Our governor sends some Christmas love to our erring fellow men (and women): Governor Rounds has reduced the sentences of 205 state prison inmates. It's not pure grace: the recipients of these commutations have all done some practical rehab: storm/flood clean-up, roofing and tuck-pointing on state buildings, completing their GED or firefighter certification, etc. For their service, inmates get 60 or 90 days knocked off their time.
The governor includes two Lake County inmates on the list, Cody Hall (serving for burglary) and Quentin LeBlanc. Let's hope the combination of the governor's Christmas commutations and these men's public service will help them rejoin the community as good fellow citizens.
Wonder if cost savings has anything to do with it? I read in other parts of the country people are intentionally re-offending to reenter the system because it's so tough on the outside right now.
ReplyDelete"cost savings"? No evidence on that here, although Gov. Granholm in Michigan wanted to close prisons to save money. Maybe South Dakota could save money by funding college rather than prisons. Maybe also more restorative justice programs.
ReplyDeleteWhat about the victims? I'll bet the gov didn't bother checking with them first. People go to prison for a reason, especially those two.
ReplyDeleteI have always leaned towards chain gains digging ditches, and making big rocks into little rocks, and little rocks into gravel. But evedently not every one thinks hard work builds character. Just think in 1880 the inmates of Dakota Territory built their own prision under supervision of course. Just think what a labor force the state has to utilize, heck we could have the cleanest ditches in the nation if every prisioner, and person in jail were forced to preform hard labor on a work crew or farm. Also the number of young people wanting to reoffend would go down, especially the DWI, Bad Check writers, and other minor Offenses.
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