By Nicole D. Porter, The Sentencing Project For more than forty years, the correctional system has been dominated by growth. In 1969, the crime rate was 3,680 per 100,000 population, and the incarceration rate was 97 state and federal prisoners per 100,000 population. Today the crime rate is slightly lower at 3,667 per 100,000 population,
CONTACT:
Mr. J. Jondhi Harrell
Executive Director
The Center for Returning Citizens Mr. J. Jondhi Harrell / Photo courtesy philly.com
Telephone: (215) 305-8793
E-Mail: [email protected]
THE CENTER FOR RETURNING CITIZENS TAPPED FOR LEADERSHIP ROLE FOR 2013 INTERNATIONAL MEN’S DAY
PHILADELPHIA, PA (USA) – 12 August 2013 – Each year approximately 35,000 individuals who have been incarcerated in federal, state, and local correctional facilities return to their families and neighborhoods in the City of Philadelphia – the fifth largest metropolitan area in the United States. For these Men and Women, who are often referred to as “Returning Citizens,” the journey of redemption and reintegration is arduous and challenging. The Center for Returning Citizens (“TCRC”) is the brainchild of Mr. J. Jondhi Harrell, a Thought Leader on social justice and the successful reintegration of formerly incarcerated individuals into society. Mr. Harrell serves as the organization’s Executive Director. Under his leadership, the organization offers a myriad of services which comprehensively and effectively addresses the unique issues of formerly incarcerated individuals. A global model for healing and repatriation for formerly incarcerated individuals, TCRC has been selected to assume a leadership role for 2013 International Men’s Day for Returning Citizens and individuals and organizations that provide resources and support services to them throughout the City of Philadelphia.
Pensacola, FL (PRWEB) August 06, 2013
Dr. Howard Liebman, CEO and Superintendent of Smart Horizons Career Online Education (SHCOE), announces that the school district will soon expand its operations as an official provider of online education for inmates in Florida prison facilities. The Florida Department of Corrections (FLDOC) named SHCOE as an official provider of online education for inmates in Florida prison facilities in February of 2012, and the program went live at the Madison Correctional Institution in April and at the Lowell Annex in May of that year. These programs were the first online secondary education programs at any correctional facility in the United States and have produced 68 graduates to date. Image courtesy online-high-school.findthebest.com
Now, preparations are underway for an impending expansion into five additional facilities.
“From the time we received our AdvancED/SACS accreditation in 2011, we had this goal of serving inmates in correctional facilities,” Dr. Liebman said. “I believe our leading-edge online program offers an effective approach to lowering recidivism and preparing inmates to rejoin society in a productive manner. SHCOE’s goal is to be the leading provider of education and career training for corrections facilities across the country.”
By Christopher Petrella and Alex Friedmann
After nearly 40 years of unprecedented growth, our nation’s expanding prison population has finally begun to sputter. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2010 marked the first year since 1972 in which, taken together, state and federal correctional populations declined slightly – a trend that continued in 2011.
This modest reduction reflects revisions to draconian drug laws (particularly in New York and Florida), curtailing re-incarceration for technical parole violators, and the burgeoning implementation of “good time” early-release credits. As a result, 15 states have closed 35 adult correctional facilities over the last two years, according to the National Conference of State Legislators, while additional closures are pending in 2013.
Although prison closures are widely celebrated by prisoners and criminal justice reform activists alike, the implementation of such plans is rarely straightforward and often encounters opposition from local communities, prison guard unions and lawmakers in the districts where facilities are slated to close. If achieved, prison closures are usually piecemeal and result in the transfer of prisoners to other facilities, not additional releases. Similarly, prison employees displaced by closures are often absorbed by other facilities, not fired. The predictable tumult resulting from actual and proposed prison closures reflects the competing and contradictory interests held by various stakeholders involved in the process.
Despite signaling a hopeful interruption in the business-as-usual crime and punishment mania that has characterized U.S. penal policy for the past half-century, it’s possible to argue that the increasing number of prison closures represents just as much an experiment in budget-cutting in the short term as it does in durable criminal justice reform over the long term.
