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Currently the population of the IDOC is at an all time high. Our correctional system is designed for about 34,000.00 men and women, yet we have over 48,000.00 people in our prisons. This marks an almost 10% increase from where we were only 2 years ago, most of which stems from the 2010 suspension of meritorious good time and having a judicial system that continues to have a “lock’em up & throw away the key” mentality. That mentality is exactly what will become our state’s demise & inevitable downfall. Luckily, Gov. Pat Quinn has attempted to stop some of the bleeding by closing some prison facilities that were draining our state for hundreds of millions of dollars. One of them being The Tamms Supermax Prison in down south Illinois, where I was just released from & spent 6 years of wasted “dead-time” there, costing you (the tax payer) an estimated $65K each year I was housed there for a total of $390,000.00 nearly half a million dollars just for one inmate! Your tax dollars paid for this dead time housed in a facility that had no intention of “rehabilitation” or providing any education to assist any prisoners in preparation for release back into society. The same society you live, work and raise your children in. This isn’t just one prison in Illinois, it’s the majority (especially the max prisons like Stateville and Menard) where vocational classes have been eliminated, teachers let go of, and programs brought to an extreme minimum. The IDOCS goal of rehabilitation has changed into a goal of pocketing your dollars for their own interests – hiring more correctional officers, bilking the state on overtime dollars, and attempting to build more and more prisons throughout the state, in order to continue the corrupt cycle. No education in prisons equals a continuous cycle of high crime in your neighborhoods and a higher recidivism rate which of course bodes well for the IDOC and its agenda, but not so much for your tax dollars or safety of your children. In tandem with the IDOCS agenda, is the Judicial system that continues to crank out tough laws in Illinois, sentencing prisoners to 100% truth-in-sentencing laws (with no chance of gaining Meitorions good Time) leaving prisoners to basically rot away in a penitentiary for 40, 50, 60 years on your dime. Paying for housing, medical care, food, clothing, and additional everyday costs to run a prison. (And the numbers are rising). These harsh and so called tough-on-crime laws have proven to be non-effective, as crime rates rise in Chicago along with our states deficit. I’m encouraging you to not just take my word for it, but to do your own research and check the facts for yourself. We need to create constituency for criminal justice reform. Really this is the most important step – what everything else depends on. The problem we face isn’t so much a lack of solutions, it’s that we lack the political will to get things done. These issues begin and end with us – the people. We need to convince our legislators that we want them to be smart on crime and not just “tough”; that we’ll have the backs of elected leaders who have the courage to support criminal justice reform; and that we will turn out on politicians who keep doubling down on the failed over – reliance on mass incarceration! This is especially now, that we have a governor in play who’s recognizing that change needs to be made! If you want to learn more you can visit www.illinoisprisontalk.com to see what you can do personally to bring about change. Repealing the 100% truth-in-sentencing law, bringing back parole-board hearings, education and schooling in our prisons, and implementing a job-finding programs for ex-felons re-entering society are one of the 1st steps into bringing change. That change wont come on its own though, it’s going to take a collaborated effort. So please spread the word to your family and loved ones, and even your neighbors.
Keeping hope alive…
Always,
Miguel
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