With full support, I welcome “The-SLAMMER” to the bizarre world of Doing Time. (Bizarre: strange, weird, peculiar, wacky, and grotesquely odd, out of the ordinary…) those definitions barely scratch the surface of life and survival in all the “slammers.” With over 2.5 million men and women incarcerated in our rapidly growing prison system, we need an ear to the wall and a voice for the masses to shed light on the awesome tragedy of corrections, rehabilitation and recidivism in America.

To most people, the industry of corrections is a mystical necessity, much like the local garbage man. We don’t care how, what, or who handles our garbage; somebody just do it. Keep it out of sight, out of mind, we don’t want to know. Until, lo and behold, someone in our family, or a friend, or the neighborhood is personally touched by the tentacles of crime and punishment.

In 1978, Psychiatrist Karl Menninger wrote a compelling treatise, “The Crime of Punishment,” in which he declared that “punishment was a brutal and inefficient relic of the past.” At about the time this revealing book came out, I was just beginning to take a serious look at life and the ominous reality of despair and defeat in my own life. In my early 40’s, I had already spent over 10 years in prison, but the demon of denial and pride had kept me swaggering and styling through the calendar as though the clock wasn’t ticking.

John Wayne had taught my generation how to stand up like a man and keep swinging. I was a survivor. Sure, with much introspection, after staring at the ceiling and pondering ‘what am I doing here’ for a decade, I realized that I was a product of my own choices. I knew the fiddler had to be paid for the foolish decisions made during my wild and rebellious younger years. But damn, how does one ever get off this racing train to no where?

Fortunately for me, I came from a family of pioneers, farmers, patriots, and strong, caring folks. When the newspapers and 6:00 pm news blared “the Museum has been robbed!,” my people didn’t cut and run as my photo surfaced as the culprit. When the media vultures frenzied over the “Eva Gabor Robbery” and “Whiskey Creek Murders,” family and friends shared the pain and humiliation of courts, evaluations and convictions. I mention this because doing time is never something done alone. There are always the loved ones, family, friends, and the victims who are attached to the consequences.

Unfortunately, crime is a young person’s game. The average age of the American prisoner is under 23 years old. Ask any old timer in prison; they began their convict career when they were a jitterbug, a kid. And then, the curse of recidivism smothers any dreams or initiative. Whatever set in motion the habits and situation that brings a person to prison, is only inflamed by the prison experience.

I remember coming out of Riker’s Island prison in 1967. Oh, I had taken some classes in Substance Abuse and had gone to Alcoholics Anonymous, had even attended chapel and played on a ball team, but that was just stuff to do to kill the time and get out of the cell. As far as Corrections, rehabilitation, programs, etc., I really wasn’t a candidate for a ‘new program.’ I just wanted OUT.

What influenced me the most was the LOSERS LIES. For 2 years I had listened to these constant excuses one hears in jail and prison as to why an ex-con cannot succeed legitimately. I was so convinced that because of my record it was impossible to make it, that I hardly even tried when the plane landed in Miami. After all, I was still in my twenties, I had been to the joint, and I wasn’t going back! No one ever believes the recidivism stats of 70% would pertain to them.

Do programs work? Absolutely! But the student must want them to work. There needs to be opportunities to prepare a person for success, but again, programs only work for those honestly seeking help. Unfortunately, with the present financial crisis affecting the Nation, good prison programs are the last concern on corrections budgets. And it is only going to get worse.

So people ask me, “How were you able to survive? What happened that you were able to beat the odds and make a success out of the mess you were in?” Good questions. But, as most success stories usually claim, it wasn’t done alone. When the judges loaded me up with 2 life sentences, it was a totally different situation than the chump change 3-year bit I did in New York. Double Life plus 20 years for the State of Florida, with a parole date of November 11, 2244. And then, another 5 years for the Feds? Now, that will get your attention!

The stars were in the right position or someone was praying, or whatever, I happened to be in the right place at the right time. The Secretary of the Department of Corrections, Louie Wainwright, opened the prison doors for programs. A group of volunteers who ‘Believed that a person could Change’ showed up. The legendary Chaplain, Mighty Max Jones, arrived with a passion for prisoners. The interesting thing about this revival in programs at FSP, the End of the Line, was that most of the convicts did not believe there was any hope for them. But, how wrong they were.

