Four Sound Ways to Reduce Incarceration

"If the risk is low, let them go"

Nearly 40 percent of U.S. prisoners are behind bars for no compelling public safety reason, according to a recent report by NYU's Brennan Center for Justice. Their groundbreaking analysis shows how to drastically cut our prison population while still keeping crime rates low.

Some day we will look back at our 18th century-based practice of warehousing people in steel cages as not only an unusually cruel form of punishment but as extraordinarily costly and unproductive.

We could do far better using restorative approaches that would require people to make restitution to their victims and/or enable them to get actual treatment for their addictions. Temporary confinement may still be necessary for offenders who are clearly a danger to their community, but long term incarceration should never be accepted as the norm.

Here are four ways to help reduce the human and financial costs of over-incarceration:

1. Regularly post the actual costs of our courts' decisions. Prison sentences carry a hefty price tag, not only involving the $28,000 or more per year for each inmate's room and board, but also the untold cost in wages and taxes lost for their communities and families, plus the cost of increased social services needed when breadwinners are removed from the community.

2. Make each local jurisdiction responsible for the cost of incarcerating their own offenders. Virginia's state-funded Department of Corrections represents a $1 billion a year industry, and as with every expense covered by the state, there is no free lunch. Professor W. David Ball of the Santa Clara University School of Law recommends that states defund prisons and make counties pay for inmates they incarcerate. Or the state could collect revenue as before and allocate the money now spent on prisons to counties (based on their violent crime rate), who would then need to determine their communities’ priorities.

3. Require each prosecutor, judge, magistrate and law enforcement officer to spend a day at a prison or jail once a year. This was proposed for judges by former Virginia Attorney General Mark Earley at a community meeting held here over a year ago, in order for them to "see where they are sending people". The purpose would not be to have officials become softer on crime, but to encourage them to consider more humane and effective alternatives to incarceration.

4. Urge the Parole Board to free aging, physically ill and other inmates who qualify for release. Due to excessively long sentences, the cost of caring for our aging prison population is increasing dramatically, while the likelihood of older persons committing crimes is greatly reduced. Too many inmates who for years have demonstrated exemplary behavior have been denied parole year after year in spite of their best efforts. 

source

Tomiko Shine, researcher with Maryland’s RAPP (Release Aging Persons In Prison) will lead a discussion on this at the Trinity Presbyterian Church at noon Thursday, February 9, along with Earl Nelson, recently released after spending 48 years in prison. This will be followed by a 1 pm showing of producer Wynona Hogan’s just released 55-minute documentary on our local Rockingham and Middle River jails.

Americans Dependent On Massive Foreign Aid

Huffington Post photo

"Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who have toiled in your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter."

          -James 5:4-5 (NIV)

"America First" is a slogan we hear a lot these days, accompanied by calls to "Buy American" and to make America great again by buying more "Made in America" products.

Reality check. Relying on US-produced goods for our day-to-day consumption would leave most of us stripped of many of the garments, gadgets and gourmet meals we've become so dependent on.

Let's start with our over-ample food supply. While the US still produces megatons of corn, grain, meat and other food products for our tables and to export to the rest of the world, an increasing percentage of our daily diet comes from far off parts of the US (where many of the crops are harvested by immigrant labor) or from Central America, South America and from other places as far away as China, with field hands in all of those countries making a pittance each day.

Think pineapples--or bananas, or citrus fruits, or strawberries. Where do most of these varieties of delicacies come from, and who harvests them and ships them here? And why do bananas, imported from far south of our border, cost half as much per pound as locally grown apples? Or how can apples imported from China compete with what are grown right here in our Valley?

It's all about the cost of human labor.

Next, let's take a stroll through our walk-in closets. Check the tags: "Made in Vietnam", "Made in China... Bangladesh... South Korea... Indonesia", the list of foreign products goes on and on. Actual US textile mills and garment factories are so few and far between that we'd be threadbare within a decade without foreign imports. Or if we were to revive an American clothing industry massive enough to match consumer demand, the cost to keep us clad in the manner to which we've become accustomed would be prohibitive.

Again, it's all about the cost of labor.

Finally, there are our many tech toys. For lack of time (and a lack of expertise on the subject), I won't try to describe how much "hardship" we would endure without cheaply produced smart phones and other high tech products that foreign miners and other workers are turning out around the clock--all to satisfy our appetites for the latest gadgets.

