Pubdate: Fri, 04 Feb 2011
Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution (GA)
Copyright: 2011 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Contact: http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/letters/sendletter.html
Website: http://www.ajc.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/28
Author: John Roberts
Note: John Roberts is co-clerk of the Social Concerns Committee at Atlanta
Friends Meeting in Decatur.

GEORGIA PRISON REFORMS CLEARLY NEEDED

The Atlanta Friends Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, more
commonly known as Quakers, are heartened by Gov. Nathan Deal's recent
remarks on prison reform. Deal is demonstrating leadership on an issue
that is gaining rapid nonpartisan momentum across the country.

As a nation, we have 5 percent of the world's population but nearly 25
percent of the world's reported prisoners. In the words of Sen. Jim
Webb, D-Va., "Either we are home to the most evil people on earth or
we are doing something different, and vastly counterproductive."

Georgia has an urgent need for criminal justice reforms, as we have
the highest rate of incarceration in the country. Deal informs us that
one out of every 13 Georgia residents is under some form of
correctional control; this is more than twice the national rate.

Opening Georgia criminal justice to enlightened reforms is smart, fair
and cost-effective. Deal has proposed alternatives to prison for
nonviolent offenders, including day-reporting centers, drug and mental
health courts and intensive probation.

Today, a first-time minor offender who might benefit from
rehabilitation is placed in the same environment with child molesters,
rapists and murderers, where it is impossible to safeguard the
nonviolent from the violent. In the words of Georgia Chief Justice
Carol Hunstein, "If we can address these defendants, especially
low-risk defendants, in a way that keeps the community safe or safer,
I think that is the way to proceed."

Other states introducing sweeping criminal justice reforms include
South Carolina and Texas. In a recent AJC article, Marc Levin,
director of the Texas Public Policy Foundation's Center for Effective
Justice, noted, "Texas is a conservative state like Georgia. We aren't
letting people off the hook. We are just holding them accountable in a
different way."

According to Georgia Corrections Commissioner Brian Owens, six of
every 10 inmates in Georgia prisons are there for sex offenses or
violent crimes, leaving four of 10 who might be eligible for
alternatives. These alternatives will tend to be more humane and will
help keep families together. They will also provide help for the
addicted and the mentally ill. Certainly reform will require careful
coordination with counties, local court systems and other service
providers. Quakers believe now is the time for Georgia to start the
process, following other states who are realizing the benefits and
savings of a new approach.

Since our founding in England in the late 1640s, Quakers have always
looked for humane, innovative policies that help move us toward a
better society. The terrible sufferings of early Quakers in the
prisons of the 17th century have given us a special interest in the
management of prisons and the treatment of crime. One of our founders,
George Fox, protested to the judges of his day "concerning their
putting men to death for cattle and money and small matters," and laid
before them "what a hurtful thing it was that prisoners should lie so
long in jail" showing how "they learned wickedness from one another in
talking of their bad deeds." Prison reform remains a core Quaker testimony.

Similar to our friends and neighbors, Quakers want to be free from
violent crime in our streets and homes. But we realize that the
current criminal justice system in Georgia is not working. As we see
it, spending more than $1 billion a year on the current state
corrections system is not being tough-minded. Rather, it seems
soft-minded -- neither wise nor effective.

There has to be a better way, and we are grateful for the leadership
of the new governor.

John Roberts is co-clerk of the Social Concerns Committee at Atlanta
Friends Meeting in Decatur. 
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