So Many Victims

Today I sat at chow looking out over the sea of faces around me, many of whom I know, at least to some degree. Many of these men are "normal" men who, for reasons I'll never know, made some very stupid decisions in their lives. This prison alone holds over 1,400 men and, combined with other Michigan prisons, the state has roughly 45,000 prisoners incarcerated. 

As I ran these numbers in my mind I began to sense the overwhelming impact each prisoner had on his or her victims, families, loved ones, and communities. If all 45,000 prisoners only affected one victim, that's still over 45,000 victims represented. Many prisoners have more than one victim so the number is really much higher. Add to this the wives (or husbands), children, parents, siblings, and other family and friends and the number of people affected by crime skyrockets. When one factors in the impact on the communities each prisoner represents, the true human cost of crime reaches into the millions of people in Michigan alone. 

The unfortunate reality is that prisons are a revolving door. Crime takes no holidays. But the over-incarceration policies and practices of the last two decades do nothing to address the problem. Instead, lengthy prison terms serve only to deal with the symptoms of a greater problem. 

Policy makers are beginning to realize that long incarceration does not create safer communities, or serve any rehabilitative purpose. My hope is that new policies and practices will be put into place that address the causes of crime and prepare those released from prison to not just avoid crime, but to become productive, contributing members of their communities. 

Michigan has too many crime victims for policy makers to be content with a nearly fifty-percent re-offense rate by offenders. It's time to start strengthening our state with restorative justice practices that focus on healing, not just warehousing. #CrimeVictim #RestorativeJustice #OverIncarceration #MichiganPrisons