I heard a radio broadcast announcing that the Senate will swear in the newly elected Scott brown, Republican from Massachusetts, tomorrow. The new Republican eliminates the supermajority of the Democrats, and that equation, supposedly, will introduce new hurdles in bringing about a liberal agenda. I’m not clear on Senate rules that require supermajority votes of 60 to pass some bills, and simple majority votes of 51 to pass other bills. As I follow politics in 2010, I’ll become more educated on these intricacies.
My limited understanding of how the U.S. Congress operates doesn’t satisfy my curiosity. With 59 Democrats in the Senate as opposed to 41 Republicans, it seems to me that liberals have the power to pass bills that further their interests. As a prisoner, I’m most concerned about legislation that would reform the federal prison system and laws to encourage prisoners to work toward earning freedom. More of my fellow prisoners would adopt such strategies, I know, if they could see hope for a better life. But the newspapers I read lead me to conclude, sadly, that Congress is not considering prison reform bills at present and that it may not look at such proposed legislation in 2010. Too many other issues, it seems, take precedence.
In light of the Supreme Court’s recent decision that allows businesses to spend their money on supporting or opposing political candidates, I expect that all politicians will face increasing pressure from the massive Prison Industrial Complex. The financial war chests of correctional officers’ unions, as well as businesses that reap profits from the $60 billion in revenues that state and federal governments spend on our prison system, will spend with abandon to oppose anyone who strives for a more effective prison system. When I write “effective”, I envision a system that encourages more prisoners to earn freedom through merit, a system that lowers recidivism rates because more prisoners would leave confinement with skills to function in society, a system that would not waste billions of taxpayer dollars.
The Prison Industrial Complex (PIC) has an opposite agenda—it wants expenditures to rise, regardless of what havoc such misguided policies have on society. Rather than wanting to end the cycle of failure, the PIC wants it to spin faster, with not only higher recidivism rates, but by expanding prison systems with sons, daughters, wives, husbands, and friends of prisoners coming into the system as well.
Upon my release, I intend to work toward educating citizens on ways we can improve America’s prison system while simultaneously lowering costs. But I expect to serve my full term, which means about three more years of wasting $100,000 in taxpayer funds to keep me in prison.
This morning I ran 10 miles. I met with the youth outreach group after my run so I didn’t strength train today.
[consecutive running log: 3,713 miles over the past 418 days]
Wednesday, 3 February 2010
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