Prison Reform Measures...

PRISON REFORM MEASURES Needed Right NOW!!…

Prison reform has to start with prisoner reform first. Warehousing prisoners is not working and has never worked. What ends up happening is that prisoners might go to jail with a minor violation and find themselves caught up in an in-prison lifestyle that includes permissive male to male sex [Without the use of condoms which is, foolishly, socially disallowed]; learning how to do more crimes that are often more illegal and more sophisticated than the crime(s) that the brother came in for in the first place; an overload of violence, physical and sexual abuse; and a building of a level of self-loathing and self-destruction, self-pity and addiction to illegal drugs. Black people, especially in North America, find the current system extremely unacceptable. This is mainly because it is the Black race that finds more and more of their men and women in jail doing hard time. And it is the Black Community that finds these men and women back on their doorsteps when the ``offender’’ gets out of jail. The more former offenders who are fed back into the community find there selves in negative situations and without coping skills and job skills, the more difficult it will be to take in these brothers and sisters in a positive and productive manner... The jobs, presently, just don’t exists because when they are asked if they have a ``criminal record’’ or a ``criminal background’’ they are blocked out of many jobs if they answer in the affirmative. Something drastic and revolutionary needs to be done and done quickly. And it needs to be done very, very soon… It is a situation that requires massive surgery ``before’’ the patient is lost and another generation or two of Black and largely poor people goes down the drain—including hundreds of Black men who can and will be productive citizens if we keep on the case and keep the pressure on ALL formations of government, as well as our social support systems and those in our communities and in other communities who give money to worthy causes……

SUGGESTIONS:

1A) One of the main suggestions I suggest to cut back on AIDS and HIV coming from the Nation's prison sustem is to start a program where the best behaved prisoners get to spend time in a confined, comfortable room ALONE with a video projector and some adult films of their choosing and with lotion and adiquite clean towles as needed.  This will obviously be for the gentlemen to spend intimate time alone and masturbate for a few hours.  Men are taking sexual aggression out on each other way too much and punishing each other through sexual abuse way too much.  THis cycle of abuse needs to end and this is one sure Way to curb it.


1) Start a separation system through which the least likely to recommit crimes are taken away from those who are most likely to recommit crimes. Each prison should have a section for such people who can be given light work to do, the freedom to read books, better food, more open and legitimate contact with the outside, and direct job training that leads to a real living wage job on the outside. The private sector can be relied upon for assistance in paying for these training programs, on a voluntary basis, and allowed to benefit from picking the best employees they want from the people who successfully finish such training programs.

2) Some prisons have already started programs where prisoners who are in same-gender relationships and who are going to be in jail for a long time are respected and allowed to let those monogamous relationships flourish. This is something that seems to work, at least in the TV documentary I saw recently {On ``Lock Down,’’ on MSNBC... } It should certainly be examined and given at least pilot program status in our Nation’s prison systems.

3) Condoms MUST be given out in prison and used by men who have sex with other men. It is a proven fact—and many of our Nation’s AIDS-Fighting organizations have the numbers to show it—that many people who come out of the prison system in North America bring STD’s, including HIV back to the Black community. Many men, for example, begin to take on female partners again once they leave the prison system. This is part of the reason why some Black women are finding themselves HIV positive after they have been intimate with former offenders. Something drastic has to be done here and accepting condom use in the prison system is a good start. Also: more education about STDs and HIV is desperately needed in the prison system and in Black and Latin communities across North America... If you are asking how to off-set some of the obvious political outcry that will come from the Right Wing and more family oriented and conservative elements among the electorate and the body politic, all I can say is they are giving our Brothers and Sisters in the neighborhoods and the communities a death sentence by allowing HIV and AIDS to flourish in our community. Our babies are being born with HIV, partly due to the open sex in the Prison system where condoms are unavailable and not being use with regularity. It is worth taking a political hit for this one and you will be strengthening families and saving lives. This must be explained to the electorate.

4) Rape MUST be disallowed, not encouraged. The level of brutality can be curbed if men are allowed to have training, art classes, access to libraries and even passes out of the prison system for great behavior. [Remember this is for first-time offenders and people who are deemed to be non-repeat offenders, non-violent, not run-away threats, and always with a record of good behavior.]

5) The level of illegal drug use and illegal drug abuse can also be curbed greatly when men see other men getting real training in carpentry, electric, journalism, computers, housing construction (electronics), administrative office work, and engineering etc. Women should have full access to such training as well and be rewarded for great behavior as well. ALL programs should reach across gender, race, religious and sexual orientation lines…

6) People will have access to this training and an outside job as they are pulled out of the general population for great behavior. There must be separate places for the best prisoners far away from people who find themselves in situations where they want to destroy people, property and themselves. Low level violators who display such ``great behavior’’ should have access to healthcare, dental care, eye glasses, and other benefits as well such as those mentioned before in this document….