The sobering fact is that most of our communities would be at a loss to know how to produce even a fraction of what we feel we need for our survival (let alone the need to hold on to the standard of living to which we've become accustomed). So in the meantime we're going to remain dependent on tons of "foreign aid" coming our way through the contributions of millions of overworked and underpaid international workers.

So let's call this what it is, foreign blood sweat and tears--billions of dollars worth of it pouring into our well stocked malls, supermarkets and homes every day.

Dan Bowman Lights Up A New Documentary

photo courtesy film producer Shaun Wright

Blind since age 12, Daniel Bowman is truly a legend in his own time.

He is now mostly retired, but during his 76 busy years he's earned an enviable reputation, first as a vocational rehabilitation counselor, then as a local piano tech and furniture craftsman, and always as an unforgettably engaging human being.

Two associate professors in JMU's School of Media Arts and Design believe it's time the rest of the world learns more about his story.

Mike Grundmann and Shaun Wright have produced a half-hour documentary on Bowman titled "A Good Blinder" that will be shown at the Court Square Theater in Harrisonburg at 7 pm Tuesday, January 31, along with the premier showings of two other short films recently released by members of the same JMU department. Having known Dan as a fellow student at EMU and as a valued community neighbor, I am really looking forward to attending this event. Admission is free.

I've always been amazed at Dan's talents as an accomplished organist and pianist and as an expert in tuning instruments, as well as his amazing skills as a craftsman. Some of the results of his woodworking hobby have raised a total of $12,500 at the annual Mennonite Relief Sales held at the Rockingham County Fairgrounds each fall. One of his wooden marble rollers alone brought $3700 at one of the auctions. Currently Dan is working on a model of a grist mill with a water wheel, complete with moving wooden parts.

At midlife, Dan added a second masters degree to his resume, an MDiv from Eastern Mennonite Seminary, reflecting his deeply held faith and his commitment as an active lay leader at his church, Ridgeway Mennonite.

His daughter Diane notes, "Many local pastors have enjoyed conversations with this theologically trained piano tuner!" Mike Grundmann, one of the producers of the documentary, states, "He still has all ten fingers, a lively wit and theologically trained mind that makes for profound reflection."

Dan and Ferne Bowman have three grown daughters and six grandchildren, and Ferne has recently published a memoir of her life titled Song of the Redwing Blackbird--An Amish Mennonite Girl Grows Up, which can be ordered at fernelappbow@verizon.net.

Here's a link to the 26-minute documentary.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1T8_UnWTq0I

Governor McAuliffe: Please Expedite The Promised Review of This Inmate’s Case

Coffeewood Correctional Center

Mr. Ronald Miles #1067348, a 61-year-old inmate at the Coffeewood Correctional Center, has been incarcerated for over twenty years for a robbery in Arlington he insists he did not commit. He has had a petition for clemency before the Governor for over 30 months, since he was unable to get justice from the courts, despite credible evidence and other documents he believes fully support his innocence and make a case for his deserving a retrial. While he was told his case would be reviewed in a timely manner, he has yet to hear from anyone in the over two and a half years that have passed since this promise was made.

Mr. Miles reports having once been arrested as a youngster for robbery, which prompted two Arlington detectives to question him about other crimes after he was arrested in March 1996 for removing an inspection decal which someone had told him he could have. Mr. Miles was then released. However, when he appeared in court on June 27, 1996, for his minor offense of three months earlier, he was arrested by an investigator who allegedly has a long history of wrongfully arresting suspects and falsifying evidence. Mr. Miles was accused of a robbery that occurred on January 22, 1996, at an Arlington hotel, though no witness had identified him as the suspect. The investigator attempted to get a confession, but did not succeed. 

At this time the investigator escorted Mr. Miles to the Arlington Jail to be booked by a sheriff deputy whom Mr. Miles discovered was not a certified booking deputy. The detective gave the deputy an evidence card and the deputy placed Mr. Miles' whole left thumbprint on the card. They alleged later that the thumbprint was found on a hotel room door, and that it took 4 1/2 months to match. 

At the preliminary hearing on July 22, 1996, the victim of the crime falsely identified Mr. Miles at the direction of the prosecutor and the the investigator. Mr. Miles did not have n attorney, and had not waived his right to counsel. The court and prosecutor later falsified the record to have it appear that Mr. Miles had waived his right to counsel, although he has evidence to the contrary.

Further, the original description by the primary witness in court does not match him in size, complexion, and balding, and no mention was made of a speech impediment he has which would have been obvious in the alleged verbal and physical altercation Miles was accused of having participated in at the hotel. So serious questions remain as to the nature of the evidence.  

