Hank Green, half of the of the popular “Vlogbrothers” video blog team, was recently asked by a viewer, “If you could do a high-quality animated video about any issue in the world, what would you choose?” Green’s response? “I went with incarceration in America, because it is messed up.”
Cue the video.
“We are living inside of a massive $75 billion per year failed experiment,” Green concludes.
The statistics cited in the video are staggering, and even they fail to show the complete picture. Not mentioned is the profound impact incarceration has on the children and families affected by crime, or how those with a parent behind bars are likely to follow the same path to prison at a later time.
Green indicates that lawmakers “are beginning to recognize the magnitude of this failure, but there is a long way to go.” To this end, Justice Fellowship, the public policy arm of Prison Fellowship Ministries, is working to enact common sense reforms to make the corrections system more effective, more efficient, and more just.
But perhaps even more important than reforming the justice system is the recognizing of those individuals inside the system as people of infinite worth. To stop the cycle of crime needs more than the changing of problematic incarceration practices, it requires the transformation of those who are being released from prison. It necessitates the meeting of both the physical and spiritual needs of inmates and their families, and truly believing that God has died for the least of these.
To find out how you can be involved in the transformative work of Prison Fellowship, visit www.prisonfellowship.org/get-involved.
(A tip of the hat to our friend Ryan Sanders over at the National Fatherhood Initiative for the heads-up.)