ilF JJortlanh © b seru er_________________________ Aprii 23.2008
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O pinion
Second Chance Act
Only the Beginning
Fixing a damaged
prison system
by Ji im ; e G re <; M athis
The United States prison
system has long focused on
punishm ent: lengthy se n ­
tences and ‘hard' lime; very
little attention has been placed
on rehabilitation. But things
are changing.
President Bush, with nearly unanimous
Democratic and Republican support, just
passed the Second Chance Act of 2007, a
law that would fund services and pro­
grams for ex-offenders. While more re­
mains to be done, the Act is a first step in
ensuring those individuals who pay their
debt to society have a fairchance at a fresh
This country incarcerates more indi­
viduals than any other; more than every
I in lOOAmericansisinprisonorjail. And
nearly half of them are black.
While we address the root
causes of the disproportionate
in carceratio n rates, A frican
Americans should applaud the
country's shift in thinking. A na­
tional focus on re-entry could help
our men and women, once re­
leased, stay home, reconnect with
their families and rebuild their
lives.
We should realize, however, that the
Act is not a miracle cure. The federal
government needs to spend more on
education, particularly in impoverished
areas. For years, the U.S. has spent
more money to incarcerate than it has
to educate. A solid education can help
keep people out of
prison.
The country also
needs to create a
widespread plan that
creates jobs for the
millions of Ameri­
cans w ho have
prison records. All
the training in the
world won’t make much of a difference if
there are no jobs available.
Offering tax credits to businesses that
hire ex-offenders is one solution. A na­
tional public-works project, similarto the
one that employed men right after World
War II, is another. Men and women, skilled
and unskilled, could repair America's ag­
ing cities.
Incarceration without rehabilitation
does not work. America is finally realizing
this and is taking baby steps in the right
direction. But it will take time, creative
solutions, adequate funding and a strong
commitment to reverse the damage a
prison system focused solely on punish­
ment has caused.
Incarceration without
rehabilitation does
not work.
start upon release.
Between 650,000 and 700.000 Ameri­
can men and women return home from
prison each year. Most of them are un­
der- or uneducated, have limited skills
and end up in the same neighborhoods
and situations that led them to crime in
the first place. Nearly half are re-incar­
cerated less than two years after their
release.
The cycle costs taxpayers millions -
and fattens the pockets of the private
corporations that build and supply pris­
ons - and strains state budgets.
Attempting to reverse the trend, the
Second Chance Act authorizes $362 mil­
lion to local governments and nonprofit
organizations that run programs designed
to help returning prisoners find jobs, hous­
ing, educational opportunities, drug coun­
seling and more.
Judge Mathis is national vice presi­
dent o f Rainbow PUSH and a national
board member o f the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference.
OREGON ASSOCIATION OF MINORITY
ENTREPRENEURS (OAME) CONFERENCE
& TRADE SHOW
May 8th, 2008
10:00am - 3:00pm
OR Convention Center
Register Early to Assure Your
Company Will Be Included!
Do not miss this fantastic opportunity to reserve exhibit spaces in the 20TH Annual
Conference and Luncheon and Trade Show at the Oregon Convention Center.
The OAME Trade Show is designed for purchasers/buyers from the Public and
Private agencies to network with minority, women and small businesses. It is
also an opportunity for minority, women and emerging small businesses to
showcase their products and services and to network.
Register now!!! Take advantage of this great opportunity to promote your business
and increase you're buying and selling options.
To reserve a booth or to purchase a luncheon ticket call the Oregon Association of
Minority Entrepreneurs, (503) 249- 7744 or visit our website www. oame. org
Towering Over his Opponents
Restoring our
respect with
Barack Obama
S herwood R oss
O f course, when fanatics c a n 't attack
a man for anything h e's actually done
th at's dow nright despicable, they'll go
after him for what h e's said, and if they
can’t find anything he’s said that's awlul
they'll go after him for what his friends
or associates have said.
Apparently, that’s why Fox News
has endlessly replayed those clips of
Sen. O bam a’s pastor saying controver­
sial things. All they can charge Obama
with is knowing the man. not exactly a
crime yet in America, and the Fox new s­
casters aren’t the least bit mollified that
Obama has repudiated Rev. W right's
com m ents that were offbase.
By contrast. Fox com m entators don’t
begin to hold Sen. McCain up to the
same standard they demand of O bam a’s
pastor. Bill O ’ Reilly sees nothing wrong
with M cC ain's vote Io launch an illegal
w ar against Iraq because O ’Reilly
backed that war. loo, and seemingly
swallowed the lies Bush told to start it.
As far as Fox News is concerned, it's
OK to make illegal wars and kill innocent
people. W hat’s not OK is to have a
pastor that condemns illegal wars in an
angry tone o f voice.
As this campaign drags on. I have
begun to suspect that Sen. Obama does
not believe in killing innocent people.
