Reply ID: AMC2012

This letter is in regards to Nation Inside: Communication Strategies Agiainst Mass Incarceration.

My name is Luke Whitehead and I am a 25 year old white male currently serving a seven year sentence for armed robbery in Fox Lake Correctional Institution, Fox Lake, Wisconsin.

Wisconsin is a state that uses a "Truth in Sentencing" format. This means that the judge sentences a convicted individual to a determinate amount of time in state prison. This time can not be reduced and the convict must service all of the sentence given by the court. He or she is not eligible for parole or good time but can have time in prison added to his/her sentence (bad time). Therefore an individual who arrives in prison and uses his time to attend school, complete treatment and otherwise be productive shall serve the same percent of his sentence as someone who does not use his time productively. There is no initial incentive for a prisoner to even consider a change in his or her actions and thought processes. Someone who chooses to sell drugs or commit other crimes does so because of the incentive involved and often because they know nothing else. Although ultimately we must learn to make healthy choices for the sake of healthy choices, offering the incentive of early release if work training and treatment are completed is needed for most who know no other way than their past actions.

Point 1: Sentencing formats that are determinate and lack earned release provisions for all must be seen as what they are: counter-productive to rehabilitation and change.

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When a convict is released from prison he already has enough obstacles to overcome. The aded stigma of being

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Point 3: Prisoners will be released one day and what happens between when they leave and when they come back shall manifest itself on to society's "front porch".

Thank you for your time and consideration and the change you wish to enact. I hope my reflections will be of help. Unfortunately to see where the cracks are you often must fall into them yourself. Those who see the most are heard the least.

With Gratitude,

Luke Whitehead #493221
Fox Lake Correctional Institution
PO Box 200
Fox Lake, Wisconsin 53933