by Georgia Center for Opportunity | Apr 18, 2014
Crime needs to be punished. There is no doubt about that. Punishment for crime is a necessary part of maintaining a just society, preserving order and peace, and promoting life and happiness. Citizens need to know that there are consequences for breaking the law and to be motivated to do what is right for the good of society.
While punishment for crime is necessary, it also needs to be dispensed justly. Overly punitive measures can demoralize offenders and their families and cause them to lose faith in the criminal justice system.
Take mandatory minimum sentencing for drug offenses, for instance. This sentencing began in the 1980’s as a way for state officials to get “tough on crime.” However, it stripped judges of the ability to use discretion in sentencing drug offenders, resulting in scores of people spending far too many years behind bars for relatively minor drug offenses. This “tough on crime” mentality led to a massive overcrowding of our nation’s prisons, more costs to taxpayers, and increased recidivism.
When thinking about punishing offenders for their crimes, we must remember that 95 percent of those who enter prison will return to the community at some point. In other words, “today’s prisoners are tomorrow’s neighbors.”[i]
This reality should cause us to approach how we administer justice with a more balanced and humane perspective. We ought to be thinking with the end in mind: How best can we prepare a person for reentry at the moment of sentencing? What obstacles does a person need to overcome personally? Who does this person need to make amends with before he is released? What will keep this person from recidivating?
It is important that we remember that those who have committed crimes are people, and all people have inherent dignity and worth. If we allow ourselves to view a person as less than human, we are tempted to write him off and to refuse to engage in the hard work of helping him to overcome root issues that keep him from thriving. However, if we see those who commit offenses as humans worthy of the same dignity as any other human being, we will be more likely to see their possibility for redemption.
When we examine our own lives – our failings and the consequences of bad choices that we’ve made – we can learn to relate to offenders and have compassion on them. It should show us that just as we have been shown mercy at various points in our lives and given the chance to move forward, criminal offenders likewise could benefit from being shown mercy. This does not mean that we should forgo punishing justly according to the nature of one’s offense, but it should temper the manner in which we approach punishing crime and cause us to reexamine the ultimate outcomes we are trying to achieve. This paradigm shift should cause us to realize that the offender’s restoration to one’s victims, family, and community, is a better aim for our criminal justice system than merely punishment.
A better approach seems to be one that recognizes that crimes are fundamentally committed against other people, not simply the state. The harm one person inflicts upon another needs to be addressed and repaired as best as possible. Simply locking a person away and having the state deal with him is not going to address the needs of the victim, the offender, or the community. A deeper reconciliation is needed.
A criminal justice system that reflects this restorative approach would be far more likely to cultivate a humane and just society.
by Georgia Center for Opportunity | Apr 14, 2014
Governor Deal signed the criminal justice reform bill, SB 365, into law this past Sunday at Antioch Baptist Church in Gainesville.
This special morning service marked an important milestone for prisoner reentry reform in Georgia and is a testament to the extensive collaboration that has taken place over the last year from the state level down to the community level.
The state has zeroed-in on criminal justice reform for three years now, passing important legislation to improve adult sentencing (2012 and 2013), juvenile justice (2013), and prisoner reentry (2014). The first two reforms were projected to save the state $264 million over a five-year-period, as an increasing number of non-violent offenders are released from prison and placed under community supervision. This move allows expensive prison beds to be reserved for those who pose the greatest threat to society, while providing those with drug addictions and mental health issues the opportunity to receive needed treatment in the community.
Already, the outcome of these reforms has been significant – the state’s prison population has dropped from 57,295 to 53,000 offenders in just two short years, saving the state an estimated $21,000 per inmate per year.
The Governor is hopeful that we will see the same sort of progress made in the realm of prisoner reentry as SB 365 takes effect. This bill makes three important reforms that will assist ex-offenders in obtaining employment:
- It mandates that private background check agencies update their criminal history information on a monthly basis and permanently delete any records that have been restricted or of persons who have been exonerated (absolved from guilt);
- It provides employers a certain level of protection from negligent liability hiring by exercising due care in hiring ex-offenders who have received a Program and Treatment Completion Certificate or a pardon;
- It gives judges discretion in determining whether an offender’s license should be suspended or not for a non-driving-related drug offense.