7) What to do with the real hardened criminals will be discussed now. I feel that such people DO NOT benefit from harsh treatment. They should get psychiatric treatment and be allowed to stay alone as much as possible. The entire North American society needs to take a real hard look at the level of violence within our borders and find ways of stemming it through less violence on TV and in movies, more educational programming on TV and greater emphasis on education in the school system and through other avenues such as churches and Mosques.... For example, in Philadelphia there are only about seven percent Black male teachers in the school system. This is ridiculous!!! Black males serve as great positive role models for our Black young men who are considering illegal behavior, often for economic and peer pressure reasons. WE HAVE TO GET MORE BLACK MALE TEACHERS IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEMS ACROSS THE COUNTRY. There are always people who just break all the rules while being detained for major crimes in the prison system. They must have limited if any access to the general prison population. They should get a daily dose of access to the stories of people who have broken the law and who have decided to go up the correct path in life and change their lives. They should also be in confined quarters and not allowed to have ANY contact with prison guards, the police, other prison officials and so forth because they are a threat to such personnel. They SHOULD NOT be fed ``nasty’’ food or sexually or physically abused in any way. Some of these people are just mentally ill and must be given proper treatment for such problems as depression, bipolarism, schizophrenia and so forth. Such people cannot be around others openly and often because they cannot be trusted to not physically and sexually abuse others. Mental health professionals, Community Advocates, Progressive clergy, Social Advocates, Progressive Political leaders within the political system and from outside the system, should be called upon and relied upon to consistently create a positive program for the rehabilitation of and assistance for such prisoners. Such personnel MUST be paid proper living wages. As such programs are devised and implemented we will see the rates of imprisonment in our nation decrease and the humanity with which our prisoners are treated increase. Such programs MUST be protected from political manipulation by elected officials, corruption and other processes that would destroy the integrity of such programs. Male, female, gay, straight, bisexual and transgendered, and all races of people and all religious groups must be allowed to freely, openly and equally take part in such programs. Such programs should also NOT be impinged by any local, state, or National budget cuts.

8) Violence coming from staff, guards and other formal prison officials is deeply unacceptable and should be met with criminal charges and financial liability.

9) Prison populations are now, in North America, as diverse as the general population. Diversity should be respected and differences should be celebrated and understood as much as possible, not punished and repudiated. An increase in cross-cultural experiences should be emphasized, not de-emphasized.

10) Celebrations in prisons, for birthdays, holidays, and better food for such events should be given out according to great behavior as well as access to TV, radio, libraries, computers, music and movies…

11) As mentioned earlier, there should be an emphasis on ``family and friend’’ visits, better food and other benefits for people who want to work and who have ``Great Behavior’’…. Prisoners who exemplify such great behavior should also be allowed personal intimate time {within reason} with outside visitors, other inmates and family members within guidelines to be set up by the prisons themselves and each prison MUST have uncorrupted community representation on all official boards and for ALL decision-making processes.

12) White collar crimes must be deemed as hurtful and illegal as community crimes such as bank robbery, theft, muggings, etc. and punishment for such crimes, which cost our economy billions of dollars each year, must be equally punishable by law.

13) The formation and existence of in-house race gangs MUST be deemphasized, disallowed, discouraged and grounds for the taking away of privileges such as TV, Movies, good and better food, library privileges, interaction privileges, visitation privileges, gym use and access to the field and or yard, etc.

14) Any and ALL legal challenges derived from the prison population and their advocates, families, friends and advisors must be taken seriously by the prison authorities and ALL authorities such as the judicial branch, the legislative branch and the executive branch of government {on the local, state and National level}, especially when such legal challenges are approved by the prisoner in question.

15) There must also be much more legal and social advocates for prisoners and prison rights across the country and such advocates MUST be supported by various charities, social movements, social activists, churches, thinkers, scholars and academicians, and average citizens. Such advocates MUST be paid a living wage. People who have the financial means to contribute to such causes MUST have open and legal access to giving the funds they wish to contribute to such causes available to them on a regular consistent basis.

A scaled-down version of these Prison Reforms were Submitted to the Obama Transition Team in November of 2008 by Brother Tracy Gibson; They will be Re-submitted to the President of the United States Mr. Barack Obama, on November 11th, 2012.

Reach Brother Tracy Gibson @ BlockBoi75@Yahoo.Com




Address:
Brother Tracy Gibson
213 South 49th Street
Philadelphi, Penn 19139-4205
1.215.471.64.94

[As soon as I'm financially able I will send these suggestions to the Correction Manager for the State of Pa.]