News: 4/16/2007 (AM)

• Texas Prisons Have High Percentage of Unfilled Guard Jobs
• Texas Youth Commission Prisons Under Reported Abuse
• Guard pact could bedevil prison-relief negotiations (California)
• Governor to present pact offer to state prison guards (California)
• No end for jammed prisons (Michigan)
• Prison guards at jeopardy as overcrowding worsens (Maine)
• Hope Held Out for Death Row Inmates (Nigeria)
• Two men hijack helicopter to break man out of prison (Belgium)
• Drugs, bribe offers, staff in fear ... life at Rye Hill jail (UK)
• Call for sentencing policy review (UK)
• Tories in vow for tougher sentencing (UK)
• Fewer reports of sexual abuse in prisons, says (Jamaica)
• Athens on inmate transfers to home countries (Greece)
• Conditions vary widely for U.S. prisoners in Japan
• Everyday Heroes (North Carolina)
• Painting in prison (District of Columbia)

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If Rwanda can do it . . .

In the Jamaica Observer, columnist Jean Lowrie-Chin noted the reaction of Director of Public Prosecutions Kent Pantry to the idea of expanding restorative justice programs, especially for juveniles. One particularly important part of this would be a greater emphasis on a positive resolution for the victim, with the offender truly admitting responsiblity:

Mr Pantry said that this will actually protect all parties: "Say, for example, the accused is charged but sent on probation. If the victim has been part of the process, and satisfied that justice was done, the accused could return to his community and not be in danger of a violent backlash."

The most dramatic use of restorative justice (RJ) in recent times must be the Umuvumu Tree Project in Rwanda, following the murder of over 1,000,000 Tutsi children and adults by the Hutus. Cohen, speaking at a meeting of the St Andrew Lay Magistrates last week, reported that through the religious group Prison Fellowship International, some 32,000 of the 115,000 accused actually confessed to their crimes within six months.

The senior communications officer at the Ministry of Justice said restorative justice encourages: a focus on victim needs, restitution and restoration, offender admitting responsibility for harmful behaviour, opportunities for healing, offender's re-introduction into his or her community, providing an opportunity for victims and offenders to interact.

"RJ puts emphasis on respecting the dignity of everyone AND repairing harm caused by conflict, crime and violence," said Cohen. "Equally important is the fact that restorative justice practice - by its nature - creates ownership by the stakeholders in the situation versus being seen as an offence against the state."

But before we believe that restorative justice will be all smiles and sweetness, we should put ourselves in the shoes of victims facing the accused that have killed, maimed, raped, robbed. It is an emotional experience as shown in the documentaries on South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation hearings. As victims heard the enormities described and confessed to by their former oppressors, women fainted and men wept. Participants interviewed after these sessions invariably said they were painful, but ultimately liberating.

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Twelve prisoners released for Easter

A unique program of Florida based ministry Food for the Poor gains the release of prisoners in Jamaica by paying fines they cannot afford to pay:

Inside the prison chapel, 12 men - some young, some old - sit on two wooden benches waiting for the final confirmation of their release. Their expressions are hard to read. Indifference? Shock? Perhaps they do not believe that they will be able to spend Easter with their families this year? But they will, and perhaps quite appropriately they are getting this chance at Easter - a time for rebirth and new beginnings.

This is a part of Food for the Poor's prison ministry in Jamaica, led by Sandra Ramsey and financed by a generous anonymous donor. The men are in prison for minor offenses, but cannot pay their fines. This program sends them home with enough money for transportation and other needs:

While the number of prisoners released varies, the aim is to release as many as possible, and if needs be, Food for The Poor will fund the difference. This Easter, an additional J$50,000 was donated by a female ophthalmologist, who had read about the prison release programme and wanted to help. Her money went to free a female prisoner at Fort Augusta, who was incarcerated for unlawful wounding, and could not pay her fine.

. . . The chapel has a simple painted concrete floor, and simple wooden benches. Cut-outs high above the altar in the wall stand for a cross with the words, "This Is The Word of The Lord," written simply underneath. Donated by Food For The Poor 10 years ago, the chapel also houses numerous workshops including furniture-making, grillwork, and tailoring. It is also fully equipped with an electric keyboard, drum set, guitar, speakers, and even a bushwacker to cut the grass. Speaking on behalf of the prison, Superintendent Sylvester Lindor addressed the men.

"This is a special gift to you," he said. "This is a gift for you to cherish. It is not my desire to see you again, we want you to go back to your societies, live good and get a job."

Similarly, it is for this reason that Ramsey believes so strongly in the programme. "We all make mistakes, and it's not for me to judge," she said. "They have to come out at some point, and if we don't try and change their lives while they are in there, the situation may be worse for them when they do come out. We want to try to better them and make them productive citizens," she said.

The release programme is not the only purpose of the prison ministry. Their main focus is the after-care programme, where Ramsey and her team of volunteers take time interviewing recently released prisoners, and help them find work with small businesses. Ramsey said that of the approximately 700 prisoners who had approached the ministry seeking assistance since its inception, only three had returned to prison. "We have to help them (and) give them a chance, because if we don't, no one else will."

Ramsey had only one request when it was her turn to address the prisoners. She urged each of them to take their families to church today.

(Jamaica Observer)

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