Torture Instead of Education
Uncategorized
March 15, 2010 by Rev. Bonnie Young. Reposted from: http://avoiceforjuvenileprisonreform.kingscrossingfoundation.com/
I received a very disturbing e-mail this week. It was from a fellow advocacy organization sending out an action alert for the state of Colorado. It seems that after our Governor called for drastic budget cuts across the board because of our fiscal shortfall, the Colorado Department of Corrections has asked for $10 million dollars to open one tower of CSPII. CSPII will be Colorado’s second supermax facilitythat will be even more debilitating and oppressive than the current facility (CSP) that is in operation. All visiting at CSPII will be done via video. This will eliminate all human contact.
While DOC tries to justify the need for this facility and this severe level of incarceration, their arguments do not hold water. The truth is that Colorado uses administrative segregation more than any other state in the country except for Ohio. The truth is that DOC has empty beds right now in many facilities around the state. This means that offenders currently housed in administrative segregation at CSP or Sterling Correctional facility could be placed back in general population. The truth is that DOC over uses the practice of administrative segregation for any level of infraction, including the most minor violation of DOC rules.
The truth is that we do not want to be known for torturous practices in this state. There is a growing movement away from the use of this form of punishment because it has been researched, documented and confirmed that such disciplinary action actually causes more harm to individuals and decreases their ability to interact in a social environment. The truth is that this form of disciplinary practice causes mental illness. Individuals, including members of our military, have recounted the deterioration of their mental processes and cognition when housed in solitary confinement.
Aside from all of the facts concerning the use of administrative segregation comes the bottom line issue. It seems that our elected officials value prison facilities more than they value education. It seems that there is a special place for 10 million dollar requests from DOC when our school districts are cutting millions of dollars from their budgets.
It is time that we begin placing our focus and emphasis on the programs and systems that create stronger communities, and that begins by creating stronger individuals. Education, treatment programs, rehabilitation programs, housing, employment and a state that is focused on creating long term stability for our future is what we need.
We have followed the direction and decisions of our lawmakers and we are reaping the results of those decisions. We all believed the experts that said there was a coming generation of super predators and we needed to prepare our prisons for them. We believed our law makers when they declared a war on drugs and we believed them when they said they were going to significantly reduce the availability and use of drugs in America. We believed them when they spouted their tough on crime platforms and how they were going to make America a safer place to live. We allowed them to fill us with fear and foreboding and gladly gave up our freedoms and humanity so that we could feel more secure.
We have 25 years of history to review concerning these political platforms. History proves that we didn’t have anything to be afraid of. Our communities remain as safe as they were when these political messages came forth, meaning that we have not experienced a significant increase or decline in our crime rates or addiction in this country. The laws (mandatory minimums, 3 strikes your out, longer prison sentences) have not produced the results that our law makers promised. The huge prison expansion that this country has seen (and paid for) has only created and increased a new population of Americans called OFFENDERS.
We will spend close to Three Quarters of a Billion dollars on corrections this year in the state of Colorado (operating and capitol expense budget requests, probation and parole). The numbers for the nation are even more astounding. According to the PEW Charitable Trust report “1 in 31″, the United States spent 68 Billion dollars on corrections, parole and probation in 2008. By the way, Colorado has the distinction of having 1 person for every 29 citizens under the jurisdiction of DOC.
Our crime rates have changed little and the safety in our communities remains the same. Our communities are not stronger and our criminal justice system does not rehabilitate or “correct” the behavior of those in their charge. Treamment, rehabilitation and education is less than 5% of DOC’s budget. The focus is purely on warehousing….with a very high price tag.
Our education systems, whether elementary, secondary or higher education, have all cut their budgets steadily over the last decade. We have eliminated or drastically reduced programs that care for the disabled, the abused, the neglected, the homeless and the elderly leaving them to their own devises so that they may survive.
BUT WE STILL FUND PRISONS. So my question is why? What do our lawmakers and officials stand to gain from funding more prisons? What is the cost to all of us? Why is Colorado opening another prison facility (and a very expensive one) when other states are closing prison facilities?
I ask you to join me in calling for spending that creates healthy communities. With limited dollars available for our state budgets, we need to make every dollar count. We need to hold our law makers accountable for their actions and votes. We need to focus on the members of our community that are not housed in correctional facilities so that they become strong and successful. We need to be sure that we are focused on those who are at risk so that they do not fail and find themselves on a path to prison.
Then we need to focus on rehabilitating and holding accountable, those who have made wrong choices. We need to give them the tools, the opportunity and the requirement to make better choices for their future. While those held in prison may have broken the law, they are also capable of rehabilitating their lives and becoming successful members of our communities. This means we will not pay for their housing or care….They will pay their own way and have confidence in knowing they can succeed.
If you would like more information on the practice of solitary confinement please click on the links below. If you would like to contact the members of the Joint Budget Committee in Colorado, the links are provided.
Colorado Members of Joint Budget Committee -
jack.pommer.house@state.co.us moe.keller.senate@state.co.us mferrandino@yahoo.com rep.kent.lambert@comcast.net abel.tapia.senate@state.co.us senatorwhite@earthlink.net
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1 in 29 people under the thumb of the prison system. This is a very sad number. Sad for the taxpayer, sad for the state of Colorado. We are on the road to bankruptcy as it is, why accelerate the process by incarcerating people who can be rehabilitated and made into productive members of society? If there is one true thing about teenagers, it is that they are capable of changing like the wind. A “bad” kid one day will suddenly be a “good” kid the next. By sending such mercurial beings into the cesspool of our prison system, we are setting them up for a lifetime of crime and failure.