At a public meeting Wednesday to discuss a new report on prison overcrowding, several speakers encouraged the West Virginia Council of Churches to resist the recommendation to build a new prison.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- At a public meeting Wednesday to discuss a new report on prison overcrowding, several speakers encouraged the West Virginia Council of Churches to resist the recommendation to build a new prison.
Richard Riffe, a public defender from Lincoln County, suggested that the faith-based group focus on those of the 14 recommendations of the report by the Governor's Commission on Prisoner Overcrowding that align with the council's core values.
"My biggest problem as a public defender is finding substance abuse treatment for my clients," he said.
The report's emphasis on community-based corrections programs and treatment alternatives for offenders with substance abuse problems demonstrates how progressive it is, he said.
Although it was previously politically advantageous to be "tough on crime," Gov. Joe Manchin and President Barack Obama have both shown a willingness to embrace a new approach towards incarceration, he said.
The report, delivered Wednesday, concluded that West Virginia is on the verge of a "tipping point" as its prison population continues to grow beyond the state's 5,015-bed capacity. By 2017, the number of convicted felons in prison is projected to exceed 10,000.
Currently, the state's regional jails are forced to house the roughly 1,300 inmates for whom there is no room in prison, according to the report. Each day, three new felons are committed to the custody of the Division of Corrections, the report states.
The Council's executive director, Rev. Dennis Sparks, was a member of the governor's commission, as was Rev. Matthew Watts, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Charleston.
Both ministers tried to address questions from the roughly 30 people who attended the meeting.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- At a public meeting Wednesday to discuss a new report on prison overcrowding, several speakers encouraged the West Virginia Council of Churches to resist the recommendation to build a new prison.
Richard Riffe, a public defender from Lincoln County, suggested that the faith-based group focus on those of the 14 recommendations of the report by the Governor's Commission on Prisoner Overcrowding that align with the council's core values.
"My biggest problem as a public defender is finding substance abuse treatment for my clients," he said.
The report's emphasis on community-based corrections programs and treatment alternatives for offenders with substance abuse problems demonstrates how progressive it is, he said.
Although it was previously politically advantageous to be "tough on crime," Gov. Joe Manchin and President Barack Obama have both shown a willingness to embrace a new approach towards incarceration, he said.
The report, delivered Wednesday, concluded that West Virginia is on the verge of a "tipping point" as its prison population continues to grow beyond the state's 5,015-bed capacity. By 2017, the number of convicted felons in prison is projected to exceed 10,000.
Currently, the state's regional jails are forced to house the roughly 1,300 inmates for whom there is no room in prison, according to the report. Each day, three new felons are committed to the custody of the Division of Corrections, the report states.
The Council's executive director, Rev. Dennis Sparks, was a member of the governor's commission, as was Rev. Matthew Watts, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Charleston.
Both ministers tried to address questions from the roughly 30 people who attended the meeting.
"Christ calls us to respond to the biggest challenges in human society," Watts said. "The prison system is the physical manifestation of the failures of society."
After the meeting, Sparks it was important for the Council of Churches and the faith-based community to take up the challenges in the report to play a role in rehabilitating and re-introducing offenders into society.
"This is our opportunity to stand up and go after folks who need help -- and their families and children -- and serve them," he said.
Society has accepted the ruined lives of convicts, who struggle with stigma after they are released, as collateral damage so that the rest of the public can lead their lives uninterrupted, he said. This runs against Christian values, as well as the values of other faiths, he said.
Watts said he was disappointed that the report didn't include more measures to prevent juveniles from becoming caught up in the criminal justice system.
"I think we're failing to realize that all of these adult offenders were children, and [many] were adjudicated juvenile offenders," he said. "You can't fix the problem unless you fix the pipeline."
Dave Wallace, who has been visiting the state's prisons through the Kairos Prison Ministry, suggested that the Division of Corrections should change its name to include the word "rehabilitation."
"If you agree that 80 to 85 percent who are incarcerated have drug and alcohol addiction problems, then you should be [steering them towards] people who are in recovery," he said.
Other attendees commented on the lack of professional opportunities for convicts who are paroled and the increasing number of veterans who are convicted of crimes.
Reach Andrew Clevenger at acleven...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1723.
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