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To give you all an example of how an ex-convict can turn their life around, I'll share the story of Dave Dahl. Dave grew up with his father (Shobi) and brother (Glenn) who were both well invested in their family's small bakery. However, Dave did not care for bread-making or the baker lifestyle. Dave struggled with depression throughout his early teenage years and turned to drugs and crime as coping mechanisms. Dave spent 15 years of his life in prison for offenses ranging from methamphetamine possession to armed robbery. It was in prison that he finally received the help he needed by way of anti-depression medication and correctional drug treatment. With his newfound mental clarity, Dave took time in prison to reevaluate his life and made an honest effort to reform himself.
After serving his final sentence, Dave decided to return to his family's bakery that had been taken over by his brother Glenn. At first, Glenn was hesitant to hire Dave, but he could see that his brother genuinely wanted to change and make something of himself, so he hired him. The bakery was not doing well financially, so Dave was tasked with creating a new product that would draw revenue and people's attention. Dave did just that by inventing an organic, grain-packed bread with lots of texture and taste. It was called Dave's Killer Bread after Dave remarked that the bread was "killer." In addition to the bread's attributes, it was sold in packaging with eye-catching graphics and Dave's personal story of redemption on the back. Thanks to Dave's ingenuity, his family bakery transformed into a multi-million dollar company, making Dave a wealthy co-owner of the family business. Dave also went a step further and decided to open his business to ex-convicts and ex-felons. In fact, about 40% of the workers employed under the Dahl's business are ex-cons. Dave also started a foundation called Power to Work, which trains former inmates for meaningful work and facilitates their success out of prison. Dave's story is truly one of success despite incredible odds. Dave made an honest change in his life and genuinely wants to make the world a better place. His empathy and compassion for other former inmates is an inspiring testament to his goal of bettering the world. He knows how hard it is to be an ex-con in the real world and is striving to make society more accepting of them. Dave is the ultimate example of what former criminals are capable of and what they can ultimately contribute to society. -Bradley Price The topic of the death penalty in the United States is one that is highly debated and for good reason. This law that we enforce as a country ends peoples lives which is a very serious matter. I found some interesting statistics on who is being executed, why, and where. The states that preform the most executions are Texas and Oklahoma, Texas leads the way with 522 since 1976, Oklahoma is at 112, Virginia at 110, and the rest of the states are in the double or even single digits (Washington is at 5). These states that have the highest execution rates, also have the highest homicide rates which makes sense but shows that the death penalty has not been effective with helping these states problems. The peak of the United States death penalty use was in 1999, the rates steadily inclined to that point and has steadily declined sense then. In 1999 we sent 98 people down death row and for 2014 we sent 35. This is most likely due to the increase in controversy over the topic and political values people place on the topic. Another interesting statistic about our death penalty was that over 75% of murder victims in cases resulting in an execution were white, even though nationally only 50% of murder victims are white. Also, regarding interracial murders, 293 cases resulted in execution where there was a white victim and black defendant, where as, only 31 cases resulted in execution where the defendant was white and the victim was black. The death penalty has been proven to be less cost effective than letting someone spend their life in jail and the amount of money we spend on the death penalty as a whole is billions. Times are changing and for being a very a "progressive" country, this is a arguably, regressive action and we are a world leader in it. Statistics such as these help us to look at this matter more politically and with an idea of what is socially just, especially seeing the disparities with race.
Paige Hauter Facts about the Death Penalty. Washington, DC: Death Penalty Information Center, 1999. Web. Fourteen years ago, the country of Portugal decriminalized all previously controlled substances for personal use. This means that those caught with substances such as cocaine, heroin, amongst all other controlled substances do not have to fear jail time, but rather fines, community service, and in rare circumstances rehabilitation programs. Previous to 2001, Portugal had similar drug laws to the US and other European countries, but due to soaring drug related deaths, and disease contraction from needle sharing, it was time for Portugal to try something new. In order to tackle the growing problem of drugs, Portugal decriminalized all drugs, and centered their efforts on the rehabilitation of drug addicts.
