A friend of mine awaits his release from a Texas prison.
Most of my other friends have no experiential or personal context for understanding him, his current circumstance or the life that led him to the Texas Department of Corrections.
"Richard" used drugs.
Richard ended up in prison.
But, that is only the beginning of his story.
He and I have been exchanging letters for a couple of years now. He appeared before the parole board recently. He hopes that they will decide in his favor and send him home.
Before landing in prison, he was a member of the small, urban church that I have attended for the past eleven years.
Since being in prison, he has applied himself to just about every opportunity presented to him.
A few days ago I received his latest letter.
Since there is no way to convey what his life has been like, I want to share the words he wrote, exactly as he wrote them. My intention is not to embarrass or exploit my friend. My purpose is to open a bit of a window into a world and a life about which most people have absolutely no understanding.
Here is what my friend wrote to me:
"Hello Larry.
"I am Praying that my letters fine you and yours in God hand. And also would you tell Everyone at the Church Hi"for me. and to keep me in pary. I did see Parole on the. 8-17-05 I will let you all no, when I her back from them, hope I make it, I am so tide of here but. If not let it be not my will but, God' will, I ask Tom to let the church no, I have not got A. letter from hem and some time. Bonnie's sister had sade in her last letter to me. That our church had move. to Washing St. and I didnot" Hav the new address.
"I am hopeing that this letter get to you, I am doing better and better in school the more I go the more I get out of it. I have a good teacher. but I am doing what ever it take, to get out and stay out. and I no that mean to do what right. and also to let God live in me. see I now put everything In his hands. Larry. I hope to her back form you soon. If not. may God bless and keep you, Hope you can Reet this
"Richard"
"This is Just Some of my award."
Enclosed in my letter were three certificates my friend had been awarded for completing various training programs designed to help him learn to read and write.
My friend has many, many needs. In my view he needs to be in a place where he can receive treatment for his addiction, a better setting for basic adult education and practical training that will lead to productive employment.
Jesus once told his followers that when they visited folks in prison, they were in essence paying him a visit. I expect that if Jesus was here today, he would say the same.
Given the blessings of our democratic institutions, surely we have options besides the traditional, no-treatment, no-change prison system that has become an industry for rural America.
Taking people like Richard out of the community hurts all of us. Surely there must be a way to provide what he needs, seriously address his failures and at the same time avoid the incarceration that costs all of us far too much with too little return on our investment.
Richard will be home soon. I look forward to seeing him and hanging out again. I pray this time that he can "stay out" like he plans.
I know quite a few addicts. Many have been very good friends to me. Many have even been in my family.
ReplyDeleteThey are generally people of passion and promise, people whose great struggle is often little more than a lack of direction . . . a poorly defined purpose.
Prison is not a place to find that purpose. It is a place to lose hope that such a purpose exists. If you can leave, you do so with, at best, a blurred self-concept that is frequently masked with a sharpened facade.
Our rather arbitrary assignation of illegality to various chemical substances has created a system in which people who are afflicted with the disease of addiction are brutalized with the title of "convict." They then struggle to get a job, get a place to live, qualify for a business loan, and more.
They are cast out . . . partially because of something they did wrong, but also because of something that we did not do right.
I have known quite a few addicts. None needed to go to prison. All of them needed help: treatment programs, but also a simple support structure. Above all, they needed love. Genuine, honest, forgiving love.
I hope that I can one day meet Richard, and let him know that the biggest award he has won cannot be mailed in an envelope.
That is a very troubling situation, one that makes us all shake our heads about the seemingly intractable nature of this epidemic that is substance abuse.
ReplyDeleteI would say that the driver might have been a long-time alcoholic who never had the treatment that he needed. He also might have lacked the feeling of self-importance that is critical to overcoming an addiction. He also might have lacked the family and friendship circles that one needs when struggling under the burden of substance abuse.
Prison or jail would not have provided these things. Neither would taking away his license, which might have been a good idea given his history.
This was a tragic loss, and I am sorry for your community. I am not belittling the impact that this has. However, we must also realize that any person with such a record of self-destructive behavior is in need of far more than jailtime and punishment. He needs help, and hopefully our compassion and love.
He needs to be challenged, as well. He needs to understand, after his first incident, the terrible impact that he could have on our community and on his life if his drinking continues. He needs to be given the opportunity -- and the tools/support! - to make a sustainable change in himself.
Thanks for these posts. The questions are good and will help clarify my point. Persons who break the law should be held accountable.
ReplyDeleteIn the case of a repeat offending, drunken driver, it is obvous whatever the justice system was trying, it failed terribly, didn't it?
The 21-year-old owldog speaks of is another example of someone who is acting irresponsibly, as did my friend "Richard."
I am sure each of these cases and individuals are unique in terms of why the offenses occured, what the results were, etc.
What I am suggesting is that the courts be given more options than prison time in dealing with people like this.
States like Arizona, New York, California and a growing number of others allow judges to give an offender the option of jail time or mandated, supervised treatment for non-violent, drug-related offeneses.
Of course, an incident that causes harm, such as an auto accident death or injury would fall into a different category--though treatment would be indicated here as well even if jail time was indicated.
The typical tactic in Texas has been to "lock em up and throw away the key" with no real attempt to get people what they need so that they will not return. States like Arizona have seen a marked decline in recidivism while saving taxpayers around $30,000 per person treated as compared to the costs of incarceration. Big win-win in that outcome, especially for urban communities where so many are swept away and often return weaker and less prepared to make a positive contribution to their communities--housing and employment often being almost impossible to acquire once a person has a record of prison time.
Thanks for helping me explain. "Richard's" case is sad because of his major limitations. I hoped in that post to simply expose the fact that many people who end up in jail/prison have severe limitations and many special needs. Accountability should not be sacrificed in these cases, but new approaches should be considered it seems to me.
It seems to me, from that post, that you were indicating the low level of education as well. Perhaps if we did more to educate on the front end, we wouldn't have so many pieces to pick up on the back end.
ReplyDeleteI would say that the young man who enjoys laughing at his younger siblings while watching them smoke clearly does not value himself or his family enough. There are variety of options available: challenging him to do something in which he could use his talents for good could be effective. For example, he obviously enjoys being looked up to by young ones (though he currently uses negative/"cool" behaviors to elicit that respect). Perhaps he should get involved in working with kids who are in need? For example, working in the hospital with kids who are ill? volunteering in a summer or after-school program in the inner city?
ReplyDeleteI know that there are quite a few programs, owldog, but it will depend where you are. If you email me at jgregg@cdm-hope.org, I can try to pass you some info on them.
ReplyDeleteI found this "article" while looking at new things on my computer-while I know very little about the young man in prison,my prayers and understanding are with him. The American Medical Association declared ,over a decade ago,that addiction,alcoholism ARE a REAL DISEASE,those of us who "have it" STILL suffer from the antiquated viewpoint that people with this affliction are suffering from a MORAL dilemma,when in fact veryfew addicts EVER are "grateful" for having this disease-unless they find God through a recovery program-because I think that most might not have EVER found God,without the "mustard seed of belief" that starts ALL recovery. There s a saying for most addicts,which is-"you don't need to beat up on me-I do it to myself ALL of the time"-no person with any self respect,self esteem,would probably ever understand this,but IT IS TRUE! I wish all life's joy and blessings to the man in prison-I agree with jeremy gregg,that PRISON is not a place to find anything but a "loss of hope". There are a few "open" type of treatment centers in the U.S. for the "reluctant to recover"-I hope that this man will be directed to one-simple LOCK UP is never a solution to this serious life threatening compulsion. Honesty,openmindedness are what helps at the very beginning of recovery!
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