
California inmate takes unlikely path to freedom: podcasting - eplanit
http://www.therepublic.com/2019/01/02/us-podcasting-inmate/
======
jpm_sd
This is a great podcast, I've been a fan for a while now. Every episode is
worth a listen.

Woods' story is just another piece of evidence that "3 strikes" rules have no
benefit to society.

~~~
briandear
> another piece of evidence that "3 strikes" rules have no benefit to society.

First, I'm glad Woods is out. It's clear he is a changed man. His release was
a fair decision by Gov Brown.

Would he have been equally as changed if he had only served 3 years? Doubtful,
if recidivism statistics are accurate.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics report in April 2014. It studied recidivism
patterns of 404,638 prisoners released from 2005-2010, from state prisons.
Within three years, they were re-arrested at 67.8%, and 76.6% were re-arrested
within five-years. 28.6% of inmates were arrested for a violent offense within
five-years; 1.7% were for rape or sexual assault and 23.0% for assault.

Since a prior criminal record is a good predictor of future offending, the
odds are that Woods would have committed another crime had he not been three-
striked. As it is, society had 21 years of no further crimes from Mr. Woods as
he was incarcerated. Remember, we aren't talking about a petty drug user or
shoplifter -- we're talking about a man willing to put a gun in another
person's face -- a violent act.

I'm happy that Mr. Woods has gotten his life together, but his third "strike"
was attempted armed robbery. He wasn't shoplifting a candy bar. We have to ask
ourselves, if Woods had gotten 3 years for the armed robbery, wouldn't
statistics suggest that he would have committed more crimes, probably violent,
such as another armed robbery?

3-strikes rules have no benefit to society? Sure they do -- we had 21 years
without another violent crime from Mr. Woods.

~~~
jstarfish
Statistics are bullshit. God help us when we replace judges with ML-powered
blackboxes.

Previous history is only a good indicator of future performance because we
wrote the rules that way.

When you're taken out of society for a few years and the world moves on
without you, the only connections you've made upon release are with other
criminals.

And when your record is made public and discreetly used to discriminate
against you as a job candidate, is it any wonder so many criminals reoffend?
It's all too easy to be tempted back into easy (or illegitimate) money when
you're surrounded by people playing that game.

Funny thing is, it's acknowledged to be a real problem-- the parole system
tries to discourage you from maintaining associations with criminals as a
condition of release-- but it isn't realistic depending on where you're from
or what support you have.

~~~
barry-cotter
If statistics are bullshit I’m sure you’ll never refer to the below evidence.
If you refuse to look at or listen to evidence unless it’s ideologically
congenial you’re not a thinker, you’re a hack.

[https://www.openphilanthropy.org/blog/reasonable-doubt-
new-l...](https://www.openphilanthropy.org/blog/reasonable-doubt-new-look-
whether-prison-growth-cuts-crime)

> I estimate, that at typical policy margins in the United States today,
> decarceration has zero net impact on crime outside of prison. That estimate
> is uncertain, but at least as much evidence suggests that decarceration
> reduces crime as increases it. The crux of the matter is that tougher
> sentences hardly deter crime, and that while imprisoning people temporarily
> stops them from committing crime outside prison walls, it also tends to
> increase their criminality after release. As a result, “tough-on-crime”
> initiatives can reduce crime in the short run but cause offsetting harm in
> the long run.

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gammateam
Any thoughts on a series of better ways to rehabilitate people and get
productive members of society instead of marginalized?

~~~
rhizome
Restorative justice:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restorative_justice](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restorative_justice)

~~~
jstanley
> Restorative justice is an approach to justice in which the response to a
> crime is to organize a mediation between the victim and the offender

This wouldn't work so well for the large proportion of prisoners who only
committed victimless crimes.

On second thoughts, maybe it would work even better for those prisoners.

------
RickJWagner
What a great story. Good for Woods! I'm going to look that Podcast up, I
hadn't heard of it.

