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Second Chance Act Reforms Prison Law
April 14, 2008 05:12 PM
by
findingDulcinea Staff
Billed as a ‘quiet revolution,’ the widely supported new law aims to reduce America’s massive prison population by increasing rehab and re-entry programs for inmates.
30-Second Summary
The new ‘Second Chance Act’ authorizes $165 million in funding to help prisoners re-enter society and stay out of prison, through “more schooling and drug treatment inside prison, and aid with housing, employment and the building of family and community ties after release,” reports The New York Times.
Passed by Congress with broad bipartisan support, the measure is an attempt to chip away at the immense inmate population in the United States.
While administrations in the 1960s embraced prisoner rehabilitation, those of the next two decades reversed that policy with “get tough” measures focused on longer sentences and mandatory minimum sentencing.
The result was an escalation in incarceration rates, ultimately giving the United States the largest prison population in the world. A February 2008 study by the Pew Center on the States reported that more than 1 in every 100 American adults were in prison.
Minorities have even higher incarceration rates, with 1 in 9 black men in the United States between the ages of 20 and 34 in prison. Reformers argue that high incarceration levels create a vicious cycle of splintered families which only leads to more poverty, crime and incarceration.
Recidivism rates are also high. About two-thirds of the 650,000 prisoners released annually from jail “are rearrested within three years,” said President Bush.
The Second Chance law was “the product of a quiet revolution that has brought together evangelical Christians, conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats,” reports The Hartford Courant.
Passed by Congress with broad bipartisan support, the measure is an attempt to chip away at the immense inmate population in the United States.
While administrations in the 1960s embraced prisoner rehabilitation, those of the next two decades reversed that policy with “get tough” measures focused on longer sentences and mandatory minimum sentencing.
The result was an escalation in incarceration rates, ultimately giving the United States the largest prison population in the world. A February 2008 study by the Pew Center on the States reported that more than 1 in every 100 American adults were in prison.
Minorities have even higher incarceration rates, with 1 in 9 black men in the United States between the ages of 20 and 34 in prison. Reformers argue that high incarceration levels create a vicious cycle of splintered families which only leads to more poverty, crime and incarceration.
Recidivism rates are also high. About two-thirds of the 650,000 prisoners released annually from jail “are rearrested within three years,” said President Bush.
The Second Chance law was “the product of a quiet revolution that has brought together evangelical Christians, conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats,” reports The Hartford Courant.
Headline Links: Second Chance Act promotes rehabilitation
The NAACP released a press release in support of the Second Chance Act today, nothing that “many communities where prisoners go upon release already struggle with high poverty, unemployment, fragile families and a dearth of jobs.”
Source: NAACP
According to The Hartford Courant, the Second Chance Act is “the product of a quiet revolution that has brought together evangelical Christians, conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats.” Following decades of “get tough” policies, the government will give $165 million of grants to state and local governments to help rehabilitate prisoners. Michael Thompson, director of the Justice Center at the Council of State Governments, said crime cannot be reduced by prison growth alone.
Source: The Hartford Courant
The New York Times opines, “The new push to help prisoners reintegrate into society has been driven in part by financial concerns: states cannot afford to keep building more prisons. It also reflects concern for the victims of repeat offenders and for the wasted lives of the offenders themselves, who are disproportionately black and from neighborhoods of concentrated poverty.”
Source: The New York Times
President Bush signed the bill into law, declaring, “Our government has a responsibility to help prisoners to return as contributing members of their community,” but added, “this does not mean that the government has all the answers. Some of the most important work to help ex-convicts is done outside of Washington, D.C., in faith-based communities and community-based groups. It's done on streets and small town community centers. It's done in churches and synagogues and temples and mosques.”
Source: The White House
Background: ‘U.S. Prison Population Soars to Record High’
A March 2 article from findingDulcinea noted that the U.S. incarceration rate is the highest in the world: more than 1 in every 100 Americans is in prison. The “numbers are disproportionately high among some minority groups,” with “One in 36 Latino adults, 1 in 15 black adults and 1 in 9 black men between the ages of 20 and 34 is behind bars.”
Source: findingDulcinea
Opinion & Analysis: Second Chance could reduce recidivism
A contributor to an opinion blog in The Oregonian praises the Second Chance Act for a commitment to helping reintroduce inmates into society, citing an anecdote about a friend who became addicted to methamphetamines while in prison. The writer says the inmate “was a kind, decent person” who ended up back in prison thanks to his meth habit.
Source: The Oregonian
Fred Davie, the president of Public/Private Ventures, a nonprofit focused on social issues, says the Second Chance Act is a start to relieving the incarceration problem in the U.S., but the nation will have to take further steps in the future. The fact that more than half of inmates released from prison are projected to return within three years “makes cities less safe, raises our taxes and leads to decreased productivity in our economy,” according to Davie.
Source: AlterNet
In March, the American Psychiatric Association commended Congress for its approval of the Second Chance Act. It cited a U.S. Department of Justice report indicating that “more than half of the population incarcerated in U.S. prisons and jails…were found to have a mental illness,” and many of these illnesses, which are treatable, can lead to recidivism. The new act would help prisoners get the mental health treatment to reduce such recidivism.
Source: Medical News Today
Reference: Justice Department data on prisons and inmates’ need for services
The U.S. Department of Justice provides prison statistics on its Web site, including reports on disease, drug use and mental health problems in prisons.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
© 2009 Dulcinea Media, Inc.
