In June 2011, the following document was sent to the U.S. Attorney General, the U.S. Sentencing Commission, and 72 members of the U.S. Congress.
For more than two decades, constitutional scholars, former Attorneys General, federal and state judges, criminal defense bars as well as past and present federal prosecutors have increasingly called into question our criminal justice and prison systems, which many have said are threatening the very foundation of our democracy.
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For more than two decades, constitutional scholars, former Attorneys General, federal and state judges, criminal defense bars as well as past and present federal prosecutors have increasingly called into question our criminal justice and prison systems, which many have said are threatening the very foundation of our democracy.
As someone who once headed two of the largest
law enforcement organizations in the world and is now a convicted offender
living within the federal prison system, I bring a unique and perhaps
historical perspective to this issue. I know how the system is supposed to work
and what it is supposed to accomplish.
Based on what I have personally witnessed since my incarceration, I
strongly agree with the national consensus: the
system is in dire need of repair.
For nearly six years I managed the New York
City jail system, including Rikers Island - once called the most violent system
in the nation - and was responsible for overseeing 13,000 uniformed and
civilian staff as well as 133,000 annual inmate admissions. I also commanded
the NYPD at 55,000 strong, with an annual budget of $3.2 billion. I have
conducted criminal justice assessments for the U.S. Justice Department, the
Kingdom of Jordan, and the government of Mexico City. In Jordan, I was also
responsible for the design and construction of a 400-bed super-maximum security
prison for the region's most dangerous and deadly terrorists.
While serving as New York City's Correction
Commissioner, through compliance, I successfully vacated dozens of federal
consent decrees and achieved unparalleled and historical reductions in
inmate-on-inmate violence (slashing and stabbings), serious use of force by
staff, assaults on staff, staff sick time abuse, and overtime spending. Our
system became one of the most efficient, clean, safe, and secure in the
country. Our successes were
unprecedented.
However, I am sad to say that nearly
everything I believed about the federal prison system when I was New York
City's Police and Correction Commissioner has been contradicted by my own
incarceration. I have learned that most of what I thought to be true is just not
a reality. I'm convinced based on what I
have witnessed that members of Congress, federal judges, and prison
administrators themselves are in the same position. They just don't know what
the federal prison system is really
like.
Unfortunately, there is no survey, inspection,
or tour or magic window to look through that allows judicial leaders-or
anyone-to see reality, and what it's like to live as a prisoner. Without living
within the system, one cannot fully see its flaws, failures and injustices or have
any idea what it's like to live by a clock, where time stands still. No matter
what your vantage point from the outside, it is difficult to clearly see and
feel the unnecessary damage done to many of those incarcerated, their families,
and society as a whole.
And just like me, if members of Congress,
judicial leaders, prison administrators, and the general public do not know
this problem exists, they have no reason to care and, worse, no reason to fix
it. However, failure to fix our criminal
justice system, as it stands today, will - I predict - ultimately be the demise
of our country as we know it. This problem is like a fast-growing cancer that
has yet to be fully diagnosed. It is
eroding the very foundation of our democracy.
Alarming
prison population growth
According to published reports, the federal
prison population has grown from 25,000 in 1980 to an estimated 210,000 as of
March 17, 2011. This is an increase of 840% over the past 31 years. Considering
that the U.S. Department of Justice and other federal law enforcement agencies
have not come close to an 840% increase in enforcement and arrest activity, one
has to ask, "What has caused the explosive growth?" I believe the
primary answer stems from the elimination of the former federal parole system
and the creation of the federal sentencing guidelines and mandatory minimums.
These guidelines and mandatory minimums are
extremely detailed, complex, and difficult to understand. They have provided
prosecutors unprecedented authority to influence sentencing outcomes and the
ability to enhance and prolong a defendant's sentence, even for conduct
acquitted by a jury. The guidelines allow little to no room for
non-incarceration sanctions by the court and do nothing to encourage the use of
alternative penalties.
In a speech before the American Bar
Association (ABA) in 2003, Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy expressed
his concerns about the inadequacies and injustices of our correctional systems.
