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Seeking deep throughts in reaction to "The Recession Behind Bars"

By Douglas A. Berman

Today's New York Times includes this fascinating op-ed, headlined "The Recession Behind Bars," which is authored Kenneth Hartman, who is nearing the end of his third decade in prison following a 1980 conviction for murder that led to an LWOP sentence in California. Here are excerpts from this must-read piece: The past 25 years were generally prosperous for California; the economy boomed and fortunes were made in the sunny San Fernando Valley.  But during this time, the lives of prisoners became much drearier.  We were forced into demeaning uniforms, with neon orange letters spelling out ?prisoner,? and lost most of the positive programs like conjugal visits and college education that we had had since the ?70s.  Money was flowing outside the prison walls, but new ?get tough? policies against criminals were causing our population, and our costs, to soar...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on September 06, 2009 (boomark / email).