Legal Speak
Beaumaster: We Need to Evaluate Our Current Corrections System
As a community—at local and state levels—we need to evaluate our current corrections system, examining how we reintegrate prisoners back into our communities as contributing members of society.
Minnesota’s largest prison facility is located in Rice County, on the former Regional Treatment Center site in Faribault. Ninety-nine percent of all prisoners are eventually released to make their way in the world. Some are released with parole conditions, while others have completed their sentence requirements. Most catch a bus out of town, and return to the familiarity of their former community and friends. Unfortunately, this often means a return to the lifestyle that resulted in their incarceration. It paints a bleak picture. As a community—at local and state levels—we need to evaluate our current corrections system, examining how we reintegrate prisoners back into our communities as contributing members of society. An improved …
Britt Ackerman
9:57 am on Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Good article Paul. I commend you for your support of the proposed legislation which would provide a mechanism for relief in the form of a certificate of rehabilitation. You do a good job in this article of explaining the futility of rehabilitation in merited cases. It's important to counter the "lock them up and throw away the key" mentality so prevalent in public opinion. However, I believe that… more ›