Reform

Various happenings indicate a changing tide relative to the death penalty:

1. The recent Supreme Court decision eliminating the death penalty for retarded persons.

2. The Illinois governor being morally compelled to remove all inmates from death row because of the many innocent cases uncovered.

3. The conflict in several states over the use of the injection method.

4. The numerous private initiatives in many states to terminate the death penalty.

These events all reflect the growing trend for the termination of the death penalty. From a humanity and/or an economic standpoint there is little justification for the death penalty. The death penalty appears to be more an act of vengeance than an act of justice.

In the western world, the United States is the only country that still has the death penalty which might tell us something.

Let us not only hope but do whatever we can to bring an end to this barbaric practice.

Prison Conditions

The Prison Population in the U.S. has escalated in the last 30 years. The population exceeds two million at the present time and has doubled in the last 12 years.  This inordinate rise has caused severe financial problems for the states, many of which are searching for answers to stop the hemorrhaging.

Several factors have caused this enormous growth in the prison population

 1. Sentences given offenders have more than doubled in the last 30 years.

 2. Because of an absence of meaningful rehabilitation and the lack of employment opportunities and support upon a prisoner's release, recidivism rates nationally exceed 50%.

 3. Statutes have created new categories of crime, especially related to illegal drugs.

The United States now imprisons a higher percentage of its residents than any country, surpassing Russia, South Africa, and the states of the former Soviet Union.  And the U.S. incarcerates its residents at a rate roughly five times higher than the countries of Western Europe, and twelve times higher than Japan. {ABA Kennedy Commission Report}

Beginning with the enactment of the new code in 1977, the parole board no longer had the statutory authority to grant discretionary paroles.  Determinate sentences replaced this option requiring prisoners to serve a full !/2 their time before receiving mandatory parole.  Determinate sentencing, with no opportunity for discretionary parole exploded incarceration rates by increasing both the minimum and maximum sentence lengths extensively across the board.

Further aggravating Indiana's incarceration rate is the fact that prosecutors have absolute veto power over all modification of sentence requests after the first 365 days of incarceration. According to the Sentencing Policy Study Committee's Report released in November of 2004, "Sentence modifications for all adult male and female offenders has decreased significantly from 17.6% of all releases in state fiscal year 1992-1993 to 2.9% in fiscal year 2003-2004."

So how does Indiana curb the soaring cost of incarceration without sacrificing public safety in the process?  Three possibilities are worth exploring.

  • Remove the prosecutor's veto after completion of 1/3 of a prisoner's sentence or ten years, whichever comes first. This allows the prisoner to serve enough time to establish a pattern of rehabilitative behavior, which can then be reviewed by an impartial judge for a possible modification of a prisoner's sentence
  • Increase earned credit time cuts for education program completers.  Doubling these time cuts would save the state millions of dollars in the first budget cycle, while at the same time targeting those who are the best prepared for success in free society.
  • Implement discretionary parole upon completion of 1/4 a prisoner's sentence.. This provides a relief valve alternative for the executive branch to regulate population levels. 

Education

One of the best rehabilitation initiatives at the Indiana State Prison at Michigan City, IN, is the college program administered by Grace College and Ball State University.

Inmates can obtain either a two-year associate degree or a four-year bachelor degree. This has resulted in remarkable transformation among the students.

These programs have opened prisoners up to a whole new world they never thought they could enter. Most believed that they could not handle a college program only to find that they can do quite well.

This has enhanced their self-respect and their outlook on the future. The result has been that the recidivism rate among college graduates is well below 10%.

At the present time, inmates are given one year off their prison sentence for earning their associate degree and two years for a bachelor degree.  As indicated in the articles cited, the doubling of the education credit would appear to be a sensible way to reduce the prison population without endangering the public in view of the low recidivism rate of college graduates. Moreover, the increase in education credits would serve as an incentive to inmates to further their education.

Effects of Prisoner Education

  • Reduces re-incarceration

  • Reduces consequent taxpayer expenses

  • Reduces IDOC custody problems

  • Creates better abilities to communicate in life

  • Restores personal sense of self worth

  • Changes a person's focus from self by recreating one's ability to empathize with others

  • Creates a better citizen, and neighbor for safety

  • Replaces despair with hope

Most studies, such as one conducted by Boston University, show single digit numbers regarding return rates of those who complete post secondary education degrees. This is opposed to general population numbers of up to 65% return rates. That means these ex-prisoners are finding their place in society and paying taxes. Instead of being liabilities, they are now assets.

While involved in the education process, prisoners are the least difficult for prison officials to manage. It is much less difficult to guard a man who is doing his homework than it is prisoners engaged in other activities.

It is difficult to measure the importance of improved communication skills, which prisoners gain as a result of higher education. Instead of communicating with curses, threats, and violence they learn new and constructive ways to express themselves, ways that produce positive results both for themselves and society at large.

The sense of accomplishment that comes with obtaining a higher education displaces the sense of worthlessness many felt both before and after coming to prison.

The exposure to classes such as cross-cultural communications, interpersonal communications, psychology, philosophy, psychology of man, and sociology, forces prisoner students to think beyond themselves and created within them the ability to empathize with others. This is an essential part of rehabilitation.

The end result is a better citizen and neighbor for society in general. Hope replaces despair as prisoners learn that they can learn.

At the present time, inmates are given one year off their prison sentence for earning their associate degree and two years for a bachelor degree. As indicated in the articles cited, the doubling of the education credit would appear to be a sensible way to reduce the prison population without endangering the public in view of the low recidivism rate of college graduates.

David Dragon commented upon in the news items has been an outspoken advocate for increasing the educational time cuts for those inmates who have demonstrated their desire to improve themselves and whose behavior has been exemplary.  With states throughout the country desperately searching for ways to reduce the growing prison population, David has written several articles showing that educational time cuts to be one of the safest ways to effect this reduction.  Considering recidivism rates less than 10% for  inmates earning a college degree as compared with a 50% plus rate for inmates generally, the logic of his proposal deserves serious consideration.


     Shown below is a talk given by David Dragon at his college commencement graduation as valedictorian of his class.  

David Dragon's Keynote Address 2006