I received a message from Gaby, a college student, who wrote that she is studying in a criminal justice program and that her professor has designed the course around my work. The students are reviewing my books and articles to broaden their understanding of the challenges long-term prisoners have in preparing for successful reentry to society.
Whenever I hear that professors use my work to contribute to the education of others I feel as if I’m leading a meaningful life. Too many people in our country have misperceptions about prison. The prison lobbyists have been extremely effective at controlling the message, inundating the media with misleading stories that promote an irresponsible message on the need for tougher prison terms. Violent, predatory offenders may need prolonged separation from society, but our country confines more than 2.3 million offenders at a cost to taxpayers of $75 billion per year. Tens of thousands serve sentences that are far too long and that do more harm to society than good.
The lengthy sentences for nonviolent offenders of victimless crimes do harm society because the deplete taxpayer resources. Those resources pilfer from budgets of health care providers, educational systems, and necessary social services. I’m glad for every opportunity to contribute to the dialogue on the need for prison reform and I feel honored that Gaby’s professor uses my work to illustrate this need for college students.
I will continue to write content that helps more Americans understand how their taxpayer dollars are misused to fund this bloated prison system. While the private sector suffers from high unemployment rates, our growing prison system requires more and more prison workers to warehouse humanity. Again, prisons serve a useful purpose in society when they confine dangerous, predatory offenders. Legislators and administrators misuse them, however, when they use limited public resources to confine nonviolent offenders for multiple decades.
My term is coming to an end. I look forward to a long career of helping more Americans understand why the system is such a colossal waste of money and human lives. Besides that, I will speak on the need for prison reforms that would make the system more effective in measurable ways.
Ran 10 miles / 5,460 miles in 612 days
500 pushups / 88,700 pushups in 2010
Monday, 16 August 2010
PDF 
