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- Title
HOPE FOR THE HOPELESS: THE PRISON RESOURCES REPURPOSING ACT.
- Authors
SMITH II, PHILLIP VANCE; JOHNSON, TIMOTHY WAYNE
- Abstract
The Prison Resources Repurposing Act, a legislative proposal for North Carolina, aims to instill restorative change in prisoners serving life sentences by mandating behavioral, educational, and vocational goals for completion over a twenty-year period in preparation of parole eligibility. Publicly, prison officials identify record levels of understaffing as the main cause of prison violence. As a result, state legislators have passed bills addressing symptoms of the problem, not the true cause of prison violence: the hopelessness of prisoners who have no chance for release. Without the promise of a meaningful future, prisoners serving life without parole have no incentive to live virtuous lives or pursue positive personal change. The Prison Resources Repurposing Act does not alter current sentencing laws but acts as an addendum that opens parole to people serving life without parole and repurposes existing prison programs into a tiered structure to reduce recidivism and diminish prison violence at a low cost to taxpayers.
- Subjects
NORTH Carolina; LEGAL status of prisoners; LIFE sentences; PAROLE; VOCATIONAL education; PRISON violence; RECIDIVISM
- Publication
North Carolina Law Review, 2022, Vol 100, Issue 3, p713
- ISSN
0029-2524
- Publication type
Article