Many people have observed that a good way to judge a society is by how it treats the people on the bottom. People in prison are among those at the bottom of our society. Many people want to grind them farther into the dirt and diminish their humanity. But what happens when they get out of prison? Society will reap what it has sown. Society’s contempt for them will flow back upon society at large.
The moral and sensible solution is to break the cycle – to restore every person’s full humanity. If we want to live in a decent society, we must treat every person with decency, including those who have made mistakes.
The Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation’s August 2012 TV programs suggests several ways to reform our criminal justice system in humane ways. Solutions include implement-ing a variety of rehabilitation programs, supporting education and job training, re-storing parole, and helping people reintegrate into society upon release.
Two knowledgeable and wise guests help us explore the issues:
Steven Aldrich lobbies for a Quaker-based non-profit organization, the Friends Committee on Washington Public Policy, www.fcwpp.org
Carol Estes co-founded a non-profit organization that provides post-secondary education inside prisons, University Beyond Bars, www.universitybeyondbars.org
To watch this informative interview, CLICK HERE.
To read more about it, Program Description — August 2012.
We also encourage you to visit the Olympia FOR’s website to watch our previous programs about related topics, including Three-Strikes laws, restorative justice, and the death penalty. See www.olympiafor.org, click the “TV Programs” link, and scroll down, and click a program you want to watch. Also see the “Criminal Justice” part of this blog, www.parallaxperspectives.org
