Rabbit, addict and break in the rain cheer me up

Just came from a rotten meeting-- the last of its kind I will have to attend, fortunately-- where I felt, as usual, unappreciated and unsupported. Usually this kind of stuff doesn't bother me, but seeing as this meeting was the culmination of two year's work, a kind word without prompting would have been appreciated.

As I was packing up my car, a flash of brown caught my eye, and there it was: an adolescent rabbit with a white tail, stopped in its tracks, watching me askance to see what I would do. I greeted the rabbit, as is my wont with small creatures, and stayed in place until the rabbit felt safe to hop into the brush. Took a little edge off my "Get me out of here!" silent scream.

A significant amount of power steering fluid had leaked out of my car during the meeting (ongoing problem I haven't had the money to fix). I could still go straight but sharp turns would require an amount of strength I felt lacking after the meeting. Unfortunately it takes two people to get my hood open, one to push down on the hood while the other pulls on the hood release, so a few miles down the road I pulled into Auto Zone to see if I could find a kindly person to help me. (Usually I ask my sister in the morning, but today she'd left the house before me.)

A small brown man was sitting in his car, waiting for someone to come out of the store, and I approached him and asked if he could do me a favor. Guardedly, he asked what the favor was, but when I explained, he was happy to help.

"No man should turn down a woman in need," he said.

I like your bumperstickers," he said, approaching my car. "Do you live in Amherst?"

"Springfield born and bred. In fact, I lived in that house, right over there, for thirty years."

"I just got out of rehab," he said. "I caught myself early and was lucky to get right in."

He insisted on adding the power steering fluid for me and we had a little political talk.

What he said:
-- These kids out there, dealing drugs, they barely know it's wrong.
-- Ludlow jail is so crowded, people were sleeping in the halls when I was there.
-- Why can't they sentence kids to school, or job training?
-- I've just got to keep praying, and I know I'll be all right.
-- I've got a good family, I never stole from them, and they're here for me.

I told him a bit about Arise, and he asked if we took people who have to do community service for the courts. I said we certainly did, and he should come down, meet everybody and sign up.

So now I'm at Arise, feeling much more centered, much more blessed, as I wait for everyone to arrive for our first tenants union meeting.

Know/are a felon in MA? You can VOTE! Spread the word

"Hey, would you like to vote so you can participate in this historic election?"

A pause.

"Well, I'd like to, but I can't-- I'm a convicted felon."

Many felons in Massachusetts think they've permanently lost the right to vote and much of that misconception was created in the year 2000, when a successful ballot question removed the right to vote for convicted felons while they were serving their time. But as soon as a person is released, his or her right to vote is restored.

In fact, more than half of the prisoners in Massachusetts county jail are still eligible to register and to vote, because more than half of them are pre-trial-- not yet found guilty of any crime-- and a number of those who have been sentenced are serving time for a misdemeanor. All of those prisoners are eligible to vote.

More than four years ago, Holly Richardson and I, representing Arise for Social Justice, met with Hampden County Sheriff Mike Ashe and some of his program staff. We were there to speak against the construction of a new women's jail, even though we knew it was nearly unstoppable. One of the points were were there to make was that no real shortage in women's beds really existed if the pre-trial population could be reduced-- either through lighter bails or released on their own recognisance. While we were there, we asked if the county jail made any effort to get those who were eligible registered to vote and assist them to get absentee ballots. They did not, but agreed to consider "making that option available."

I am happy to report that although the administrators don't exactly run a campaign, they do make information available to prisoners about their right to register and vote. I put in a call to the program director at the Hampshire County jail, and they were happy to be provided with voter registration and absentee ballot forms. Unfortunately, I doubt most county jails are proactive unless pushed.

After years of state by state felony disenfranchisement, the tide may finally be turning to restore voting rights. According to the Sentencing Project, in the last ten years,

• Nine states either repealed or amended lifetime disenfranchisement laws
• Two states expanded voting rights to persons under community supervision
• Five states eased the restoration process for persons seeking to have their right to vote restored after completing their sentence
• Three states improved data and information sharing.

Still, some five million people will be unable to vote in this year's Presidential election.

As well as having the highest number of incarcerated persons in the world, the U.S. also denies more people convicted of a crime the right to vote than any other democratic country. In some countries, the ballot box is even brought to the prison. In dozens of countries in Europe and the Americas, all 5.3 million disenfranchised felons would have the right to vote.

If you are personally affected by felony disenfranchisement laws, or know someone who is, don't assume you or your friend can't vote. Find out! With times the way they are, hang on to every bit of power we have. You can get a state by state guide to felony enfranchisement laws at the Sentencing Project.

The deadline to register to vote in Massachusetts is October 15.

AP Photo by Brennan Linsley

Ludlow prison hangs himself: drug users should not be in jail!

Kevin J. Small of Westfield, Massachusetts hanged himself Tuesday at the Hampden County Correctional Center. Mr. Small's suicide was the third at the Ludlow facility in the last five years.

Don't blame the jail, though, at least according to spokesman Richard McCarthy: Mr. Small's unit wasn't overcrowded, rounds of his unit had been done every thirty minutes as required, and the screening given him at admission did not indicate he was suicidal.

Mr. Small was on the 14th day of a 90 day sentence for possession of drugs.

So much wrong with this picture it's hard to know where to start, but let's start with what should be obvious: drug addiction is not a criminal justice problem, it's a public health problem.

Pro-incarceration supporters point to a drop in violent crime as reason enough to continue with our current "get tough" policy.

But consider this:

• 60% of federal prisoners are drug offenders.
• Only 3% are violent offenders.
• Drug offenders in country jails are not violent offenders.
• It costs 15 times as much as treatment to run a drug addict through the criminal justice system to achieve the same reduction in costs to society.
• Fewer than half of the more than five million drug users who desperately need treatment are able to get it. Drug Policy Alliance.

The United States now has the dubious distinction of incarcerating more of its citizens than any other country in the world-- one out of every 99.1 people for a grand total of 2,323,000 individuals. Are we really so much more rotten than the people in Chile, Russia, Pakistan, Switzerland, Turkey, Australia and the Philippines? Do we as a society really so lack imagination that this is the best we can come up with?
Photo by Still Burning.