Rising Murder Rates Elicit Calls for "Tough on Crime" Solutions

 After decades of high crime rates, the last couple of decades have seen falling crime rates, to historic lows, nationwide. But after the Covid-19 virus shuttered much of our nation for months on end, murder rates in some large cities across the nation are climbing at alarming rates.

Politicians and so-called experts are divided on the reasons for the skyrocketing rates of shootings and murders, but it is clear that several factors come into play. First, the coronavirus crisis, and the government's highly restrictive social rules to combat spread, have created a mental health crisis nationwide. Some people who may have managed poor mental health through regular socialization lost that capability. As a result, some have "snapped," leading to mass shootings and other violent crimes. Social isolation is extremely harmful to psychological health, a fact many prisoners have known for years. 

A second factor is the "defund the police" movement resulting from several highly publicized cases involving police violence against citizens. So-called progressive cities that have embraced a police defunding agenda have seen significant rises in violence. When people believe they can get away with crime, either because the police can't or won't do anything or because prosecutors refuse to prosecute crimes, crime rates increase. This is seen especially in the criminal "underworld" where gangs and violent criminals ply their crafts.

Other factors have undoubtedly also contributed to rising violent crime rates. But lawmakers, media talking heads, and "experts" often shape conversations about crime rates around their own agendas for legislative action and control. One such agenda for some people in power is the same old "tough" approach to crime. 

Bail reform, for example, has been criticized by using anecdotal evidence, while talking heads ignore the injustice of historic bail laws. Solitary examples of someone released pending trial committing another crime do not consider the hundreds of thousands of people who lose jobs, homes, and their children while they await trials, simply because they are too poor to pay even nominal bail costs. Bail reforms should protect the public from potentially unstable violent people while also protecting accused, but not convicted, people of injustices. The Constitution used to consider people innocent until proven guilty. 

Some legislators have used increasing crime rates to push for "tougher" sentences. This usually means mandatory minimum sentences, including life in prison, and longer sentences for some crimes. Politicians ignore scientific evidence that longer sentences do NOT lead to safer communities, instead capitalizing on public fear in order to gain votes to stay in office. Media heads also ignore science because hype and fear sell better.

The reality is that the recent rise in violence cannot be ignored. People should feel safe in their homes and neighborhoods. People should not have to wonder if going to a movie theatre is a life or death decision. Crimes, especially violent crimes, must be punished for our society to function well. But punishment should not be our only goal. We ought to also aim to address mental health issues that lead to violence, and to use evidence-based rehabilitation efforts to affect change in people who commit violent crimes.

Neither defunding the police nor abolishing prisons will make society more safe. That's just a silly utopian notion. But properly training officers to both serve and protect citizens would make better use of what society spends on law enforcement. Holding corrupt and immoral officers accountable will also go a long way to restoring public confidence in these public servants. 

Likewise, rather than increasing incarceration rates and sentences, leading to increased spending on prisons, how about we start making our prisons more effective? Instead of using a purely retributive approach, we should ensure prisoners who need it receive mental health treatment, and we should use measurable approaches to rehabilitation. Training corrections officers to be more than glorified babysitters would also help. So would holding corrupt and physically or mentally/emotionally abusive officers and administrators accountable. 

"Tough on crime" is a knee-jerk reaction to crime that fails to solve any problems. But it looks good on a political candidate's resume, and it is sure to continue lining the pockets of people who profit from the prison industrial complex. American communities deserve better.

Crossing Paths with Other Travelers

 Recently, a new group of prisoners transfered to MTU, the prison where I am housed. Most were for the new cohort of college students and a few new Vocational Village trades students. 

Anytime new prisoners ride in, it's inevitable that someone knows them from another prison, and occasionally from the free world. I've known several of the new guys who rode in, but I knew none of them well. Other prisoners had been close in the past to some of the new guys. 

With dozens of prisons in Michigan, it's entirely possible to meet a guy at one prison and never see him again when either person rides out to another prison. It's also possible to end up on the same prison rotation and be at multiple joints together. 

Since we live 24/7 with each other, it's common to develop close friendships with some other prisoners, but there's always the risk of permanent separation hanging over one's head. Prisoners are not allowed by policy to communicate with each other from prison to prison. Apparently it's a security risk. 

There is a certain risk that some of these relationships might be based on criminal activity, but many relationships between prisoners are mutually beneficial. I personally have formed friendships with several prisoners over the years who have helped me to become a better person. They have encouraged personal, spritual, and emotional growth. They have helped me through tough situations, helped me to get a clearer picture of things I need to work on in myself. Some have become mentors of sorts.

These are the sorts of friendships that are difficult, in my experience, to find in the free world. Perhaps that's because people are just really busy with jobs and families and hobbies. I don't know. But many of the best friendships I've had have been with other prisoners. 

