tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post7720216512252316562..comments2024-03-25T20:06:39.794-05:00Comments on Grits for Breakfast: Institutionalization in prison thwarts reentryGritsforbreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-91359493499180820882011-10-08T05:54:00.712-05:002011-10-08T05:54:00.712-05:00Sunray's Wench - As a former TDCJ correctional...Sunray's Wench - As a former TDCJ correctional officer and currently serving officer for a southeast Texas sheriff's department, my experience has been that some offenders certainly have solid home and family connections to assist them after they are paroled. Many, however, return to the streets with little hope for a job and no way to make an honest living. They quickly revert, from necessity or choice, to the behaviors that put them in jail or prison to start with.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-47330597591020748472011-10-07T02:24:41.477-05:002011-10-07T02:24:41.477-05:00You have a very good site, well constructed and ve...You have a very good site, well constructed and very interesting i have bookmarked you hopefully you keep posting new stuff<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://khuranalawyer.com/" rel="nofollow">Family Lawyer Brampton</a>khuranalawyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07839533744954426146noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-63930564283673731972011-09-28T15:25:36.595-05:002011-09-28T15:25:36.595-05:00Justice, justice shall you pursue, that you may th...Justice, justice shall you pursue, that you may thrive and occupy the land that the Eternal your Gd is giving you. (Deuteronomy 16:20)<br />The sages ask, why does the Bible double the word justice? <br />A man who was a great civic leader in my hometown taught me that the first justice is to prosecute a suspected perpetrator based on truth and fairness. The second justice was to help the convict to re-establish themselves back in the free world after they did their time. During this man’s lifetime he was instrumental in starting crime stoppers and equally instrumental in helping former convicts re-establish themselves. He sat on Grand Jury’s and it was said that the BPP had him on speed dial.<br />Sunray’s Wench you ask, What is TDCJ scared of? I would have to say, each other. <br />I once read that you can judge the morals of a society by who and how they treat those that they incarcerate. If this is true our cops, judges, persecutors, and corrections people are some morally depraved sob’s. But in all fairness the images of our justice system in Texas, where innocent citizens with no resources are railroaded to correctional facilities where they are dehumanized by soulless correction personal can’t be the norm! Or is it? <br />Society on a whole seems very naive about how our criminal justice system operates on the citizens. Our criminal justice people like it that way. The answer I gave Sunray’s Wench about TDCJ could be expanded to apply to our Judges, Prosecutors and LEO’s. They are afraid of each other as much as they are afraid of us. And their paranoia is costing us a fortune. <br /><br />…that you may thrive in the land… <br />Criminal justice is a dirty business that was not to be hidden from the citizens. The eye witness’s(plural) should push the plunger. Perhaps hiding this necessary but dirty business from the public has allowed opportunity’s for unscrupulous people to corrupt our criminal justice system. Our rights to know what our government is doing are being legislated away every session. Just because a convict is proven innocent beyond a shadow of doubt doesn’t mean they will be immediately remedied. Some go to great lengths to obstruct remedy. In some counties there are those that remain guilty even if proven innocent. <br />We may not be able to heal all the injustices in Texas at once, but if we pursue a life based on the foundation of justice, treating others ever more fairly and honestly, then we bring ourselves, and the world in which we live much closer to this ideal.Sheldon tyc#47333https://www.blogger.com/profile/17236854879241753231noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-36527647357349948092011-09-28T13:16:43.681-05:002011-09-28T13:16:43.681-05:00that's easy sunny. Too many new people start ...that's easy sunny. Too many new people start coming in and out and someone might wise up to what a bunch of hatefilled little crooks they are and might make sure they are locked up in thier own prisons!