Books Through Bars
By Brian E. Clark
As we covered yesterday, I am an Advocate for
anyone who finds themselves behind a Defense Table in a Courtroom. My Advocacy
doesn’t stop there, because I may be one of the last people on the face of the earth
that recognizes if Society takes the measures to lock someone up, that society
has a responsibility to reform that person in a Correctional setting.
Unfortunately, our current situation with the Connecticut Department of
Corrections, no one is being reformed, and certainly no one is being corrected.
People are being warehoused. Plain and simple, and I wish I could say
otherwise, but that’s the facts.
The total population counts as of 12/1/2015, is
16,025 incarcerated inmates, and at a cost of $138 per inmate, per day, our
cost is $2,211,450 per day. And that is a cost to “warehouse” people. And let
us not forget that fact, these are people. These are mothers and fathers,
sisters and brothers, sons and daughters. Somehow, we as a society have gotten
away from our responsibility to actually reform these people. However, that is
a story for another time. Now that I’ve wowed you with some insane numbers and
costs. Let’s get to why we are really here: Books.
I’m only going to concentrate on one facility,
Hartford Correctional Center, where I have the most contacts, and where most
inmates are pre-trial, meaning they are waiting for a disposition in their
case. Hartford CC, however, is one of the facilities with the least amount of
services. There is no school unless for GED, and you have to be under 21 years
old. There is no library, and besides Religious Programs, there are few other
services available.
As an Advocate, I work closely with the
Catholic Chaplain, Sister Jerilyn Hunihan, to provide paperback books for the
inmates there. We both accept donations
of Paperback Books, and I’m here to break it down how you can help us out
during the Holiday season. If you have any amount of Paper Back Books; It doesn’t
matter the topic. Fiction & Non- Fiction, please contact me at clarkofmiddletown@live.com, and I
will arrange with you either you dropping them off to me locally, or I can come
to you, or we can meet. The other option is the Sister lives in Higganum, and
we can arrange for you to meet with her. We really need books! All books
that enter Hartford Correctional Center, come through Sr. Jerilyn, who then
distributes the books to the inmates. Please help us this Holiday season! These
inmates are hungry for knowledge, and reading helps to educate them, and can
possibly change the way they live their lives after they are released. We would
appreciate it greatly! Thank you, and have a Blessed Christmas Season!
Yes, inmates are, as you say, people. And we do have an obligation to attempt to reform them. We also have an obligation to provide adequate medical care. Incarceration and loss of liberty are lawful punishments, They don't need to be augmented with the unnecessary suffering of pain. Conditions are often left untreated, resulting with the inmate being disabled.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment Middletown Insider. Yes, the conditions in our Correctional Institutions is deteriorating, but that is a whole other article itself. Unfortunately, yes medical care is a huge issue in the facilities. If you have previous conditions before being incarcerated, you stand a better chance than the next man, but if you've been shot stabbed, or beaten- you're on your own. We will do a story on that in the future, just right now, we really want to help Mr. Clark obtain books for these inmates. Thank you for your comment.
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