Mr. Miles has also obtained letters from the state lab,which indicates no record of his thumbprint having been matched. In addition, Mr. Miles demonstrated in court that it is impossible to leave a whole thumbprint on a flat vertical door as the prosecutor falsely alleged. The thumb automatically turns sideways.

But despite many red flags in the prosecution's case he was still found guilty by an all-white jury. There was only one African American to draw from in the entire jury pool, who happened to be Mr. Miles' own sister, a fact the prosecutor falsely alleged she was unaware of.

I have been in ongoing communication with Mr. Miles and his now 86-year-old mother, and truly believe his case has merit. While I am not in a position to prove or disprove his innocence, I would encourage you to urge the Governor and the Parole Board to expedite a thorough review of his case. 

In a Commonwealth that places high values on both justice and liberty, we must make every effort to ensure that those serving time are doing so justly and those who are innocent are granted liberty.

Here's a link to express concerns to the Governor's Office and to the Department of Public Safety.
https://governor.virginia.gov/constituent-services/communicating-with-the-governors-office/

"Six Great Guns For Moms And Grandmas"

Six Best-Selling Semiautomatic Handguns Share Two Qualities

I post the following with sadness and without comment, other than to say that two other qualities these six killers share is that they are each 1) extremely deadly and 2) highly dangerous to carry. Here's a link to some of my own thoughts about owning guns for self-defense. 

The six best-selling semiautomatic handguns in the U.S. all have two things in common: They're easily concealable and fill the need for a personal defense weapon.

Motley Fool's Rich Duprey looked at monthly reports of best-selling new handguns identified by online auction house GunBroker.com to compile the list. Here's how the six best-selling handguns stack up in Duprey's analysis:

1. Ruger LCP — This gun "more than lives up to the task" of concealed carry suggested by its name, which stands for "lightweight compact pistol," said Duprey. Its price tag, which is about $260, is an attractive feature of this .380 ACP pistol.

The LCP II addresses many of the shortcomings of the original Ruger LCP introduced in 2008, improving the gun's sights and trigger, according to The Daily Caller.

This gun also made Breitbart's list of pocket guns that are "great guns for mothers and grandmothers who realize they are the first line of defense for their children or grandchildren should trouble strike."

2. Glock G19 and Smith & Wesson M&P Shield (tie) — The Glock 19, a single stack handgun with a 15-round capacity, retails for about $600. This gun will be carried by the Marine Corps Special Operations Command's elite Raiders, Military.com noted, calling the gun a "reliable, easy-to-maintain 9mm pistol."

The Smith & Wesson M&P Shield was introduced in 2012 and includes 9mm and .40, and .45 models with prices starting at about $450.

"In addition to the impressive reliability, I found the light, slim pistol shockingly accurate," Joseph von Benedikt wrote for Handguns magazine.

3. Sig Sauer P938 — Duprey described this 9mm hammer-fired, single-action pistol as a lightweight and ideal for concealed carry while handling like a much larger pistol. Its asking price is $819.

In a review for Ammoland.com, Brian Anse Patrick called the Sig Sauer P938 a "truly compact quality pistol worthy of choosing."

4. Glock G43 and Springfield XD-S (tie) — The G43 and Springfield XD-S are easily concealable, single stack pistols that go for $500 or more, Duprey noted.

In a review for Lucky Gunner, Chris Baker placed the G43 among the best in its category, saying "for those times when a double stack is just too big to carry, the Glock 43 should definitely be on the short list of guns to consider."

The Springfield XD-S, which is often chosen by law enforcement officers as an off-duty/backup weapon, "features unique grip texturing, interchangeable backstraps and a perfectly proportioned frame," American Rifleman noted.

My Brother Eli--Retiring After 55 Years Of Ministry

My brother Eli and his beloved Ruthie (photo by son Steve)

My older brother Eli officially declared himself retired this weekend on the 55th anniversary of his ordination as pastor. At 82, he has been going through a series of stressful treatments for multiple myeloma and he and his good wife Ruthie are devoting most of their time dealing with his medical issues and being with their children and grandchildren.

A founding pastor of the Wills Ridge Mennonite Church in Floyd County, Eli has always had a dual career, providing most of his family's needs by building custom kitchen cabinets and making handcrafted furniture. He was a master at his trade, but always saw his primary mission as being a servant of the heaven-sent Galilean carpenter to whom he devoted his entire life.

