Although I completely understand the indignation of civil libertarians about some Massachusetts prisoners being obliged to make business cards for state officials, I think prisoner job-training programs like Michigan’s show real promise.
Consider this Associated Press story by David Eggert about “a new program that removes soon-to-be-released inmates from the general population and assigns them to an exclusive ‘vocational village’ for job training. The idea is to send them out through the prison gates with marketable skills that lead to a stable job, the kind that will them out trouble long term. …
“Jesse Torrez, 41, is among the prisoners who were admitted to vocational housing at the Richard A. Handlon Correctional Facility in Ionia, about 110 miles northwest of Detroit. There, the inmates receive full days of training in high-demand skills such as welding, machining and carpentry.
“Torrez, who is imprisoned for unarmed robbery, served two previous prison terms. Each time after release, he said, he reverted to ‘drinking and drugging’ when he could not find steady work. If he lied about his criminal record, the employer would inevitably find out and fire him.
” ‘It was just real tough, due to my past, which I created and am totally accountable for,’ said Torrez, a father of five who is hoping to be paroled in 2017 and is being trained in construction trades.
“He said he has a job waiting for him with a manufacturer. …
” ‘We see an untapped talent pool here,’ said Mark Miller, president and CEO of Cascade Engineering Inc. in Grand Rapids, which makes automotive parts, trash carts, storage containers and other goods.
“Cascade does not ask job applicants about their crimes until they have been extended an offer. Depending on the job, inmates can make between $11.60 to start and $15.15 an hour within a year.”
More.
Photo: AP
Inmate William Garrett works on a cabinet at the Habitat for Humanity Prison Build at the Ionia Correctional Facility in Ionia, Mich. 
This makes so much sense to me, it seems so right, but I can just hear conservatives hollering about it and saying we don’t provide free jobs training for regular people, but we treat felons so well . . . sigh. I need to stop reading political posts on Facebook . . . .
One week ago I stopped reading Facebook, twitter, newspapers; I stopped listening to anything but classical music on the radio; I stopped watching tv. Maybe I can go back to those things soon, but I feel like if I want to contribute to peace among people, I need to try to maintain peace internally. Not so easy just now.
Too true. What a smart move you made–I think I would do well to adopt that attitude for the next few days.
This makes sense in one aspect rehabilitation, Abd education. Only one thing concerns me, and raises a question,”do these programs consist of private companies profiting from slave labor, hindering tax paying citizens from landing jobs?” Otherwise if this is a “true” vocational program,I support the program.
What a smart question! I don’t know, and I hope people who start the programs think about that. I have read that in Massachusetts, prisoner advocates object to offenders being used to make business cards for people in government. To your point, that’s not only a matter of cheap labor but taking business away from others.
Indeed, and that in itself is contradictory to what we as Americans should be standing for. The13th amendment allows for this modern-day slavery to take place. And it’s taking place in many forms. Sad actually that society can’t yet grasp the damage that takes place on all aspects.