Prison blues

Go directly (back) to jail

THERE HAVE been a lot of newsworthy speeches this past week. A president going off-script. Actors accepting awards. Mayors giving updates on crime. Those speeches made the top of the news and the front pages. So you couldn’t have missed them. Others, however … .

We refer you to the story in the paper earlier this week in which Solomon Graves appeared. This secretary of Arkansas’ Department of Corrections spoke before a legislative committee, and once the words “legislative committee” appear in the paper, a lot of people tune out.

But this particular story was an exception, because the secretary told it with the bark off, wisely and accurately. As you might expect from somebody whose very name conjures visions of near biblical sagacity and solemn responsibility.

“Are we implementing programs that make us feel good? Or are we doing programs that do good?”

Secretary Graves was speaking about recidivism in this state’s prisons. But he could have been talking about many things.

The recidivism rate here is awful. People sprung from prison keep going back there. Most people who go to jail get out. Eventually. So the best prison systems aren’t just places to mark time, but to rehabilitate and even educate.

A person sent up for a year or two should come out with at least a diploma to show for it. And maybe even more. Just to make them a contributing member of society again, instead of somebody the rest of us have to pay to keep.

“Are we implementing programs that make us feel good? Or are we doing programs that do good?”

Solomon Graves told lawmakers that the recidivism rate for prisoners released in 2017 was more than 46 percent. One witness before the committee noted that up to 95 percent of those re-arrested (and thus counted among recidivism rates) are unemployed.

There is a case to be made that more effort should be undertaken among We the People to hire those who’ve paid their dues to the state. Other questions come up, such as: Are the prisons providing job training and education? Are they prepping people for job interviews? Are they teaming with private industry to ease former prisoners into the workforce?

That is: “Are we implementing programs that make us feel good? Or are we doing programs that do good?”

As the song says, it’s going to take money—a whole lot of spending money. But that money is nothing to how much it costs to keep somebody in custody. Again and again.

SPEAKING of spending money and Solomon Graves, he also said this to lawmakers, but it came at the end of our news story: “We don’t have enough maximum security beds.”

Putting people back on the path to citizenship is a prime responsibility for all corrections departments. But so is keeping people behind bars—not necessarily those we are mad at, but those we are scared of. And there are still a lot of them. They won’t be getting out any time soon. And may not want a high school diploma. Or any help at all.

The state is growing. So is its prison population. Some of that population is there for the long haul. More beds must be opened. So most Arkansans will agree with the governor, who earlier this year proposed adding beds to the system.

Those who are getting out, we should prepare.

For those who aren’t getting out, the rest of us should prepare.