Kathryn Griffin, 53, leads an unconventional reentry program at the Harris County Jail in Houston for women who have been incarcerated for prostitution. Griffin’s mission to rehabilitate women who were living on the streets supporting their drug addictions by means of prostitution is not just a coincidence. She has lived this lifestyle herself. Photo courtesy statesman.com
Griffin’s experience began 30-years ago, when she toured as a singer with Rick James. She developed a cocaine habit that she couldn’t sustain with her singing income alone. Griffin had to sell herself for sex to keep up with her drug addiction.
After 20-years of accruing drug and prostitution charges, Griffin was facing up to 35-years in prison. Her life turned around after she completed her drug treatment and sentence.
Griffin was volunteering at Harris County Jail when she met up with Adrian Garcia, then city councilman and currently Harris County Sheriff. The program was spawned when Garcia was inspired by Griffin’s vision of creating a program for women serving time for prostitution. Garcia is responsible for launching the program that dozens of women have successfully completed.
About Terrance Tykeem Author, Recording Artist and former NFL walk-on. Many around the country remember him for his 90’s hit single, “If You Can’t Learn To Love Her“ Which Received national attention on radio and tv, as well as taking part in major events such the cash money ruff ryder tours and producing TV shows
Dianne Frazee-Walker California’s prison system is one of the largest in the country. At the beginning of 2013, the state housed 199,000 inmates. The California prison population is facing a major crisis. The prison population is 50% over what the prison system is safely equipped to hold. Some California prisons are at 180% over capacity.
As incarceration rates among women increase, the College and Community Fellowship (CCF) of New York has determined to respond with gender-based programming that helps provide access to higher education for women. CCF’s programs and partners also help women released from prison find housing and other services they need in order to help them find success
By Christopher Zoukis
The New York-based Bard Prison Initiative (BPI) is one of the largest prison-based higher education programs of its kind. While serving their prison sentences, participants study rigorous coursework and work toward earning college degrees. The program offers access to higher education to both incarcerated men and women who want to pursue their education and increase their chances of finding a good job and enjoying a more rewarding life upon their release. In this way, the program’s mission is to employ education as a vehicle for change—changing people’s futures and the criminal justice system itself. Image courtesy www.jjay.cuny.edu
Introduction to the Bard College Prison Program
According to the program’s website, the initiative “enrolls incarcerated women and men in academic programs that lead to degrees from Bard College” (bpi.bard.edu/faqs/). Courses are instructed by faculty from Bard College as well as other area colleges at five participating prisons. Participants work to earn Associate of Arts or Bachelor of Arts degrees. The program offers classes in the arts, humanities, mathematics, and sciences and offers general education coursework that fulfills degree requirements. An important feature of the program is that coursework is not altered for the prison population. “Incarcerated students are held to identical academic standards as conventional undergraduates at Bard College. The substance of the courses is not tailored to the incarcerated students and is the same as offered on the main Bard campus.” In this way, incarcerated students receive the same education as if they attended classes outside of prison.
Established in 1997, the college program offers women who are inmates at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility coursework that leads to an Associate of Arts degree and beyond. In the wake of 1994’s discontinuance of public funds supporting prison education programming, various colleges in the region met to design a new Bedford Hills program supported
We have profiled every prison within the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Learn about each prison’s location, security level, educational and recreational offerings, and much more.
Elizabeth Franklin-Best P.C.
1501 Belle Isle Avenue, Suite 110
Mount Pleasant, SC 29464
This site may be considered attorney advertising in some jurisdictions. Each case is unique; past results do not guarantee future outcomes or success. This website is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.
Elizabeth Franklin-Best P.C. is based in Columbia, South Carolina. Mentions of other locations do not imply offices or lawyers there. We collaborate with independent local counsel licensed in their respective jurisdictions.
Elizabeth Franklin-Best P.C. is a private law firm that is not affiliated with the federal government. We limit our practice to cases involving federal courts and agencies.
For specific legal advice, please contact our office directly.
