Guest columnist
Gov. Beverly Purdue's claim that we "will not release violent offenders" to prey on the public is ludicrous on its face.
She is referring to the infamous 27 "lifers" who were set to be released in October as a result of a NC Supreme Court ruling crediting them with good time and therefore qualifying them for release.
Her claim is ludicrous because in the United States some 650,000 inmates are released each year.
I'm not sure what she means when she refers to "violent" offenders. Many men who went to prison in the U.S. weren't violent when they went in, but are violent after they were released. It's a sad fact and our penal system deserves the blame for that.
When I give blood at the Red Cross, one of the qualifying questions they ask is whether I've ever been locked up more than 72 hours in a jail or juvenile facility. Read between the lines. That speaks volumes to the kind of system we have for inmates in this country.
There are some inmates who are put in solitary confinement for years on end. What do we expect when they get out? Some walk right out onto the streets from solitary confinement when their sentence is completed.
On the N.C. Dept of Correction Web site, you can find the number of infractions for an inmate and a brief description of each. But, you can't determine what punishments were given. The public has no idea of how pervasive this practice is.
Are our actions making them more or less violent? I met one inmate who was kept in solitary for three years on the basis that they believed he was associated with a criminal network. I looked at his "infraction" record and for his entire imprisonment, he was charged only with communicating to another prisoner by letter. He'd written his wife and asked her to send a note to a fellow inmate who had been in AA with him to find out how he was doing after his transfer to another facility. By golly, we'll put a stop to this sort of hideous behavior, won't we?
A very high percentage of inmates are mentally ill. Some go in okay and come out mentally ill. Something is wrong here.
Do you realize that a crime that might get you 10 years in Durham County could get you life if the crime were committed in a rural county? A life sentence is arbitrary within our justice system. If the DA offers a deal to avoid a trial or because he can't quite get enough evidence to warrant a sure conviction, the punishment is going to be less severe than for the same crime taken to trial. One of the 27 got life for second degree rape.
So, to put "lifers" up for target practice by the public and the news media is disingenuous at best and gives us all a false sense that our politicians are taking care of business.
Three of those 27 "lifers" had a MAP that, if completed successfully, would have released them as early as next year. MAP is an acronym for a plan of release for a prisoner given a life sentence. If he follows his MAP (normally lasting about 3 years) someone with a life sentence can be released when he completes the requirements.
Normally he has to have no infractions during the time of his MAP, earn a high level of trust in the system and get a work release job. I know of several guys sentenced to life who have MAPs. It is a good thing.
The impression you get from the governor and the news media is that the sky is falling. It isn't, but attention needs to be given to keep those incarcerated from coming back into the system once they are released. Giving them $40 and a handshake isn't going to cut it, especially in the economy that we are seeing now.
We're willing to spend $30,000 a year to imprison folks in North Carolina, but virtually nothing to help keep them from coming back into the system. That's where the story should be.
Calling for more money to reduce recidivism may be unpopular politically. If it is unpopular, it is our fault. We don't know how to attack and fix a problem anymore, assuming we ever did.
Larry Bumgardner lives in Durham.