The catalyst for change with the volunteers was their focus on the finish line, not on the starting line. The theme of the programs was ‘Get out of the rear view mirror; plan for the future.’ In my case, I was learning and doing well in the programs, but the lights came on when I became interested in the issue of Faith in God. Bill Glass, former Cleveland Browns football star, brought a group of athletes to FSP. They played ball and then shared about the important role that God plays in a person’s life.

The combination of education and Faith in God were the determining factors that turned my life around. Like looking into a mirror, the mirror doesn’t smile until you do. And the world doesn’t change, until you do. As my input became healthier and my attitude became more mature, my behavior noticeably improved. Then, the world around me began to change.

Chaplain Max Jones said, “Be God’s man, and in His timing, He will open the gates wide enough for a freight train to go through sideways.” In 1986, after 21 years in prison, the doors finally opened and I was released on life parole. Today, as the International Director for Champions for Life, the Bill Glass Prison Ministry, I am privileged to share the love and encouragement that others have handed down to me. The greatest wisdom that I learned in prison was, “If you are not doing God’s business, no matter where you are, you are just serving time.” Jack Murphy - June 16, 2009

The-SLAMMER (http://www.the-slammer.org) is an online forum where all individuals actively involved in or impacted by the corrections systems can meet to air their opinions, concerns, ideas, and recommendations aimed at system reforms, such as improved rehabilitation and reentry programs for inmates, all directed to reduce recidivism rates, while also optimizing staff work environments, and at minimized cost to taxpayers. Copyright 2009 The-SLAMMER.org.

From an NPREC press release dated June 23, 2009.

Calling sexual abuse of people in government custody “totally incompatible with American values,” the bipartisan federal National Prison Rape Elimination Commission issued a landmark report dated 6/23/09 on sexual abuse in U.S. correctional and detention facilities, and proposed the first comprehensive blueprint to prevent abuse.

Congress created this panel when it passed the Prison Rape Elimination Act in 2003. The law charged the Commissioners with conducting the first comprehensive review of government policies and practices relating to sexual abuse of inmates, and with developing “zero-tolerance” national standards to improve the detection, prevention, reduction and punishment of prison rape.

The statute requires U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to issue mandatory rules informed by the standards developed by the Commission. Those rules, which must be promulgated within a year, will be immediately applicable to the federal Bureau of Prisons. The rules will later become applicable to states, which must comply or risk losing five percent of federal funds allocated for prison purposes.

The issued report is comprehensive and lengthy, but an attached executive summary clearly defines the Commission’s views and findings. Following is an excerpt:

“Rape is violent, destructive and a crime—no less so when the victim is incarcerated. Until recently, however, the public viewed sexual abuse as an inevitable feature of confinement. Even as courts and human rights standards increasingly confirmed that prisoners have the same fundamental rights to safety, dignity and justice as individuals living at liberty in the community, vulnerable men, women and children continued to be sexually victimized by other prisoners and corrections staff. Tolerance of sexual abuse of prisoners in the government’s custody is totally incompatible with American values.

The Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution forbids cruel and unusual punishment—a ban that requires corrections staff to take reasonable steps to protect individuals in their custody from sexual abuse whenever the threat is known or should have been apparent. In Farmer v. Brennan, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that deliberate indifference to the substantial risk of sexual abuse violates an incarcerated individual’s rights. As the Court so aptly stated, sexual abuse is ‘not part of the penalty that criminal offenders pay for their offenses against society.’”

The summary then continues discussing the Commissions nine findings, as well as select policies and practices that must be mandatory everywhere to remedy the problem. Here, without associated remedies are these nine findings:

Finding 1: Protecting prisoners from sexual abuse remains a challenge in correctional facilities across the country. Too often, in what should be secure environments, men, women, and children are raped or abused by other incarcerated individuals and corrections staff.

Finding 2: Sexual abuse is not an inevitable feature of incarceration. Leadership matters because corrections administrators can create a culture within facilities that promotes safety instead of one that tolerates abuse.

Finding 3: Certain individuals are more at risk of sexual abuse than others. Corrections administrators must routinely do more to identify those who are vulnerable and protect them in ways that do not leave them isolated and without access to rehabilitative programming.

