On a recent visit to a prison I met a man I’ll call “Tom.”
Tom’s past is typical of many stories I hear. He is a repeat, nonviolent drug offender. By day, on the outside, he was a truck driver, but he also sold drugs to supplement his income.
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.”
One of the cruelest facts in criminal justice is that more than 40 percent of ex-prisoners end up being sent back to prison within three years of their release. But it doesn’t have to be that way. With the right guidance before and after they complete their sentences, former prisoners like Duane can build successful lives on the outside.
Unemployment rates for ex-prisoners like Cassandra and Christopher is usually about 60-75 percent. One study found that job applicants with a criminal background were 50 percent less likely to be called back or offered a position than applicants without a criminal history. But in states and counties where the box has been banned, these statistics are different. In Minneapolis, after the state of Minnesota passed the ban-the-box ordinance in 2007, the number of ex-prisoners who were able to gain employment moved from six percent up to 60 percent.
It wasn’t long before Chris found himself snowballing into an eight-year lie that would land him on the other side of the prison bars and, at the same time, propel him into a journey toward spiritual freedom.
“15 Years In Environment Of Constant Fear Somehow Fails To Rehabilitate Prisoner,” proclaims the headline. The subsequent article tells the story of Terry Raney, a recent parolee who has been reincarerated for assault and battery.
Albert Gunderson, warden of the Woodbourne Correctional Facility, seems baffled by Raney’s return to prison.
He was the last man you would ever expect to turn around; Julio rode with a notorious South Texas motorcycle gang. He was their “enforcer,” feared by friends and enemies alike — until Prison Fellowship introduced him to Jesus.
Julio’s story spills out in bits and pieces.
John Sims is an inmate at the California Men’s Colony in San Luis Obispo County, serving a 23-year sentence for first-degree burglary. During his time in the medium security facility, Sims has struggled with depression and hopelessness at the thought of the long years still to be served there.
Photo credit: Wikipedia Commons
Hill Harper is an actor best known for his roles on the television shows “CSI: NY” and “Covert Affairs.” Perhaps lesser known to fans of those programs is Harper’s second career as an author of motivational books.
A number of celebrities, many from the Philadelphia area, are joining together to promote a national campaign that will raise public awareness about mass incarceration, its causes, and effects.
“Familiar Faces Against Mass Incarceration” will emphasize the importance of community in reducing recidivism and the necessity of family in decreasing future incarceration rates.
If there is someone who knows the criminal justice system – from both ends – it is Bernard Kerik. A one-time beat cop in New York City’s 14th Division, Kerik rose through the ranks to serve on Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s security detail in the early 1990s.
These are difficult days to be a prison official.
As prison populations have exploded in the last decade, many departments of corrections have had to deal with budgetary cutbacks and fewer resources in their attempts to rehabilitate prisoners and to prepare them for release.
After living life behind prison walls, the first taste of freedom can be mighty sweet.
And so it was on that 20th day of September 2012 when Dana found herself climbing out of a prison van with such excitement that she let out a jubilant, “I’m free!”
In a recent edition of Inside Journal®, Prison Fellowship’s newspaper for men and women behind bars, I asked our readers this question: What should we do to make our streets safer from gun violence?
You might be thinking, What would criminals know or care about stopping violence?
The following article originally appeared on the Worldview Church website, a ministry of the Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview that is part of Prison Fellowship Ministries.
In Shawshank Redemption, “Red,” the character played by Morgan Freeman, calmly tells new inmate Andy Dufresne, “Haven’t you heard?