The numbers cry out for answers. Why are more people, per capita, locked up in the USA than any other nation on the face of the earth? Click on the link below the to enlarge the view.
Any ordinary American would expect the people whom we incarcerate to come out of prison better than what they were when locked away from society. Some do come out better people, but on the dark side, petty criminals tend to become well-trained, crafty, dangerous criminals and this lends well to explain high recidivism rates.
Consider these facts about prison gangs.
Aryan Brotherhood
The Aryan Brotherhood is a product of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ). This well-organized gang has a written constitution and five generals who direct criminal enterprises inside and outside prison walls.
Like cancer, the Aryan Brotherhood metastasized. This gang is now active beyond Texas borders
. Favored symbols include the Nazi swastika. Unlike cancer, their tattoos make them easy to detect. Known for being ‘white supremacists’, they are pragmatic criminals who work well with Latino and African-American gangs.
The important fact you should know is this: the Aryan brotherhood wasn’t spawned by criminals in the community; it was spawned inside Texas prison walls.
Learn more from PBS station KERA: The Aryan Brotherhood of Texas, May 2, 2017
MS-13 | Mara Salvatrucha
This gang was birthed in Los Angeles County jail where criminal illegal immigrants chiefly from El Salvador learned the ropes from fellow prisoners. Today, MS-13 has members from other Central American countries and the gang operates in every major city in every state in the Union. Their crimes are vicious beyond description.
MS-13 members that were deported built a criminal enterprise in their native country of El Salvador where even the government fears them. Deportations of these hardened criminals further exacerbate civil unrest in El Salvador, leading to more people fleeing that the Banana Republic in search of a better life in the United States.
Learn more from Breitbart: 5 Facts Every American Must Know About the Brutal MS-13 Gang, May 5, 2017
The important fact you should know is this: MS-13 was birthed in a county jail.
What is the definition of insanity?
Why do we continue doing things the same way and expect different results?
What’s the Answer?
Take a moment to read how and why a policeman paid for items stolen by a shoplifter.
Toronto officer buys shirt, tie for shoplifter who needed outfit for job interview
As throwing debtors into prison did not help the lenders, throwing non-violent lawbreakers into jails and prisons does not contribute to the general welfare of the population as a whole.
Prisons notoriously transform petty non-violent criminals into hardened dangerous criminals who go on to perpetrate greater offenses after release from prison.
First: It’s time to unleash Christian ministries. As the Bible says, Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.
Second: Let’s end the practice of using jails and prisons to punish nonviolent lawbreakers. The only persons who should be locked away are those who are sure to harm persons or property if allowed to go free.
Former prisoners face formidable barriers to returning to civil society. Who will hire them?
Back to the first answer, I point to CARE Center Ministries and the head of that highly successful ministry that focuses on the least, the last, and the lonely, the poorest of the poor. I’ve known the head of CARE Center Ministries about 30 years. Today, the ministry has branches in Birmingham AL, Managua Nicaragua, and Mountain Home Arkansas.
Pastor Eldred Sawyer’s disciples are living proof that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. His ministry proves there is a better more effective way to restore lives than any prison.
God has been in the business of turning sinners into saints from the beginning of mankind. He never went into retirement.
John White
Rockwall, Texas