The success of this reform will be measured with a decreased recidivism rate and increased employment rate among offenders returning to their communities.
Georgia Center for Opportunity is proud to have played a role in influencing the recommendations made by the Georgia Council of Criminal Justice Reform to the state legislature in January 2014, which ultimately made their way into SB 365. GCO has been researching this issue over the past year-and-a-half and believes the state is taking the right approach in working to provide offenders greater access to job opportunities.
Hopefully new bills introduced in subsequent legislative sessions will implement the remaining recommendations made by the Criminal Justice Reform Council on ways to improve the reintegration of offenders in Georgia.
Read more about the signing of this important reform in the Gainesville Times, posted April 14, 2014: http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/section/6/article/98202/ .
by Georgia Center for Opportunity | Apr 3, 2014
Given two rounds of severe winter weather and the rush to early primary elections, the 2013-2014 session of the Georgia General Assembly seemed to fly by. In case you were unable to keep up with the session, this edition of the Capitol Update offers a summary of some of the important legislation that survived to see the Governor’s desk, and some that did not.Legislative Recap
Bills sent to the Governor:
- HB 60: This bill allows land owners/lessees in places such as bars and churches the final decision as to whether properly licensed citizens may carry concealed firearms on their premises, and removes restrictions on non-secure government buildings and public housing. This bill replaced HB 875.
- HB 251: This bill prevents the sell of “e-cigarette” products to minors.
- HB 697: This bill allows for the HOPE scholarship fund to cover 100% of tuition for students who have maintained satisfactory academic progress at a Georgia technical college.
- HB 702: This bill allows for privately funded monuments containing the Ten Commandments, a portion of the Declaration of Independence, and a portion of the Georgia Constitution to be placed on the grounds of the State Capitol.
- HB 714: This bill prevents contracted workers with the state government-school janitors, bus drivers, etc.-from receiving unemployment benefits during summer breaks.
- HB 766: The “Work Based Learning Act” would permit schools – in collaboration with the Department of Labor and the Technical College System of Georgia – to award secondary credit for approved off campus work to students age 16 and over.
- HB 772: This bill requires that adult applicants for and recipients of food stamps or benefits under TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families) submit to drug testing if a state caseworker from the Department of Family and Children Services determines that there is a “reasonable suspicion” of drug abuse. Eligibility of children under both programs is not affected by this legislation.
- HB 990: This bill would require legislative approval for any future expansion of Medicaid in Georgia.
- HB 1080: This bill would allow for the placement of a privately funded monument dedicated to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to be placed on the grounds of the State Capitol.
- SB 98: Prevents coverage for abortions under qualified health plans offered within the state, including any exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act. This bill was amended to allow for consideration of an abortion if the mother’s life is at stake.
- SB 281: This bill mandates that state employees and teachers be offered a high-deductible insurance option in the State Health Benefit Plan.
- SB 365: This bill focuses on lowering barriers to employment for those returning from prison. The legislation contains many of the recommendations from our Prisoner Reentry Working Group.
Bills that Failed:
- HB 707: This bill prevents the State Insurance Commissioner from enforcing provisions in the Affordable Care Act (ACA), local and state agencies and governments from spending money attached to the ACA, and prevents the University of Georgia from operating the navigator program that assists people who are seeking coverage under the ACA.
- HB 885: This bill allows for the usage of medical cannabis derivatives for the treatment of patients who suffer from severe seizure disorders and encourages research on additional medical uses of cannabis. Despite many attempts at attaching this bill to other legislation, HB 885 was not passed.
- HB 886: This bill would require the governing body of Charter Schools to hold a minimum of two public hearings to review their budget before its adoption each year.
