Check out: http://www.openmediaboston.org/node/990

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F34p0YiSp8g&feature=player_embedded

What it’s about:

1. Alienation of people: We are creating refugees amongst our own people. Inmates come back not feeling like they are part of their own community; not knowing “we the people” means them too.

2. Break up of families: unreasonable prison policies and a culture of oppression is further tarring up families and communities. How can this system support fathers in taking responsibility?

3. Transparency in government: We are turning one group of people to another (great majority of inmates are minorities) With Media barred from facilities and no independent oversight there is no accountability in Massachusetts DOC. Why isn’t media allowed in? If they want to investigate abuses and mismanagement why are they are constantly denied access.

4. President’s Leadership needed: How can President go and see Guantanamo Bay but doesn’t look into his own prisons? Can he assume that everything is right here? How come he can address schools, Middle Eastern countries, but will not address prisons?

5. System accountability: Every prison is different; there is no “system.” So who is responsible for outcome? Each State should be accountable about its prison system to the President. Focus on one place at a time. Find what’s wrong in MA to pass it on to another institution.

http://obamaanswerthis.com/

The post President Obama… Answer This appeared first on Prison News Blog.

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.

The post Eliminate Prison Camps to Cut Domestic Spending appeared first on Prison News Blog.

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.

America has too many people languishing in prisons for too many years, causing social and financial consequences that are destructive and wasteful.

 ****** Read Senator Webb’s Message to American Citizens****** 

http://webb.senate.gov/email/criminaljusticereform.html

The National Criminal Justice Act of 2009 that I introduced in the Senate on March 26, 2009 will create a blue-ribbon commission to look at every aspect of our criminal justice system with an eye toward reshaping the process from top to bottom. I believe that it is time to bring together the best minds in America to confer, report, and make concrete recommendations about how we can reform the process.

Why We Urgently Need this Legislation:

    * With 5% of the world’s population, our country now houses 25% of the world’s reported prisoners.

    * Incarcerated drug offenders have soared 1200% since 1980.

    * Four times as many mentally ill people are in prisons than in mental health hospitals.

    * Approximately 1 million gang members reside in the U.S., many of them foreign-based; and Mexican cartels operate in 230+ communities across the country.

Post-incarceration re-entry programs are haphazard and often nonexistent, undermining public safety and making it extremely difficult for ex-offenders to become full, contributing members of society. 

America’s criminal justice system has deteriorated to the point that it is a national disgrace. Its irregularities and inequities cut against the notion that we are a society founded on fundamental fairness. Our failure to address this problem has caused the nation’s prisons to burst their seams with massive overcrowding, even as our neighborhoods have become more dangerous. We are wasting billions of dollars and diminishing millions of lives.

We need to fix the system. Doing so will require a major nationwide recalculation of who goes to prison and for how long and of how we address the long-term consequences of incarceration. 

The post Senator Jim Webb Brings a Voice to Prison Reform appeared first on Prison News Blog.

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.

The post President Obama and Prison Reform appeared first on Prison News Blog.

When I began serving my prison term, in 1987, I was 23-years-old. Although I did not have a history of violence or previous incarceration, my judge imposed a 45-year sentence. With the length of confinement ahead, administrators locked me inside the walls of a high-security federal penitentiary. As sentencing structures then stood, the term translated into possible release 25 years later, in 2013, provided that I did not lose good-time credits through disciplinary actions.

What did our society expect to benefit through the imposition of such a term? Would the severity of the sentence deter consenting adults from engaging in cocaine transactions? Would it appropriately punish the wrong and illegal behavior of my early 20s? Would isolating me from society during my 20s, 30s, and 40s advance the principles of justice? Did the leaders expect rehabilitation would follow my confinement for multiple decades in a high-security penitentiary?

Our society now confines more than 2.3 million people. The costs to fund this massive system of human warehousing exceeds $60 billion each year. Taxpayers read of inadequate resources to invest in educational programs and teachers, yet budgets to maintain the massive prison system thrive year after year. With recidivism rates that exceed 60 percent, however, citizens ought to question and doubt the wisdom of this public policy. Any objective metric would validate the need for prison reform.

In the book Change We Can Believe In, I read many platform positions of President Barack Obama. Under an Obama administration, the book said, foreign policy would make use of strategies that included incentives to induce behavior from people in failed states. The example to which I refer suggested increasing foreign aid to $3 billion in Afghanistan. Those funds would encourage farmers to grow crops other than those used to make opium and heroin for the Taliban to distribute.

Prison reform ought to duplicate this wise strategy of using incentives to induce positive behavior. With millions incarcerated and high recidivism rates, prisons represent a failed state within our own borders. Just as in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and other failed states, when circumstances extinguish hope among citizens, some people adjust in ways that threaten stability.

Without hope, or clearly-defined paths to good citizenship, high recidivism validates the reality that many prisoners neglect to prepare for the challenges that are certain to follow release. Instead, they focus on the perceived immediate needs of living in prison. With decades to serve, and without available mechanisms through which they can distinguish themselves in positive ways, few prisoners sustain the necessary commitment to emerge with skills and resources that translate into success upon release. Reforms to the failed state of American prisons would change such troubling and costly realities.

Legislators and administrators ought to offer incentives that would encourage prisoners to work toward reconciling with society. Judges may impose sentences that could result in the locking of offenders inside boundaries for years or decades at a time. Legislators and administrators ought to support policies that would induce prisoners to work toward redemption through merit. Such change would represent an advancement in our enlightened society. Incentives would empower our citizens, replacing the failed policies of vengeance with the promising policies of hope. Prison reforms ought to include an objective-path through which offenders could earn their way to freedom.

Making such a shift in strategy through effective prison reforms would reflect American values of hope and promise. Incentives would induce positive adjustment patterns in America’s prison population, thus making society safer through lower recidivism rates. As a long term prisoner, that is change I could believe in.

The post Prison Reform Like Foreign Policy Reform appeared first on Prison News Blog.

Our nation’s prison system confines more than 2.3 million people and it releases more than 650,000 people into society each year. Taxpayers fund these prisons with more than $460 billion in expenditures each year. Despite the costs, the system of corrections fails to prepare offenders for the challenges they will face upon release. High recidivism rates suggest that we need prison reform to make American communities safer.

I strive to help taxpayers understand the culture of failure that proliferates inside prison boundaries. It is a culture I know about, as my own imprisonment began in 1987. I have served time in prisons of every security level. During my imprisonment I earned two university degrees, I have published extensively, and I have maintained a clean disciplinary record while preparing for the challenges that I expect to confront after a quarter century in prison.

Prison administrators have consistently erected obstacles to block my efforts to help Americans understand the prison system. I have been locked in segregation because of my writing. I have been transferred from prisons across state lines to interrupt my writing. I have had my access to telephone, visits, and media blocked by administrators. I have been admonished that I was not allowed to “promote my books on prison” while I was incarcerated. Recently, the warden at Taft Camp blocked my access to typewriters.

Americans need to know more about what goes on inside prison boundaries. It is a disgrace on our democracy that prison administrators erect obstacles that obstruct prisoner efforts to apprise taxpayers of the reason why these subcultures of failure proliferate.

The post Era of Transparency Should Abolish Administration Obstacles to Prisoner Writings. appeared first on Prison News Blog.