Recall that Sen. Clinton scolded him last
year for saying he would not use atomic
w eapons to go after terrorists. Obama
said he w ouldn’t do it as nukes might kill
civilians. Since the use of such w eap­
by
ons is prohibited by a treaty the United
States has signed, it’s an eminently
sensible position. Besides, when you
drop an atomic bomb, the fallout spreads
and who knows where it might wind up?
The Three-M ile Island debacle pales
beside the prospect of m ilitary use of a
nuclear weapon. But Clinton chided
O bam a for taking the nuclear "option"
off the table when, in fact, no such
option exists.
Now this is a very real and significant
difference between the candidates. As
much have your pick of jobs at many a
prestigious law firm and earn yourself a
bundle. Instead. Obama took a $ 13,000-
a-year post as head of a faith-based
com m unity organizing agency funded
by the C atholic Church and directed by
a church coalition.
A ccording to biographers, Obama
worked "to counteract the dislocation
and m assive unem ploym ent caused by
the closing and dow nsizing o f south­
east Chicago steel plants.”
So I ask you, who would want a man
Now this is a very real and significant
difference between the candidates. As far
as I can tell, Obama is the only one of the
three sane enough not to claim the right
to use banned atomic weapons.
far as I can tell, O bam a is the only one
of the three sane enough not to claim
the right to use banned atomic w eap­
ons.
Maybe th a t’s because, as a constitu­
tional scholar and form er University of
C hicago law school professor, Obama
believes in law and order. The Illinois
Fraternal O rder o f Police thought so
when it endorsed him for the Senate in
2004.
However, by their votes favoring an
illegal war, Sens. McCain and Clinton
have proved they are no respecters of
law and order, no more than is President
Bush, no more than is Fox News.
Speaking of the law, when you gradu­
ate m agnacum laudeand as president ot
the Harvard Law Review you can pretty
in the W hite House that actually be­
lieves in law and order, refuses to vote
for illegal wars, pledges not to drop
atomic bombs on civilians, works with
the church, and devotes his life to alle­
viating human suffering in preference
to enriching him self? (If you guessed
Bill O ’Reilly, guess again.)
Barack Obama is a candidate o f ex ­
ceptional intelligence who tow ers over
his opponents. If this country is lucky,
he may turn out to be that rare, transfor­
mative visionary capable o f restoring
the lost arts of American diplom acy and
possessing the considerable skills it
w ill re q u ire to b eat sw o rd s in to
ploughshares.
Sherwood Ross is a longtime civil-
rights activist.
NEW SEASO NS
M A R K E T
Macpherson Supports Treatment
In the race for Oregon Attorney General, Greg Macpherson is
y
the only candidate that has delivered real results in expanding drug
treatment. In 2005. Rep. Macpherson negotiated and passed a
bipartisan b ill that virtually ended meth labs in Oregon and added
AT A R B O R L O D G E
$8.5 m illio n for drug courts.
In 2007, Macpherson passed a b ill that funded the African-
y&7
are a reputar pharmacy!
/ W e fill p r e s c r ip tio n s - in c lu d in g a n tib io tic s ,
h ig h b lo o d p r e s s u r e m e d ic a tio n s ,
a n ti- d e p re s s a n ts , b irth c o n tro l, a n d m o re .
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w e h a v e k n o w le d g e a b le , frie n d ly p h a r m a c is ts
w h o h a v e th e tim e to s h a re in fo r m a tio n .
O u r p r ic e s a re c o m p e titiv e W e a c c e p t m o s t
in s u r a n c e p la n s a n d a re a d d in g o th e r s a s
r e q u e s te d .
I< W e
s p e c ia liz e in c u s t o m c o m p o u n d in g .
American Chamber’s Project Clean Slate, helping people in
recovery to get a fresh start and turn their lives around.
In February. Macpherson joined w ith fellow legislators, pros­
ecutors and law enforcement to offer voters a smart-on-crime
choice at the ballot box that includes longer sentences for repeat
property offenders and an historic expansion o f drug treatment
both in the com m unity and in prison. That measure offers voters
an alternative to the wrong-headed approach o f Kevin Mannix
whose misguided property-crime measure creates a gold-plated
revolving door in our prisons because it does nothing to address
addiction.
In the job o f Attorney General, we need someone who under­
stands how Oregon works and someone w ith the track record to
M o o t y o u r P h a r m a c is t
M el n d a B u tle r
Y O U R L O C A L L Y O W N E D , N E IG H B O R H O O D P H A R M A C Y A T A R B O R L O D G E
N IN T E R S T A T E A V E N U E & P O R T L A N D B L V D • 5 0 3 .4 6 7 .4 8 4 8
w w w .n e w s e a s o n s m a r k e t.c o m • M O N F R I 9 a m - 7 p m • S A T 9 a m - 6 p m • S U N 1 0 a m - 4 p m
deliver real results right away on drug treatment. That person is
Greg Macpherson.
Rep. Chip Shields
Northeast Portland