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3 letters to the NY Times on Second Chance Act

By Real Cost of Prisons Project (The Sentencing Project)

To the Editor: Financing of the Second Chance Act will support useful services to support the transition from prison to community. But these services must also be accompanied by removal of conflicting and counterproductive policies that stand in the way of community reintegration. For example, while New York State allocated $3.1 million to assist re-entry efforts this year, the same budget projects an estimated $40 million in revenues from fees and surcharges imposed on people convicted of crimes, 80 percent of whom are indigent. This crushing debt will leave releasees unable to acquire employment and housing, reverting to a life of crime that jeopardizes the community safety. If New York is truly committed to public safety and reintegration, it must stop using financial penalties that undermine the intent of legislation like the Second Chance Act...continue to full post

Full post as published by The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog on May 27, 2008 (boomark / email).