Published by: JoJo Matthews
I follow Flikshop on Facebook. For anyone that doesn’t know what Flikshop is it’s an app that you can download on your phone. You can create a postcard for you loved one to be sent out by this company to your loved one. It’s kind of fun and cute and reasonably priced.
Anyway today Flikshop had an article talking about
prison reform and how it only includes non violent crimes, but what about
violent crimes?
It wasn’t a very informative article or I
missed some place where I can learn more, anyway that’s where this blog is
stemming from.
Prison reform is in the works all over the place, most
are all about non violent offenders.
What is the real reason behind prison reform,
because reducing the prison population is not a good answer. A large percentage
of the prison population is considered violent offenders. What goes into
classifying a person as a non violent offender isn’t as cut and dry as we think
therefore our notion of what violent offender is inaccurate.
I think the whole approach to the way “corrections”
goes about things is wrong.
Rehabilitation if there is any is minimal at best. Prisons are usually
seriously understaffed and the staff is focused on keeping things running on
the straight and narrow leaving no room for anything else. Most people don’t
see a career in corrections as worth the time and effort and safety of
themselves. The training programs for CO’s is rigid focusing on taming violence
within that many people don’t make it through the training.
State prisons are seriously under funded so hiring anyone to focus strictly on
rehabilitation programs is not likely.
Where the biggest mistake I think is made is during
sentencing. The only thing that is looked at is the crime committed and whether
or not the person has a past rap sheet.
All drug offenses are lumped into one, all of those that are convicted of or
committed murder are lumped into one and sex crimes are lumped into one and
therefore they usually suffer the same punishments and when they get to prison
they are once again lumped into the same category based on their crimes. I am
sure there a small nuances that make minimal differences. There should really
be a more in depth look at a person as an individual.
A man that does a drive by shooting and kills several innocent people in the process is not the same person as a man that defends his family against an intruder resulting in death.
A young man that has a relationship with a young lady that didn’t tell the truth about her age goes to jail for statutory rape is not the same as a man the willingly looks at child pornography or willingly engages in inappropriate behavior with a child
A person that sells large quantities of drugs for
several years is not the same as someone that is busted with an amount of drugs
on their person just over the limit that causes it to be intent to distribute.
I could go on and on and on but the point is until everyone starts looking at
the prison system differently and prisoners differently then reform and or
rehabilitation will never really occur
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