What is about to happen to Paul could almost be considered a crime in itself.  He is about to be thrown into the waiting arms of a mostly uncaring, unknowing public.  A public that largely has no knowledge of the workings of our Criminal Justice System and unless they have a dog in the fight aren’t interested in what happens to Paul or others, many others just like him. A few will complain about the cost of the prison system to the taxpayer or decry the high rate of recidivism but most citizens are not aware of these issues at all.

 After seventeen years Paul is about to return to a world in which he will find that he no longer even speaks the language.  Think of all of the advances in technology in the last seventeen years.  Computers, iPods, Blackberry’s’, Internet, Blogs, Amazon, Debit Cards, self-checkout at the local Wal-Mart and this does not even scratch the surface.  What training has Paul been offered to enable him to live in this new world?  Probably not very much.  Some prisons still do not have computers available for inmate use.  Not for corresponding with their families and not for training.  As Michael said, they can learn knitting and guitar picking. 52 seems a little old to start a career as a rock star but then you never know. 

 How many of the skills required to live in this new world do you think Paul can acquire while he is so generously being allowed to spend five months in a halfway house?  He has just spent seventeen years with pretty much nothing to do but learn if he had been given the tools. Yet now he is expected to, in five months and while working at a job, if he can find one, learn all that he needs to know to be a productive member of society while that society throws every roadblock imaginable in his path.  I am not going to attempt to enumerate all of the obstacles he will face but, he will have difficulty finding meaningful employment and this is above and beyond his lack of marketable skills, he can’t work on a Federal facility, not even on a minimum wage job for an approved contractor, can’t get loans, can’t, can’t, can’t and on and on he will continue to be punished.  This man has supposedly paid his full debt to society yet he will continue being punished for the rest of his life.  If he makes it, it will be a miracle and if he fails, well…….we all know the answer to that and society will shout out about the high recidivism rate once more.

 What, you may ask is our government and the Bureau of Prisons doing to alleviate this situation?  Not much.  Oh, they passed the Second Chance Act of 2007 (HR1593), which became PUBLIC LAW 110–199—APR. 9, 2008.  There has been some funding allocated by the house for State and Federal re-entry programs. I don’t know if the Senate has approved the funding or how much if any has been spent.  The one bright spot that so many in the Federal System had pinned their hopes on was the provision that allowed the BOP to consider up to 12 months in a halfway house.  The gross mistake made by the authors of the bill was that the wording said “may” consider 12 months rather than “shall.”  BOP rejected this provision out of hand crushing the hopes of families all across the nation.  Paul is lucky to be allowed 5 months HWH.  Inmates at some institutions are only considered for 3 months.  Is anyone asking congress or BOP why?  Some have but with no response.  There are several bills pending before congress right now that would further relieve the situation facing those like Paul.  Among these are H.R. 1475 the “Good Time Bill,” a bill to re-instate Federal Parole is rumored to be pending introduction and if it were in effect as it should be, Paul, in all likelihood, would have already been released.  Then there is H. R. 1529, another “Second Chance” bill that will give ex- offenders like Paul a real opportunity to regain his place in society.

 Many of our politicians talk the talk but when the time comes to do the right thing they fail miserably.  There are a few like Senator Jim Webb, Congressmen Scott and Davis who genuinely appear to be trying to change things. Then there are those who year after year, introduce bills that hold great promise, tell their constituents what a good job they are doing and then watch as the bills die from lack of support.  A case in point is the aforementioned H.R. 1529.  This bill has been introduced six times.  Introduced to every session of congress since the year 2000 and in every session it has died in subcommittee.  In the current session, unlike previous sessions, the bill has no co-sponsors. Research into the reasons for this lack of support has indicated, almost beyond doubt, that there are no co-sponsors because none were solicited.  Yet the sponsor continues with business as usual leading the hundreds of petition signers, nearly 1000 on this site and others, writers of letters of support, etc. to believe that he is doing everything in his power to move this bill through to passage.  Repeated request to the sponsor, including visits to his office, and to the committee chair for information by supporters have gone unanswered.  At a very important symposium last week, sponsored by the CBC, Representatives Waters and Scott were present to discuss their legislation while others were notably absent. The callous disregard of “We The People” by our elected officials must be stopped.

 If you are reading this I must assume that you have an interest in these matters.  If you are interested you may ask,  “How can I help?”  You can help by joining the fight.  Write your congressperson.  Tell them that you are tired of the lies, tired of being taken for granted, tired of canned responses that have nothing to do with the issue at hand.  They will tell you that there is no bill before and there is nothing they can do.  Do not accept that answer, Demand that they take action, make them ask questions and give you answers. Ask why they do not volunteer co-sponsorship to worthy legislation. Tell them that these are not partisan issues. Tell them that these are human issues that should be beyond politics.  Ask questions and continue to ask until you are satisfied with the answer.  Ask why bills like H.R. 1529 that so many support and are depending on for relief are improperly handled yet no other person on the committee or subcommittee raises the question why?  Ask yourself why do we continue to send these people back to congress year after when it is clear that they have become so entrenched in the system that their only concern is for their own self interest and re-election.  Tell them that “We The People” are watching and are not going to stand for it any longer.

 And to Paul, good luck my friend.  Perhaps our leaders will come to their senses and do the right thing before it is too late for you.

Thanks Michael for this post