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I have come to the same conclusion as many others in our nation: a number of things have to happen if the prison system in America is to ever work not only to the fullest advantage of society but also for that of the inmate.
If locking an ever-growing portion of our society behind bars is appealing to our sense of safety and shared morality, the prison system is working. At least we have a growing industry. How do we view small town and rural people who look at the whole thing as a wonderful boost to their local economy? And no doubt, when there is need of employment it is sooo feasible to simply erect another group of buildings surrounded by high walls, barbed wire, and job opportunities for the locals.
But we must face the fact that this is a market fueled by original sin and societal lawbreakers operated by politics and racism. My view is that what we are creating is a “prison subculture” that is brushed under a sort of concrete-and-steel rug. When we realize the true “gains” . . . a new twist on the phrase “wages of sin,” perhaps we’ll begin to see the light and try to find out how we can truly reform the justice system.
The fact is, most middle-class Americans have never been to prison, even for a visit (although inner-city black men know more than their share about the American prison system). The whole concept is just foreign to them, in that their only peek inside the walls is from the vantage of a TV set or theater. I personally wish more people could visit the average prison and spend a little time in a cell in order to learn what it’s like. After that a whole lot of folks would think very differently about prisoners and the quality of “re-education” most inmates are getting! And it’s not the official curriculum I’m speaking of.
Prisoners learn which guards can be tempted (paid-off, perhaps threatened) into drug deliveries, etc. They learn how to successfully rape and otherwise intimidate, sometimes torture and generally “get along” in the hell that is much of the American prison culture. They learn new tricks of the trade, as in the drug trade, theft, extortion, and the lot, so that when they get out of jail there are new and more surefire ways to prey upon people. I’m further convinced from most statistics and a lot of personal experience communicating with inmates that recidivism isn’t rare—it’s the norm.
While I would never argue that a majority of people who are incarcerated are not guilty, some are not. Too many police officers, public defenders, and far too many individuals with “higher” political office in mind are at fault in these tragedies. Let’s face it, the prison system in this country is a serious failure but for rare occasions. At best it can be said, “They’re not on the outside doing it to us, but rather on the inside doing it to one another.” And of course, won’t it be fun when you or a loved one ends up inside for a while?
We all agree that individuals need moral foundations. I don’t believe that many would argue that spirituality is meaningless for the reformation of prisoners, if indeed reformation is what we’d really like to see in their lives. At the same time, few Americans seem to think or teach that Jesus Christ and the wisdom of the Bible have any real place in the basic fabric of their own lives, much less the lives of prisoners. Thankfully, many local churches and chaplains as well as individual believers make real efforts at ongoing prison ministry, though the Chuck Colsons are still few and far between.
Yet if every solid Christian church in the nation had an effective outreach ministry in their local prisons, the foundation of the system itself would be business as usual. We would still have a justice system which is fair game for political maneuvering and all too often bogged down with bureaucracy, payola, racism, and graft.
I have spent plenty of time visiting prisoners, listening, speaking to them as a pastor and a friend, and doing concerts for them. In juvenile hall, minimum or maximum security and federal prisons throughout America, we find a huge population of forgotten people. Society has largely turned its heart as well as its back on them. Whether or not prisoners have all gotten a just trial, a fair chance at competent legal representation, and the rest isn’t anywhere near the top of our list of societal concerns.
This is an issue that should shame us to prayer, action, and personal commitment for justice based on truth and compassion. If we will not address our personal selfishness and indifference, truth and compassion are out of the picture whether in jail, on our streets, or in your home.
