Incarceration Rate in U.S. Hits Highest Level Ever

The latest figures are out, and they indicate that the U.S. has just reached the one-in-every-100 mark for the ratio of the number of people locked up. That may not seem so significant, until you realize that there are close to 300 million Americans now. Do the math, and you'll see why this figure is so discomforting. The fact that it continues to increase and we can't build prisons fast enough to keep up with it should be alarming. Prison related industries make up the second or third highest item in the national budget. That wouldn't be so bad, necessarily, except that we're not "correcting" anyone, so all the money is going into something that is counterproductive...to an extreme. 

You can read the report, which is easy to read and not at all confusing or complex to understand, at http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080228/ap_on_re_us/prison_population. Once you've read this excellent piece of reporting, you'll have a better sense of why we're doing the work we do at the Return To Honor organization. We're not about making things easier or more comfortable for prisoners, but rather we're about working with those who have done their time honorably to help them get their feet on solid ground back in their communities. We're about raising awareness and understanding on the part of corporate employers, civic and religious and community leaders to help in the process of giving those want to change a second chance. 

If we don't do something to build "bridges" back for the many who can and will do the right thing if they feel that people back home care enough to give them even a modicum of caring and respect for having paid their "dues," we will only be paying that extremely high price for incarcerating them to have them go back and do it all over again...at our continued cost. That price, sadly, comes in terms not just of dollars, but in more crime, more violence, loss of lives and more hardened, increasingly embittered criminals. Many...if not most...felons want to change. They just don't know how, or whom to trust or where to start. And they rarely have enough resources to last more than a few days back on their own. By diverting even a small fraction of that annual budget toward meaningful programs to help them prepare for release, and by extending a hand to those who want to change, we can make a huge difference in the bigger picture.  

A Matter Of Respect

In response to the two previous comments posted, I invite them as well as new readers to ongoing dialog about something very simple yet profound in this process I have come to call "a return to honor." This isn't just about former inmates. It's about all of us "returning" to a state of mind and heart that allows for changes to be made in the way things have come to be. It means returning to what made this country truly great, and what most of us secretly, if not openly, yearn for...which is people caring about one another again. It's a about r-e-s-p-e-c-t...at its most basic and fundamental level. 

By respecting another person's point of view, or their right to exist on this planet as a human being, does not mean tolerating or condoning bad behavior. It means simply to treat them as you would have them treat you. If they've committed a crime, they deserve to be punished...but only according to the nature and seriousness of the crime. They need to feel the shock of being removed from society and left alone to consider their crimes...even to endure harsh punishment, if need be...but along the way, they also need to know that there is a way out. They must know that for them there is a way back to society, with honor, if they are willing to make changes. In order for them to make changes, most of them need to be educated and re-directed...and then welcomed back into their communities with a chance to give back to society in proportion to what they took from it. 

As I will write in succeeding blogs, that one thing...respecting one another...will do more to bring about measurable reduction in crime, nationwide, than any other thing. How we can accomplish that will be discussed later on, and is portrayed well in my book, A Matter Of Time, which you can review at our website...www.AMatterOfTime.org. 

Don Kirchner