- HB 897: This bill would eliminate obsolete provisions, and update and clarify other provisions relating to elementary and secondary education. It is noteworthy that aspects of this legislation (Section 36) would directly impact the approval process for homeschooling. After Sen. Tippins and the Senate Education Committee drastically altered the content of this bill in relation to charter schools, the House and Senate leadership were engaged in a battle over the status of this bill.
- SB 167: This bill calls for the creation of an advisory council to review Common Core Standards and propose changes that are “in the best interest of students, their parents, teachers, and taxpayers.” Following this bill’s “unfavorable recommendation” by the House Education Committee, Sen. Ligon attempted to add this bill to HB 897. All three amendments that would have imported this bill into HB 897 failed on the Senate Floor.
- SB 350: This bill would begin a process of privatizing child welfare services through contracts with community-based providers. Following the favorable recommendation of a more watered-down version of this bill by the House Judiciary Committee, Sen. Unterman attempted to attach this bill to other legislation. Shortly before Sine Die, Gov. Deal appointed the “Child Welfare Reform Commission” to further study this issue.
- SB 397: This bill, known as Ava’s Law, mandates that state healthcare plans provide coverage children with autism. Following action in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, this bill was attached to HB 885-the Medical Marijuana Bill-and renamed the “Children’s Care Act.” Despite Sen. Unterman’s attempts to attach this bill to other legislation, SB 397 was caught in the battle between the House and the Senate and did not pass this year.
_____________________________________________________________________________ Thanks to Eric Cochling, our VP of Policy Advancement, Jamie Lord, our director of government affairs, and Jacob Stubbs, our legislative intern and John Jay Fellowship alumnus for their able contributions to this update.
by Georgia Center for Opportunity | Mar 14, 2014
As I enter into this new season of parenthood, I have a mixed bag of emotions. Mostly excitement and anticipation, to be sure, but also the sobering realization that my wife and I are about to be responsible for the life of another human being. The reality of this awesome responsibility is scary for a first time parent, yet at the same time, it’s a gift and privilege that I wouldn’t trade for anything.
I’ve been reflecting some on the sort of father that I would like to be to my son: What values will I instill in him? How can I help him to discover his gifts and passions? How can I best prepare him for his future?
In the process of contemplating my parenting aspirations, I came across a very interesting study cited in the book Whatever it Takes, by Paul Tough, which simplified matters a bit for me. The study – which addresses the impact that parental interaction can have in the cognitive development of a child – was conducted in the early 1980’s by Betty Hart and Todd R. Risley, child psychologists from the University of Kansas. Through the course of their research, the two spent over two years visiting a sample of forty-two families in Kansas City with newborn infants of various races and economic backgrounds. During their time with the families, Hart and Risley recorded their conversations and observed interaction between parents and their children. Afterward, they transcribed the recordings and analyzed each child’s rate of language acquisition and parent’s communication style.
The results that they found from their research were staggering: By age three, the children of professional parents had vocabularies of about 1,100 words, and the children of parents on welfare had vocabularies of about 525 words. The children’s IQs correlated closely to their vocabularies, as the average IQ among the professional children was 117, while the welfare children had an average IQ of 79.
What caused such a sharp disparity in the learned vocabulary of children born to professional parents as opposed to those born to parents receiving welfare? The answer turned out to be quite simple:
The more parents spoke to their child, the more the child’s vocabulary developed.
Hart and Risley concluded that strong correlations existed between the amount and kind of language that children heard in infancy and its impact upon their IQs and abilities later in childhood. This factor seemed to matter more than socioeconomic status, race, or any other variable they measured.[i]
After reading this study and thinking about its implications, I felt a little relieved. Something as simple as interacting with my child more and speaking plenty of words to him on a daily basis can have a profound impact on his vocabulary development, IQ, and abilities later in childhood. This was good news to me! Talking to my child is not a practice that seems overly complex or impossible to do. It simply requires time, effort and intentionality.
