The Omaha guide., 1933-02-11
PRISONS AND
by Clifford C. Mitchell

Editor Kish of the School News has
forwarded to me a letter from some
New Prison reader of this column,
with a brief note suggesting that the
contents Of the letter might give me
an idea for some future Prisons and
Prisoners" article.
The correspondents specific re
quest is that ], If possible, analyze for
him and others in like circumstances
what hope, if any, there is for pris-
oners who have served several prison
sentences under a system that in
creases the sentence with each subse-
quent CONJUNCTION, regardless Of the
charge, but purely because he has
served and previously paid-in-full for
each prior conviction.
He also reminds me Of the fact
that such offenders, in his opinion,
cannot become TRUSTEES; cannot re-
ceive any good. time. and believes that
the door Of all HOPE is, for them, ev-
er Shut. And, like many people in
the free world, he wants to know if
there is a remedy.
If the editor had not made the sug-
gestion that the correspondents letter
might give me an idea for an article
| would be extremely reluctant to
write on this subject for the CORES
pondent, unknowningly, outlined my
W predicament. In short, I am
what penologists call a repeater"
"recidivist," "habitual," and other
such names which they assign to pris-
oners who have served several sent
ences.
Unlike my correspondent, however,
| do not blame my predicament on the
actions Of society in unjustly perse-
cutting me; nor do I believe that the
door OF hope or opportunity is forev-
er shut. My belief is that if we are
foolish enough to place ourselves in
a position whereby society can de-
mand the proverbial "pound Of flesh"
that we should be strong enough to
give it.
Fortunately, we are paying this
pound of flesh" in an institution and
under an administration that DOES
NOT shut the door Of hope or oppor-
tunity in our faces. In neffect. the
administration says: Society insists
that you pay the full "pound of flesh"
and then as a soothing balm the ad-
m~inistration also says: eff you claim
society is wrong prove it by bringing
out such qualities within you as to
virtually demand a retraction Of Soc
iety's edict."
l can, perhaps, best reply to my
correspondent by stating that l have
interpreted the many opportunities
given each prisoner here in a thought
as somewhat expressed above and l
have accepted the challenge, fully in
tending to pay the pound of flesh"
but in SO doing to build myself up
mentally, morally, physically and
spiritually, SO that after the "full
pound of flesh" has been extracted I
can leave here in a better condition
than when / first came
If hundreds of other prisoners. who
are also "repeaters" would accept
their fate in this same philosophical
name and so improve themselves
and attempt to fill a beneficial niche
IN life, | believe, that in time, their
light would so shine as to shed its
illumination over a great many influ-
entail members of society, who are
now in the dark and at wits end over
the solution Of curing criminal ere
peaters."
A great many may not know that
a repeater" can be likened TO a snow
ball rolling down-hill. 1t increases in
volume and momentum as it speeds
on its course and of its W volition
cannot be stopped until it reaches the
bottom Of the hill, which, in a great
many instances is entirely too late.
And if society gives US an extra push
on u down-hill travel. we are in
deed super-human if we can provide
our own automatic stop, but this, pre-
sumably, we must do in order to prove
to society that the good, or the bad,
IN a prisoner cannot be accurately
judged purely from a statistical rec
ord devoid of a human analysis of
previous existing circumstances.