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Prison Reform
We hope an ongoing and informed conversation will eventually create a path for meaningful reforms at the state level.
The Trump administration is currently pursuing prison reform, but it only applies to federal prisons. We as Wisconsin citizens need to pursue our own reforms at the state level. |
Stats
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There are approximately 24,000 people currently incarcerated in Wisconsin. Of those, only 5% have life sentences. For those who claim, “Prison reform will just overwhelm our communities with felons,” here is a fact: 95% will eventually be released back into the community even without reforms.
There are approximately 66,000 former Wisconsin prison inmates currently living in the community. Of those:
Reforms are needed to better prepare men and women for successful reintegration into society once released back into the community. This includes:
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Discussion
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A "hardened” criminal argument often scares people out of considering reform. Keep in mind that individuals found guilty of the most heinous crimes are typically in the 5% with life sentences. No meaningful reform would release those individuals into the community. That said, treatment should still be available to those individuals as well, because some of them committed their crimes while significantly impaired by substances. Even if they’re never going to be released from prison, treating these prisoners' underlying mental health issues is relevant to the safety and security of the inmates and staff in the prisons where they are housed. Of the 14% in the community who are categorized as “high risk,” the current probation and parole system elevates their supervision compared to those not categorized as high risk. And risk assessment is ongoing while under supervision. The whole point of incarceration is to remove some of the basic privileges and liberties that come with being a free and contributing member of a civil society. Advocating for incarcerated persons to be able to vote seems far more like a political strategy than a reasonable prison reform policy. Incarceration is at its core about removing one’s freedoms for a period of time as punishment for criminal behavior. And it is also about “correction,” which is what our current system is lacking and needs reforming. Also, because “correction” is fundamentally a psychological endeavor, psychologists and psychiatrists should play a much larger role - a leadership role - in the development and implementation of correctional policies and practices, in collaboration with security professionals of course. We would benefit enormously and make greater strides if we accurately viewed our prisons as behavioral/psychological rehabilitation institutions -- especially given the fact that 95% of inmates are released. As such, mental health professionals need to have a solid seat at the administrative Executive's table. |
Articles
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ACE Questionnaire
https://www.ncjfcj.org/sites/default/files/Finding%20Your%20ACE%20Score.pdf ACE Study Summary https://www.preventchildabuse.org/images/docs/anda_wht_ppr.pdf Dept. of Corrections Stats https://doc.wi.gov/Pages/DataResearch/DataAndReports.aspx |
Books |
The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma https://www.amazon.com/dp/0143127748/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_7XqUCbA972HPM
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption https://www.amazon.com/dp/081298496X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_NYqUCbH37YA96 The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma https://www.amazon.com/dp/0143127748/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_7XqUCbA972HPM
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption https://www.amazon.com/dp/081298496X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_NYqUCbH37YA96 |
Quotes
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"Love your neighbor as yourself" (Christ)
“Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life” (St. Francis of Assisi, Prayer of Peace). “It never hurts to see the good in someone. They often act the better because of it” (Nelson Mandela). "The most depraved type of human being … (is) the man without a purpose" (Ayn Rand) "Only the unloved hate; the unloved and the unnatural" (Charlie Chaplin). "It is easier to build strong children than repair broken men" (Frederick Douglass). “Your wound is probably not your fault, but your healing is your responsibility” (Denice Frohman). “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them" (Albert Einstein). “Normal reactions to abnormal circumstances look abnormal” (Not Known). "We are all implicated when we allow other people to be mistreated. An absence of compassion can corrupt the decency of a community, a state, a nation. Fear and anger can make us vindictive and abusive, unjust and unfair, until we all suffer from the absence of mercy and we condemn ourselves as much as we victimize others. The closer we get to mass incarceration and extreme levels of punishment, the more I believe it's necessary to recognize that we all need mercy, we all need justice, and-perhaps-we all need some measure of unmerited grace" (Bryan Stevenson, Just Mercy). "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it" (Aristotle) "No one - not the dying, not the outcast, not the mighty - transcends the need for human contact" (Yalom) "The sufferer’s perspective determines whether a given realm is a vehicle for awakening or for bondage" (Mark Epstein) “In the end, you tried and you cared, and sometimes that is enough“ (not known). |