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