"Prisons are to crime what greenhouses are to plants.”

Submitted by Jan on Fri, 02/17/2006 - 9:48am.

Who said this? Some bleeding-heart liberal opposed to getting tough on crime? No -- it's what Harry M. Whittington said when he served on the Texas Department of Corrections in the 1980s, after observing conditions in many state prisons.

Most of the attention Whittington is getting these days has to do with his own heart, as he is the person Vice President Cheney shot in a hunting accident.

Criminal justice advocates say we should stop relying so much on “get-tough” policies that push too many young people in need of services into the juvenile justice system -- where they get good lessons in becoming hardened criminals. Getting smart on crime just got a boost from this unusual voice this week.


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Florida folks are paying
Submitted by Jan on Thu, 02/23/2006 - 3:06pm.

Florida folks are paying attention to what's wrong with get-tough policies after the death of 14-year-old Martin Anderson, an honor student sentenced to boot camp for a first-time offense of taking a joy ride in his grandmother's car.

Anderson’s death has ignited a spirited debate in the Florida Legislature. The House Criminal Justice Appropriations Committee held a workshop on boot camps in Florida. The Florida Conference of Black State Legislators sent a letter to Governor Bush urging him to appoint a Special Prosecutor to investigate the case, and require FDLE to release the video tape of the incident.

For more information, email Florida Children’s Campaign Policy Coordinator Amanda Ostrander (aostrander@iamforkids.org) or Juvenile Justice Director, Cassandra Jenkins, cjenkins@iamforkids.org

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