The images of prison are familiar to all of us—cold, pale concrete walls, with limited light filtering through narrow, bar-protected windows; prisoners in solid jumpsuits shuffling through the corridors under the watchful eye of ever-present guards; small, unadorned cells where men and women live out long prison terms in solitude and despair.
On Wednesday, March 30, President Obama announced the commutation of the sentences of 61 federal prisoners serving time for drug-related offenses. The commutations are but the most recent attempt by the administration to draw attention to the need for criminal justice reform.
On March 23, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan addressed a bipartisan audience of house interns on Capitol Hill. Speaking on the state of American politics, Ryan lamented the current lack of civility in public discourse, where rhetoric and posturing are drowning out ideas.
Daniel Geiter spent much of his young adult years in and out of correctional facilities in and around Chicago. Between his adolescent years and the age of 25, Geiter estimates that he was incarcerated in excess of 20 times.
It was during one of these prison stays that Geiter concluded that things needed to change.
Prison Fellowship Senior Vice President for Advocacy and Public Policy Craig DeRoche (back row, third from left) and other religious leaders at the 2015 White House Prayer Breakfast.
On March 30, Prison Fellowship Vice President for Advocacy and Public Policy Craig DeRoche offered the closing prayer as part of the annual White House Easter celebration.
By the time he was 19, Jeff Henderson had established himself as one of the premier drug dealers in southern California. He was making $35,000 a week by age 21—driving fancy cars and living the life of a street celebrity.
But all that came to an end at 24, when he was sentenced to 19.5 years in prison.
As one of his last acts as a federal judge, John Gleeson took an novel approach on behalf of a former prisoner attempting to reintegrate to her community from a period of incarceration. The precedent it might set could change the way federal courts handle reentry.
The following post originally appeared on the Minneapolis Running website, and is reprinted here with permission.
Running is a communal activity. While we compete on an individual level, everyone I know agrees that running is far more enjoyable when done with others.
Prisons, encircled by high walls topped with razor wire, seem to be closed worlds.
It’s easy to keep them out of sight and out of mind. Since prisons are so remote from most people’s daily lives, it can be difficult to recognize the humanity of the men and women inside and to value their rehabilitation and restoration.
For many men and women with criminal convictions, the road to move beyond the past and become contributing members of their communities is filled with hurdles and potholes. In addition to the stigma associated with having a criminal record, there are numerous legal impediments that prevent these people from obtaining work licenses, voting in elections, or even advancing to job interviews.
In January, the Charles Colson Task Force on Federal Corrections concluded a year of discussion and research by releasing a series of recommendations for reforming the criminal justice system. Craig DeRoche, Prison Fellowship’s senior vice president for advocacy and public policy, served on the task force, and offers his thoughts on those recommendations, and the future of reform.
There are certain sounds that most of us associate with prisons: the metal clank of a cell door closing, the thud of heavy-booted corrections officers walking the corridors, the voices of angry prisoners echoing against the bare cement walls.
What you might not expect, however, are four-part vocal harmonies.
It is estimated that close to half of those incarcerated in state and federal prisons display some symptoms of mental illness. These men and women are more likely to return to prison after their release, and to stay longer once in prison than their fellow prisoners.
A pair of recently released surveys reveal broad support for proposed criminal justice reforms in the state of Virginia.
On February 10, Prison Fellowship and the Charles Koch Institute released a report showing that justice reform is a top priority for more than one-third of Virginians, with 36 percent of respondents placing it in the top five most important issues to them.