Biden - Closing the revolving doors of the prison system in U.S.

[PatSeg]

Sens. Joseph R. Biden Jr.

and Arlen Specter

are cosponsors of the Recidivism Reduction and Second Chance Act of 2007

No one likes to think about convicted felons returning to our streets and neighborhoods, especially when we are hearing about the increasing violent crime in our communities. But every year, more than 650,000 offenders are released from prison. Our justice system is built on the principle that after defendants have been tried, convicted by a jury of peers, sentenced by a judge, and have served their time, they have paid their debt to society and are set free. They now have a second chance to take ownership of their lives and become law-abiding citizens.

Unfortunately, our nation's corrections system often undermines this goal. Upon their release from prison or jail, most ex-offenders return to society with little or no monitoring, substandard literacy skills and education, and inadequate access to job training, housing or mental-health services. As a result, the majority of ex-offenders can't find or hold a job, many remain plagued by drug addiction, and large numbers end up in homeless shelters. We shouldn't be surprised that the prison door is, more often than not, a revolving door.

snip

The only way to close the revolving prison door is to open another one. The Recidivism Reduction and Second Chance Act does just that. It won't eliminate the problem of recidivism, but it's an important step in the right direction.

A relatively small investment in transitioning prisoners back into society today is far more cost-effective than the alternative - suffering more crime in our neighborhoods and building more prisons to which these ex-offenders will otherwise return.

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/11191752.html

[riqster]

1. Biden's my second choice

...after DK. A lot of good ideas and experience.

[John Q. Citizen]

2. This sounds like a good thing. We no longer practice penology in most states but instead

have opted for warehousing vast numbers of our population.

And it's going to come back and bite us in the ass, hard.

[PatSeg]

4. "warehousing"

That word sums it up. You can't just sweep people under the rug and hope there are no repercussions. We are far from an enlightened society.

[stellanoir]

3. I don't understand why

with the technology available today that non violent offenders couldn't be sentenced to home confinement at far lesser costs than our largely privatized and inhumane prison system.

[PatSeg]

5. I agree

Locking people away for non violent crimes does not serve society or the victims (if there are any) of the crime. There is very little rehabilitation in our prison system.

[gateley]

14. Has that ever been proposed? That would be so much more fair. nt

[stellanoir]

17. Dunno but it's a no brainer really.

The whole system is so inherently broken.

Consider suggesting it to others. It'll take a lot of effort on all of our parts to bring our penal system into an era of enlightenment and efficacy.

Maybe it'll catch on.

I've never met a violent pot head in my life. They are too spaced out and docile for that and don't deserve to be incarcerated IMHO.

[iverglas]

21. we do it up here in Canada

It's called a "conditional sentence of imprisonment", and means serving the time in the community -- unless a condition of the sentence is violated, and then it's prison time.

The court must consider this approach in certain cases:

http://www.canlii.org/ca/sta/c-46/whole.html

742.1 Where a person is convicted of an offence, except an offence that is punishable by a minimum term of imprisonment, and the court

(a) imposes a sentence of imprisonment of less than two years, and

(b) is satisfied that serving the sentence in the community would not endanger the safety of the community and would be consistent with the fundamental purpose and principles of sentencing set out in sections 718 to 718.2,

the court may, for the purpose of supervising the offender’s behaviour in the community, order that the offender serve the sentence in the community, subject to the offender’s complying with the conditions of a conditional sentence order made under section 742.3.

... and of course our present right-wing federal government is trying to undermine the provisions ...

The conditions that apply are very similar to parole conditions, and the same supports and services can be offered as will be needed if the person is incarcerated and then released, anyway.

[Joanne98]

6. EXCELLENT!!!!!!!!! K&R!

[Lilith Velkor]

7. How is Wackenhut supposed to make money for their shareholders, then?

They need a steadily increasing supply, so they can get more state money for housing them, and bigger contracts for prison labor.

Please...think of the CEOs.

[PatSeg]

11. And their children!

Think of the children! :nopity:

[AX10]

8. K/R

It'a also time to shut down Blackwater and private prisons!

[quiet.american]

9. I like this. nt

[klook]

10. Does he mean the revolving door where lobbyists go to prison

and then become members of Congress, go to prison again, become defense contractors, become lobbyists again, go back to prison, etc.?

[PatSeg]

12. There is no rehabilitation for some people

There is a special ring in hell for those folks.

[killbotfactory]

13. For someone who sponsored the RAVE act

No one who supports the current "War on Drugs" is serious about reducing our prison population.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAVE_Act

[gateley]

15. Not true. Biden has either sponsored or voted for legislation to make

a distinction between crack and powder coke, and has also done something to change the word from drug 'abusers' to something more supportive of addicts and their addictions. (Don't have facts at hand, but if you want them, I'll dig 'em up.)

I want to say that I don't like RAVE at all, and am REALLY against the War on Drugs - don't get me started - but I disagree that Biden's support of these precludes him from having a genuine concern about the reality of our prisons and the lack of an environment to help people who want it.

As I've become a Biden supporter a constant thread that has become apparent is his sincere desire to help and respect for all people, despite a couple of misguided decisions.

[iverglas]

22. got it backwards ;)

Biden has either sponsored or voted for legislation to make a distinction between crack and powder coke

I believe he supported the recent changes to sentencing guidelines to *eliminate* the distinction between crack and powdered cocaine -- because the effect of the distinction was to make sentences for crack possession much heavier than for cocaine possession, and thus to make sentences for African-American and/or poor people much heavier than for white and/or more well-off people.

[murbley40]

16. kick

[jillan]

18. This is excellent! And I recently read that Biden wants drug users out of prison as well.

He is so right, prison does not solve anything.

[SaveElmer]

19. Very good...

Kudos to Biden...

[murbley40]

20. kick