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I listened to about 35 minutes of this morning’s Sound of Ideas show about Ohio’s burgeoning prison population. Some very important issues were addressed by people who spoke with detail about the reasons why this population grows and who makes up that population. But only one caller even grazed over the point that I most would have liked to have heard discussed: non-prisoner’s perceptions of the ex-cons.
We can talk all we want about where we put offenders, why we put which ones where and for how long, and what we do with them while they’re there.
But the fact is, just as with so many other issues, the people we elect to our statehouse are the people whose perceptions end up deciding which legislation relative to the prison population or potential prison population is going to become law. And if those people find it politically expedient to hype up all crimes and the criminals who commit them as acts and people that should be regarded with fear, then why the hell would anyone expect us to then, upon release and re-entry, no longer think those crimes committed and those people who committed them should no longer be feared?
Rationally, we should be realizing that not all of them are to be feared – they are their own worst enemy, not ours. And yet what do we do? What do we legislate that we should do?
More, and more restrictive laws are passed that prevent people who are released and re-enter society from getting work. I did an independent study nearly 30 years ago on juvenile recidivism (while I was technically a juvenile myself) and the number one reason contributing to recidivsm for these kids, whose records weren’t even permanent? They couldn’t get jobs. Why not? Because they were perceived as being “bad” because they’d been adjudicated delinquent.
WE decide what’s a crime with our votes, by who we vote for, because our elected officials are the ones who decide what goes into the criminal code for the state of Ohio or, in regard to our congress, at the federal level.
I would like to see a follow-up Sound of Ideas program that brings in legislators and policy makers, that brings in experts who have studied how the law and the implementation of the law has been tinkered with to impact both prison population rates but far more importantly, successful, permanent re-entry. And what programs in our communities, broad-based and widely implemented programs, are being launched to replace the total fear many politicians seek to instill in us about any all bad acts and bad actors so that we are eternally pre-disposed to ever giving anyone with any kind of record another try.
By Jill Miller Zimon at 10:56 pm December 3rd, 2008 in Cleveland+, Courts, Crime, Law, Ohio, Politics, Social Issues, Statehouse, WCPN/SOI
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9 Responses to “Ohio’s prison population: fear takes control again”
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Jobs lots of them…a purpose. Crime prevention, make thing safer, make thing either theft proof or monitored closely.
A living wage is imperative, and those that fall below that lowest wage should be some how unable to manage, not do to lack of work do to lack of capability.
If one third of the population has a household income between 25-50 thousand dollars then everything that is a necessity must be available to them. For some to be able to get over 20 thousand a year is nearly impossible and to exist at that level your destined to fail.
Somebody must own a calculator? Twenty thousand is $9.00 an hour and most cannot attain it and if they do they cannot exist at that level. If they do it is in squalor surrounded in blight.
The result of a long chain of events, the question keeps being asked how do you change the last link?
Housing is the largest necessity, it needs to be clean safe and affordable and exist in clean safe and affordable neighborhoods. The lowest incomes produces no return, if you build housing and charge nearly nothing you never get that investment back.
Building at a breakeven and finding the living wage will bring about fuller employment and reduce the need for housing that losses money.
If it does not exist at the breakeven, if the price is not affordable to the majority at a break even then the market is outside of limits and needs to be adjusted.
It’s demonstrated in the excesses, and a fallacy of need and those that exist beyond need. If some cannot earn it if they cannot archive it, they will just take it.
The lowest level of housing is prison.
The president is poised to release money, the smartest green is efficiency that being in housing. Using less energy and then also in transportation, requiring less and using mass transit. Its not wind mills not until everything else is efficient. Reduce each node, that is you and me, its a household.
He is calling for regionalism asking for each state to draw up a plan, then each state should ask for the same and in Ohio it should focus on regional efficiency. In each region it breaks down to you and me and the household.
That money needs to be used to create jobs, and those jobs need to create better neighborhoods that are highly efficient and well thought out. The key is low cost housing without limits, the best for less. The people that build and renovate the housing live in it and the surrounding commerce support it.
You tell the high school students this is what we are doing and this is how you can get involved. They then take ownership and the pride that prevents them from thoughts of crime.
Shalom Jill,
That’s true, you’re absolutely correct.
The one glaring fact that destroys any idea that America is a Christian nation is the simple reality that we very rarely forgive our criminals, regardless of what society-mandated hoops they may jump through.
B’shalom,
Jeff
[...] Ohio’s prison population: fear takes control again Posted in [...]
The focus needs to be on employment before the crime is committed. If it is in fact the lack of opportunity that causes the criminal behavior then increased opportunity will reduce crime.
What amazes me is that people cannot see the work that needs to be done.
The problems with blankets of forgiveness is that of opportunity for the repeat offenders, that may capitalize on a venue you allowed them access to.
