To Accelerate Prison Reform, Put a Human Face on Mass Incarceration
By The Rev. William Barnwell, former Priest-in-Charge, Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church, New Orleans (reprinted with permission) thelensnola.org/ April 15, 2016 Gradually, it is becoming common knowledge that we incarcerate more people per capita in Louisiana than any other state, for that matter any other nation. One in 86 white men from New Orleans are incarcerated, while one in 14 African American men from New Orleans are incarcerated. The Rev. William Barnwell, an Episcopal priest, has long been active with Kairos Prison Ministry. How can we drastically reduce the number of those we send to prison in the first place and develop many more programs to support formerly incarcerated persons when they come home? Our policymakers need to change their views, but the voting public who insists on “lock ’em up and throw away the key” must also reconsider the old, unworkable policies. I have been involved in prison ministry and prison reform for the past 40 years and have come to believe that what is missing in the national debate on prison reform are the stories of inmates and committed volunteers. Sure, we must name and work against the injustice of our incarceration policies, paying attention to reformers like Michelle Alexander. In her recent book, “The New Jim Crow,” she points out that there are more black men now incarcerated in our nation than there were male slaves in 1850. We justice-reformers must also form alliances with those trying to reduce the incarceration rate primarily because of the vast expense. Nationally we spend $80 billion a year imprisoning our people. And we must make sure to bring to the table those who are victim-survivors of crime; they often have persuasive arguments for making the necessary changes. As we reduce incarceration numbers and prison recidivism rates, they like the rest of us, will be better off. Besides these
