Regarding the June 29 letter, “Restore rights to convicted felons,” I must agree. When a person has paid the debt they owe to society, his/her rights should be restored. Our rate of recidivism is proof that we are failing to rehabilitate and return our incarcerated to society successfully. The fact is that they are really set up to fail.
Our criminal justice system needs serious reform. We need alternatives to incarceration, such as education, substance abuse treatment and job skill training. We need to amend the laws that mandate unreasonable prison sentences, particularly for non-violent people and for older inmates where re-offending is highly unlikely and whose health care costs are so great.
Being “smart on crime” would make taxpayers out of felons, not tax burdens.
Jesse White
Marysville
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