April 20,2011
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Revolving Prison Doors Too Costly
It’s less expensive
to rehabilitate
the addict
J udge G reg M athis
If you, like me, believe
that prisons should be able
to punish offenders while
still preparing them for a
productive, crime free life once they are
released, then you must also believe that
prisons are failing. And they’re not just
tailing: they are costing the larger soci­
ety billions of dollars that could be put to
much better use.
by
Annual prison spending has risen from
$10 billion to $52 billion over the last
thirty years. Recent data from the Pew
Center on the States shows that the
additional money is clearly not going
to prisoner rehabilitation efforts. More
than 40 percent of inmates eventually
return to prison, most of them within
three years. The recidivism rate hasn’t
changed much in a decade and is a
strong sign that prisons aren’t doing
the best jo b they can to prepare of­
fenders for life outside of prison.
States around the country are grap­
pling with fiscal uncertainty and are
forced to cut programs that serve the
poor and elderly in order to balance their
budgets. These tactics, however, do not
take into consideration the needs of the
Critics would say that this approach is
people, nor do they protect the long-term soft on crime. No one is saying that
financial health of the state.
criminals should not be punished. It’s
What does? Investing in education. just more beneficial toeveryone involved
Many, if not the majority, of prison in­ if we punish them smartly.
mates did not graduate high school. By
To be fair, this strategy is not going to
catching students before they fall through save money overnight. The goal is to
the cracks and reducing the number of create a plan that is sustainable, one that
drop outs will, over time, reduce the will bring huge returns over the long
prison population and save the states term.
money.
Reducing prison costs by reducing
Sending low-level drug offenders to incarceration rates saves money so gov­
rehab instead of prison will also help. It’s ernments don’t have to cut services like
less expensive to rehabilitate an addict Medicaid and Medicare that the most
than it is to incarcerate them. Going this vulnerable in our communities rely upon.
route allows states to help those who
Greg Mathis is a retired Michigan
need it and reduce their prison costs at District Coart judge and is currently
the same time.
a syndicated television show judge.
What’s Wrong with this Picture?
Police misconduct
cases from Seattle
to Miami
T a R essa S tovall
W hat’s wrong with
this picture?
The U.S. Department
of Justice is investigat­
ing 15 local and state
p o lic e d e p a rtm e n ts
across the country for
by
leadership have been challenged by sev­ his hands. The wood carver was deaf.
In 2007, the downtown King County
eral city commissioners and victim s’ Nearly 150 people marched against po­
Jail in Seattle went through a similar
family members. Esposito said his offic­ lice brutality in response to W illiams’
investigation by DOJ, who required them
ers shoot only when they feel their lives murder.
to improve their treatment of inmates or
are threatened.
Other incidents include the repeated be sued.
New Orleans has faced its own que­ kicking of an African-American teen
These incidents and the ensuing in-
ries. A federal Department of Justice during an arrest inside a convenience vestigations force us to question the role
report on the New Orleans Police de­ store in October; and the pummeling of of law enforcement, particularly when
partment released in mid -M arch has
it
) U
,
r t3” Afr,can"Am encan man in a police dealing with persons of color, and why
T
Y * “ u
Y “ JU" e 2° 0 9 ' “ Which ° ff,cers ,he
o f Justice is forced to
competence and corruption that is in were cleared o f wrongdoing.
look into how blatant police brutality and
V
" These incidents and the ensuing
According to Assistant U.S.
Attorney General Thomas Perez,
who has oversight of the DOJ
Civil Rights Division, the invest!
gation is civil rather than crimi-
nal, with the goal of determining
whether there are systemic vio-
lationsoftheConstitutionoffed-
eral law by officers o f the Se-
aiuc ro n c e u ep a r
attle Police Department and to correct
any that are found.
The DOJ did not identify specific
investigations force us to question the
role of law enforcement, particularly
when dealing with persons o f color.
cases involving alleged
police brutality or mis-
z
z
/•
conduct, in many cases
of minorities.
From Seattle to M i­
am i, q u estio n s have
arisen whether officers of the law are need o f complete reform.
breaking rules in their pursuit of those
Seattle, long considered a racially tol-
theyiawSIT h 7 iv J i 3101 I°.be.break,ng eranthaven embracing diversity, is mak-
è
the law. The DOJ is now looking into
ing headlines for a recently-announced
S r n - - e d c a s e s o f p o ,ic e
incidents that prompted their investiea
non, but said, ¿ i r i n ^ s t i g a t i o n w S
in Miami between February
and last
last
ary ana
July. All o f the victims— six men and a
16-year-old boy— were black. All of the
officers are Latino. Some city leaders
and community activists have raised
questions about whether race was a
motive in any of the shootings.
In mid-February, the Miami NAACP
and the ACLU asked a civilian panel
wielding subpoena power to look into
shootings.
A former FBI agent is investigating
the safety record o f Miami police chief
Miguel A. Exposito whose judgment and
brutality.
Drutalitv.
In April 2010, a Seattle police officer
was videotaped stomping on and cursing
at a Latino man, threatening to “beat the
Mexican piss” out of him, during a rob-
bery investigation.
In June 2010, video o fa Seattle police
officer punching an African-American
teen girl in the face over a jaywalking
incident near a high school went viral,
In August 2010, police shot and killed
a Native American woodcarver who
was crossing the street with a block of
carving wood and a closed legal knife in
.ocuseu on ex.
R
eused on excess,ve use ° f force and
racial profiling.
*
• seems, in too many cases, to
injustice
have become the law of the land.
Beyond this seeming pattern of look-
*ng into potential police brutality looms
the larger, more urgent question: what
might com e o f the DOJ’s investiga-
tions? Have their findings made a differ-
ence in previous investigations?
And when, if ever, might persons of
color have the right to receive justice
from those beine Daid to
serve and
protect” ?
8 ?
TnRm y, n ■
the N A A C P L e g a l D efen se a n d E du-
c a tio n a l F und.
S u b s c r ib e
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