Today’s White House: No friend of prisoners!

Marla Mitchel, a member of the Humanity for Prisoners Board of Directors, insists that our prison system is broken and that we must start over again. Professor Mitchell knows what she’s talking about. An attorney and former leader of the WMU-Cooley Law School Innocence Project, she speaks from experience. 

Today there are approximately 1.9 million people incarcerated in the United States. Only two other countries have stats like these: China, and Russia. Here in Michigan, the state prison population is 32,778. 

I really thought we were taking small steps forward. Agreed, it was like climbing our Lake Michigan sand dunes---three steps up and then two back down again. Then, voters chose to make a U-turn. Watching and listening to this president reminds me of the old “law and order” days when our own Governor Engler chose to be tough on crime by building more prisons and locking up more people. Our state’s prison population rose to over 50,000! Crime rates didn’t change. 

Two disturbing items made news recently. 

First, President Trump announced that he’s looking into whether he can imprison American criminals of the “most severe cases” in other countries. “If we had a legal right to do it, I would do it in a heartbeat… it would be less expensive and it would be a great deterrent.” The president would love to lock up American prisoners in El Salvador’s maximum security prison known as the Terrorism Confinement Center, a facility that has generated horror stories. 

Then, Mr. Trump announced that he would order the government to rebuild and reopen Alcatraz, a former prison on a small island off the coast of San Francisco that once housed some of the most dangerous criminals in the country. The prison, which closed 60 years ago due to its crumbling infrastructure and high maintenance costs, “will serve as a symbol of Law, Order, and JUSTICE,” he said in a post on Truth Social. Alcatraz was the source of horror stories, also. 

We’re going backwards! 

The Vera Institute of Justice reminds us that at least 95 percent of the people confined in state prisons will someday come home. Vera claims that research shows that incarceration can actually increase the likelihood of future crimes by traumatizing people before releasing them back into their communities. 

It has always been the position of HUMANITY FOR PRISONERS that, given the proper support and opportunities, all people are capable of growth and change. Incarcerated people who participate in postsecondary education programs, for example, have 48 percent lower odds of returning to prison than those who do not. Here in Michigan, I invite you to check on the recidivism rates for graduates of programs like Vocational Village and Calvin Prison Initiative. 

Norway’s amazingly successful prison system and philosophy are worth mentioning here. According to prison governor Are Hoidal, "Guards and prisoners are together in activities all the time. They eat together, play volleyball together, do leisure activities together and that allows us to really interact with prisoners, to talk to them and to motivate them. 

“In Norway, the punishment is just to take away someone's liberty. The other rights stay.” And, ALL incarcerated men and women will be released - there are no life sentences! 

Says Hoidal: “So we are releasing your neighbor. If we treat inmates like animals in prison, then we will release animals on to your street." 

That’s a reminder for our president. For you and me, too. 

"No, I don't want bigger cages. I want all the cages to be empty."

Martin Sostre Solidarity House