Prison Art

This morning I was reading a blog from Soni Quick who writes “Inside the Forbidden Outside”. She has a lot of information relating to incarceration, and I enjoy her blog. Today she promoted “Ink from the Pen Magazine”, which showcases a lot of fabulous art from behind bars. You can purchase inmate’s art from their site. Please do look at this site as well as Soni’s blog.

I sincerely believe the way inmates are treated is not productive for rehabilitation. If the prisons themselves promoted inmates who have talents, put more inmates into jobs where they can learn, and made sure all inmates got an education so they could survive on the outside, the end result would be fewer prisoners, fewer prisons, and more productive members of society.

Taxpayers … listen up. Your tax dollars are not being used effectively. There is a 60-70% recidivism rate. You are paying anywhere from $25 to $75.00 per day to house inmates!

I’ll post the Annual cost for California in my next blog.

In the meantime,  remember to take a look at Brett McKeehan’s book Solitary Words.

It has some terrific art and poetry! Available on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=solitary+words

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Inmates Matter Too!

I have recently run across a great blog called Inmates Matter Too (IMT). Like this one, it provides information about prisons and inmates and provides support for their loved ones on the outside. This is taken directly from the website: Source: Inmates Matter Too.

“IMT provides supportive and encouraging posts on Facebook, as well as updates on our prison system and programs helping those inside grow and gain the tools they need to be successful in society, blogs written by prison inmates and community members, a newsletter for inmates, resources to help inmates and their families and with more plans in the works with the expansion of our website.”

It is organized and managed by Jennifer R., who is providing valuable information and is also promoting work by inmates. One of those is inmate and published author, Martin Lockett. His posts range from a post about compassionate care in prison by prisoners, to a well written article about how much prisons cost taxpayers and how little they are getting for their money. Who would pour billions into a company that’s failure rate was almost 70%? Well, we the taxpayers are. This just brings to light how many changes need to be made in our penal system.

Please take a look at this blog and let me know what you think!

https://inmatesmattertoo.org/