Finding 4: Few correctional facilities are subject to the kind of rigorous internal monitoring and external oversight that would reveal why abuse occurs and how to prevent it. Dramatic reductions in sexual abuse depend on both.

Finding 5: Many victims cannot safely and easily report sexual abuse, and those who speak out often do so to no avail. Reporting procedures must be improved to instill confidence and protect individuals from retaliation without relying on isolation. Investigations must be thorough and competent. Perpetrators must be held accountable through administrative sanctions and criminal prosecution.

Finding 6: Victims are unlikely to receive the treatment and support known to minimize the trauma of abuse. Correctional facilities need to ensure immediate and ongoing access to medical and mental health care and supportive services.

Finding 7: Juveniles in confinement are much more likely than incarcerated adults to be sexually abused, and they are particularly at risk when confined with adults. To be effective, sexual abuse prevention, investigation, and treatment must be tailored to the developmental capacities and needs of youth.

Finding 8: Individuals under correctional supervision in the community, who outnumber prisoners by more than two to one, are at risk of sexual abuse. The nature and consequences of the abuse are no less severe, and it jeopardizes the likelihood of their successful reentry.

Finding 9: A large and growing number of detained immigrants are at risk of sexual abuse. Their heightened vulnerability and unusual circumstances require special interventions.

The National Prison Rape Elimination Commission’s work represents a sea change in public consciousness and in national commitment to protecting individuals under correctional supervision from sexual abuse. Already, the Commission has seen ideas transformed into actions that by all accounts have the potential to improve safety. This is just the beginning. When the Attorney General issues mandatory standards, they will accelerate the pace of reform and ensure that the same fundamental protections are available in every correctional and detention setting. Our obligations, both moral and legal, require nothing less.

To view the entire NPREC report, click here.

Super Bowl–winning coach and #1 New York Times best selling author Tony Dungy has had an unusual opportunity to reflect on what it takes to achieve significance. He is looked to by many as the epitome of the success and significance that is highly valued in our culture. He also works every day with young men who are trying to achieve significance through football and all that goes with a professional athletic career—such as money, power, and celebrity. Coach Dungy has had all that, but he passionately believes that there is a different path to significance, a path characterized by attitudes, ambitions, and allegiances that are all too rare but uncommonly rewarding. Uncommon reveals lessons on achieving significance that the coach has learned from his remarkable parents, his athletic and coaching career, his mentors, and his journey with God. A particular focus of the book: what it means to be a man of significance in a culture that is offering young men few positive role models.

From an Editorial Review of the book at Amazon.com

From the blog ctnewsjunkie.com

Connecticut’s Governor Rell has proposed eliminating the successful “Stride” re-enty program aimed at saving the state $600,000 over the next two years in order to grapple with an $8 billion deficit. But ex-offenders, lawmakers and advocates are urging caution, noting that state legislature hearings on the criminal justice system revealed that re-entry programs, like the “Stride” program, actually save
the state money by reducing the recidivism rate of participants.

Specifically, one study estimated that without the program’s inception ten years ago, recidivism would have cost the state $9.5 million, rather than the actual 10-year recidivism cost of $1.73 million.

To read the complete ctnewsjunkie article, click here.

Spending months or years in a prison environment is a serious, if not tragic circumstance. Much of the mission of The-SLAMMER is aimed at improving the lot of everyone spending time behind prison walls through exploration of reform, rehabilitation and recidivism issues. But perhaps a little humor too would also be helpful. Following is a portion of a rather funny comparison of life in prison versus a significant part of life outside . . . work. We hope all readers will enjoy it.

@ PRISON You spend most of your time in a 10X10 cell
@ WORK You spend most of your time in 6X6 cubicle

@ PRISON You get three fully paid for meals a day
@ WORK You get a break for one meal, and you have to pay for it

@ PRISON For good behavior, you get time off
@ WORK For good behavior, you get more work

@ PRISON The guard locks and unlocks all the doors for you
@ WORK You must carry a security card and open all the doors yourself

@ PRISON You can watch TV and play games
@ WORK You could get fired for watching TV and playing games

@ PRISON You get your own toilet
@ WORK You have to share the toilet with people who pee on the seat

@ PRISON They allow your family and friends to visit
@ WORK You aren’t even supposed to speak to your family

@ PRISON All expenses are paid by the taxpayers with no work required on your part
@ WORK You must pay all your expenses to go to work, and they deduct taxes from your salary to pay for prisoners.

