Prisoners call for jail reform

Recalling childhoods spent on the streets of Newark and Atlantic City and family members lost to drugs and crime, four inmates from state prisons spoke to members of the University community last night in McCosh. They remembered prisoners whose faces were slashed with metal can lids, and a 1,500-inmate prison with a drug rehabilitation center limited to 60 people, though many of the inmates were drug addicts.

The prisoners, who gave only their first names, were all convicted of drug-related crimes and have undergone rehabilitative treatment.

The four inmates noted how rarely drug rehabilitation projects achieve their goals. "I used drugs for the first three years I was in prison," said Mark, an inmate serving an 11-year sentence for armed robbery. "I was told it wasn't worth it to go to a therapeutic program because it wasn't near my release date."

The presentation was part of the New Jersey Department of Correction's Project Pride, which brings prisoners to New Jersey middle and high schools to talk about their experiences. The event was sponsored by the Princeton Justice Project (PJP).

Though the inmates hope to start new lives and abandon crime upon their release, vicious cycles of crime persist in their communities. "I have a daughter who's 16 years old now," said Nicole, who is serving a five-year sentence for selling marijuana. "She's now in the same cycle I'm trying to escape. And the only friends I had who aren't in and out of prison are dead. The prison population thinks this kind of life is normal."

The prisoners emphasized how hard it is to combat the cycle of crime. "To most people in [prison], it's do time, go home and come back," said Jennifer, who was arrested for carjacking and heroin possession. "The rehabilitation programs they offer are so difficult to get into and so limited, and there's nothing to follow up with."

The presentation was the first event of a PJP series this spring on prison conditions and sentencing. "This was a chance for students who will be influential to see that this is a problem with a solution," said Spencer Compton '05, the series' coordinator.

The series will focus mainly on general awareness of prison and sentencing issues, as the PJP has yet to advocate specific changes to the criminal justice system. "These issues are just starting to enter the mainstream consciousness," Compton said. "We just wanted to have students open their eyes."

The PJP hopes to influence the state commission appointed in January to review sentencing policies. Compton said the PJP met with members of the commission last week.

In addition to students from the University, the audience included Princeton High School students and community members.

Jean Ross, a Princeton-area lawyer, previously attended events sponsored by the PJP. "The prisoners were very brave to talk about their experiences on this personal level," Ross said.