In a rousing address, Benneth Lee ( Northeastern University justice studies professor and founder/CEO of the National Alliance for the Empowerment of the Formerly Incarcerated ) spoke on "Felony Disenfranchisement, Human Rights and Social Justice" from a personal viewpoint at the latest AIDS Foundation of Chicago ( AFC ) Black Lives Matter series: Race, Politics and Restorative Justice conference Oct. 6 at the University Center in Chicago.
Lee recounted his time behind bars and the barriers he's faced on a variety of fronts in the 32 years since he was released from prison. He said that although he was able to get a masters degree he still has limited citizenship.
"There are about 80 licenses I can't apply for because of my prior convictions," said Lee.
Lee explained that he served time for a variety of offenses including stints as a juvenile offender from the 1960s to 1984 when he was released from prison for the last time. He said he had to get a new mindset when he was released because the values he was living by as a street hustler weren't working for him. Lee noted that he didn't have a fear of going to prison in the past but that's changed because of his age and the knowledge he's gained since his release. He said when he was paroled at other times in his life he returned to his parents house but that always led him back to prison so when he was released in 1984 he decided to live in transitional housing and get help from the people there including putting his resume together so he could find work. This decision led him to where he is today, said Lee.
Mass incarceration has been a part of the fabric of the U.S., said Lee, because although the 13th Amendment abolished slavery it also included the line, "except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted."
Lee explained that the majority of people in prison are both poor and uneducated and this applies regardless of one's racial background. He also pointed out that although the U.S. makes up five percent of the world's population, it accounts for more than 25 percent of incarcerated people worldwide. Lee said that inner city youth experience post-traumatic stress disorder due to the chaotic environment they've grown up in and this can and does lead to them spending time in prison. People have coined the term "hood disease" to describe this phenomenon, said Lee.
During the afternoon plenary on "Reducing the Use of Prison in Illinois: Challenges and Opportunities," David Olson ( Loyola University professor of criminal justice and criminology and Co-director of Loyola's interdisciplinary Center for Criminal Justice Research, Policy and Practice ) spoke about the rise in Illinois' prison population and what can be done to try and reverse this trend.
Olson noted that the motivations for reducing prison population include the costs associated with those facilities, most especially staff and correctional officer salaries. He said that there is broad political support for reducing the prison population with views of drug laws shifting toward less punitive measures among certain groups as well as the disparate impact of incarceration on minorities and the relatively high recidivism rates due to a lack of rehabilitation programs. Olson explained that despite what one hears on the news, the crime rate is the lowest it's been in 40 years.
In terms of prison population numbers, Olson said the "war on drugs", record violent crime rates in Illinois from 1988 to 1992 and the 1998 truth-in-sentencing laws concerning specific violent crimes caused the prison population to rise.
Olson explained that while the adult prison population has risen since the mid-'80s the juvenile prison population has gone down due to people wanting to help kids in trouble. He noted that aside from more white people being convicted of DUI's for all other crimes the majority of convictions are among the Black and Hispanic populations.
'"The question is what can be done to reduce the prison population," said Olson.
'There are six themes that Olson touched on that would reduce the prison population including focusing prison resources on violent/high risk individuals, undoing the "war on drugs," closing the prison door for certain offenders, increasing community capacity through justice reinvestment/incentive models, improve parole policy and practice, improving prison based programming across the board and shortening the length of stay for most prisoners.
Olson explained that two-thirds of those in Illinois prisons for murder convictions were 25 years old or younger when they committed their crimes and almost 60 percent will be in prison beyond their 60th birthday—adding that caring for those elderly inmates is double the cost of the average inmate. He noted that recidivism rates of inmates who are older than 50 are very low.
Closing prisons is a bone of contention for most elected officials because, in a number of cases, prisons employ a lot of people, said Olson.
Howard Gelb ( Chicago House employment program career services manager ) and Ashley Brazil's ( Chicago House employment program career specialist ) session was entitled "Employment Services and Returning Citizens."
Emcee Sanford Gaylord ( regional resource consultant, HIV/AIDS Regional Resource Network Program, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Region V ) said, "If you're not at the table, you're on the menu" when it comes to the issues discussed at this conference.
Cynthia Tucker ( AFC director of prevention and community partnerships ) and Jennifer Epstein ( Public Health Institute of Metropolitan Chicago programs deputy director ) closed out the conference with a call for attendees to spread the word about what they learned throughout the day.