Job codes, real ID cards and linked datasets. Certain offenses obviously should exclude certain employment.
I am not interested in any more secrets under the guise of privacy, part of selecting the best candidate pretty much excludes felons.
I believe its the decadence and the flaunting of it that drives crime, I think the just recourse is offering more for less.
Then you have this fortress of the liberal rich, that manipulate with so many words on so many pieces of paper.
Victims offer forgiveness, not Judges. Forgive and forget is a precursor to anarchy. Get to the root of the problem. That’s getting people to have some pride and dignity and too much self respect to subject themselves to prison and the life that follows incarcerations.
You people are not good Sheppard’s, you tend to the flock on the edge of cliff. You want to tie ropes to their legs and if they fall off you can drag them back. I chase them into the valley and you lead them back to the cliff…why?
Shalom Oengus,
It is precisely forgiveness that judges offer; the official forgiveness of a crime after the criminal has made full restitution by completing the judicial sentence.
At the end of that sentence, our laws say we’re even.
Very early in her career, writer Marge Piercy created a society where The Rule of Law said: two strikes and you’re dead.
It worked like this.
Commit a crime and you were allowed to make restitution, promise to never commit another crime and return to society.
Commit a second crime and, having proven that your word was no good, you were deemed defective and promptly executed; the idea being that no criminal should be a cost burden to society.
I much prefer a system of Justice and Mercy to one driven solely by Justice.
B’shalom,
Jeff
This topic is really really difficult because Lorain/Elyria became a dumping ground ….. a couple of years back and because of follow up through the Adult parole authority I have been following this particular situation and it is still happening.
You can access RSO’s and we were getting 10 a day into this community from the State with a program called “Independent Housing” which paid a non profit to house them for 30 to 90 days to aclimate them into the community (these were not returning to their home town people.)
Then when the time was up at the “group home” they put them out on the street, some ended up in shelters some in the cardboard box city near the bridge, some ended up involved in major drug busts and rapes ( all in a year) ….these were the trackable.
I wrote many articles and reports on this at the time I spoke to the “Bureau of Community Sanctions” a huge agency that heads these programs asking why are your sending literally hundreds of people into this community ..apparently we have the greatest number of social service agency’s and affordable housing BUT we have no jobs for citizens without a criminal record so I said you are setting them up to fail that I was told is not their problem they have served their time …….
.. and fail they have .too long to post here but I have been tracking and usually with the really bad guys a RSO is only part of their criminal record ….. I have seen the results and according to the Bureau there are thousands and thousands being released due to the end of mandatory sentencing cycles coming to an end….
check out your county for those on parole
http://www.drc.state.oh.us/OffenderSearch/Search.aspx
and check out family watch dog site over lay that with the foreclosures and the unemployment stats for your community
I asked why Lorain was seen as a suggested destination and was told ( even by some of the people with various records during interviews) “other communities that do have employment opportunities won’t accept them”….
so we have clustering , no jobs, and an aging population that quite frankly is easy pickins…5 houses down from my mother has now housing 2 rapists) robbery and assault) , one drug dealer sexual battery , 2 on parole…. and those are just the trackable…….. and yes the house was broken into for the first time in 30 years whilst they went to the store….( and no I am not pointing fingers I am just saying coincidence??? you tell me …….
Trying this again.I wrote a rather lengthy post on the situation here in Lorain. We became a dumping ground through a program called “Independent Housing”( this program pays a non profit a contracted amount per night to sleep the released RSO’s ( it was very lucrative for the non profit involved) through the “Bureau of Community Sanctions” which over sees prisons releases among other aspects.
We in Lorain city were receiving 10 RSO’s a day ( and please remember that being a RSO is usually only “part” of their record- these were not people returning home but being sent to a community . After the 30 -90 days that BCS paid for their housing was up they were left to go into the neighborhoods, some ended up homeless, some in shelters, some under the bridge and some back in prison and some are in our neighborhoods…. there are thousands being released from Ohio’s prisons due to the mandatory sentencing cycle coming to an end….
They were sent here because of affordable housing , a great number of social service agencies etc.
I asked why Lorain when we have no jobs even for people without a criminal records because other communities won’t accept them and although they don’t specifically target an area they tell the inmates where they “won’t” be accepted ( according to the people I interviewed)
I told the Bureau of Com Sanc you are setting these people up to fail by pointing them into these communities and quite frankly we have some “bad dudes” being imported into Lorain ( not good for them or for us)
I did go into more detail in my other post but I suggest you look at the “family watch dog site” overlay those areas with housing foreclosures and unemployment and check out the Adult Parole authority
http://www.drc.state.oh.us/OffenderSearch/Search.aspx
Well it seemes the other post made it too sorry for the double dip Loraine