Forum: James Hamm - Straight Talk from an Ex-Convict |
Friday, March 10th at 7PM New Location: Pyle Adult Recreation Center in Tempe
America has more prisoners than any other country in the world. Almost 2 million people are behind bars in federal, state, and local jails. No other society in human history has imprisoned so many of its own citizens for the purpose of crime control. One result of the growing prisoner population is that a record numbers of ex-cons (over 500,000 per year) are being released back onto our streets after serving their time. The ever-increasing number of Americans now being imprisoned, and the trend towards longer more punitive prison terms, has resulted in gross overcrowding in our prisons. Prison rehabilitation and educational programs that were meant to help prepare convicts for life on the outside, after prison, have been sharply cut or eliminated. We should not expect that most released ex-cons would be more loving, peaceful, and law-abiding citizens as a result of their involuntary stay in the slammer. According to official estimates, about 62% of the released ex-cons are re-arrested within three years for a felony or serious misdemeanor, though less than half of those arrested end up back in prison.
Unfortunately, politicians seem indifferent to the plight of ex-cons as they attempt to integrate back into society at large after they are released. The integration process is little understood and the government offers scant resources to help ex-cons that would like to go straight. Simple social interaction, finding and holding down a decent job, and managing their own affairs are nearly insurmountable challenges for many ex-cons. Our speaker, James Hamm, is obviously a high achiever, but his track record is certainly not without controversy. As you probably recall, James Hamm was convicted of murder years ago, served his time, released, attended law school at Arizona State, passed the Bar, and in late 1998 was offered a job by ASU to teach certain justice study courses. However ASU subsequently folded to intense public and media pressure after a couple of days, and reassigned Mr. Hamm to other non-teaching duties. Currently Mr. Hamm is still on parole and thus can not yet be a lawyer. But he and his wife, Donna, are running a Phoenix-based prison reform group.
The James Hamm story vividly raises troubling questions about how our society deals with ex-convicts. For starters, do we send people to prison for punishment, separation from society, or rehabilitation? Once convicts have served their time, have they really "paid their debt to society? Do we believe that an ex-con can ever be truly rehabilitated? And isn't it America's best interest to help ex-cons successfully integrate back into our society? Many of these issues will be addressed at the Forum. This should prove to be a thought-provoking Forum. We hope to see you there!
The new home for the Forum is the Pyle Adult Recreation Center in Tempe. The center is located at the SW corner of the intersection of Rural Road and Southern. The Rural and Southern intersection is just two blocks North of the Rural Road exit off the 60 Freeway and a couple miles South of the Scottsdale Road exit off the 202 Freeway. The Pyle Adult Center building is just West of the Tempe Library and Historical Center building and is close to Southern. The location of the Post-Forum de-briefing will be announced at the Forum. Admission to the Forum is FREE.