Warehousing inmates is a serious problem particularly in the state of Missouri. The general public must come to grips with this fact and understand that it does not do our society any good warehousing men and women for many years while neglecting to provide the essential instruction and life skills needed for prisoners to successfully transition back into the community after they’ve been released on probation or parole.

The reality is that there is a lack of rehabilitative and educational programming inside of the jails and prisons spread throughout our state. Sadly, the administrators of the Missouri Department of Corrections (MDOC) and many Missouri law makers cannot stomach fixing the problem so they go to great lengths to conceal the deficiency from the public. This is so because the MDOC administrators and politicians satisfied with the way things are know that the one thing that can upset their failing penological policies is an outcry from tax paying citizens who have a vested interest in pressing for sweeping reforms of our criminal justice system. [Read more…]