He called for (1) the federal sentencing guidelines to be revised downward, and
(2) a repeal of the mandatory minimums, most of which he felt were "unwise
and unjust." He stressed that punishments were too severe and sentences
too long. Justice Kennedy has not been
the only one with concerns about our criminal justice and prison systems. U.S.
Attorney General Eric Holder, as well as former Attorneys General Edwin Meese
III, who served under President Ronald Reagan, and Richard Thornburgh, a
Republican who served under two Presidents, among others, have expressed
similar concerns, particularly with regard to sentencing guidelines and
mandatory minimums. Republicans, Democrats, conservatives and liberals alike
have, in one way or another, all said the same thing.
Inaction is
no longer an option
I have been stunned to read their prophetic
words and realize the system remains the same-or worse - today, many years
later. More disturbing than their words is the lack of response to them. My
fear is that the lack of attention to this issue stems from the old adage, "Out
of sight, out of mind." In other words, our legislators and the American
public do not care about a problem they do not know exists. Unless they see it
for themselves-either personally or through eye-opening discourse-they will not
act. Based on what I have seen and learned here in the federal prison system,
for our country's sake, inaction is no longer option.
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP)
presently has 210,000 prisoners in custody, and according to public records, is
35% over the rated capacity, meaning the BOP is housing 35% more inmates than
there is room for. This is accomplished by double and triple bunking inmates in
high, medium and low security facilities. Overcrowding in any jail or prison
environment creates frustration, friction, and confrontation. The possibility
of violence against inmates and/or staff becomes extremely high. To reduce
these possibilities, prisoners must have access to programs that will keep them
occupied and help in reducing recidivism, and "good time" incentives
that will encourage them to comply with institutional rules. In addition,
prison administration must do what it can to reduce the overcrowding.
Currently, there are 23,000 men being housed
in federal minimum security camps, the lowest classification of housing within
the BOP. In the camp where I am located, there are approximately 300 inmates
that have been convicted of non-violent drug or "white collar"
offenses. They pose no threat to society or the community, and they are not
escape risks. The housing units in a minimum security camp consist of
dormitory-style units similar to that on a military base or college campus, and
there is extremely minimal staffing. There are no fences around most camps, no
locks on the doors, and in reality, I was far more restricted on home
confinement or house arrest for the nearly six months before I arrived at my
present facility.
About 85% of the prisoners at the facility
where I am have been convicted of non-violent drug offenses; about 20% of these
are first-time offenders. About 15% of the camp's population is here for
white-collar crimes. Most are first-time offenders as well.
Hopelessness
and despair permeate
This has been an eye-opening, gut-wrenching
learning experience since the day I arrived. Most important, I have learned
that just because these men are here in prison, they are not all
"bad" men. Some are; some are simply incurable. Others committed
crimes out of habit, some out of greed, some out of stupidity, and some had no
clue they were even doing anything wrong. Most would give anything to turn back
time to make it right.
I have listened to their stories as well as
their gripes and complaints about our justice system. Five things stand out.
First, their sentences. I have been stunned, absolutely stunned, by the length
of their sentences. Second, we are imprisoning people who belong in hospitals
or drug treatment centers. Third, real rehabilitation within the system is
non-existent; fourth, because they have no money for legal representation, many
of these men who should not be here are rotting away in prison, and, last,
there is an overwhelming feeling of hopelessness, despair and cynicism that
permeates the compound.
Do keep in mind that during my career as a
police officer and drug agent, I stood in courtrooms with no mercy or
compassion as people were sent to prison. But these were BAD people who did BAD
things. These were men who brutally executed and murdered other men. They
attempted to murder my partner and me. These were men from whom we seized millions
of dollars in drug proceeds and tons of cocaine, not ounces or grams. I
believe today, as I did then, that they deserved to go to prison for 10, 20,
and 30 years to life.
