> > ----Original Message Follows---- > Date: Sat, 2 Jan 1999 16:00:39 EST > Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > From: "John V. Wilmerding" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: Multiple recipients of list <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: SOCKO Letter: What a Prison Sentence Really Means! > > Paul Wolf really understands the kind of story and point-of-view that > CERJ > is looking for: > > Date: Sat, 02 Jan 1999 10:31:55 -0500 > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > From: Paul Wolf <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: What a prison sentence really means > > John - I read this on the maptalk list and thought it might interest the > readers of your cerj list as well. With these writing skills, this may > be > Jeff Goodman's first printed op-ed piece, but I doubt it will be his > last. PW > > Hello, > > I have had 8 letters tto the editor published, and finally, my first > editorial. I hope that you find it interesting. > > I wrote many such editorials while I was incarcerated and will continue > to > write until this insanity ends. Please keep up the excellent work. > > Happy New Year, Jeff Goodman > > To be published Wednesday, December 30, 1998 > > Commentary: What a Prison Sentence Really Means > > Jeff Goodman > > When I was sent to prison, the judge mentioned just the length of my > sentence. Had he included the entire scope of my punishment, he may > have > said it differently: > > "Mr. Goodman, I sentence you to take responsibility for every social ill > -- > past, present and future. Each time America runs out of foreign > enemies, > it apparently turns on itself to find more. By way of media, politics > and > indifference, people who break the law, good law or bad, become those > enemies and are then responsible for every social malady. Whether this > is > logical, you > are the culprit. > > "You are sentenced to live in a maladaptive, alien environment that > defies > description. You'll be stripped of your work skills, your self-worth > and > your humanity while at the same time face the daily threat of assault, > rape, false accusations and unjustified punishment. You will live like > this for seven years. If you manage to reenter society as a productive > person, some will say prison was just what you needed. If not, others > will > say, 'I told you so.' > > "Because of counterproductive prison policies, you are sentenced to live > in > a world of cruelty and indifference that engenders the very behavior it > purports to alleviate. If you share this with those outside of the > prison > system, you will be called a liar; most won't believe that millions are > spent on the proliferation of facilities that perpetuate harm, not > repair it. > > "You are sentenced to consume $150,000 in taxpayer dollars for your > prison > stay. While lawmakers cite the ever-growing cost of incarceration as a > public necessity, you will learn that 10 percent of that amount goes > towards your daily needs, while the other 90 percent pays for a bloated > prison bureaucracy immune from any cost-benefit analysis. These tax > dollars will be siphoned from > school programs, child care and job training, all of which do make our > communities healthy and safe and save millions in the process. Despite > the > media frenzy that portrays society as seething with crime, you'll learn > that relatively few prisoners represent a danger to our communities; > we're > mad at most felons, not scared of them. So you'll wonder why the > majority of > prisoners aren't on home arrest, a logical move that would save millions > of > dollars and obviate the need for more prisons. > > "Practical education programs, universally proven to drastically reduce > recidivism, will be almost nonexistent. In fact, you will be > disciplined > for possessing more than 10 books. Therefore, you will live in an > environment where recidivism it tacitly encouraged, a fact not lost on > those who want to run prisons for profit. > > "It is true that there are some counseling programs in prison and some > people will benefit from them. Yet, if you attempt to describe the > futility of a therapeutic environment placed within an atmosphere > replete > with dehumanizing policies, you will be told that your intentions are > distorted and without merit. > > "You are sentenced to bear the wrath of a misinformed society. While > you're experiencing everything I just said, you will be told how easy > you > have it. The media will find your Christmas meal more newsworthy than > the > damage caused by lawmakers who jostle for the next 'get tough' policy at > the expense of society's well-being. Your privilege to have this > once-a-year meal will be presented as so outrageous, a debate will ensue > over which 'luxury' to take away next. Politicians will focus on > violent > sociopaths and pronounce their horrific crimes as a yardstick to measure > the innate danger and