Offer true rehabilitation before parole

Re: “Parole violations drop 50% in 6 years,”

Feb. 25 news story

Rehabilitating prisoners is a lot like raising children. A good parent/program will restrain a child/offender and enforce the responsible behavior necessary to succeed as an adult. At the same time the parent/program will provide education and training to develop necessary success skills. Eventually, the child/offender internalizes the behavior norms and uses those skills to become a successful adult.

By contrast, Colorado fails miserably in rehabilitating offenders. Any person who spends several years in prison should come out with a GED, job skills, and personal success skills learned in courses like anger management. However, Colorado does not put in the resources to make those courses available in every prison unit.

Then, we follow up with a parole system that no longer punishes people for getting drunk, doing drugs, or just walking away from the program. How can anyone internalize behavior norms when we do not require responsible behavior? Given that environment, we should not expect any prisoner to be rehabilitated. The fact that some offenders succeed despite the obstacles is a testament to their courage and determination.

— Ray Harlan, Denver

You buried the lede in your story about parole violations. Suppose drug and alcohol violations are the main contributors, and treatment is both more effective and less expensive than incarceration. Why wasn’t the pitiful lack of treatment options the focus of the article?

Are we looking for solutions or simply revenge?

— Steve Caplan, Durango

It seems a lot like marketing a 6-ounce can of soda and bragging that “it has only one-half of the calories of our regularly sized soda!”

— Joe Pickard, Littleton