However, similar sentences have been rendered
for many of the non-violent low level drug and white collar offenders in this
minimum security camp. How could this be
fair? I was stupefied when one
non-violent inmate told me he had been sentenced to 30 years for a drug
conspiracy and that he had already served 19 years of his time. Thirty years
for a non-violent drug conspiracy in which he was found with no drugs in his
possession! Why is he still here? The more I hear, the more I understand the
true meaning of Justice Kennedy's words.
There are young men in this minimum security
camp who have been convicted of low-level drug offenses and sentenced to 10
years in prison. Five (5) grams of cocaine have put them in prison for 10
years, some more. Five grams is the weight of two sugar packs in a coffee shop.
Threatened with even longer sentences by federal prosecutors, many of these men
in their late teens and mid-20s and 30s simply pled guilty for sentences of 10
years or more, some for first-time offenses. Some never had drugs in their
possession or even knew the people they were supposed to have conspired with.
Think about it: 10+ years in prison for such crimes that, in a state criminal
justice system, would garner months, if not probation, for first-time
offenders.
These men are doomed to failure unless they
receive shorter sentences and are mandated to participate in lifestyle and self
improvement programs that will help them to return to society as better people.
While well intended, the BOP and its ability to meet its stated goals and
objectives to provide real work and vocational, educational and rehabilitative
programs, fall substantially short. Education, discipline, occupational
training, and real jobs will reduce recidivism, not prolonged incarceration,
that some believe is a crime reduction strategy.
Draconian sentences without discipline,
education, and occupational training are destroying these men, shattering their
families, and leaving their children fatherless, spurring welfare dependency,
increasing recidivism and creating a cycle of crime and incarceration that will
only increase for generations to come.
Simply
warehousing prisoners
As for the law-and-order and tough-on-crime
advocates who are skeptical of sentencing reform, I suggest that you are
probably under the same assumption I was until I arrived here: the system makes every effort to rehabilitate
those incarcerated. But, in reality, it does not. We as Americans have been
told for decades that we are spending billions of taxpayer dollars each year on
prison systems and rehabilitation, but what I have found is that we are
spending billions to simply warehouse prisoners. Rehabilitation is nugatory at
best.
To give you a better understanding of my
first-hand observations, consider this:
Over the past few decades, the system has been overloaded with
non-violent drug offenders serving more than ten years in medium and low
security facilities. These offenders
eventually drop below their ten year "out" date and get moved to a
minimum security camp.
The only way to describe the daily environment
in this minimum security camp is that it compares to a junior high school,
without classes and girls. Grown men sit around like teenage boys talking about
old times, drugs, guns, cars, jewelry, women and sports. Because they have
limited contact with the outside world, this place has become their home, and
the other prisoners have become their family.
Then you have young non-violent low level drug
offenders who are sentenced to five to ten years and wind up here in the same
camp with the older prisoners who are serving out the final years of their
sentences. This is absolutely the worst thing you could do to these younger
men. Some of them have graduated from high school, a few attended college, many
are uneducated, and some are completely illiterate and cannot read or write.
However, once they arrive here and mix into
their new surroundings and the fear of prison dissipates, they begin their
"new education" with the older institutionalized inmates as their
teachers. They learn how to lie, cheat, steal, con, manipulate, and gamble.
Their vocabulary diminishes into a profound ghetto slang, their posture changes
into an intimidating swagger, a fist bump replaces a handshake, and a grunt
replaces "Good morning." They have no respect for the privacy of
others. A normal conversation consists
of yelling and hollering, and minor disagreements often result in threats of
violence. Here they learn more about the drug trade than they did on the
outside, and they make all the contacts they need to further themselves in
criminal activity once they leave. That
is just for starters.
Their surroundings begin to demoralize and
demean them, they lose whatever occupational skill sets they may have had
before being incarcerated, and they go from a societal value system to an
institutional one that lacks respect, discipline, and responsibility.
Keep in mind that I am talking about
non-violent drug offenders whose families and communities have already failed
them. Many of them are first-time offenders who, with the right guidance,
education, and programs, or a mandated military-style boot camp, could leave
prison better than when they arrived.
However, the system does not provide it. The younger they are and the
longer they are imprisoned, the less of a chance they will have for any type of
successful integration back into society.
