multiple decades in prison. My background, obviously, differed from that of Malcolm X. He was a black man with a criminal history that included violence and predatory crimes. I was an American of Hispanic heritage who had been convicted of serious drug trafficking crimes. Like Malcolm, however, I intended to educate myself during the many years I expected to serve in prison.

Although I did not become an iconic leader of a religious movement like Malcolm X, I already have served more than three times as long as he served in prison. During this journey that has kept me locked inside federal prisons of every security level for longer than 21 years, I feel blessed to have had opportunities to earn an undergraduate degree from Mercer University and a graduate degree from Hofstra University. My observations and experiences have enabled me to write about the struggles of other prisoners. Through my work, I strive to help others understand America’s prisons and the people they hold.

The redemption of Malcolm X would not have made a sliver of difference in today’s Bureau of Prisons. I know this from personal experience as well as from what I have learned through my interviews of other prisoners that number in the many hundreds. Individual efforts to reconcile with society are meaningless in today’s prison system. As one high-level administrator once admonished me, “We don’t care anything about the life you lead once you leave prison. All we care about is the security of the institution.”

Until the historic election of 2008, neither political leadership nor public administrators have paid much attention to the injustices of our nation’s prison system. Yet I am optimistic that at this defining moment in history, Americans will stand up and embrace the leadership and vision of our new President. As President-elect Obama has called out, we are one nation. We are one people. And our time for change has come.

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Karl Rove’s electoral map showed that if the election were held today, Obama would win more than 300 electoral votes. Although I know the polls may tighten, I am hoping and praying for a Democratic landslide.

For today, at least, I and all prisoners have reason to hope for meaningful prison reform. If Democrats win strong majorities in both houses of Congress, and Obama wins the White House, I expect that parole and other opportunities to earn freedom will be legislated into law. America needs to use all of its resources more effectively. Warehousing humanity may serve the interests of prison lobbyists, though at more than $60 billion per year and with high recidivism rates, clearly those interests do not serve the needs of an enlightened society.

Despite having no history of violence or previous imprisonment, I have been locked inside federal prisons for longer than 21 years. I have educated myself, sustained family and community relationships, and made meaningful contributions to society through my publications. It serves no purpose for taxpayers to fund my continued incarceration, especially now that I’m confined in a minimum-security camp.

The senseless imprisonment of non-violent offenders costs taxpayers billions of dollars and incalculable losses of human capital. Our country needs change, and improvement to our prison system represents one area of reform that I welcome. I want to return home to my wife and family. I am hopeful a Democratic victory will bring meaningful prison reform.

I urge Americans to vote for Democrats on November 4th.

The post The Time is Now for Prison Reform in America appeared first on Prison News Blog.

With a liberal Congress, we will see legislation that encourages prisoners to earn freedom. Instead of measuring prison terms with decades-long sentences marked by nothing more than the turning of calendar pages, Democratic lawmakers will usher in prison reform that includes parole, opportunities to earn more good time, and programs that help offenders emerge from prison as successful, contributing citizens.

I have been incarcerated since 1987. This November marks the sixth Presidential election I have witnessed as a prisoner. The right-wing Republicans that have alternatively controlled both the legislative and executive branches of government have enacted legislation that decimated opportunities for prisoners to earn freedom. They eliminated parole. They took away funding for educational programs. They reduced good time. They sought a more punitive system that has spawned 70% recidivism rates.

We need a more sensible prison system. Democrats will likely reinstate parole, increase opportunities to earn good time, and sponsor programs that encourage education rather than extinguishing hope. Instead of vengeance, liberal policies will encourage prisoners to earn freedom. I have been working toward freedom for more than 21 years. Under the current right-wing system, however, no mechanism exists for inmates to earn freedom. Such shortsighted policies are not good for America.

For more information on strategies to emerge from prison successfully, I recommend reading my articles on MichaelSantos.net.

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