incorrigibility of all law-breakers, including > you. > > "Finally, as perhaps the most perverse component of your sentence, I > hereby > prohibit society from ever listening to you. Your comments on crime and > punishment will be ignored. You, as well as others, will see the big > picture, but few will care about the politics of crime and its role in > our > growing prison population. You will know that most prisoners are guilty > of > breaking the > law, but only a few need to be separated from society. You will know > that > it is the reporting and sensationalism of crime that has skyrocketed, > not > crime itself. Unfortunately, though you will one day return to society > with firsthand knowledge of our prison system, few will care; most see > only > the door leading into prison, not the one leading out. > > "Therefore, if your opinion ever gets printed in a newspaper, you will > not > only be perceived as just another lawbreaker unable to accept the > consequences of his actions, but of being manipulative as well. Society > will know this to be so because you once broke the law. > > "You are hereby sentenced to be a messenger whose message will be > forever > perceived as tainted, self-serving and disingenuous, regardless of its > veracity and accuracy. > > "No one will believe you. > > "You have been sentenced to be a criminal." > > -- Jeff Goodman, of Eagan, is a software engineer. He spent time in > prison > as a first-time nonviolent offender. > > -- > To subscribe to the CERJ E-Mail distribution list, simply send > an E-mail message to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. Please include your name > and your state, province, or country of residence. Thank you! > -------------------------------------------------------------- > John Wilmerding, Gen'l Secretary | E-Mail: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > =================================| Web: http://www.cerj.org > *CERJ* International Secretariat | ICQ Number: 18723495 > ---------------------------------+============================ > Campaign | 217 High Street | For | A > for | Brattleboro, VT | Justice | AR > Equity- | 05301-3018 USA | that | ART > Restorative | Telephone & FAX | Restores | EAR > Justice | [802] 254-2826 | Equity | HEAR > ================================================= HEART > Work together to reinvent justice using methods | EARTH > that are fair; which conserve, restore and even | HEARTH > create harmony, equity and good will in society | >>>|CERJ|<<< > ============================================================== > We are the prisoners of the prisoners we have taken - J. Clegg
----Original Message Follows---- Date: Sat, 2 Jan 1999 16:00:39 EST Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] From: "John V. Wilmerding" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Multiple recipients of list <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: SOCKO Letter: What a Prison Sentence Really Means! Paul Wolf really understands the kind of story and point-of-view that CERJ is looking for: Date: Sat, 02 Jan 1999 10:31:55 -0500 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] From: Paul Wolf <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: What a prison sentence really means John - I read this on the maptalk list and thought it might interest the readers of your cerj list as well. With these writing skills, this may be Jeff Goodman's first printed op-ed piece, but I doubt it will be his last. PW Hello, I have had 8 letters tto the editor published, and finally, my first editorial. I hope that you find it interesting. I wrote many such editorials while I was incarcerated and will continue to write until this insanity ends. Please keep up the excellent work. Happy New Year, Jeff Goodman To be published Wednesday, December 30, 1998 Commentary: What a Prison Sentence Really Means Jeff Goodman When I was sent to prison, the judge mentioned just the length of my sentence. Had he included the entire scope of my punishment, he may have said it differently: "Mr. Goodman, I sentence you to take responsibility for every social ill -- past, present and future. Each time America runs out of foreign enemies, it apparently turns on itself to find more. By way of media, politics and indifference, people who break the law, good law or bad, become those enemies and are then responsible for every social malady. Whether this is logical, you are the culprit. "You are sentenced to live in a maladaptive, alien environment that defies description. You'll be stripped of your work skills, your self-worth and your humanity while at the same time face the daily threat of assault, rape, false accusations and unjustified punishment. You will live like this for seven years. If you manage to reenter society as a productive person, some will say prison was just what you needed. If not, others will say, 'I told you so.' "Because of counterproductive prison policies, you are sentenced to live