Unlike their families and community, our
criminal justice system must not provide them an option of failure. If we do
not shorten their sentences, make their stay more valuable, and get them out of
the system faster, smarter and with an intended goal of improving themselves,
we may as well sentence them to life in prison or death because that is
ultimately what we are doing.
For the non-drug or white-collar offender, the
system demeans and demoralizes them as well, but the cost to society is far
more devastating. In this camp, such men are serving sentences of 6 - 120
months. Most of them have led productive and successful lives and had never
been in trouble with the law until now. They did not need to be sentenced to years
in prison to be punished or learn their lesson. For them, just surrendering to
prison, being strip searched and thrown into their new living environment was
rehabilitation enough to ensure they never return. However, what happens next
is perhaps one of the most devastating and damaging contradictions of our
entire criminal justice system.
Collateral
damage devastating
Most of these men are highly educated-doctors,
dentists, CPAs, lawyers, corporate executives, politicians and various
government employees, including some military. Nearly all of them possess
aggressive work ethics and highly desired skill sets. They possess everything
that the system preaches, promotes and encourages the drug offenders to
accomplish, but then, because they were successful prior to their incarceration,
the system seems to use that success against them. They get painted with the same broad brush of
vilification as some of the nation's lowest and worst criminals.
For most, regardless of their family ties, or
what they may have done for society or their local communities, or their
military service or contributions to their country, mercy or leniency of any
kind are unacceptable considerations by most federal prosecutors, who routinely
seek the maximum punishment under the sentencing guidelines and are unhappy
with anything less.
Over the past 20 years, the system has become completely unforgiving.
Over the past 20 years, the system has become completely unforgiving.
Many of the men in this camp, both drug and
non-drug offenders, are good men who made a mistake. They deserve to be
punished, but the punishment should fit the crime. They did not rob, rape,
murder, or commit a violent crime, but you would never know this by the way
they are treated. They are demeaned, degraded and financially annihilated so
badly that the toll for many is close to unbearable, causing them depression,
serious health issues, enormous cynicism, and unfortunately for some, permanent
psychological damage. The far-reaching and collateral fallout to their families
is often even worse.
The impact on the next generation for almost
every man in this camp is grave, though rarely talked about...it is too
painful.
It is heart-breaking to confront this truth: a
father's ability to help, teach, guide and mentor his children while
incarcerated is close to impossible. For every day they are separated, the bond
between father and child diminishes, and they grow further apart. The system
encourages men to communicate with their children and families, but then
prevents them from doing so on multiple levels. Phone calls and emails are
limited and are far more costly than on the outside. An inmate makes .12 cents
per hour working within the prison system, but is charged .23 cents a minute
for phone calls and .05 cents per minute for emails. Oftentimes, distance and
the cost of travel make visits infrequent or preclude them altogether.
No matter where you came from, or what you
have been incarcerated for, or how long your sentence, the separation between a
father and his kids creates pain and anxiety for both. You cannot teach and
mentor a child in absentia. Any attempt to discipline your child during a visit
or long distance - by phone or email - creates friction, added anxiety, anger,
upset and, ultimately, distance. They say that justice is blind. No one comes
to understand that better than the children of someone in prison. If they are
too young to realize it today, I promise that over time it is something they
will learn and never forget.
Think of it this way: A young man, 31 years
old, arrested for a first-time, non-violent drug offense is sentenced to nine
years in federal prison. He has an 11 year old son whose "collateral
sentence" is nearly half of his lifetime without his father. At perhaps
the most critical time in that child's life, when he will need his father most,
he will be without him and on his own. If there were alternatives to
incarceration, if there were alternative penalties, if there were boot camps or
something other than our reliance on mandated incarceration and these draconian
sentences, perhaps they would both be saved. Instead, with the mandatory
minimums and sentencing guidelines, the chances are extremely high that the son
will one day replace the father in this living hell.
