Why the System is Working —Tom Hodgson, Sheriff, Bristol County
For the best part of two decades,
this nation has espoused a prison policy that is flawed in its application
and skewed in its goals.
We have allowed professional
enablers to don the vestments of the pious and preach the liberal
heresy that inmates should be able to avoid accountability and responsibility
for their actions, good or evil. Anyone who really cares about the
inmates would not be drawn into that deceit nor would they allow
it to exist.
We doom inmates to failure when
we attempt to spare them the disciplines that have shaped the character
of the law-abiding people of this nation. If ever criminals are
to climb out of the quagmire of lawlessness and irresponsibility,
they must begin to recognize that behavioral parameters are not
meant to constrict but to correct. Not set in place to fetter but
to make free. Responsibility and accountability must be more than
spelling words inmates came across back in fifth grade. They must
be taught that choices result in consequences.
From the first day I took over
as Sheriff of Bristol County I was determined that jail would not
be a country club and those who trample the rights of good and honest
people would find that life inside the walls would no longer offer
the benefits available on the other side.
I began to set in place a model
for the inmates that would simulate the demands of life outside
the prison. I took away televisions in individual cells and set
up televisions in common areas that would be monitored for both
content and length of time. I banned smoking for inmates and staff.
I took away the free weights and established a fee for haircuts,
and a co-pay system for medical and dental visits.
All of these changes focused
on the sole purpose of corrections, the commitment to changing the
revolving door of recidivism into the swinging door that leads to
a life free of crime and filled with opportunity and the firm resolve
never to return to a jail cell.
And the system is working.
Inmates are choosing our programs
rather than the boredom of a cell, they are making decisions on
how to put more tools in their tool boxes so that they can leave
here better equipped to make good on their resolve never to return.
Our inmate population is down 20 percent since I took over in June
of 1997. Some of this, of course, is from a national decrease in
crime, much of it is the result of my philosophy that uses challenges
rather than coddling, and a prison atmosphere that provides opportunity
rather than obstacles for inmates determined to shed the shackles
of a life of crime.
I have increased the availability
of programs, instituted religious retreats that have been a source
of solace to prisoners during their incarceration and in monthly
programs provided in the county's four major cities for inmates
who have been released.
We have an active reintegration
program providing inmates, insofar as we can, with the help to make
the transition from prisoner to productive member of society.
With an understanding of the
philosophy from which it came, it should be no surprise that I plan
to assess each inmate a $5-a-day administration fee. The money will
help supplement any budget cuts we may be facing next year. More
importantly, it will drive home the message that all of us who benefit
from the blessings of a free society must be prepared to help sustain
it in any way possible. The fee is minimal but the message important.
Committing crimes that tear apart the fabric of society should not
absolve anyone from making sacrifices to repair the damage.
Some, with no real knowledge
of the facts, would tell me that the inmates have no money. I can
tell you, with the support of facts, that the inmate account contains
almost $120,000 on any given day. When averaged among the nearly
1,000 inmates under our care, this factors out to about $120 per
inmate.
If an inmate is indigent, he
or she simply cannot pay. This applies also to medical co-pays and
haircuts. However their account will be debited in the amount of
$5-a-day for every day they spend here. If they return to our custody
within two years, any money they have when they return will be applied
to their previous debt and the clock will begin ticking again on
a new daily assessment.
I feel that this assessment
is no more burdensome on inmates than are the doctors' bills paid
by victims of wanton assault, the repair bills for damages to personal
property, the increased tax bills paid to underwrite the need for
additional public safety personnel to fight the drug war on our
streets and schools and, yes, even in our homes.
My critics say this assessment
is cruel. I say it is the very essence of kindness. It is a continuation
of my commitment to do everything I can to insure that inmates realize
they must be accountable for their acts, that jail is not fun, and
that they are able to find the courage to make the choice to obey
the law and thus stay out of prison for the rest of their lives.
Those who attempt to make things easier for inmates are the very
people who are responsible for their incarceration in the first
place. I don't enable criminals, I challenge them to change. I don't
want jail to make them comfortable. Any success we experience in
life is the result of coping with challenges, dealing with difficulties,
and a willingness to see obstacles as opportunities. Ease is never
a pit stop on the road to excellence. I want our inmates to return
to society as productive members. There seems no better way to say
I care.
Some have posed as champions
of inmates. They are not. Those who quickly criticize the $5 fee
would like you to think they are concerned about taking money from
inmates. Greta Janusz, a local attorney, was quoted in the Standard-Times
of New Bedford about the unfairness of the fee. This is the same
Greta Janusz to whom "up front" is not a theater seating arrangement.
Ms. Janusz has extracted a lot of money over the years from these
same inmates but it was certainly not in $5 increments. Why is the
$5 fee so terrible and Ms. Janusz $100-an-hour legal fees an act
of kindness? You can't have it both ways, Greta.
During the past two United Way
Campaigns I offered our inmates an opportunity to make a contribution.
Many did. One inmate pledged $50. I mention this because it shows
that some have money available. But also I want you to know also
that good will and a sense of sharing in the obligation of society
to care for each other is also available here.
Approximately 20 other states
use some sort of system to collect fees from inmates. I know of
no other system in Massachusetts that does so at this time. I do,
however, know one that will do so within a month. In Bristol County
the fee will be imposed. I believe it fits snugly with my philosophy
that inmates learn nothing from coddling. We have decades of failed
prison policy to prove that. I believe a combination of accountability,
responsibility and the challenge to change is what inmates need.
I think $5 and day is real cheap tuition for such an important lesson.