The problem is that when someone leaves prison, parole policy prohibits that former prisoner from "associating with" other felons, including those still in prison. This parole stipulation undoubtedly has a positive purpose--to prevent someone from easily falling back into criminal ways. But when someone has formed healthy, positive friendships with other prisoners, and at the same time has lost many friends from the free world, it means those who parole are often isolated from relationships that keep them grounded. 

Despite our crimes, many prisoners are normal people. That means we have our brokenness, like everyone else, but we also have the ability to be wonderful companions, friends, mentors, husbands, and fathers. We might have been terrible at these relationships in the past, but a lot of prisoners experience significant growth in prison. Isolated time for self-reflection and the support of others who have gained wisdom from their own journeys helps with that transformation.

Whether or not we'll be able to connect again after prison, I'm grateful for the other prisoners who have had a positive influence in my life. I hope I, too, have been able to be that mentor or friend to help another prisoner on his own journey of transformation. I hope that I have learned how to be a better brother, son, husband, mentor, and friend outside of prison as well. 

Prison Misconceptions Dispelled

 I find it easy to understand why the public has negative opinions and beliefs about prisons, often thinking that prisoners have it too easy. After all, people in prison are generally guilty of having committed crimes, so why should we have it easy? However, many of the public's opinions about prisons are based on misconceptions. 

Some of the misconceptions I've heard include that prisoners are given free TV, free weight and exercise equipment, we eat three square meals a day, and we have free healthcare. If I were still a taxpayer, I'd have these concerns too, especially since Michigan's corrections budget is over $2 billion per year. 

So, let me clear up these few misconceptions. 

Michigan prisoners do have access to cable television. We have a basic program package with around 60 channels. None of these channels are premium channels. But taxpayers do not pay for our cable television. Prisoners must purchase their own TVs, and the cable is paid for by the Prisoner Benefit Fund. 

The Prisoner Benefit Fund (PBF) is funded through a percentage of commissary purchases and through fundraisers. When prisoners want to purchase food or hygiene items from commissary, we pay inflated prices because of the percentage that funds the PBF. Periodic fundraisers are sometimes offered for prisoners to purchase other food items (like ice cream) at inflated prices. A percentage of these purchases also fund the PBF. The PBF funds then pay for our cable television (and movies we may be allowed to see), for our weight pit and workout equipment, and occasionally for other items (like providing water for our visitors during Covid-19 restrictions). 

Michigan prisons do not give prisoners free hygiene items, except for toilet paper and sometimes bars of hand soap. Some prisoners, who have been deemed "indigent," are provided loans of around $11 per month to purchase necessities. They must then repay these loans, either when they get a job in prison or upon release. 

Despite the fact that commissary prices have continued to rise every year (sometimes multiple times per year), Michigan prisoners have not received pay raises in decades. Most prisoners who have jobs in prison make less than $30 per month. Yes, the U.S. Constitution still allows slave labor in prisons. 

Some people like to point out that prisoners are given three hots and a cot. That means, we are provided three meals a day and a place to live, rent-free. It's true, we are provided three meals a day, but prison food is not even close to healthy. It is heavy in carbohydrates (mashed potatoes, rice, and bread mainly), and what vegetables we see are usually severely overcooked, often to the point of inedible. Michigan prisoners are fed for less than $2 per day, right around the cost of a free lunch (a single meal) provided to school children in Michigan. There's nothing square about our meals. Instead, they contribute to diabetes and other health problems. And anyone who wants my "free cot" can have it.

To Whom Much Has Been Given, Much is Required

 I just finished reading a book where the author criticizes political progressives for their "renaming" of criminals. This wasn't the main point of his book, but it stuck out to me for obvious reasons. I'm a prisoner convicted of a crime. 

