Dear State Representative Ford:
First I would like to thank you for standing up and putting a stop to solitary confinement. Everything you have said about solitary is true; it breaks you down mind, body and soul. One has to have an exceptionally strong mind to survive solitary confinement with their sanity intact, but ultimately that person will forever lose a small piece of themselves.
I am not here to argue my innocence or guilt, or that of anyone else, however, my intent is to continue the discussion of how IDOC is grossly failing at it own mission statement, which is to make us better, so that upon our release we will become more useful to our families, communities, and ourselves as a whole. I know there are many people who feel prisoners shouldn’t receive anything but maximum punishment and to be mentally broken. In some situations it’s understandable how some people may feel this way, nevertheless, the people of Illinois need to clearly understand that approximately 30,000 inmates are released every year and data has shown that punishment without correction has created an adverse effect on our communities as unreformed ex-offenders are released back into society.
For many years I have often wondered why IDOC treats its incarcerated like animals. They have discarded all the programs created to help us become better people while knowing that at some point we will return home. Finally, I realized it doesn’t benefit IDOC for us to be mentally stable and prepared for success when we leave here. They rely on us to return after our release which keeps IDOC working for their advantage. It is my belief that IDOC centers should be built around Chicago and other poor communities of color because the majority of us come from these communities. The crimes of which we have been convicted took place there so our people should be paid the debt we owe to society by providing them the jobs and benefits that currently go to white rural communities. With guidance and proper direction, I truly feel the members of our own communities would work harder to make sure that we return home as better people.
As it now stands, we are being sent to places all over the state to provide jobs in small cities and towns with majority white populations. These people are only concerned about the significant amount of money our incarceration brings to their otherwise small economies. Upon our release, they don’t have to worry about the monsters they have created and the lives of people they failed to improve. This problem is not a danger and is of no concern for most of the IDOC staff because these monsters are not being released into their communities.
With blind faith Illinois voters, our people, religiously vote for the Democratic party with great hopes they will improve the condition of our neighborhoods. However, there is a conflict of interest when it comes to Democrats and the IDOC. The unions that represent IDOC staff members have too much power with the Democratic party and they use this power to block much-needed prison reforms. They push law makers to support legislation that keep us incarcerated for longer periods of time which, in turn, allows for greater job security.
Study after study has shown that if you reform inmates, they are less likely to return to prison, but the unions don’t want reform because reform is a job killer. If prisoners are reformed and the prison population is significantly reduced, there will be no justification for tax payers to keep all these prisons open. The mass closing of prisons equals mass job loss and the loss of job security for generation of white people in the previously mentioned rural communities.
Sadly,it has become customary to throw away those of us who have wronged our neighbor. It takes a more sensible human being to have the vision to see that everybody deserves a second chance and that prisoners should not be tortured by way of solitary confinement or segregation. Again, thank you very much State Representative Lashawn Ford for your sensibility, concern, and much appreciated efforts on our behalf.
Sincerely,
Elon Crittenden
Henry Hill CC
P. O. Box 1700
Galesburg, IL 61402
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