For a father who loves, adores and cherishes
his children, a day in prison is like a week, a week like a month, and a month
a year. Time virtually stands still, while the lives of his children pass him
by. For those men, they can only hope and pray that their wives and/or family
have the mental, emotional, and physical stamina and ability to make up for his
absence in caring for his children. I thank God every day for my own wife, and
the care she gives our youngest daughters.
But what happens to the children who aren't
that lucky? They suffer the loss of love, support and mentoring of a parent,
and because there is little to no compassion in the system, there is absolutely
nothing a father can do. That is his greatest punishment, and ultimately,
society's as well.
Please do not misunderstand: I am not saying
that many of these men should not be punished or go to prison. Many should, but
not for the length of time in many cases. Their sentences contradict our
founding fathers real goals of justice. If there were alternatives, children
and families would not have to pay such a high price for their fathers'
long-term absences.
Grave
economic impact
In all the years I spent in the correctional
field, I never focused on the collateral damage to the offender, their families
and, more so, to our society and country. My principal focus was the care,
custody and control of the inmate population, and ensuring that the prisoners
received the programs and services they were supposed to receive according to
state and federal minimum standards. When I thought of incarceration costs, my
only concern was the incarceration cost to house a prisoner within our system.
What I never thought about, until I arrived at
this minimum security camp, was the economic collateral cost of incarceration
to the American taxpayer and to our economy as a whole. The more I have studied
this, the more I have been shocked by reality.
According to the latest figures from the government,
the average cost to incarcerate a federal prisoner is $28,284.00 annually. A person
would naturally assume that an offender sentenced to three years in federal
prison will cost the government and the American taxpayers $84,852.00. Wrong! That cost is only to incarcerate the prisoner. The collateral
economic costs of his three year incarceration far outweighs the government's
out-of-pocket expense, and here's why: If that prisoner earned $100,000 before
his arrest and incarceration, the government loses the tax income on the
inmate's $100,000 annual salary, and the economy loses his cost of living
spending.
That is a loss of $300,000 to the economy,
plus nearly $85,000 for his incarceration.
Then, add in the cost of the investigation, and at a bare minimum, the
total is about $500,000. As a result of their imprisonment, many of these men
have to file bankruptcy. Their families
are forced to depend on welfare or public assistance. Those are additional
staggering losses to the American taxpayer and our economy.
Lastly, for criminal defendants to be ordered
to pay restitution upon their release from prison, it will be close to
impossible for them to do so. Most of them are left destitute as a result of
the prosecution against them and their imprisonment, and their earning
capabilities once released will be reduced by up to 60%. Ordering restitution
in most cases amounts to nothing more than symbolism over substance, because it
is just not possible. Once a defendant has been socially and financially
incapacitated for life, where is the money going to come from? This is another
enormous financial loss to our economy, not to mention crime victims who will
never recoup their losses.
Using a real life example of one of the
white-collar defendants here who had a very small company that employed five
people, including himself, the basic loss to the American taxpayer and our
economy for his three year imprisonment will run in excess of $2 million in
direct and indirect costs, not including unemployment benefits for those losing
their jobs when his company closed. So, instead of this man's incarceration
costing the economy and American taxpayers $25,000 per year, it will ultimately
cost us about $660,000. Had he been placed on probation and fined and penalized
substantially, he would have been punished, justice would have been served, and
there would be no loss to the government. And, this is only one man, and there
are thousands within the system with similar crimes and circumstances.
Mass
incarceration is costing billions
Unnecessary and over-incarceration are costing
our country billions more than the reported cost of incarceration. If the
system allowed or encouraged alternatives to incarceration whereby many
non-violent offenders were placed on home confinement and house arrest, with
strict supervision, and allowed to work, pay taxes, take care of their
families, and pay their fines and restitution, the government would be making
money, instead of losing it!
