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Millions of Offenders To Get 'Second Chance' Under New Act

By Hazel Trice Edney
NNPA Editor-in-Chief

WASHINGTON(NNPA) – U. S. Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-Ill.) stood behind President George Bush as he sat down, pen in hand, in front of the open folder.  Among the string of witnesses beside Davis were Black Caucus members Reps. Bobby Scott (Va.), Stephanie Tubbs Jones (Ohio) and House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (Mich.).
      It was a rare, but happily unified non-partisan gathering to sign what had once appeared to be a mission- impossible for Davis. It was five years ago when he first conceived, introduced and began fighting for the Second Chance Act to deter the recidivism rate that is so disparate among Black inmates. For five years straight, the legislation failed to make it through Congress.
     Finally, mainly due to a Democratic Congress, the refusal of Davis and his Senate co-patron Joseph Biden (Del.) to give up, and some strong bi-partisan coalescing, the Second Chance Act, last week, was being signed by Republican President Bush.
Davis is exuberant about the possible impact.
   “It’s a comprehensive approach to looking at what it takes to get a person back into normal life. Even more than the programs that are going to actually be funded, it is an opportunity to help Americans to change their mindsets and to help put corrections and rehabilitation as a central part of our criminal justice system,” Davis said in an interview after the signing that took place inside the Old Executive Office Building adjacent to the White House.        “There is no point in talking corrections until we do things to correct. The concept calls for beginning before a person gets out. What we need to do is the moment a person enters prison, we need to be trying to figure out what is it that we can do to keep that person from ever coming back. So, you’ve got to find out what got them there. So, whatever that was, you’ve got to work on it right then. And then you work on it consistently with the hope that you’re going to be able to prevent it from causing them to return.”
      Among the programs the bill will provide, Bush pointed to treatment programs for alcoholics and drug addicts. He drew warm chuckles and applause from the audience when he referred to himself, saying, “I quit drinking - and it wasn't because of a government program. It required a little more powerful force than a government program in my case.”
      He added, “Our government has a responsibility to help prisoners to return as contributing members of their community. But this does not mean that the government has all the answers.
     Some of the most important work to help ex-convicts is done outside of Washington, D.C., in faith-based communities and community-based groups. It's done on streets and small town community centers. It's done in churches and synagogues and temples and mosques,” he said.

Posted April 16, 2008

“They help addicts and users break the chains of addiction. They help former prisoners find a ride to work and a meal to eat and place to stay. These men and women are answering the call to love their neighbors as they'd like to be loved themselves. And in the process, they're helping prisoners replace anger and suffering and despair with faith and hope and love.”
      Davis’ bi-partisan team of House representatives and senators also included Republicans Sen. Sam Brownback (Kans.), former Rep. Rob Portman (Ohio), and Rep. Chris Cannon (Utah).
      According to the bill, H. R. 1593, there are 7 million people currently incarcerated in local jails and prisons in the U. S. The Bureau of Criminal Justice Statistics of the Department of Justice estimates that 67.5 percent of inmates are rearrested for a felony or serious misdemeanor within three years of release from incarceration. Of that 67.5 percent, 47 percent are reconvicted, and 26 percent are re-sentenced to prison for a new crime.
Congress is in the process of allocating funds for the programs; so the cost of putting the bill into affect is still unknown, legislators say.

     “Virginia is in the process of spending $100 million a year every year for the foreseeable future,” for incarcerated inmates, says Scott. “The idea that we were going to spend a $100 million dollars a year for the foreseeable future and tens of millions of dollars each year to run each of those prisons, anything that you can do is a great opportunity for people to come together, not only to reduce crime but to save money and to save lives.”
      The bill, H. R. 1593, will take effect on Oct. 8, exactly 180 days after its signing last week. It outlines dozens of opportunities for inmates to get help to stem the tide of re-incarceration by making it easier for them to reintegrate into society. It includes:
• Educational, literacy, vocational programs inside correctional facilities as well as job placement services.
• Substance abuse treatment and services, including outpatient as well as residential services and recovery programs.
• Coordinated supervision and comprehensive services for offenders upon release from prison, jail, or a juvenile facility.
Family development services,.
Davis stresses that offenders will not be forced to take advantage of any of the programs. However, they will be strongly encouraged.

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