@ PRISON You spend most of your time inside bars wanting to get out
@ WORK You spend most of your time wanting to get out and go inside bars

While some proponents of prison-budget trimming have recently suggested early release of long-incarcerated inmates that have only one year remaining in their sentence, other lawmakers are looking at a cost-cutting approach attained through the early release of elderly inmates.

According to a blog article “The Aging Prison Population” by Alex Davidson, posted on 6/17/2009, “it costs $70,000 per year to house older prisoners, two-to-three times more than that of younger prisoners. California in 2006 had 5% of its inmate population over the age of 55 but that population accounted for 22% of the off-site hospital admission costs the state saw that year. This situation will only worsen in the years to come.”

Early release of geriatric prisoners, with their attendent chronic illnesses and disabilities, could also alleviate overcrowding in many prisons. For the full story, go to http://criminaljustice.change.org/blog/view/the_aging_prison_population .

By Just A Guy
The tides have turned and the language is changing as politicos try to salvage their political futures via a different spin on the old tune.
As the State of California budget fiasco lays the foundation for massive cuts in spending the results will be: early releases (eventually) for prisoners and even LESS rehabilitation, NO welfare, LESS education spending, and less aid in general. The long term result, unarguably, will be MORE people in prison and HIGHER recidivism!!!
Before I begin ranting about the above let me be very clear about something: I DO NOT believe in big government and the “dole”. What I have been through in my life has convinced me that individual success or failure is the responsibility of the individual NOT the government (I have been in prison, been released, and become very successful in the eyes of society and then came back because of my past rather than my “crime”). Government is there as a framework for order and is a necessary entity, but government should not be there as a crutch for lazy people, which it has definitely become (in my opinion).
What I envision is California releasing a bunch of people that have been ill-prepared by California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) for re-entry because they never entered any of the non-existent programs CDCR claims are available (a good portion of these people should never have been incarcerated in the first place). In conjunction with these releases, welfare will be cut drastically or eradicated, Cal Grant programs disbanded so lower income and disadvantaged people now have no way to pay for college, education spending will be cut and class sizes increased, and healthcare spending reduced to less than minimal standards, not to mention myriad other program cuts.
What will the result of this be? Again, obviously more crime and higher recidivism!
The people no longer receiving welfare, in many cases, will resort to crime in order to get money to support families. The college kids, having no way to pay for school, will inundate the lower wage workforce and take all the fast food jobs and resort to crime. The school kids won’t have any discipline at home because both parents are working two jobs to support them and there are no more after-school programs and with no supervision a lot will become criminals or addicts. The mentally ill will be kicked to the streets/abandoned and resort to crime. And finally a bunch of us will be released from prison and unable to acquire jobs because the welfare people (who now want to work) and ex-college kids have taken all the jobs most of us ex-inmates were able to get!

According to a blog for The New Methodists for June 15, 2009, there’s a unique prison in Leoben, Austria. One which has a design that “replaces violence with silence; inhumanity with community.” To read the complete story, and possibly its linked source article in the New York Times Magazine, click here. But to give you quick insight to its content, here’s an excerpt:

“I want to focus on the prison part right now. When we got home last night, I opened up the New York Times Magazine and was amazed to see this headline, “Rethinking Prison Design.” Here is a quote from the article about this remarkable prison in Austria:

Inside the prison it felt like Sunday afternoon, though in fact it was a Tuesday. There was a glassy brightness over everything, and most surprising, an unbreakable silence. Prisons are usually clamorous places, filled with the sound of metal doors opening and closing, and the general racket that comes with holding large numbers of men in a confined space. Noise is part of the chaos of prison life; Leoben was serene. I mentioned as much to Hohensinn, and he smiled and pointed to the whitewashed ceilings. He had taken great care to install soundproofing.

The article continues but you get the point. This is a place that replaces violence with silence; inhumanity with community.”

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