This author claims that progressives believe if you are nice to criminals, they will be nice to you. He uses the progressive tendency to rename criminals and ex-cons as his evidence of the progressive agenda. "Ex-cons" are now "returning citizens," and "formerly incarcerated persons" are now "justice-involved person." His point is a bit of an oversimplification, in my view. 
I have chosen to refer to ex-cons as returning citizens on this blog because it comports with my view that people should not be defined by their worst choices. I say choices rather than mistakes because many of us knowingly chose to commit our crimes. We didn't "make a mistake" like using cream of tartar instead of baking powder in a cake. Our choices were deliberate and very wrong. 
I agree with this author that progressives often take their points too far. For example, their tendency to shift the blame to society for someone's criminal choices. Social forces do contribute to a person's moral (or immoral) development, and often people are socialized into criminality. But the conscious choice to break the law is still the responsibility of the person who does so. With distinct exceptions (severe mental illness, for example), someone who breaks the law bears the responsibility for that choice, and for its consequences.
Nevertheless, I was disheartened by this author's criticism against "destigmatization," especially because he is a well-known Christian pastor. I am a Christian as well, and I believe Christians are called to a radical grace that is counter cultural. Regardless of the motives of so-called progressives, Christians ought to be leading the way in restoring those who have broken trust with society, not rejecting attempts at restorative justice because it's "too soft on crime." 
Jesus was counter cultural in his approach, and Christians ought to look to Jesus as their model. Jesus required responsibility and restitution, but he also offered restoration.
Jesus said that people who do evil things do so "in the dark" lest their evil be seen (John 8:20). But Jesus points out that these people will be held accountable for their evil. People are responsible for their own actions, in other words. 
When Jesus encountered a woman who had been caught in adultery, the ancient law demanded her death. But Jesus' response required both responsibility and offered restoration. "Neither do I condemn you. Go...and sin no more" (John 8:11). He called her to responsibility ("stop sinning") and then restored her to right standing in society ("go," when the law demanded justice). 
Let me be quick to say that I am not advocating that people who commit crimes should not be held accountable for those crimes. They should be. I am merely pointing out that Christians, especially, ought to be in the business of seeking to restore to wholeness those who have committed crimes. And wholeness includes rejection of stigmatization. 
Lawbreakers who serve their time in prison, and especially those who have taken responsibility for their crimes, should be restored to full citizenship, to wholeness. Insisting on calling them "ex-cons" emphasizes the sins of the past. Christians, especially, ought to celebrate the grace of redemption, not insist on stigmatizing labels that remind everyone of a person's worst choices. 
Responsibility, and if appropriate restitution, ought to always precede restoration, but restoration ought to be the aim. Wholeness ought to be the goal, especially for those who have been made whole in Christ.

Celebrating INTERdependence in Prison

 It's Independence Day weekend, and most of America has returned to normal enough that celebrations will be taking place all around the country. In prison a holiday usually means most regular activities are cancelled. When we're not under covid restrictions, we might have a softball game or some other activity, but most non-custody staff members are off for the holiday. This year, it's just a long weekend with a "holiday meal" on the 4th. 

Holiday meals are out of the ordinary because they might give us slices of onions and tomato with our burger and a 4 oz ice cream cup with some sort of cobbler. Otherwise, it's still prison food, so nothing too special. Still, more prisoners than normal go to holiday meals, so it takes longer to run chow lines. The last housing unit to go might eat by 2PM on most holidays. 

As holidays go, I feel a little ambivalent about Independence Day. I love fireworks, bratwursts, bbqs, and family gatherings with yard games (none of which we have in prison). I'm also grateful for the incredible sacrifices made by our country's founding citizens. But I feel ambivalent about the holiday because although I am fiercely independent, I have discovered that interdependence is much more healthy.

America prides itself on the value of rugged individualism, and I agree that people should strive to be their best. Citizens ought to work hard and pull themselves up by the bootstraps, so to speak. But I also recognize that America doesn't have a very good tradition of equality of opportunity. We have some skeletons in our closet (to put it nicely). 

Acknowledging America's history of unequal treatment of blacks and other minorities is important. And we must do that while still promoting the value of hard work and rugged individualism. People who have the wherewithal ought to be responsible for their own success. We just need to do better as a country of making sure everyone gets an opportunity.

While I support being responsible for my own success, I also have learned how important others have been along the way. I worked hard to be successful before I came to prison. But I also had some very important help along the way. I had people who took an interest in me, people who took a risk with me. I had some very helpful breaks, and I see now that it would have been tremendously more difficult without that help, those breaks. While I thought I was pulling myself up by the bootstraps, I really had a lot of help along the way. 

That's where interdependence comes in. When I came to prison, I discovered how much I needed others. I'm profoundly blessed to have had the help of several compassionate and caring people along the way. There are some things you simply can't do from behind bars (like publish a blog, for example). Recognizing the importance of interdependence in relationships has helped me to see how much help I had in the past, too. It has also reinforced in me an urgency towards being a resource and help to others. That's where interdependence comes in. It's not a one-way street. Interdependent relationships are reciprocal. And while we should never form relationships simply to get what we can out of them, we should acknowledge that healthy relationships include mutuality. We were meant to be in communities who help each other out. 

Both the college education I received through Calvin University's Prison Initiative and the experiences I've had within communities in prison have reinforced the importance of interdependence in community. I'm not sure what that will look like for me when I leave prison, but I hope to cultivate mutuality in both a faith community and a geographic community. I want to be a part of other people's success like others have been a part of mine. I also know I'll need the help of others, no matter how much I might want to do things on my own. 

Being in prison has taught me a lot of valuable lessons. One of the most valuable, though, has been the importance of interdependence. We all need others. I know Independence Day doesn't step on the toes of that notion, but I can't help wanting to celebrate interdependence when I think about how grateful I am for all the people who have made my life a bit easier, a bit more joyful.