Eli has been a special mentor and esteemed big brother to me. After having been mostly healthy all of his life, it's hard to see him having to endure the series of medical problems he's had in the past two years.

His grown daughter Judy is the author of "Vera's Journey", the story of Vera Heatwole, a legendary local Mennonite matriarch who became deaf as an adult and lived to be over a hundred (the hardcover edition of her story has sold over 6000 copies). Judy is now completing a series of three books about my brother Eli's story, the first two of which are available at the local Christian Light Publishing's bookstore on Chicago Avenue. To me, they are a priceless treasure of information about our family's hard times and blessed times in drought-prone northeastern Oklahoma near the end of the Great Depression, followed by our family's move to eastern Kansas and then, in 1946, to the Shenandoah Valley.

I love my brother dearly. On my last visit Eli showed me a journal book full of wonderful poetry he'd written over his lifetime, something I had never seen or known about before, though he had recently shared the following sample in a family letter we circulate among us remaining five siblings:

Where Is The Gold In Those Golden Years?

My mind turns back to when we first met,
Though long ago, I remember it yet.
Your gentle spirit, your lovely smile,
That scene went with me mile after mile.

Our friendship developed, and with time it grew,
With our times together we eventually knew
The day would come when we'd be together always
Regardless of what life brought, clouds or sunny days.

Though life shared together brought pressures to provide gold,
Since God had blessed us with children five-fold,
We were told that someday there would be "golden years",
So be faithful, be steadfast and have no fears.

Now times have come with pain and some distress,
Along with many good times to give courage, I guess,
But where were the golden years we were assured would come?
Did we miss something, leave something undone?

Then we sat at the table, ready to pray,
We paused and contemplated what we should say.
I reached for her familiar hand to hold,
Oh, then I realized I had found the gold!

You can send my brother your well-wishes at Eli Yoder, 740 Starbuck Road SE, Floyd, VA 24091, or email a message to his son at snjyoder@gmail.com.

Jesus Offers Little Hope For Us Dromedaries

A daunting prospect, for sure

"Again I say to you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for the rich to enter the kingdom of God."    

Matthew 19:24

In order to become a member of the Kingdom-of-God-Movement the Bible tells us we need a miraculous transformation (a new birth), experience a radical life-change (repentance) and take part in a public commissioning rite (baptism). But the church has come to embrace a growing number of camel-like members through a different and equally miraculous-sounding means, being threaded through the eye of a needle.

Christians have long dismissed Jesus' words as hyperbole when he declares that it's easier for a grown camel to get through a needle's eye than to have us rich people enter the heaven-ruled Kingdom of God. We well-off American believers have come to not only welcome the wealthy, but actually woo them, and have ourselves become among the richest people on earth.

I do believe that Jesus is referring to consumer wealth here rather than capital investments (in wealth-producing land, factories or other enterprises), a point I make in an earlier blog. But in the tradition of the Hebrew prophets and of Jesus' predecessor John the Baptist, he clearly denounces any consumer-based way of life, in which we hoard more and more personal possessions, as unacceptable. Jesus makes it clear that his followers can't be in alliance with both God and Mammon.

What the church has done is to create needles so huge that their "eyes" are big enough to drive fully equipped RV's and loaded semis right through them. Of course, such needles are of little use for sewing or mending things, but at least they would appear to meet Jesus's requirements for entrance.

But Jesus' way is to have our surplus clothes, bank accounts and vehicles all melted down to the kind of fine thread used for what needles are intended for, to sew or mend things.

A more recent interpretation of Jesus' statement is to say he was really referring to a very narrow passage outside a city wall (the needle) that led to a small well-guarded gate (the eye). This pedestrian gate, we are told, was one just large enough for a person to get through, but one that a camel, stripped of its load, might also manage to squeeze through by the hardest. But no first century writer is known to have interpreted Jesus' metaphor that way, even though it actually makes a similar point.
(see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Eye_of_a_needle)

Meanwhile, if we aspire to be radically conservative Christians, a people who treasure, preserve and pass on Jesus' way of new birth and new life, we may have some serious rethinking to do. Are we willing, on the basis of seeing everything through an entirely new lens, to do a complete about face and begin to move in a St. Francis, Mother Theresa and Christ-like direction, or will we continue loading more and more stuff on the backs of our camel caravans and keep moving in the John D. Rockefeller and Joel Osteen direction?

Meanwhile, should be be asking which route might result in the greatest personal blessing and benefit?