Regarding this last point #10, it is beyond me why more effective re-entry programs and assistance are not used. Even for those who believe that the focus of prisons is 'incapacitation' as opposed to 'rehabilitation', the grossly inadequate nature of re-entry programs flies in the face of whatever benefits society was hoping to achieve with the prison terms.

Even with all the recent press and discussion on falsely convicted offenders, - a whole other issue of course - while there is 'outrage' or at least focus on the lack of aid offered as these prisoners re-enter society (in the context of what the legal system has deprived them of), there is shockingly little mention of the fact that traditional re-entry programs are so lacking.

-- CarinaWallance - 30 Jan 2008

1. Train 10,000 new teachers to perform individual training with dyslexic children, and increase funding for early testing for dyslexia. That's the low end of an estimate for how many are needed. Dyslexics make up 10% of children who are tested but 30% of Texas inmates, and illiteracy is a key indicator increasing the likelihood of imprisonment.

2. Create new programs to support children of incarcerated parents, including mentoring, tutoring, counseling, part-time jobs and access to social services. Without intervention, children of incarcerated parents are 6-8 times more likely than their peers to wind up in prison. Fund the programs that exist, including privately operated charities if they're effective and accountable, plus create new ones modeled on successful programs in Texas and elsewhere.

3. Cut probation lengths in half. Most probationers who re-offend do so in the first two years, the majority of those (says Tony Fabelo) within the first eight months. Texas has the longest probation lengths in the nation. Reducing them would reduce caseloads so probation officers could increase supervision during that most-important early period. (This will require revamping funding for probation departments, which are currently paid by the head.)

7. Allow local governments to operate syringe exchange programs to promote personal responsibility, reduce the spread of HIV and Hepatitis C and provide greater opportunities for outreach to hardcore drug users.

On this point, note the difficulties that Texas lawmakers are currently having in getting DAs to accept even small pilot needle-exchange programs. Additionally, even though such programs seem to be oriented more towards the health and safety of drug users and their families (a noble cause in itself), I bet there could also be substantial long-term benefits in terms of crime prevention that result from the act of introducing drug users to social workers in such a manner.

10. Fund re-entry programs designed to help ex-offenders get and keep a job, housing and stay out of trouble when they get out of prison, especially for the first 1-2 years.

-- VishalA? - 29 Jan 2008

The idea that the prisons aren't necessarily failing but just aren't really trying to correct and rehabilitate prisoners is an idea that I agree with. Often times, those that come out of jail and are ready for a new start have their enthusiasm curbed by society's reaction to them. Many of them aren't able to "start anew" and feel disenfranchised with the whole system--which sometimes leads them back to behavior that put them into prison in the first place.

The war on drugs is a huge crock in my opinion, and generally serves as a less clandestine way to continue to put more black males in jail. The differences in the punishments that white and black drug users receive (ie, the differences in sentences for crack cocaine and powder cocaine) lead me to no other conclusion.

-- NicoleMedham - 29 Jan 2008

Yeah what is this "war on drugs" thing anyway? How long have we been fighting it, and in what way ARE we fighting it? I spent a few months doing data entry of criminal records and I can tell you that most of the people going out are coming right back. Prison does nothing to solve drug addiction and nothing to solve poverty - two of the main reasons people find themselves in prison (over and over again). I seriously believe that some people are in situations so desperate that crime is actually the most rational response.

Our prison system is clearly a failure. We should expose them (as you said Mia) and open them up to public scrutiny. I think we should assume we know nothing (fair bet really) and take a fresh look at the situation - ask ourselves who ends up in prison and why? Then be willing to consider new solutions, and my guess is that we ought to focus our attention on "rehabilitation" much more than we are now.

Of course, the other possibility is that the prisons aren't failing at all - they just aren't aiming at correction. Are prisons just a place to throw away segments of society that might be a problem for institutions in power?

-- ErikaKrystian - 29 Jan 2008

• end racist practices in the "justice system"
• restructure penal schemes with a focus on restorative justice and rehabilitation
• allow better visitation/monitoring
• cease censorship of studies/exposes about prison populations
• equalize programs/opportunities for incarcerated women