The Re-entry Con Game

Prior to his inauguration, amidst much fanfare, then Governor-Elect Bob McDonnell visited the Henrico County Jail to announce that under his administration a partnership would be formed with the private sector and faith based organizations for the re-entry of inmates back to their community.

The hearts and minds of thousands of inmates languishing in Virginia’s prisons were suddenly buoyed that finally a politician had been elected who gave a damn.  It was surprising, no astounding, that the politician was a “tough on crime” conservative, born-again Christian, Republican.  Within weeks of his inauguration, a huge “Re-entry Initiative” was printed at a cost of thousands of dollars and who knows how many trees.

But, it appears that after months of talk about re-entry, Governor McDonnell’s plan is nothing but a sophisticated snake oil sale.  Nothing about McDonnell’s plan is different from the past.  Bob McDonnell is long on words and short on action.

As I sit here at Lunenburg, a facility specifically designated as a “re-entry center”, I can assure you the exact same “transition out program” used for years before McDonnell’s election is still the same program used today.  Nothing different.  Nothing new.

The old “Breaking Barriers” program, a touchy feely group exploration of why “we” break the law has been replaced with “thinking for a change”.  Same poor program taught by prison “counselors” (who are a joke).  The name changed but the content remained the same. 

Even worse, Lunenburg is now being managed by a warden who plays no role in the day to day operation of the facility and by an assistant warden who actually scoffs at the notion of inmate programs.  In other words, DOC has placed management of one of its re-entry facilities in the hands of people who are opposed to re-entry.  Is it any wonder approximately one third of Virginia’s inmates re-offend within three years of release?

My friend in “Alaska” has been taking me to task for the great waste of resources used on prisoners who never even admit their culpability for their crimes and see themselves as the victims.  I couldn’t agree with you more “Alaska”.  Almost every day I have some guy come up to me and say “I didn’t do it” or “the Commonwealth attorney paid off the judge”.  Most inmates won’t accept responsibility for their behavior, won’t seek forgiveness for their wrongs, and won’t apologize to their victims.  And the reason, quite simply, is because people that do that suffer worse at the hands of the system.

What “Alaska” wants I think, is what I have called for almost from the inception of this blog, implementation of restorative justice principles, not retribution.  Founded on Biblical tenets, it was what Bishop Tutu used in South Africa and what is leading to societal reconciliation in Burundi and Rwanda.  And, it is the exact opposite of what we do in our prisons.

Over and over I am told by well meaning people inside and outside of these walls that for “a smart man” I was “foolish” for (1) admitting my wrongdoing the day I was questioned without even asking for counsel; (2) pleading guilty to all charges brought without requiring proof of the “loss” or any sentencing deal.  I’m looked at as a fool because I apologized to the court, my employer, my wife, children, parents and friends and told the judge I deserved prison time.

“What were you thinking?  “Why would you give everything to your wife knowing she would divorce you?  Why would you apologize to an employer who was calling the prosecution demanding you get one hundred years?”  When I tell them I did what the Lord requires us to do when we fail, I’m met with “the Lord sure didn’t tell the judge to be just did he?”

Inmates and accuseds will never accept the idea of remorse, of just punishment, and of rehabilitation, as long as the system is so blatantly unfair.  Sentences bear no relationship to the crime committed and in many instances are products of an accused’s race and class.

A book that draws widespread attention in prisons is Michelle Alexander’s “The New Jim Crow”.  In it, Ms. Alexander argues quite persuasively that prisons in modern America have replaced the plantation model of pre-civil war America for black men.  I’ve read the book.  It is disturbing and insightful and correct.  White, middle class teens committing the same crime as impoverished black teens receive substantially shorter sentences.  And once in prison, inmates (a majority of which are African American) are put to work doing dangerous, harmful work for slave wages.  During the Gulf Oil spill, for example, thousands of Louisiana inmates were put to work handling carcinogenic laced oil without adequate safety measures and without pay.  Here at Lunenburg, VCE (Virginia Corrections Enterprises) operates a furniture shop in an un-air-conditioned shop.  Inmates build furniture for state universities for 55 to 85 cents an hour.  That furniture is then sold to those schools (who must buy it even though furniture from private manufacturers is less expensive).

The system should be built on the simple, yet all important premise, of restoring the lawbreaker – where possible – to the community as a whole person.  To do that requires the law breaker to admit their wrong, reflect on why they did it, apologize to the victim, where possible make restitution to the victim and be reconciled to the community.

This process isn’t accomplished by giving a man fifteen years with no hope of early release and in his fourteenth year sending him to a ten week “transition out program”.  All that time before is wasted, making the inmate more embittered, feeling more victimized himself.

Governor McDonnell needs to quit selling snake oil and really make prison matter.  Reinstate early release and tie it specifically to the principles of restorative justice outlined above.  Make prison an effective method of correction, not a dumping ground based on punitive principles.  Inmates will change when they see the sincerity, not the hypocrisy, in the system.