Welcome Uncertain, Success Essential

by Matt Kelley · 2009-09-20 12:30:00 UTC
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A great column in Friday's Washington Post by former George W. Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson makes the most compelling case I've heard in a while for post-incarceration services.

In less than 800 words, Gerson lays out a clear case for federal and state governments to act swiftly and strongly to provide services to the 600,000 people we release from prison each year, from expansion of the federal Second Chance Act to approval and support for the small state programs that make a break new lives. Coming from a conservative like Gerson, the case is particularly powerful.

Gerson employs Chicago's Humboldt Park as the setting for his column, and speaks with a man named James Riddle who recently walked out of prison at age 42 after serving half his life behind bars. "Most people say you are welcome," Riddle told Gerson about his return to society. "but you are not really welcome. You are a burden."

Gerson goes on to argue for an expansion of federal investment in the Second Chance Act, saying post-release programming is expensive, but not as expensive as incarceration."It is the sort of needed spending that should unite the parties," he writes.

There's not anything particularly new in the column, but we'll take a compelling case in a major media platform from a prominent conservative anytime we can get it. Read for yourself here.

And learn more about the Second Chance Act from a prisoner's perspective in Michael Santos' post here.

Photo from Kevitivity.

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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