And consider this: Criminal justice experts
from the ABA, the Cato Institute, the National Association of Criminal Defense
Lawyers, the ACLU, the Federalist Society and the Heritage Foundation, just to
name a few, are raising serious concerns about over-criminalization by federal
prosecutors who are increasingly investigating and criminally prosecuting
people for what once was civil, administrative, and regulatory conduct. Have
you ever thought that inflating your income on a credit card application or a
loan application for a home, car, or college tuition is bank fraud and you
could be sent to federal prison? What about a government employee who falsifies
his time and attendance records or uses government property, like a cell phone
or computer, for his own personal use? Or a banker or corporate executive who
buys a client or vendor a generous birthday or Christmas gift? In addition, under recently proposed
legislation by the Justice Department, putting a false name, date of birth or
photo on Facebook could become a felony.
Should you become the target of a
federal prosecutor, each of these examples - and far less -could result in
federal charges, and you being sent to federal prison. No one can escape
federal charges and prison time if scrutinized and pursued relentlessly as some
of the men I have met here. NO ONE!
Certainly, if a person commits a crime or
makes a mistake, he should be held accountable or punished, but the punishment
must fit the crime. "Punishment" should not automatically mean YEARS
in prison. Our reliance on over-incarceration and draconian sentences for
non-violent convictions are destroying people, families, and our society as a
whole.
We seem to have lost sight of the intended
purposed of our criminal justice system: justice.
We must institute real alternatives to
incarceration - shorter sentences, probationary sentences, home confinement and
house arrest, and greater fines and penalties.
We must put a stop to mass incarceration.
We should also consider programs where
first-time non-violent felony drug offenders enter a guilty plea for their
crime, but receive a deferred sentence if they complete either a long-term
residential drug treatment program, or military style boot camp. Successful completion could result in the
dismissal of charges, thus avoiding a felony conviction and a criminal record,
and giving these offenders a second chance.
In addition, we should consider adopting
Virginia's risk assessment program which offers shorter sentences and
diversionary programs to offenders deemed not likely to repeat crimes. (Of
course, those deemed at-risk face stiffer penalties and sentences). Virginia
Governor Robert F. McDonnell said that those leaving prison should have an
opportunity to change, and he has moved to help state prisoners more easily
regain their voting rights. He called America a "nation of second
chances."
Unfortunately for a federal convicted felon,
those words are nothing more than rhetoric.
'Dying with
your eyes open'
One of the damaging and devastating realities
for a federal convict is that the label "convicted felon" is, for
most, a life sentence of financial and social devastation, negatively impacting
the offender's employment possibilities, earning capability, and vocational
licensing for the rest of his life.
Based on my conversations with other inmates
who realize they have made a mistake and would give anything to turn their
lives around, they see that label, “convicted felon,” as something that will
prevent them from attaining any type of success in the future. Based on what
they have learned from the older prisoners in the system, the younger men see
that label as a death sentence. "There's no use...it is hopeless,"
one young black man said to me. "I'll leave here worse than when I got
here, then what?" Unfortunately, he could not be more right.
Hopelessness and despair begin on the day of
sentencing when you stand before the court and are reminded that you are no
longer an empowered citizen of the United States of America. You are told that
your conviction will deprive you of valuable civil rights such as the right to
vote, the right to sit on a jury, the right to bear a firearm, and the right to
hold public office. Your conviction could prevent you from holding certain
licenses such as law, real estate and others.
Most prisoners I am serving with feel the day
they were sentenced was the end of their life. From that day on, as a young man
here told me, "It's like dying with your eyes open." Despite my 30
years in law enforcement, I would have never known what he meant without being
here to see it for myself.
In a free and democratic society such as ours,
justice should not eternally slaughter one's rights to freedom and liberty,
except in the most extreme cases. But it
does…day in and day out. In the federal
criminal justice system, the only way to expunge that criminal conviction and
lifetime label of "convicted felon" is by presidential pardon.
Imagine this: A 22 year old United States
Marine sold a pair of night vision goggles that he owned on eBay to an
international exporter who did not have the appropriate U.S. government export
permit. The Marine was charged and pled guilty to selling the goggles for
export - a felony. He will carry with him the label of "convicted
felon" until the day he dies.
As a result of his conviction, he lost his job
and his home, and his life and new marriage were completely turned upside down,
not to mention that, as a "convicted felon," he will face a lifetime
of hardship, and financial and social sacrifice. And, if all of this wasn't bad
enough, the federal prosecutor insisted on prison time, so he was sentenced to
36 months in federal prison.
