January 21, 2018
Dear NH Friends,
Quaker City Unity Friends Meeting has been called by the Spirit to address concerns about the treatment of inmates in the NH Criminal Justice System. Enclosed is a minute that speaks to our concerns. Should this minute speak to your experience or concerns, please contact us so we may further discern a path forward together.
We are forwarding this minute to Northwest Quarterly Meeting for endorsement and on to New England Yearly Meeting. We hope to have the Quarter's and Yearly Meeting's endorsement, also.
Peace with Justice,
| /s/ Jenny Wright, Co-Clerk | /s/ Rebecca MacKenzie, Co-Clerk |
P.S. For an electronic copy of QCUFM Minute 2018-01, please write Rebecca Mackenzie at reb178 [at] myfairpoint [dot] net. This will enable the recipient to have live links to the documents within the minute.
Quaker City Unity Friends Meeting, Unity, NH
Minute 2018-01 of Concern for the Treatment of Inmates
in the New Hampshire Department of Corrections
As members of Quaker City Unity Friends Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (aka Quakers), we believe in the humane treatment of those incarcerated in our criminal justice system. We believe that each person has that of the Divine within. It is with great concern that we bring to your attention particularly the treatment of inmates with mental illness and substance abuse issues within the New Hampshire Criminal Justice System. According to the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill [1], and our own observations of the treatment of family members, “Once in jail, many individuals don't receive the treatment they need and end up getting worse, not better. They stay longer than their counterparts without mental illness. They are at risk of victimization and often their mental health conditions get worse.”
According to the NH Chapter of Citizens for Criminal Justice Reform [2] (CCJR),
The New Hampshire prison population grew from 394 in 1982 to 2,615 in 2007. That’s a 560 percent increase. The corrections budget has more than doubled in the past decade to $104 million, while the state population grew only 31 percent. A major cause was recidivism. The number of parole violators increased 50 percent between 2000 and 2009. The prisons have done too little to prepare men and women for freedom. Worse, there have been no state-funded services for parolees until very recently. Those are still minimal. The simple truth is this. The best practices in education, training, rehabilitation, parole and therapy all help protect the community. New Hampshire needs to make that kind of investment as a wise use of resources. At CCJR we support rational, cost effective programs and policies that reduce crime, slow the revolving door back into prison, make our society safer, and give ex-offenders a better chance to succeed.
The inmates are not being prepared for life after prison.
There is a revolving door in and out of the criminal justice system for many, especially those with mental illness and substance abuse issues. These inmates need to also have an identity as patients when incarcerated. Treatment, restorative or supportive services are necessary to change the course of their lives. Inmates with the proper treatment and supports are best able to choose redemptive lifestyles. As the California Innocence Project [3] states, services such as educational programs, vocational training, and treatment for substance abuse have been shown to greatly reduce recidivism rates.
One study [4] by the nonpartisan Rand Corporation showed that “prison education programs are cost effective, with a $1 investment in prison education reducing incarceration costs by $4 to $5 . . .”
The Mission of the NH Department of Corrections is, according to its website [5]:
…to provide a safe, secure, and humane correctional system through effective supervision and appropriate treatment of offenders, and a continuum of services that promote successful re-entry into society for the safety of our citizens and in support of crime victims.
This statement suggests that the Department of Corrections’ goal is to help inmates heal and reform, in order to become functioning and contributing members of society. Its actions and policies are not supporting its goals. Our financial investment in the NH criminal justice system would be better served by treatment rather than the revolving door of incarceration, especially for those who have mental illness or substance abuse issues as part of their assessment. We believe in a restorative process in which all inmates are given the opportunity for redemption, and to become contributing members of society.
We urge other members of the Religious Society of Friends and others in New Hampshire concerned about justice and tax dollars to speak with or write David Welch, Chairman of the New Hampshire Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee of the NH Legislature at (h) PO Box 570, Kingston, NH 03848-0570; Phone: (603) 642-4402; Email: v-chcj [at] outlook [dot] com to:
Also, we ask that you contact the Commissioner, Helen Hanks of the New Hampshire Department of Corrections, 105 Pleasant Street, PO Box 1806, Concord NH 03302-1806; Phone: (603) 271-5603; feedback [at] doc [dot] nh [dot] gov to:
Quaker City Unity Friends Meeting, Unity, NH
Approved at Meeting for Business – January 21, 2018
______________________________ MM Co-Clerk _____________________________ MM Co-Clerk
Signatures and Date Signatures and Date
__________________________________________________________ NWQ Clerk
Signature and Date
_________________________________________________________ NEYM Permanent Board Clerk
Signature and Date
|
Canterbury, New Hampshire 03224-2043 USA
Links:
[1] https://www.nami.org/Learn-More/Public-Policy/Jailing-People-with-Mental-Illness
[2] https://www.ccjrnh.org/reform
[3] https://californiainnocenceproject.org/issues-we-face/recidivism-rates/
[4] http://www.rand.org/news/press/2013/08/22.html
[5] https://www.nh.gov/nhdoc/aboutus.html