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VETERANS INCARCERATED COMMITTEE REPORT
BY TERRY HUBERT, CHAIR
The Veterans Incarcerated Committee has received good news
about incarcerated issues from a variety of sources and remains
optimistic about the future for veterans incarcerated.
Probably
the best news came from the National Council for Community
Behavioral Healthcare, which has been closely monitoring
the re-approval of The Second Chance Act of 2007, HR 1593.
This bill passed the House and included $360 million for
a variety of essential re-entry programs for adults and youth.
Essentially,
Congress is grappling with the enormous cost associated with
the current practices addressing the social problems caused
by substance abuse in America. The prevalent practice has
emphasized strict law enforcement (zero tolerance) at the
expense of treatment and prevention, which is a punishment
versus treatment mentality. The emphasis is seen in a burgeoning
prison population and very few treatment or prevention-related
programs.
In approving The Second Chance Act, Congress recognized
that the nation’s prisons and jails incarcerate approximately
2.3 million prisoners and that almost 650,000 are released
every year. It is necessary to provide essential social services
to guide the reintegration process of these offenders.
Fortunately,
this bill will provide funds for re-entry programs and services
for those being released from prison. It is important to
support and expand successful community-based re-entry programs,
such as the Incarcerated Veterans Transition Program and
RidgeHouse, Inc. Programs like these will be able to apply
for grants to offer transitional services to men and women
leaving prison. The Senate still must pass it, and then the
Bush administration must sign off on it, for it to become
law. Both the administration and the Senate have expressed
support for The Second Chance Act of 2007. Realistically,
funds will become available in FY 2009.
How does this relate
to veterans? The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) estimates
that in 2004 veterans accounted for about 10 percent of state
prisoners. This was down from a high of 20 percent in 1986.
In May 2007, the BJS reported that 140,000 veterans were
in prison and that 54 percent of state prisoners and 64 percent
of federal prisoners served during wartime. Vietnam-era veterans
were the single largest group of incarcerated veterans (38
percent). Interestingly, veterans generally have shorter
criminal records than non-veterans and about 80 percent of
these veterans report that substance abuse is a key issue
in their incarceration.
Other news affecting incarcerated
veterans comes from the U.S. Sentencing Commission. The commission
approved a Crack Cocaine Amendment and in December 11 was
scheduled to vote on the retroactivity application of this
amendment. The Crack Cocaine Amendment addresses the fundamental
unfairness of the penalties applied against drug offenders
confined by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP). Considering
that 60 percent of BOP prisoners are incarcerated for drug
offenses, the retroactive application of the Crack Cocaine
Amendment would affect the sentences of some 20,000 prisoners.
The
disproportionate and severe penalties levied against the
users of crack cocaine have been especially detrimental to
racial and ethnic minorities and, in particular, to women.
We see this racial disparity most notably reflected in our
prisons. The U.S. Sentencing Commission noted that the current
crack cocaine sentencing guidelines overstate the seriousness
of crack offenses, are too broad, apply mostly to low-level
offenders, and disproportionately affect blacks. The Commission
said that its concerns were “so urgent and compelling” that
reform was necessary.
The Justice Policy Institute recently
released a controversial study of some two hundred counties
with populations of 250,000 or larger that examined rates
of incarcerating drug offenders. The Institute found that
these two hundred large American counties on average incarcerate
ten black offenders for every white drug offender. In some
places, the ratio is even higher.
The Veterans Incarcerated
Committee recognizes that our focus on veterans incarcerated
is just a small aspect of a larger social issue that we as
veterans and citizens should be concerned about. Prison is
a microcosm of the nation, reflecting how we address social
problems. Social problems such as poverty, unemployment,
racism, substance abuse, homelessness, and a myriad mental-health
issues are closely intertwined and addressed by the criminal
justice system.
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