This young U.S. Marine, who had barely begun
his adult life and whose only real job was fighting for and defending the very
freedoms and liberties that he has lost forever, is now destitute. Unless
pardoned by the President of the United States, his punishment will last
forever. Is that what our Founding Fathers had in mind when they wrote the U.S
Constitution and the laws of our land? I just don't think so.
It is time to consider a way to give these men
a second chance... a REAL second chance.
One of the most disturbing things I have
discovered since my incarceration is that there are many men in prison who are
indigent and do not have the financial wherewithal to afford an attorney for an
appeal or legal issues that often arise as a result of being incarcerated, such
as divorce, child custody, home foreclosures, tax issues, lawsuits and insurance
issues, to name a few. The system is designed to further destroy what's left of
these men once they arrive at prison, and without an attorney or some sort of
legal assistance, they don't stand a chance.
I am also convinced there are innocent men in
prison who would be free today if they had the benefit of an attorney to assist
them with their appeals or court filings. Many of these men cannot read, and
the laws are too complex and complicated. Unfortunately, many criminal defense
attorneys see their job as complete once their client is taken away or runs out
of money. Only a few continue to help.
Prisoners with a better understanding of the
law are reluctant to help others, at the risk of them becoming a criminal
target by federal prosecutors for "practicing law without a license."
It has happened.
A man should not lose his Constitutional
rights because he lacks the money to fight for them! But this is occurring
every single day across America, and as a result, people who should not be
imprisoned are rotting away.
Recent news reports have suggested that law
graduates are having difficulties finding employment. I know exactly where they
could be quite useful if Congress and the ABA would create a legal assistance
program in places like this and for the men who need it the most.
In addition, it is time to address another
issue: using jails and prisons to house the mentally ill or those in need of
drug treatment programs. Here at this prison camp, I have seen two stunning
examples of this.
When I first arrived here, there was a 44 year
old man who suffered from mental illness, was partially blind, and had only a
third grade reading level. He had absolutely no business being here. He
belonged in a hospital or treatment center, not a prison. He was found mentally
incompetent to stand trial by state authorities, so they turned him over to
federal prosecutors who ignored the state's findings and charged him with
possession with the intent to distribute crack cocaine. His attorney urged him
to accept a plea agreement of 128 months in prison. He signed a plea agreement
that he could not read or understand to serve 10 years and eight months in
federal prison.
After nine years in prison, he was released,
but for the month before he left this compound, he paced and wandered around
aimlessly, like an animal in a cage. When I approached him and asked him what
was the matter, instead of being excited about leaving after nine years, his
greatest concern was that he was afraid of getting lost... he had to take two
buses.
There was a 24 year old man who, in 2005, pled
guilty in federal court for manufacturing methamphetamine. He was sentenced to
40 months in federal prison, given four years probation and ordered to attend a
residential drug treatment program. After attending the program and serving 24
months in prison, he was released. He found a job, was successfully employed
and was attending evening college classes. Two years later, he relapsed, began
using cocaine, and admitted himself into a treatment center to get help. When
his probation officer learned of his whereabouts and circumstances, the young
man was sent back to federal prison for 36 months because he failed a urine
test, a violation of his probation. He needed treatment; he did not need three
more years in prison.
For close to 16 months, until the day he left this compound, I watched this young man sit on his bed, staring into space, and slowly deteriorate. He needed therapeutic help on several fronts, but got none. He was "dying with his eyes open."
System can
be fixed
The flaws, failures and inadequacies of the
system are overwhelming. From within the system I see them clearly. I also know
they can be fixed. With efficient and creative management and accountability,
and the help of Congress, real reforms that are essential are possible.
For more than a century, Americans have stood
proud of being global leaders in industry, technology, military, medicine and
innovation. Recently, however, NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous
reminded us of a stunning, sad and shameful reality: America also leads the world in mass incarceration. We are 5% of
the world's population, yet 25% of the world's prisoners. How is that possible?
