Reflections on the Prison Industry

Photo by Matthew Ansley on Unsplash

We Start with Questions; We Move to Ideas — A Problem-Solving Pattern

And — We keeps that cycle going. Here is one arena and the questions can apply to other problems in society as well.

Some problems are more emotional, personal, and loaded with “other agenda” than other problems.

However, if we can learn to do problem-solving in one arena, we can practice the art in others

“He regards the prayer of the destitute and does not despise their prayer.” — Psalm 102:17

On the evening of May 22, 2014, I attended a forum in our community on race, incarceration, and the California penal system.

One of the panelists, was The Rev. Michael McBride who reminded us that it is OUR system. We all drive it if I hear this right and we all have some voice in fixing it. We are also all prisoners of it. Local officer just spoke of how he is also a “prisoner” of the system which seems to run its own fuel and assumptions. No one us can change it alone, but together we can make a difference. People of faith can and must act in some sort of concert. More questions than answers so far, but that is ok.

McBride gave us a choice, “…fear and retreat or love and lean in.”

I made a lot of notes in the course of the panel discussion. I did not quote them all exactly or attribute all. Some were just impressions. Here they are in a disorganized report:

Disproportionate effects of system being were cited by former Fresno City Councilman and former police officer, Oliver Baines who observed this from life and law enforcement experience.

What do we have in common for creating the common good ? This question is being probed.

What is the role of fear in perception and the role of perception in fear? It can be a vicious cycle.

What if we changed labels as often as clothes just to keep things off balance enough to create balance?

Challenge our own perceptions as well as those of others. I am always feeding mine and yours. How do we change dominant narrative?

Personal versus systemic biases must be examined. What are their intersection? Personal experience can drive us to solve systemic problems, but we need systemic solutions.

Is the prison industry perpetuating prison gangs by insisting on categories and segregation by regional and ethnic gangs and assumptions? It is common “knowledge” that gang “headquarters” are behind bars. This is counter intuitive to the message of reconciliation in the gospel.

What if prison paid inmate labor fair wage and taxed for rent, child support, restitution, and left some for life rebuilding? What if the business of incarceration applied some of the legitimate rules of the free market within its walls in a well-regulated manner rather than operating as a monopoly? What if?

Those were my questions. My assumption is that it is an industry with lobbying power, labor unions, private businesses, contractors, and others vested in its growth and prosperity, but fixing prices for those caught up in the system.

It is OUR system. We all drive it and we all have some voice in fixing it.

We are also all prisoners of it.

A local officer spoke of how he is also a “prisoner” of the system which seems to run its own fuel and assumptions.

No one us can change it alone, but together we can make a difference.

People of faith can and must act in some sort of concert.

While alternatives to incarceration exist, are there not more that would make the system more effective, redemptive, restorative to victims, efficient, cost-effective, and safe while acting as a deterrent to crime? Is this really the best we can do?

Would not our own lives improve, along with our communities, if we did better?

What do we really want to accomplish when we stop and think clearly about it?

More questions were asked than answers given, but that is ok.

Thoughts on Ideas

You don't make progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing ideas. Shirley Chisholm

A library is the delivery room for the birth of ideas, a place where history comes to life. Norman Cousins

If I have a thousand ideas and only one turns out to be good, I am satisfied. Alfred Nobel
Synergy is what happens when one plus one equals ten or a hundred or even a thousand! It's the profound result when two or more respectful human beings determine to go beyond their preconceived ideas to meet a great challenge. Stephen Covey

If those in charge of our society - politicians, corporate executives, and owners of press and television - can dominate our ideas, they will be secure in their power. They will not need soldiers patrolling the streets. We will control ourselves. Howard Zinn

The scientific man does not aim at an immediate result. He does not expect that his advanced ideas will be readily taken up. His work is like that of the planter - for the future. His duty is to lay the foundation for those who are to come, and point the way. Nikola Tesla

Men of lofty genius sometimes accomplish the most when they work least, for their minds are occupied with their ideas and the perfection of their conceptions, to which they afterwards give form. Leonardo da Vinci

Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen. John Steinbeck

To compel a man to furnish funds for the propagation of ideas he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical. Thomas Jefferson

Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people. Eleanor Roosevelt
The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function. F. Scott Fitzgerald

No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world. Robin Williams

We need to give each other the space to grow, to be ourselves, to exercise our diversity. We need to give each other space so that we may both give and receive such beautiful things as ideas, openness, dignity, joy, healing, and inclusion. Max de Pree