Twenty Questions

Any serious attempt to promote successful prisoner reentry must consider the following questions:

1) Why does our country incarcerate more of its people, both in raw numbers, and per capita, than any other country in the world?

2) Crime, overall, declined 25 percent between 1988 and 2008, and violent and property crimes have declined since the early 1990's. Why, then, has the U.S. prison population quadrupled since 1980?

3) Across the country, approximately 50 percent of the prison population consists of non-violent offenders. Why do we continue to send so many non-violent offenders to prison, and will the cost of doing so lead us to adopt alternatives to incarceration for that cohort of offenders?

4) Seventy percent of all prisoners nationwide are black. Black males are seven (7) times more likely to go to prison than white males. Are these statistics simply the result of higher rates of criminal behavior among blacks--particularly black males?

5) How much of the explosive growth in the prison population nationwide is attributable to media sensationalism and political pandering?

6) Most--if not all--prisons stress institutional order and control over all other considerations. Why have we largely abandoned a systemic emphasis upon rehabilitation?

7) Our prisons function as human warehouses, wherein we stash people until we let them back out into society. Why don't we, as a society, take a greater interest in how that human inventory is managed?

8) When ninety percent of all prisoners will eventually leave prison, why don't we, as a society, recognize that our best interests are directly related to preparing those prisoners for a better life after prison?

9) It has been said that a people get the leaders they deserve. Does it follow that a society gets the ex-prisoners it deserves?

10) Some thoughtful observers opine that less developed nations generally lock up fewer of their citizens because of their greater social emphasis upon community, in contrast to our preoccupation with individualism. What role, if any, does our preoccupation with individualism--and the capitalist impulse that feeds it--play in the essential failure of our prison system, in terms of high recidivism and heightened anxiety regarding public safety?

11) If you were asked to write a 30-second public service ad intended to communicate the relationship between public safety--a fundamental barometer of the quality of life in our society--and successful prisoner reentry, what would your ad say?

12) Several states and municipalities nationwide have embraced the so-called "Ban the Box" movement--which, essentially, precludes any consideration of a person's criminal background in hiring decisions for jobs totally unrelated to their past criminal behavior. The language, "Ban the Box," advocates the elimination of any question concerning an applicant's criminal background on the initial job application. How do the merits of this idea compare with its faults, if any?

13) Former President Bush once remarked that ours is a nation of second chances. Is this true?

14) What responsibility--if any--does government bear for providing former prisoners a fair chance to rebuild their lives after prison?

15) Given the high recidivism rate, successful prison reentry is more the exception than the rule. Is this acceptable?

16) Should local and state government provide more incentives for businesses to hire, and retain, former prisoners?

17) Should state and local government also create incentives for landlords to rent to former prisoners?

18) Should state and local government provide legal protections insulating businesses and landlords from unreasonable and counterproductive claims of liability for the former prisoners they hire or house?

19) Should state legislatures move to eliminate overly broad collateral sanctions that severely restrict opportunities for successful prisoner reentry?

20) At a time when 1 in 100 Americans are in prison, on probation, or on parole; when 1 in 18 men are in prison--and 1 in 32 Americans of both sexes--virtually everyone knows someone caught up in the criminal justice system. In light of this glaring fact, isn't our society primed to embrace a more holistic reentry support system, provided that thoughtful and responsible leadership rises to that challenge?

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