in a world of cruelty and indifference that engenders the very behavior it purports to alleviate. If you share this with those outside of the prison system, you will be called a liar; most won't believe that millions are spent on the proliferation of facilities that perpetuate harm, not repair it. "You are sentenced to consume $150,000 in taxpayer dollars for your prison stay. While lawmakers cite the ever-growing cost of incarceration as a public necessity, you will learn that 10 percent of that amount goes towards your daily needs, while the other 90 percent pays for a bloated prison bureaucracy immune from any cost-benefit analysis. These tax dollars will be siphoned from school programs, child care and job training, all of which do make our communities healthy and safe and save millions in the process. Despite the media frenzy that portrays society as seething with crime, you'll learn that relatively few prisoners represent a danger to our communities; we're mad at most felons, not scared of them. So you'll wonder why the majority of prisoners aren't on home arrest, a logical move that would save millions of dollars and obviate the need for more prisons. "Practical education programs, universally proven to drastically reduce recidivism, will be almost nonexistent. In fact, you will be disciplined for possessing more than 10 books. Therefore, you will live in an environment where recidivism it tacitly encouraged, a fact not lost on those who want to run prisons for profit. "It is true that there are some counseling programs in prison and some people will benefit from them. Yet, if you attempt to describe the futility of a therapeutic environment placed within an atmosphere replete with dehumanizing policies, you will be told that your intentions are distorted and without merit. "You are sentenced to bear the wrath of a misinformed society. While you're experiencing everything I just said, you will be told how easy you have it. The media will find your Christmas meal more newsworthy than the damage caused by lawmakers who jostle for the next 'get tough' policy at the expense of society's well-being. Your privilege to have this once-a-year meal will be presented as so outrageous, a debate will ensue over which 'luxury' to take away next. Politicians will focus on violent sociopaths and pronounce their horrific crimes as a yardstick to measure the innate danger and incorrigibility of all law-breakers, including you. "Finally, as perhaps the most perverse component of your sentence, I hereby prohibit society from ever listening to you. Your comments on crime and punishment will be ignored. You, as well as others, will see the big picture, but few will care about the politics of crime and its role in our growing prison population. You will know that most prisoners are guilty of breaking the law, but only a few need to be separated from society. You will know that it is the reporting and sensationalism of crime that has skyrocketed, not crime itself. Unfortunately, though you will one day return to society with firsthand knowledge of our prison system, few will care; most see only the door leading into prison, not the one leading out. "Therefore, if your opinion ever gets printed in a newspaper, you will not only be perceived as just another lawbreaker unable to accept the consequences of his actions, but of being manipulative as well. Society will know this to be so because you once broke the law. "You are hereby sentenced to be a messenger whose message will be forever perceived as tainted, self-serving and disingenuous, regardless of its veracity and accuracy. "No one will believe you. "You have been sentenced to be a criminal." -- Jeff Goodman, of Eagan, is a software engineer. He spent time in prison as a first-time nonviolent offender. -- To subscribe to the CERJ E-Mail distribution list, simply send an E-mail message to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. Please include your name and your state, province, or country of residence. Thank you! -------------------------------------------------------------- John Wilmerding, Gen'l Secretary | E-Mail: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> =================================| Web: http://www.cerj.org *CERJ* International Secretariat | ICQ Number: 18723495 ---------------------------------+============================ Campaign | 217 High Street | For | A for | Brattleboro, VT | Justice | AR Equity- | 05301-3018 USA | that | ART Restorative | Telephone & FAX | Restores | EAR Justice | [802] 254-2826 | Equity | HEAR ================================================= HEART Work together to reinvent justice using methods | EARTH that are fair; which conserve, restore and even | HEARTH create harmony, equity and good will in society | >>>|CERJ|<<< ============================================================== We are the prisoners of the prisoners we have taken - J. Clegg ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
