Paschal,
You may not have heard that I am running for Commissioner of Agriculture
in the Republican primary.
The Primary is May 22. When elected to that position, I could so some
interesting work with prisoners and agriculture. I am also teaching tues
and thursdays at KSU.
I am still very interested in the prison issue, but have decided a can
have more influence on state policy if I have a little budget and staff to
do it with.
So Bottom Line is that I might be able to attend a meeting, but am
in no position to put much energy for about two months. After that, it
depends.
As I know you know, every issue related to prisons is related to
something else. My own view is that the group should have a broader
mission than sentencing reform, ie. tackle the whole issue of how we make
our societies safe and achieve effective justice. That may sound like
converting the whole world to christianity, but we could set priorities
within the group and sentencing reform could be mission one.
Other possible high priority might restoration of felon rights.
Two alternative suggestions for naming the group: Kentuckians for
Effective Justice or KEEP (Kentuckian Expecting Effective Prisons) .
That wont make us sound so "liberal" and give us a clever acronym that people can remember.
I have been traveling with Jon Larsen on the stump.
Best of luck and thanks for taking the leadership to keep
something moving.
Don Stosberg, March 30
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Friday, March 30, 2007
Letters to the Editor
This was published in the Herald-Leader and a shorter version later in the Kentucky Post.
April 28, 2005
Dear Editor:
Herald - Leader Editorial page
"Kentucky is 'Best' in something else."
Fastest Growth Rate in the Region?
Did the Herald - Leader reader notice that Kentucky's growth rate among Ohio Valley states clearly beats all the surrounding seven states in at least one area; Growth in prison population? Headline: "1 in 138 Americans is in Prison," Monday, April 25, page. A9.
In the number of prisoners in state and federal corrections, Kentucky'S rate of growth, compared with the average of the seven surrounding states, is not twice, not three times, but almost four times the average rate of all seven surrounding states, a percent change of +8.5 percent from 2003 to 2004.
Is this because we simply have that many more criminals in Kentucky? or possibly because our sentencing policies are now the harshest in the region? Who are these and how is this happening? The vast majority are there for drugs, using or selling.
Our local jails and prisons are overcrowded, sometimes so many in county jails that inmates are living in Third World conditions. Even when volunteer programs are offered, some county jail staff is too busy with the overcrowded warehousing of inmates to accept the offer.
We are paying so much for warehousing ($300 million per year in Kentucky) there is nothing left for rehabilitation. If we take time to examine the situation, we shall find that we are simply punishing addictive behavior by incarceration--mostly without rehabilitation, so 2/3 are back in jail within three years.
Are our current sentencing policies creating a new underclass of those trapped in addiction, joblessness and resentment?
Is this a system of justice? Are these policies protecting our communities, or in fact undermining our safety and security? Who will examine and speak to these issues?
Paschal Baute
4080 LOfgren Ct.
Lexington, Ky 40509
tel 293-5302
email pbbaute@paschalbaute.com
April 28, 2005
Dear Editor:
Herald - Leader Editorial page
"Kentucky is 'Best' in something else."
Fastest Growth Rate in the Region?
Did the Herald - Leader reader notice that Kentucky's growth rate among Ohio Valley states clearly beats all the surrounding seven states in at least one area; Growth in prison population? Headline: "1 in 138 Americans is in Prison," Monday, April 25, page. A9.
In the number of prisoners in state and federal corrections, Kentucky'S rate of growth, compared with the average of the seven surrounding states, is not twice, not three times, but almost four times the average rate of all seven surrounding states, a percent change of +8.5 percent from 2003 to 2004.
Is this because we simply have that many more criminals in Kentucky? or possibly because our sentencing policies are now the harshest in the region? Who are these and how is this happening? The vast majority are there for drugs, using or selling.
Our local jails and prisons are overcrowded, sometimes so many in county jails that inmates are living in Third World conditions. Even when volunteer programs are offered, some county jail staff is too busy with the overcrowded warehousing of inmates to accept the offer.
We are paying so much for warehousing ($300 million per year in Kentucky) there is nothing left for rehabilitation. If we take time to examine the situation, we shall find that we are simply punishing addictive behavior by incarceration--mostly without rehabilitation, so 2/3 are back in jail within three years.
Are our current sentencing policies creating a new underclass of those trapped in addiction, joblessness and resentment?
Is this a system of justice? Are these policies protecting our communities, or in fact undermining our safety and security? Who will examine and speak to these issues?
