Comments on: Gemeinschaft told to shut down

By: hburgnews.com » Gemeinshaft video tour

hburgnews.com » Gemeinshaft video tour — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 03:23:40 +0000

[...] insight into what the Gemeinschaft does and what it means to the men who live there. The state has announced that they will cut the budget within sixty days and transfer inmates back to prison from these [...]

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By: hburgnews.com » Gemeinschaft update

hburgnews.com » Gemeinschaft update — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 13:08:47 +0000

[...] 90 days before their final release. If the program costs the state $76 a day (even compared to a $65 per day state average for prison incarceration), but prevents even one of them from reoffending and then being [...]

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By: finnegan

finnegan — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 00:17:29 +0000

All these testimonies (for lack of another term) remind me of what former AG, Mark Earley (a Republican) regrets about the “lock em up” system.

Earley said, “We failed to ask the question: ‘What are we going to do… to give them the opportunity to transform their life… when they return to their communities?’”

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By: Glenn Suter

Glenn Suter — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 22:54:22 +0000

Several years ago one of the staff of Gemeinschaft was the son of a member of our church. Several of us visited the home and met with the staff and inmates. We were so impressed with the program that we had several men visit our church and we heard their story and they contributed to our program. So it is with sorry that we hear of this possible action and the false savings that it would produce. I hope that the governor can reverse this idea.

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By: Chris Edwards

Chris Edwards — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 16:02:12 +0000

I noticed Sen. Obenshain told the DN-R he was sorry about the loss of funds to Gemeinschaft. How strange, when last winter he appeared to be trying to start a crusade against the home. What the anti-crime ideologues (or, at least, the citizens they appeal to) do not realize is that the community is far less safe when an offender is released with just $25 and a bus ticket home — as is done for most released prisoners, including thousands each year who return to the central Valley. In a therapeutic community such as Gemeinschaft, the former prisoners are supervised, and given help in getting employed and staying drug-free, as they begin to re-enter society. Which way costs the public more in the long run??

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By: finnegan

finnegan — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 16:26:48 +0000

It would be interesting to hear Del. Todd Gilbert’s take on the Gemeinschaft news, in light of his recent comments about the closure of White Post Detention Center:

It may not have been running at capacity, but “it’ll be missed, for sure,” said Del. Todd Gilbert, R-Woodstock, a prosecutor in Frederick County.

Detention centers give judges and prosecutors a wider range of punishment options, and are ultimately cheaper than prisons to operate, Gilbert said.

“It’s a palatable alternative to prison for nonviolent offenders,” Gilbert said. “When you want to punish someone who’s used to slacking off, not having a job … to put them in that environment is actually much more painful than putting them into a [prison] environment where they sit around all day.”
…
Putting offenders who have a good change of changing their ways with the right kind of intervention into the general prison population may be penny-wise and pound-foolish, Gilbert added.

Detention centers like White Post are “really good for young offenders, in an effort to try and head off continued criminal behavior,” he said.

“I fear greatly that we’re shortchanging society by removing these tools,” he said.

Granted, Gemeinschaft and White Post are different sorts of programs, but they share a common mission.

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By: Bubby

Bubby — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 13:45:45 +0000

Not smarter Watchman, just better informed; keeping the faith in the promise of the greatest nation on earth through hard work,vigilance, and the common good. E pluribus unum!

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By: watchman

watchman — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 05:06:22 +0000

You know so much Bubby!!! I am so glad I happened on this H’burg blog. I do apologize for intruding however. I won’t take up space anymore. Most here are of such superior intelligence that I am sure the children will soon correct the stupidity of their fathers. When Obama is elected, and with a super-race behind him, the future is bright indeed.

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By: Bubby

Bubby — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 01:12:05 +0000

The Watchman apparently doesn’t know that Governor Warner’s administration created the Drug Courts system to divert drug users to less expensive treatment (not prison), and that Governor Kaine’s efforts to keep the Drug Courts alive are currently under attack by radical conservative’s intent on “lockin’em up”. The triumph of ideology over common sense.

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