Have we become a society of what our
forefathers feared most...persecution, oppression, abuse and mistreatment.
A repeal of the mandatory minimums and federal
sentencing guidelines is critical. The sentences are unjust, unfair, too long
and extremely severe. Real educational programs, discipline, and occupational
training and job placement must be instituted for those incarcerated. Young first-time drug offenders should be
mandated to attend military style boot camps that teach respect, patriotism,
discipline, parenting, occupational and vocational training.
Non-violent offenders with the ability to
work, pay taxes, take care of their families, and pay their fines and
restitution should be considered for alternatives to incarceration such as home
confinement or house arrest, probationary sentences, and stiffer fines and
penalties.
We must seek funding to provide those
incarcerated with legal assistance if they cannot afford it otherwise, and
consider legislation that returns an offender's Constitutional rights once they
have proven themselves worthy.
Congress must consider substantial sentence
reduction initiatives for the federal prison system that would encourage
positive inmate behavior and substantially reduce the number of inmates within
the system. There are several Congressional bills sitting in the halls of
Congress that would accomplish both.
One such bill or amendment calls for a
retroactive enhancement of a federal prisoner's "good time" credit,
from 54 days per year to 128 days per year. By doing so, it would create
substantial incentives for inmates to comply with institutional rules, which
would reduce staff confrontations and inmate-on-inmate violence within the
system. Inmates who refuse to comply with institutional rules and policies
could lose some or all of their "good time” credit, thereby prolonging their
time in custody.
The enhancement of “good time” credit, which
would be comparable to many state prison systems around the country, would also
reduce the numbers of inmates within the system, thereby reducing overcrowding.
Most important, at a time when Congress is desperately searching for ways to
cut government spending, “good time” credit would reduce the BOP's annual
budget by close to $1 billion. Portions of those cost savings could be used for
much needed inmate recidivism reducing programs, basic and in-service BOP staff
training, and emergency and safety equipment.
The remainder would be an enormous cost
savings to the American taxpayer, not to mention, once these inmates are
released, they can begin to work, pay taxes, begin to take care of their families,
and pay their fines and restitutions, another benefit to our economy.
Without these changes and more, the U.S.
prison population will continue to grow in staggering numbers.
Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich
recently said, "The effects of rampant incarceration in recent years have
been devastating for families, neighborhoods and civil society." Even he has no idea how devastating. You really cannot get the whole picture from
the outside looking in.
Foundation of democracy at stake
As a father, an American, and someone who has
fought for and defended the very freedom and liberty that I feel are in
jeopardy, I have been shaken to the core by what I have seen with my own eyes.
I fear for all our children and their children as well.
We have allowed our criminal justice system to
devolve into one that lacks fairness, mercy and compassion, and seems to pride
itself on over-criminalization, conviction, mass-incarceration and the
destruction of humanity. Sentences are too long, punishment too harsh, and true
rehabilitation is non-existent. If Congress and the American people could
witness what I have since my incarceration, there would be anger, there would
be outrage, and there would be change. No one in their right mind would allow
this system to continue as it is today.
To intentionally ignore the flaws, failures
and injustices in our federal criminal justice system out of fear of being
"soft on crime" should no longer be an acceptable excuse to do
nothing. To over-criminalize, over-incarcerate and do little to nothing to
rehabilitate those within the prison system is "wrong on crime," and
is a threat to every American in this country.
In 1994, just after I was appointed to the New
York City Department of Correction, I was told over and over by city officials
that I should have never taken the job. "Rikers is too big, too violent
and out of control," they said. "It can never be fixed." I felt
otherwise. The month I took over as First Deputy, we averaged 150 stabbings and
slashings in the system per month. Six years later, the month I was appointed
police commissioner, there was only one (1).
Change is possible.
In just six years, we went from being one of
the most violent, overcrowded, and mismanaged jail systems in this country to
an international role model of efficiency, accountability, and safety. With the
help and support of Congress, our criminal justice and prison system can change
as well.
I call on our country's leaders and the
American people to take this growing problem seriously. The very foundation of
our democracy depends on it.
