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Dear Friend,Thank you
for reading this week's edition
of "The Fisher Rx." This week we
will touch upon a subject which
can affect any of us at any
time, CRIME and the people who
perpetrate it! I look forward to
hearing from you on this issue
and others that are important to
you. Please take the opportunity
to forward this email to others
by clicking the "Forward Email"
link at the bottom of this
email. Doing so will help us
make the 12th District the best
place to live in America. I
welcome your vote, your
financial support, and your
comments.
Sincerely,
Dr. Ada M. Fisher
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"The Exam Room" -
The Issue
Punishment,
Deterrent and What
About Rehabilitation
As of 1989 1 million
Americans had been
incarcerated since
this nation's
founding. 12 years
later that rate had
double to more than
2 million. This
brief dozen year
doubling time
surpassed what it
had taken
approximately 225
years to do and does
not bode well for
our future prospects
in effectively
dealing with crime.
The boom in
prisoners has
outstripped county
and state budgets to
house them. This
trend is leading to
a move for
privatization of
jails, as well as
competition among
counties to land a
facility for their
area as other jobs
are leaving.
The object of
prisons is to detach
those found guilty
from their ability
to exercise the
privileges of
citizenship when
they have become a
threat to the
freedoms, liberty,
or life of law
abiding citizens.
The three strikes of
felonies and you're
faced with 25 years
mandatory has put
away too many for
crimes which may not
have been violent or
life threatening to
others. The deal
making or plea
bargains have
seemingly unfairly
too often let off
criminals for "white
collar crimes" such
as pension fraud or
raiding company
funds which
destroyed the
livelihood of their
customer--victims or
worker--victims
dependent on these
retirement funds
and/or jobs.
Lost in the
onslaught of
increasing numbers
incarcerated is the
question of whether
imprisonment is a
deterrent and do we
sincerely try to
rehabilitate those
found guilty of
crimes? Those in
prison without some
effort at
rehabilitation are
returned to society
unchanged, in the
same circumstances,
with few options and
fewer prospects for
self sufficiency
through employment.
Sadly too often jail
offers some what
they didn't have at
home, a relatively
secure place to
sleep, three meals a
day, exercise and
entertainment
options. Those
without some hope
will find themselves
victims of gangs,
rapist and other
predators on the
weak prisoners.
Especially
vulnerable are young
males among wizened
and hardened
criminals.
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"The Prescription"
- Dr. Fisher's
Solution
Alternative
Sentencing = Last
Chance At
Socialization
It is becoming too
easy to write off
people, rather than
find the good within
them. Most folks
deserve a second
chance if they mess
up and it's time we
look at some options
which might work.
There are some
options which show
promise.
Guilford County's
sheriff B. J. Barnes
has initiated a
program which allows
non-violent
criminals who
haven't finished
high school to
complete their GED.
Alternative
sentencing for any
non-violent crime
might include:
- Alternative
education
options for
diplomas or GED.
- National
Service through
the military as
was done when I
was younger,
VISTA, the Peace
Corps,
Americorp, the
National Forest
Service and
other
considerations
which remove
them from their
previous
environment as
well as takes
them from their
comfort zone.
- Creating a
stream of
opportunities
through
Workforce
Integration
Activities with
Vocational
Rehabilitation,
Workforce
Development
Programs or
other creative
opportunities
- Prison
programs of work
which would lead
to placement,
e.g. the state
of Wisconsin's
prisoners build
furniture
learning trades
which is sold to
schools and
non-profits, the
state of NC has
sustainability
enterprises
recycling used
motor fuels,
etc.
- Alternative
sentencing for
work in
industries or
with companies
to do work now
being done by
illegal aliens
on bracelet
monitored work
release with
earnings
designated to
the prison
system (50%),
any victims
(25%) and to the
prisoner's
account (25%)
with early
release for
behavior and
compliance
- Tax breaks
for companies
hiring prisons
in re- entry.
Johnson Hair
Care products of
Chicago used to
hire female
prisoners to
make their
containers and
products. (Their
work performance
was outstanding)
- Federal
compensation to
those found
wrongly
imprisoned with
monies to law
schools which
have proven
these cases
- A new field
of law on
recovery for
those wrongfully
compensated when
scientific data
proves their
lack of
complicity in
crimes for which
they were
sentenced, e.g.
physicians found
guilty of
malpractice due
to cerebral
palsy this is
not from
physician error
or paternity
fraud
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We'd love to hear from you.
Please share your concerns and tell
us how your elected officals can
better serve your needs and
interest. Also, please take the time
to forward this email to your
friends, family, neighbors and
co-workers by clicking the "Forward
Email" link at the bottom of this
email. In order to bring about the
change we need in the 12th District,
it's going to take all of us getting
the word out to "Get a Doctor in the
House!"
Sincerely,
Dr. Ada M. Fisher, MD
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The conversation we
aren't having is who
is going to jail and
why. I believe that
those guilty of
murder, violence
directed at others,
child predators,
criminally insane
and others with
untreatable criminal
pathology should be
imprisoned. I also
have no sympathy for
drug dealers and
drug pushers based
on my stint as a
16-County Catchments
Area Detoxification
Director. But there
are some disturbing
trends in examining
who is locked up
which we are
reluctant to discuss
due to concerns
about racism.