As I embark on this new journey of fatherhood and continue to contemplate how I can be a good father – besides changing diapers and wiping up spilled milk – I hope to put into practice this simple yet profound practice of speaking words to my child. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but based upon this research the words I speak to my future child could have immeasurable value.
[i] Paul Tough, Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada’s Quest to Change Harlem and America, (New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2008), 41-43.
*A summary of the Betty Hart and Todd R. Risley study concerning the impact of parents’ words on children’s development can be read in Chapter 2 of Whatever It Takes titled “Unequal Childhoods.”
by Georgia Center for Opportunity | Mar 8, 2014
Yesterday, Georgia Justice Project (GJP) hosted a lobby day at the Capitol which aimed to “enhance the chance” for Georgians with a criminal record to find employment. Concerned advocates traveled from as far as far as Albany to the State Capitol to voice their support for SB 365, a bill which captures a number of recommendations made by the Governor’s Special Council on Criminal Justice Reform to increase employment opportunities for ex-offenders (read the report here).
Before the 125+ advocates who attended the GJP’s Lobby Day met with legislators, the team at GJP provided a brief run-down of what the bill says, how the legislative process works, and what to say when talking with one’s legislator. Information packets were handed out explaining the nuts and bolts of SB 365, making it as easy as possible for participants to advocate for the recommendations made in the bill.
It a nutshell, SB 365 makes three important reforms that will assist ex-offenders in obtaining employment: (1) It mandates that private background check agencies update their criminal history information on a monthly basis and permanently delete any records that have been restricted or of persons who have been exonerated (absolved from guilt); (2) It protects employers from being accused of negligent hiring if they hire ex-offenders who have received a Program and Treatment Completion Certificate or a pardon; (3) It gives judges discretion in determining whether an offender’s license should be suspended or not for a non-driving-related drug offense.
After the brief orientation, advocates headed to the House Chamber to speak with their representatives. Staff at GJP and other volunteers instructed advocates on how to page their legislator at the ropes outside of the chamber in order to speak with them.
I had the chance to speak with Rep. Tom Rice (R-95) from Norcross about SB 365. Rep. Rice spoke in favor of the bill and mentioned that he has seen virtually no opposition to it in the House. His remarks confirm what we saw in the Senate last Thursday, February 26, as the bill passed unanimously with a vote of 53-0. The bipartisan support for this bill is strong as both parties acknowledge the importance of removing unnecessary obstacles to employment for those who carry a criminal record.
GJP’s Lobby Day at the Capitol finished as Executive Director Jay Neal of the Governor’s Office of Transition, Support, and Reentry addressed the group of advocates who participated in the effort. He expressed his appreciation for people coming out to voice their support for reforms that will improve the lives of those who carry a criminal record. Neal, who is passionate about this issue, shared with the group the effort that the Governor’s Office is putting forth to improve the reentry strategy in communities across the state. He mentioned that Georgia has done in four months what it took Michigan to do in two years – a state that is largely regarded as a national leader in recidivism reduction. Georgia has been to do this because of the broad support these reforms have received from the top-down.
Neal shared with the group that nine years ago the state had 64,000 people in prison or in jail. Today, this population has been reduced to 55,000 people – a savings of nearly $190 million to the state (the average cost of incarcerating a person in Georgia is $21,039 per year). Furthermore, of the 9,000 people released over this time period, 1,000 people were released in just the past month. The majority of these releases are low-level, non-violent offenders who are better-off receiving treatment under community supervision than within prison. These reductions allow the state to reserve expensive prison beds for offenders who pose the greatest threat to public safety.
Much of the success that the state has experienced in reducing prison costs and increasing public safety has taken place through recommendations made by the Criminal Justice Reform Council during the past three years. The council’s recommendations have served as a powerful guide for realigning Georgia’s criminal justice system with evidence-based practices nationwide.
As statewide collaboration continues to take place from the Governor’s office to local community service providers, there is good reason to believe that Georgia will continue to see positive outcomes in offender reentry in the coming years.
