“We want more success stories like these. It’s good for everyone. It means less crime. It means less recidivism. It means less money spent on incarceration. It means less wasted tax payer money. It means police aren’t arresting the same folk over and over.” –President Barack Obama
Last week, TCNJ held a panel discussion where previously incarcerated individuals were able to discuss their views on the justice system and race in the United States. The panelists included Adam El-Sherbeini, Amarlis Diamond Rodriguez, and Ivelisse Gilestra.
Some important topics of discussion were the lack of rehabilitative services for prisoners, prisoner education, and how race plays a role in incarceration. To put these topics into perspective there are some statistics presented on PBS.org from SuspensionStories.com:
61% of the incarcerated population is black or Latino
1 out of every 3 African American males will be incarcerated in their lifetime
1 out of 6 Latino males will be incarcerated in their lifetime
68% of males in federal prison do not have a high school diploma
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics website, a 1994 study “estimated that within 3 years, 51.8% of prisoners released during the year were back in prison either because of a new crime for which they received another prison sentence, or because of a technical violation in their parole.”
It begins with neighborhoods such as Camden and Trenton, where instead of students having to repeat grade levels and courses until they have a sufficiency level to pass, they are pushed through. This leads them to enter life without the literacy and math skills that they need. When they are unable to find work or to enter higher education, they turn to other forms of income, such as selling drugs. This leads many to incarceration. While incarcerated, though there are supposed to be educational and rehabilitative programs to help aid prisoners in finding a smooth transition after prison, there are often long wait lists for these programs, and many times they do not receive this help.
As part of the emphasis on prisoner education, panelists discussed the NJ STEP program. NJ STEP provides prisoners an opportunity to receive a college education while incarcerated. Throughout their time in the prison they are able to complete their Associate’s degree. The final step of the STEP program is that the most accomplished students from the program are recruited to become students at Rutgers University where they are able to complete a Bachelor’s degree.
A conversation on race was brought about when a student present at the discussion asked the question “What drug are people most often arrested for possessing?”, to which the answer was crack. This is because there is harsher sentencing in place for crack than there is for cocaine which is meant to disadvantage the minority, less educated, and poorer population. “Crack and cocaine are nearly identical at the molecular level, but people who are charged with possession of 1 gram of crack are given the same sentence as those in possession of 18 grams of cocaine.” (Vocativ.com) This disparity is even a drastic improvement, before the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, the difference was 1 gram of crack versus 100 grams of cocaine.
Also touched on was how difficult it is for prisoners families to visit, and how expensive phone calls are. It becomes easy to feel isolated. The panelists discussed how much of a difference it makes when tutors, students, and professors are able to go into the prisons and provide support. It reminds them that there is a world out there. Taylor Scott, a Bonner Scholar who attended the discussion said in reference to educators in the prison “It sends the message, ‘you may be here, but the world didn’t forget you’”.
Special thanks to Taylor Scott, who attended the panel and provided her thoughts and insight.