Amazing story.
It's been a bit since I really did an in-depth post. I've been really busy at work, at home, everywhere. On top of all that the holidays are now hurtling toward us. Is it really only 30 days until Christmas? Yowsers. That sure did sneak up on us didn't it.
I've read two really interesting stories on prisons in recent weeks that really struck a chord.
One, in the Washington Post, which was passed on to me by my friend Vince Eisenson, chronicles the seeming success of bringing a Shakespear troupe to Patuxent Institution, a Maryland maximum security prison.
The second, in today's New York Times, examines how wrongfully accused inmates adapt to the outside word when they are proven to be innocent. Think Morgan Freeman in Shawshank Redemption. It's definitely worth a read and has some excellent multimedia features.
Both stories speak volumes about our justice system, our prison system, our society, in general.
First off, prisons aren't rehabilitating people for the most part, if you believe what the Times writes. Case in point, while Deskovic was in prison, his half-brother accumulated 20 offenses. Look at increasing incarceration rates and a growing portion of our population who may not be "lost" by age 20 but will be after they've been in and out of jail 10 times by age 40, are completely unprepared to enter and manage the "free world" on there own.
Those kind of stories disturbs me.
At the same time, the Post, gives me hope. (I'm not playing favorites here). You may miss the paragraph at the bottom of the first page in the story but it contains a very important nugget of information. Patuxent, which puts a focus on rehabilitation, according to the prison's superintendent, Randall Nero, has seen a recidivism rate of zero over the last three years.
For an 812-inmate maximum security prison, that's pretty darn impressive.
I've read two really interesting stories on prisons in recent weeks that really struck a chord.
One, in the Washington Post, which was passed on to me by my friend Vince Eisenson, chronicles the seeming success of bringing a Shakespear troupe to Patuxent Institution, a Maryland maximum security prison.
The second, in today's New York Times, examines how wrongfully accused inmates adapt to the outside word when they are proven to be innocent. Think Morgan Freeman in Shawshank Redemption. It's definitely worth a read and has some excellent multimedia features.
Both stories speak volumes about our justice system, our prison system, our society, in general.
First off, prisons aren't rehabilitating people for the most part, if you believe what the Times writes. Case in point, while Deskovic was in prison, his half-brother accumulated 20 offenses. Look at increasing incarceration rates and a growing portion of our population who may not be "lost" by age 20 but will be after they've been in and out of jail 10 times by age 40, are completely unprepared to enter and manage the "free world" on there own.
Those kind of stories disturbs me.
At the same time, the Post, gives me hope. (I'm not playing favorites here). You may miss the paragraph at the bottom of the first page in the story but it contains a very important nugget of information. Patuxent, which puts a focus on rehabilitation, according to the prison's superintendent, Randall Nero, has seen a recidivism rate of zero over the last three years.
For an 812-inmate maximum security prison, that's pretty darn impressive.
posted by Pedro_in_Wyoming at 7:30 AM
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