Portugal’s drug policies were very controversial in their time, and many questioned whether the number of total drug users would skyrocket due to almost no punishment for possession. Over a decade later, the drug laws of Portugal have been hailed as a success. The numbers of total drug users has stayed about the same, but drug related deaths and disease contraction from sharing needles has plummeted. The total number of newly diagnosed HIV cases amongst drug users dropped by 94.5%, and death from overdose dropped by 80%, signaling the success of the two primary social issues Portugal wanted to tackle with drug reform. The decriminalization of all drugs is not an idea that will be implemented in the United States anytime soon, but we must look at Portugal’s positive experience with drug reform as a guide. Clearly, the War on Drugs has failed, and America must find a new solution to tackle problem of drug use. When Nixon initiated the War on Drugs in the 70s, he was hoping to decrease drug related deaths; the same problem facing Portugal in 2001. Since then, the number of drug related deaths has only increased in the United States despite spending over 4o years and a trillion dollars fighting drugs, while Portugal has had monumental success in ten years while saving money. http://www.tdpf.org.uk/blog/drug-decriminalisation-portugal-setting-record-straight By Brian Mackessy A huge point our group wants to get across is that prisoners are people too. Just because they are out of sight doesn't mean they should be out of mind. This video brings up some interesting and important points that some of us have already touched on, such as the fact that the US has 5% of the world's population, but 25% of the world's prisoners. A particularly significant part of the video is the bit about prisoners reentering society and getting ostracized because of their criminal records. This is an issue that is often overlooked when people consider the prison system. Major problems like high recidivism rates are partly caused by society's prejudice against prisoners. As the video makes clear, it is extremely difficult for a convicted criminal to get a job as well as government aid packages. These societal barriers disenfranchise prisoners and prevent them from being successful in the real world. Degradation of prisoners isn't just a problem inside prisons, it's a problem in society. As the video puts it, being tough on crime should not mean being tough on criminals. Prisoners are easy to forget about and ignore, but neglect and prejudice won't solve any problems.
There are a few questions I'd like everyone to consider. What comes to mind when you think of a criminal? Have you had any experiences with a criminal or criminals that have influenced your perception of criminals? If you owned a business, would you hire a criminal? Why or why not? -Bradley Price In 1994, the Federal Judicial Center released a publication titled, The Consequences of Mandatory Minimum Prison Terms: A Summary of Recent Findings, criticizing minimum sentencing statutes in the United States. This publication brought light to the many negative aspects of minimum sentencing on society, but particularly its effect on low-level drug users and dealers. Too many of these lower level drug offenders, who cause little harm to society are given big punishments, when often, a smaller punishment would have the same effect, but would save years of people’s lives and hundreds of millions of tax dollars. The graph below breaks down the number of total drug offenders affected by minimum sentencing into different point brackets based on actual danger to public safety: Of the 16,834 people affected by minimum sentencing only 1,108, roughly 6 ½% were considered non-low-level drug offenders, the true danger to our society. What makes these numbers so staggering is the minimum sentence for drug offences is typically 5 years for a first conviction. This meaning that low-level offenders give up half a decade of their lives to the prison system due to harsh punishments meant to punish higher level offenders. This is a sad reality for poorer African-Americans, who are persecuted at 9 times the rate of other ethnicities. What makes this even sadder is that this article was published in 1994, over 21 years ago. Since then little has been done to get rid of minimum sentencing other than crack-cocaine, which under Obama in 2010 was reduced. Hopefully, by 21 years from now in 2036, the American people will have woken up to the fact that low-level drug offenders are paying a high price for their crimes.
ww.fjc.gov/public/pdf.nsf/lookup/conmanmin.pdf/$file/conmanmin.pdf By Brian Mackessy The often forgotten aspect of those in prison is that they are real people and they have real families whom they love and these people are also loved very much by their families. Many times these relationships and family ties are rockier and more complicated than most but they still exists and many times are what is getting the inmate through prison.
There are many more children in the United States with a parent member in prison in the United States than there are people in prison. The number of children have grown 79% between 1980 and 2007. In 2007, 52% of state inmates and 63% of federal inmates were parents, meaning they had a child 18 years or younger. For those who are parents, the majority have more than one child. For those who have a parent in jail, it is there father 88% are taken care of by their mothers and if their father is in jail, about 37% get taken care of by their fathers. The rest go to grandparents, other family members, family friends, or government agencies. A quarter of the children whose parents are incarcerated are under four so it is extremely important that they have someone to take care of them. There is a huge difference between the likelihood of a child being taken care of by a parent depending on if their mother or father is in jail. I find this difference mind boggling but unfortunately, it stays true to the stereotype of fathers compared to mothers. Mothers are generally more consistent caregivers, though they still have struggles of their owns and many times these children don't have a good at home life even if they do have a parents at home. Many single parents house holds fall into poverty and struggles against drugs and violence follow. On the bright side, 86% of children with a parent in prison have had some contact with them. 56% of the children visit their incarcerated parent weekly and 76% have lived with them at at least some point in their life. These visits are extremely important for those who are in prison because it gives them hope and it helps the child because they get to know their parent better. It is easy to forget that inmates do have important relationships in their lives and we need to remember to respect that. Paige Hauter Sources: Glaze, Lauren E., and Laura M. Maruschak. Parents in Prison and Their Minor Children. Washington,DC: U.S. Dept. of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2008. Web. From my previous blog post, I identified the way an inmate viewed the prison system and the positive ways it affects a person’s life. Not every inmate can take away positivity from the prison system and there is still a great amount of recidivism. A study conducted in 1994 estimated that 51.8% of prisoners that were released returned back in prison within three years. They either conducted a new crime or violated their parole. This is the sad statistics of the American inmates who return to prison. Many people are offered a second chance in life but go right back and end up right back in prison. In another study conducted in 2005, over 400,000 inmates were released but 67.8% of them returned back to prison within three years. Within five years, 76.6% of the inmates were rearrested. The main reason recidivism is so high is that people cannot escape the community they are from. Many former inmates come from low-income communities and cannot find employment, which makes them unable to get rid of an addiction without help. Glenn E. Martin is a vice president at Fortune Society, which is an organization that helps formerly incarcerated families. Helping with many former inmates, Martin says inmates come out with high hopes and drive but end up “coming out of prison: lifetime consequences.” In addition, people with a criminal record aren’t looked highly upon. Some states ban them from public housing and even public assistance. They have less job opportunities, which only leaves them with a few options. Former inmates will go back to committing crime to make a living, some fall into drug addiction, and others go back to prison for the housing and food that public housing will not provide. Recidivism is a big a problem in the American society, and it is a big part of the overcrowding in prisons as well.
