Prisoners: Punishment or preparedness?

Prisoners: Punishment or preparedness?
Posted: April 25, 2015 - 6:30pm

By WENDY TATTER
ST. AUGUSTINE
Yesterday, that man standing next to you at the store was in a Florida prison.

Today, as a convicted felon, he will have a hard time finding a job. Although he worked in prison for many years, there was no monetary compensation. Unless he has help from family or friends, he will be desperate. Although he has served his time and been released, he will never be allowed to vote.

You probably never gave any of this much thought. Neither did I, until my son went to prison.

There are about 102,466 inmates in correctional institutions in Florida. On average, 33,515 go in each year, and 33,188 will be released. Of those released, 46 percent will be back inside within three years.

There is no denying that our prisons are overcrowded. The lawmakers in Florida are directly responsible for this. Mandatory sentencing (10 years for first felony, 20 for the second and 30-to-life for the third) is taking away discretion of the judge to decide on a lesser sentence for extenuating circumstances. It has stretched the overcrowding to the breaking point.

Changing the time served requirements from 65 percent of the sentence before 1994, to 85 percent required now, has also greatly increased the inmate population.

In 1994, our lawmakers decided to do away with parole. This makes it easier to return to criminal behavior after release. Programs are provided in some facilities, but instead of earning days off the sentence, which is incentive to have good behavior, inmates are given a paper certificate. Why bother? Education is discouraged. Books are thrown away, personal property destroyed. Waste and abuse is rampant.

My son has been in prison for five years now. He has three more to go. He committed a crime and deserved to pay for that crime, as do most inmates. In these five years, I’ve learned a lot about the system. It’s broken.

The correctional institutions here in Florida have become punishment facilities.

I met with the heads of the Department of Corrections in Tallahassee to express my concerns. They said I was “preaching to the choir” — that to make a difference, the laws would have to be changed.

To that end, I have given up my art gallery and am working to educate Floridians about changes we need to make. Instead of helping and encouraging inmates in a new way of approaching society, we are perpetuating the cycle of criminal behavior. Think about it.

Wouldn’t it be better to prepare inmates for a different future? Wouldn’t it be better if that man next to you at the store had a better chance at a law-abiding, productive and good life?