Issue Position: Prison Reform

Issue Position

When the original Christian pilgrims established small communities in the "New World", the elders of these communities established their own laws, based on their heritage and their Judeo/Christian principles. These courageous settlers knew that at some point, members of their village would, unfortunately, violate the established guidelines of civility and would thus be subject to incarceration. The pilgrim leaders of these small, newly established settlements reflected on the world's history of human incarceration and saw it as a poor reflection of their own Christian beliefs of compassion, forgiveness, and redemption. They knew, as educated men, that incarceration throughout history, no matter the sophistication of the considered society, equaled one thing: A dungeon.

Our founding Christian pilgrims… with few exceptions… wanted to establish a new means by which to incarcerate a convicted citizen, one which reflected Judeo/Christian principles. They determined that a convicted man who was sentenced to incarceration would be housed in a clean, safe, secure place, treated with respect as a fellow child of God, provided basic food and water and encouraged to seek PENITENCE. This is why our jail system in America is called the PENITENTIARY SYSTEM. Our jails were never supposed to be about punishment. They were always designed to offer penitence. Because a penitent man punishes himself, does he not?

I speak across America to law enforcement gatherings about the sacred duty of the badge, unwavering observation of Civil Rights, Constitutionally sound, compassionate police protection… and Penitentiary reform and prisoners rights. I'm telling you, of the thousands upon thousands of professional law enforcement men and women I've addressed, almost NOBODY knows this story, including corrections officers and wardens of jails. We have strayed SO FAR from the original intent of our beautifully envisioned Penitentiary system… that the Americans who work within and manage the system don't even know of its origin. I've said many times in my career, that a man's character shouldn't be measured by how he falls, it should be measured by how he stands back up… That jail doesn't have be the end of the line for a man, it can be the beginning of a life renewed. However, we as a nation have lost our moral footing with regards to our fellow Americans whom are incarcerated in our Penitentiary system. We have allowed our jails to become houses of horror that certainly violate the 8th amendment rights of every American held within the walls of our major prisons. I'm a professional street cop, a highly decorated, veteran officer. I'm quite knowledgeable of our judicial and law enforcement systems. Every statute in America… the written script of each law, born of the spirit which called for the law to be established… carries a "sentencing guideline". The more heinous the crime, the more serious the sentencing guideline. This is common sense and righteous of course. However, I challenge any critic, to find any sentencing guideline, anywhere… which includes forced gang affiliation, brutal beatings, prison rape, and forced homosexual prostitution. Yet, we all know that, with few exceptions, this is what our our jails have become. As an educated man, a compassionate Christian, a Constitutionalist American, and a veteran cop… I guarantee you that we will never fix crime in America until we've addressed as a nation the disgraceful horror we have allowed our Penitentiary system to become. The men and women housed in our jails are fellow Americans, children of God. They have fallen, yes, and must be held accountable for their actions… but they are children of God none the less. It is our moral obligation to return to the originally envisioned Christian concept of simple, respectful, secure incarceration, wherein REAL rehabilitation, spiritual rehabilitation… penitence… can happen.

Source