Prison Consultant and Prison Coach Agrees—Federal Incarceration-A Stain on Our National Conscience

Oct. 18, 2011 - PRLog -- We are facing an incarceration epidemic! The level of incarceration in the United States is rising daily and we now have more citizens in prison than any other country in the world. Federal prisons often house 3, 4, and 5 inmates in small 8' by 10' cells. What can you do if you are headed to prison. Read below what one Federal Prison Consultant and Prison Coach has to say.

Jeremy Travis, president of John Jay College of Criminal Justice spoke yesterday a 25th anniversary celebration of the Washington, D.C. advocacy group The Sentencing Project. Travis said that Americans "should be deeply troubled" by the nation's high level of incarceration, which is a "stain on our national conscience," and "as a crime control strategy, imprisonment is highly inefficient, requiring lots of resources for very little benefit." He called for "turning around this quarter century experiment" with the help of "strong science to demonstrate the effectiveness of alternatives to incarceration, in-prison programs, reentry initiatives, and new approaches to community supervision."

Travis stated that reviewing incarceration levels was one of "five great challenges" for U.S. criminal justice in the next 25 years. Travis stated that other challenges include doing a better job of helping crime victims rebuild their lives, pursuing "a focused and scientific crime prevention agenda," using science to develop professional standards for the justice system, and rethinking the role of the criminal sanction. On the last topic, Travis said he believes "we are on the verge of a fundamental conceptual breakthrough" by applying criminal sanctions in a way that are less rigid, less punitive, and more effective.

Federal Prison Consultant and Prison Coach Michael Frantz agreed with Travis' views. Frantz said, "There are several factors which contribute to the current incarceration levels of our prisons and the overcrowded state of prisons in the United States." Frantz said, "First, the obsessive view from some lawmakers that the only way to reduce crime is to keep offenders off the streets no matter what the crime. In other words, don't worry about rehabilitation; just keep the offenders in jail for the rest of their lives and pay the cost of housing, boarding, and punishing them. Their view is that punishment is the deterrent and that we should not waste money on rehabilitation." Frantz said this is ridiculous, visit http://jailtimeconsulting.com/RDAP-drug-program.php to see why!

Second, Frantz said, "Certain federal prosecutors have a "win at all costs mentality." All they care about is getting a conviction. They will withhold critical evidence from the defense team and will resort to immoral if not illegal tactics in their investigation. Their personal opinion is that they actually do not care if the defendant is guilty or innocent, they just want a conviction. They want to extract their "pound of flesh" and move up the ladder of success.

Mr. Frantz stated the third factor is the massive crackdown on white-collar crime and the new so-called corporate crime. White-collar crime has been defined as "a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation". White-collar crime also overlaps with corporate crime which is defined as "crimes committed either by a corporation, i.e., a business entity having a separate legal personality from the individuals that manage its activities), or by individuals acting on behalf of a corporation or other business entity." This includes fraud, bribery, insider trading, embezzlement, computer crime, copyright infringement, money laundering, identity theft, forgery, and IRS violations. This type of crime is available to the so-called "white-collar" employees.

"Fourth", said Frantz, "is the number of new admissions due to technical probation violations, new court commitments, minor drug violations, and the mentality of federal prosecutors. Many believe that the only type of incarceration is "behind bars" incarceration." Yet there are alternatives to incarceration that may be used as a means of reducing the prison population by sentencing inmates to the alternative in place of prison or jail. Alternatives to incarceration include such items as Electronic Monitoring; Drug Courts; Mental Health Courts; Restorative Justice, Domestic Violence Courts; Day Reporting Centers; Fines; Community Service; Probation; Pre-Trial Diversion, and Parole. There is ample research supporting each one of these sanctions in place of federal incarceration. Visit http://www.jailtimeconsulting.com/about-mike-frantz.php, to see a reputable Prison Coach  and Federal Prison Consultant and learn about these. Not all alternatives are appropriate for every offender, but there are a large number of offenders for whom these alternative sanctions are not only appropriate but also very realistic.

Mr. Frantz also stated, "Finally, mandatory minimums are a huge problem that is causing prison overcrowding and the high levels of incarceration in the United States. A mandatory minimum sentence is defined as a court decision setting where judicial discretion is limited by law. Typically, defendants convicted of certain crimes must be punished with at least a minimum number of years in prison." In the United States, federal juries are generally not allowed to be informed of the mandatory minimum penalties that may apply if the defendant is convicted, because the jury's role is limited to a determination of guilt or innocence. Research indicates that mandatory minimum sentencing effectively shifts discretion from judges to the prosecutors. Prosecutors decide what charges to bring against a defendant, and they can "stack the deck," which involves over-charging a defendant in order to get them to plead guilty. Since prosecutors are part of the executive branch, and the judicial branch has almost no role in the sentencing, the checks and balances of the democratic system are removed. Opponents of mandatory sentencing argue that it is the proper role of a judge, not a prosecutor, (who only wants a conviction at any cost) to apply discretion given the particular facts of a case. Other opponents believe that treatment is more cost-effective than long sentences. Surveys now indicate that the public now prefers judicial discretion to mandatory minimums.

Frantz, Director of JailTime Consulting LLC, is a Prison Coach and Consultant, said to consider the following facts:

•The prison population in the United States is growing at an alarming rate;

•Prisons and incarceration costs in the United States are costing the taxpayers over $65 billion dollars a year. Don't we have a better way to spend that money?

•There is no direct correlation that by increasing the length of incarceration you get a corresponding decrease in the crime rate;

•There is no direct correlation that by increasing the number of convictions and the incarceration of low- level criminals or first time offenders, you get a corresponding decrease in the crime rate;

•Currently prisons are set up in a punitive and castigatory system and not a rehabilitative system which will actually reduce recidivism;

•The personnel in the Bureau of Prisons system who oversees the inmate population lacks the training, education, skills, and expertise to effectively manage and control the current inmate population;

•Legislators must come to realize that the "law and order mentality and the hard on crime mentality" doesn't necessarily mean that prisons should be 100% punitive and 0% rehabilitative. They have to get away from the "scare tactics" that they are currently using to maintain public office, get votes, and start facing the real facts.

Frantz concluded, "Prison is a necessary evil. But there are many forms of punishment that can reduce the huge costs associated with incarceration-prison isn't our only option. It is time we start addressing those."

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Michael Frantz is a leading Federal Prison Consultant with Jail Time Consulting (JTC) in South Florida. The staff of JTC provides sentence reduction strategies, research, and many pre- and post-sentencing services for their clients. Michael has authored a bestselling book on federal prison titled, “Jail Time, What you need to know…Before you go to federal prison!” He has also authored over thirty-five JT Special Reports© on various federal prison issues affecting both the inmate and his/her family. They are available on the website. He writes a daily blog on the JTC website http://jailtimeconsulting.com answering readers’ questions and comments. He is a nationally recognized authority on federal prison and has published over 40 articles nationwide. He has been contacted by ABC’s 20/20, the Oprah Winfrey network, the Fox News Network, as well as many radio and TV stations nationwide. He can be reached at 954-522-2254, 800-804-4686, or at mike@jailtimeconsulting.com.