Paschal Baute
4080 LOfgren Ct.
Lexington, Ky 40509
tel 293-5302
email pbbaute@paschalbaute.com
Background of interest and activity in Central Ky
August 7, 2005
The Blue Ribbon Commission on Sentencing
C/o Chief Justice Joseph E. Lambert and
Lieutenant Governor Stephen B. Pence
700 Capitol Avenue
Frankfort, Kentucky 40601
Dear Commissioners:
This letter comes to you from the Board of Directors of The Interfaith Alliance of the Bluegrass concerning the important opportunity currently before the Commission and the Commonwealth to revise Kentucky’s criminal sentencing guidelines. The Interfaith Alliance recently hosted two community forums during which the Commonwealth’s sentencing guidelines were much on the minds of those present. We heard from persons involved with this issue, including the results of research by University of Kentucky Law professor Robert Lawson. From these forums we learned that the Commonwealth’s current sentencing structure is not only unhelpful to the possible rehabilitation of persons convicted of crimes in our state, but has also sparked a growth in Kentucky’s prison population that will become increasingly burdensome, if not impossible, to maintain in the near future.
Certainly it is the responsibility of the Commonwealth to do everything within its legitimate power to ensure the safety of its citizens, the enforcement of its laws, and the carrying out of sentences duly imposed upon those convicted of crimes against property or person. Yet, these appropriate responsibilities must be pursued with an eye toward the value of all human life, the possibility of rehabilitation, and the root causes of crime. Slogans such as, “Get Tough on Crime,” and sentencing resulting from them, while superficially responding to society’s fear of crime, often do not lead to a more secure society. Instead, as in the case of Kentucky’s experience, they lead only to exploding prison populations that divert limited resources from the root causes of crime, such as entrenched poverty, inadequate education, and limited opportunity.
As a part of the interfaith community of Central Kentucky we urge you to seize this opportunity to change Kentucky’s criminal justice course from one of unreflective punishment, which in the end is not helpful to society, to a better course of reasonable and responsible sentencing. Reasonable and responsible sentencing will hold criminals accountable for their actions, keep open the possibility of rehabilitation, and not threaten to bankrupt our criminal justice system. In the long term, such a course change offers the greatest possibility for the security and prosperity of the Commonwealth and its citizens.
We look forward to following your work, and we offer our resources toward the adoption of sentencing guidelines that will benefit all Kentuckians.
Respectfully,
William B. Kincaid, President
The Interfaith Alliance of the Bluegrass
Endorsed by the Board of The Interfaith Alliance on July 20, 2005.
The Blue Ribbon Commission on Sentencing
C/o Chief Justice Joseph E. Lambert and
Lieutenant Governor Stephen B. Pence
700 Capitol Avenue
Frankfort, Kentucky 40601
Dear Commissioners:
This letter comes to you from the Board of Directors of The Interfaith Alliance of the Bluegrass concerning the important opportunity currently before the Commission and the Commonwealth to revise Kentucky’s criminal sentencing guidelines. The Interfaith Alliance recently hosted two community forums during which the Commonwealth’s sentencing guidelines were much on the minds of those present. We heard from persons involved with this issue, including the results of research by University of Kentucky Law professor Robert Lawson. From these forums we learned that the Commonwealth’s current sentencing structure is not only unhelpful to the possible rehabilitation of persons convicted of crimes in our state, but has also sparked a growth in Kentucky’s prison population that will become increasingly burdensome, if not impossible, to maintain in the near future.
Certainly it is the responsibility of the Commonwealth to do everything within its legitimate power to ensure the safety of its citizens, the enforcement of its laws, and the carrying out of sentences duly imposed upon those convicted of crimes against property or person. Yet, these appropriate responsibilities must be pursued with an eye toward the value of all human life, the possibility of rehabilitation, and the root causes of crime. Slogans such as, “Get Tough on Crime,” and sentencing resulting from them, while superficially responding to society’s fear of crime, often do not lead to a more secure society. Instead, as in the case of Kentucky’s experience, they lead only to exploding prison populations that divert limited resources from the root causes of crime, such as entrenched poverty, inadequate education, and limited opportunity.
As a part of the interfaith community of Central Kentucky we urge you to seize this opportunity to change Kentucky’s criminal justice course from one of unreflective punishment, which in the end is not helpful to society, to a better course of reasonable and responsible sentencing. Reasonable and responsible sentencing will hold criminals accountable for their actions, keep open the possibility of rehabilitation, and not threaten to bankrupt our criminal justice system. In the long term, such a course change offers the greatest possibility for the security and prosperity of the Commonwealth and its citizens.
We look forward to following your work, and we offer our resources toward the adoption of sentencing guidelines that will benefit all Kentuckians.
Respectfully,
William B. Kincaid, President
The Interfaith Alliance of the Bluegrass
Endorsed by the Board of The Interfaith Alliance on July 20, 2005.
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