Frederick Newell, pastor, community leader, and educator, on his blog:
If all we are proposing is a larger, newer, more modern jail that continues operating under the same philosophy, then I cannot support that. A new building, by itself, does not restore lives. Buildings don’t rehabilitate people. People, programs, culture, accountability, education, mental health care, addiction treatment, meaningful work, and genuine opportunities for restoration do. A new facility without a new vision simply gives us newer walls around the same problems.
This is a follow up to an earlier post, Before We Decide, that could be read as aligning with whatever your position was; lots of pro-jail folks read it as a pro-jail piece, and plenty of anti-jail folks read it as an anti-jail piece. His follow up makes clear it was neither.
I’ve tried to be very clear about where I stand:
The current building is not a workable long-term solution.
There are real concerns, and doing nothing fails to address those concerns.
There are real concerns about long-term commitment to current and expanded diversion efforts, and asking for trust fails to address those concerns.
Induced demand for incarceration is real.
The right number of beds is zero.
Zero doesn’t happen if it’s not a goal. Zero doesn’t happen instantly. Zero doesn’t happen without investment. Zero doesn’t happen without accountability. Zero doesn’t happen without seeing those incarcerated in our jail as humans worthy of dignity and love.