Common Sense and Federal Sentences

by Matt Kelley · 2009-04-19 06:15:00 UTC
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A bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives last month by Rep. Danny Davis has the potential to bring about an important and overdue change in our federal prison system, the home of 203,349 people at last count. Known as the "Good Time Bill," it would restore a lapsed system of reducing a federal prison sentences based on prisoners' responsible behavior in prison and their progress with work.

Sentence reductions and parole release for good time are common in state prison systems, and it's unacceptable that the federal system (which is bigger than any individual state system) doesn't offer this incentive to keep a good record inside and this avenue to early release for those who deserve it.

This bill needs your voice to pass. More than 500 change.org members have already sent letters to their reprsentatives, via this online action started by member Jonathan Black. Speak up today, it just takes a second and your voice could make a big difference.

Introducing the bill with a coalition of lawmakers, Rep. Davis said in a statement:

It is my feeling and that of many individuals and organizations who work with criminal justice and prison reform issues that we unnecessarily keep people confined, contained and imprisoned when many of them could be released and involved in re-entry activities which could help them to become productive tax-paying citizens, thereby reducing the burden on the nation's other tax payers.

As federal prisoner Michael Santos wrote earlier this month here on change.org, a prisoner's rehabilitation and sentence shouldn't be based on the calendar, it should be based on rehabiliation and fitness to rejoin society. He wrote:

I propose that we stop relying upon the turning of calendar pages to measure justice. A far more effective corrections system would measure justice by the efforts an offender makes to reconcile with society. Such a system would require a fundamental reform. It would have far-reaching benefits to American citizens, though it would present an anathema to prison lobbyists.

This isn't the first the time a good time bill has come before Congress. The bill's chances will improve this time with a coalition of concerned activists behind it. Please take action today to help bring some common sense to our bloated and counterproductive federal prison system.

Matt Kelley is the Online Communications Manager at the Innocence Project and a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Follow him on Twitter @mattjkelley.
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