<br /><br />can't have that!rodsmithnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-81982329756457136172011-09-28T01:08:08.618-05:002011-09-28T01:08:08.618-05:00PrisonDoc ~ it doesn't have to be left to fait...PrisonDoc ~ it doesn't have to be left to faith-based and secular organisations (strangers) to provide re-entry help. Contrary to popular belief, there are many families and friends of inmates who would do so much more to help in legitimate ways if only TDCJ would open its eyes and see through the "security risks" they like to place in the way. <br /><br />I know Texas doesn't care what happens in other states, but that mentality is busily digging a huge hole at the moment. Many other states manage longer visitation periods, during the week and at weekends, for inmates and their visitors. Many have better equipped visitation rooms and areas where children can play with toys on the floor alongside their parents, rather than being made to sit at a table for 2 hours with nothing to occupy them. Many allow inmates to go to a vending machine and choose what to purchase during visitation - making decisions is one of the fundamental abilities needed to stay out of trouble, yet TDCJ have stripped even simple decision making from the inmates. Most other states and federal facilities allow inmates to call friends and family overseas - TDCJ does not and I have yet to be given a reason why, despite asking a lot of people who apparently make such decisions. If you can tell me why my husband is not allowed to call me despite meeting all the other criteria required, I'd be really interested to know.<br /><br />Improving those things would go a long way to increasing family support, and cannot be such a big a threat to security as TDCJ insists it is, if other states manage those things without escapes or a rise in contraband.<br /><br />What is TDCJ scared of?sunray's wenchhttp://lookingforthecabinbythelake.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-65266180206641208372011-09-27T20:54:36.993-05:002011-09-27T20:54:36.993-05:00Such things do happen.
In 2010 in Elgin, a convic...Such things do happen.<br /><br />In 2010 in Elgin, a convicted felon, recently released from prison on parole or because he had served his sentence, walked into a local bank where he had a checking account and was well known to the ladies working the counter. He wrote a note on a deposit slip, demanding money and threatening to use a gun if he did not get money. He never displayed a weapon.<br /><br />The lady working the counter attempted to dissuade him, but was not successful and gave him some cash.<br /><br />The "bank robber" then walked a few blocks to his home. When the local police went to get him, he was sitting on the porch of his mother's home, next door to or across the street from his own home, getting his hair cut by his mother.<br /><br />The local newspaper reported that he told police he wanted to go back into prison.dorannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-84029289038693775642011-09-27T20:47:06.045-05:002011-09-27T20:47:06.045-05:00I am highly skeptical of that 24.3 percent recidiv...I am highly skeptical of that 24.3 percent recidivism report. From the late 40s to the present time, the recidivism rate throughout the country has ranged from 40-50 percent, regardless of what kind of reentry programs were made available to inmates.<br /><br />Institutionalization has always been a problem. When inmates are told when to shit, shower and shave, when to get up and when to lie down, when to talk and when to shut up, and when all their food, clothing and lodging is provided to them, it is hard to handle life on your own once you hit the bricks of the free world. Add to that the reluctance of employers to hire ex-cons and, voila, you have a prescription for recidivism.BarkGrowlBitehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04830589594331819236noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-70491713756337736242011-09-27T14:08:33.232-05:002011-09-27T14:08:33.232-05:00I will never understand why rehabilitation is stre...I will never understand why rehabilitation is stressed but when an inmate has served over 23 years of his sentence, established a clean disciplinary record, taken just about every course offered, he is consistently denied parole for "nature of the crime". That cannot be changed, but no credence seems to be given to the proven efforts toward reform and support upon release. Who are we kidding? It's punishment pure and simple and when these inmates are too old to become useful to society what do they do...burn down a house?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-88298949321246136892011-09-27T13:05:04.733-05:002011-09-27T13:05:04.733-05:00My inclination is to believe that the story is emb...My inclination is to believe that the story is embellished a bit, but even if it is the facts are still there. Avoidance of recidivism hinges on the the dual importance of social support and jobs. Social support (of all types) is lacking, and jobs are hard to find even without the pervasive, dreaded criminal background check. Hopefully we will see more faith-based and secular organizations seek to help those re-entering society.Prison Dochttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03651611135066437902noreply@blogger.com