Sources: www.bjs.gov/content/reentry/recidivism.cfm m.huffpost.com/us/entry/1578935 Time people go to prison for can vary from a few months, to life. Murder, manslaughter, kidnapping, robbery, and sexual offences are all serious felonies that result in 20 or more years in prison. Other felonies that are not specifically named but generally are drug related can go between 20 and 60 years mainly for making and selling drugs such as heroin, hallucinogens, meth, cocaine, and marijuana. Misdemeanors are generally only a few months to one or two years and can be something such as driving a car with a revoked licence or getting a DUI. But only about 69% of those convicted of felonies actually end up going to a local or state prison, about 28% go to state prisons and the average stay time there is 4 years and 11 months. The rest go to local prisons and have a much shorter average serving time. The average person sentenced to prison ends up being incarcerated for only about half the time that he or she is sentenced for. This brings up the question of why do we have such long sentences if we are just going to reduce them, or many times let them go with a fine and/or community service.
For felonies in New York state it ranges from life sentence, 25 years, 15 years, 7 years, and 4 years. These are all the original sentences that a felon in New York state can receive and many do, but then with the legalities of our prison system they can get it down, to many times half of what their sentence is. Also It is surprising to see with these felonies are, for example making and selling class 1 drugs can land you in jail for somewhere between 60 and 20 years but then being arrested for sexually assaulting someone is more of a 15 year punishment. Both are bad crimes but and both criminals should receive a punishment but it is interesting how the one where no one is directly being harmed has a harsher punishment then the one where people are indirectly being harmed. This paranoia and harshness to drug crimes would be due to the war on drugs. Paige Hauter Sources: "NY Felony Drug Charges, Sentencing and "Drug Court" - E. Stewart Jones Hacker Murphy - Albany Commercial Litigation, Property Tax Dispute, Criminal Defense, & Personal Injury Attorneys." E Stewart Jones Hacker Murphy Albany Commercial Litigation Property Tax Dispute Criminal Defense Personal Injury Attorneys. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2015. "Most Convicted of Felonies Do Not Get Time in Prison." Crime in AmericaNet. N.p., 01 Feb. 2011. Web. 16 Mar. 2015. San Quentin is a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison for men, located north of San Francisco. I came across an article that described the life of an inmate in the San Quentin Correctional Facility. Tommy Winfrey is the inmate serving life in prison. He cannot describe life in prison besides one word, “lonely”. He says, “Prison is a lonely place. I wake up every day knowing that there is no person there for me to lean on, no one to share my secrets with, no one I can completely trust.” Some take prison as a way to escape the reality of the world, but Winfrey describes it as a place of monotony. It’s a place where you can find yourself waking up the same way every morning, eating the same food, and walking in circles. Winfrey can only emphasize on the loneliness of being locked up. While discussing the relationships built in prison, Winfrey says, “You are surrounded by hundreds of people daily, but you are the only one serving your sentence.” He means that everyone is in prison for his or her own reasons and there is no basis of any relationships. There are no real relationships. That is why Winfrey continues to say that if an inmate is lucky enough to build a relationship with someone on the outside, they treasure this more than their own life. Although life in prison is isolated, Winfrey believes the loneliness and deprivation will mature an inmate. It allows time to reflect on the mistakes and sins from the past. He claims that if it were not for prisons, young men and women would not change in the fast paced world. The other biggest lesson in prison that Winfrey says he has learned from is the deprivation. Deprivation is what has taught him to create and be innovative for the things he wants. After reading this article, I was moved by how an inmate serving a life sentence could be so motivated to change. A lot of the times, people look at how people who go to jail come out of it unchanged. This is an account of a man that suffered the consequences of his actions but learned positively from the American Prison System.
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