[Winona Online Democracy] Thanks, Chris, for your observations and data. Thanks, too, to Dwayne for getting our first discussion string of the new year going!
I, for one, would like to see some of the statistics re: the number of inmates for different types of offenses over the past year or two. I think that would be very telling as to the reality of the jail population. I agree that jail is not a form of treatment and is not meant to be that. For many chemically dependent persons it is seen as preferable to treatment--it's emotionally much easier to deal with for most offenders. I also sense that involuntary commitment for CD is the most difficult case to make, which is a shame because these folks are indeed a harm to themselves and others--especially when they get behind the wheel. One comment I would like to make is that restorative justice needs to be interwoven with treatment AND jail. Certain aspects of restorative justice should be mandated for offenders and for victims. The ideas behind our current restorative justice practices are ancient. I believe that it is the "something" that has been missing from our system that tends to support punishment and provides many disincentives for offenders to actually own up to the harm that they cause to others. The series that the POST ran about Randy Wait (I'm really not trying to open up a can of worms, but those cases were classic regarding frustrations I have with the current state of things in the criminal justice arena) recently did a good job to bring to light the difficulty of actually delivering justice based on the current system. It also seemed clear from the reports, that this individual had no remorse, desire, or incentive to make amends--if he admitted or acknowledged any harm his actions might have caused, he would be admitting to crimes that would exact more severe punishment--hence we have an offender who is not held accountable and victims who feel like they've been punished more than the perpetrator who caused them harm. I agree with Craig that there has to be incentive for folks within the system to work things out to mend the harm between individuals and between offenders and the community, but that won't ever happen as long as we see the justice system as a punishment system or a path for revenge. Instead of measuring "success" by the number of cases tried and won or the number of criminals locked up, we need to measure success of the justice system by the extent to which the impact of one's actions have been reconciled with the community. Kathy Seifert ----- Original Message ----- From: "cnelson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Dwayne Voegeli" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, January 04, 2004 10:37 AM Subject: Re: [Winona] Crime and Punishment > [Winona Online Democracy] > > I would like to make a few comments concerning Judge Chaleen's guest > editorial. I'm not sure where the Judge obtained his jail numbers from > considering he said he got them from the "chief jailer", but I checked the > jail roster dated 01-02-04 and found less than 25% of the entire jail > population were driving under the influence offenders. I, too, would like > to see the offenses of those that are in the county jail posted so that > those that are members of WOD can see the entire picture of our current jail > population. The majority that are in jail are being held on drug sales (not > possession) and person's crimes. If one where to base their belief of > whether we need a new jail off of the Judge's figures one could safely say > we might not need a new jail and a Huber facility would do the trick, but > that isn't the case. > > Judge Chaleen also states that "nowhere in America is there any evidence > that jails rehabilitate chemically dependent offenders". The purpose of the > county jail is not to provide treatment options for the chemically dependent > offender. It has never been the purpose of the county jail to provide > treatment options. The jail is not a medical or a counseling facility. The > purpose of the jail is to hold short-term sentenced offenders, new arrests > waiting to make an initial appearance, and those that can't make bond or > bail. The revolving doors of the county jail could in no way provide the > needed treatment options for chemically dependent persons. There just isn't > enough time nor resources. > > If I read Judge Chaleen's statement about the current .08 debate correctly > he basically states that a change in the current .10 blood alcohol content > to a .08 will only cause more "social drinkers" to get arrested. In 2003 > the average blood alcohol content of all people arrested and those that > provided a breath sample in the city of Winona was .16 ( I would imagine the > number would be higher since a number of people refused a breath test). A > 160 pound male would have to drink 6 alcoholic drinks in one hour to be a > .16. Hardly a social drinker in my book. Will the .08 have an increase in > the overall arrest of impaired drivers? Yes, but the increase will be in > the impaired drivers that are at a .10 to a .12 level, which I would venture > to believe most of the general public wouldn't have a problem with. > Therefore the average of .16 will then be lower. It is sort of like speed > limits. You want people to drive 30 mph so you make the speed limit 25 mph. > According to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety Web site, there is an > offender in the state of Minnesota that has been arrested 23 times for drunk > driving. I would also say that there is no way to keep a car away from the > chronic offender short of locking him up. > > The health problem of alcoholism isn't a crime, it is the actions of the > person (driving) that is a crime. There is a big difference here. If we > could keep the cars away from the chronic drunk driver this wouldn't even be > a topic of discussion. I would suggest stiffer penalties for the person > that provides a vehicle to habitual traffic offender. > > The Judge also states that we need to use our existing commitment laws to > address our chronic offenders. For the average person to get a family > member committed to a treatment facility almost takes an act of God in this > country. The person that is in need of involuntary commitment needs to be > almost dead before that will happen. Trust me, I know from first hand > experience. I would like to know what the success rate of involuntary > commitments are? Would somebody in Human Services have an answer to this > question? > > So what is the answer for the chronic drunk driving offender? I would start > out with a good dose of jail time somewhere around 50% of their sentence > behind bars. The next 45% of their sentence would be electronic home > monitoring with numerous home visits by the sheriff department or police > department to ensure sobriety and the fact they are home. The next step of > their sentence would be treatment. The type of treatment that the offender > has to pay for so that way they will value that treatment. I would then > finish off their punishment with a weekend in jail so they remember not to > come back again. > > I personally don't feel the jail in the basement is a good idea. We are > applying a band-aid to band-aid since the LEC was a 20 year old band-aid to > begin with. In my opinion the current jail design is horrible. Supervision > of inmates is difficult to say the least. In the process of making the > Huber annex the LEC's indoor range was removed. The range was far from > perfect but it offered on duty officers the opportunity to practice their > handgun shooting while on duty which can no longer be done. > > I would agree with the Judge that our current jail needs to be brought up to > current standards, but can that be done in a cost effective way in the > current building? > > Chris Nelson _______________________________________________ This message was posted to Winona Online Democracy All messages must be signed by the senders actual name. No commercial solicitations are allowed on this list. To manage your subscription or view the message archives, please visit http://mapnp.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/winona Any problems or suggestions can be directed to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] If you want help on how to contact elected officials, go to the Contact page at http://www.winonaonlinedemocracy.org
