OUR MINISTRY THEORY
Today,
confinement and long-term sentences are the norm for prisoners who are either
not guilty or guilty of a lesser-included crime. It is estimated, now, that
over 2.5 million citizens of the United States are behind bars either in jails,
state correctional facilities, or federal prisons.
The
initial process, the criminal justice system sets forth, every person accused
of a crime, was entitled to quality representation and a proper workable
defense. In fact, in the 1960’s, the US Supreme Court, under the holding of Gideon
vs. Wainright, said every person accused of a criminal act, was entitled to
have an attorney appointed to him for proper representation!
Today,
in many states, defenseless, sometimes poorly educated citizens are convicted,
while their appointed counsel does nothing to help them! The Sixth Amendment to
the US Constitution as well as the 14th Amendment, which covers
state police powers, entitles an accused to a fair and impartial trial process.
The
criminal process begins with an arrest, indictment, and goes from a preliminary
hearing, to a certified indictment and a criminal trial, if one doesn’t go for
a deal first!
In
our society, a person stands before a bar of justice, innocent until proven
guilty, unless a confession of guilt is made in open court! If the accused
lacks quality representation, where is justice served? When is the public
vindicated? Where is their public well being?
In
many states, the number one state employer is the correctional system. In many
states, like Texas, for example, there are many small towns on a waiting list,
waiting for a prison to open so it can employ the town’s folk.
Studies
in correctional management have found warehousing of former citizens does
nothing to reduce or even eliminate crime, if anything, it enhances it! State
statistics shows many repeat offenders offend simply because they have no
outside resources to keep them clean!
The
death penalty is also a major mover in which justice is seldom served. In some
states, people are killed who are innocent, always maintain their actual
innocence, and usually are proven innocent after serving many hard and terminal
years behind bars!
Many
families when they loose a family member in death, they grieve their losses for
a short period and than move on with their lives! When a family looses a family
member to confinement, they simply don’t know how to react, many just give up!
There
are few places a family can turn for counseling or have a place where their hopes
are restored, hoping their loved ones will soon return to their families and
friends.
Besides,
the initial trial, many prisoners endure the appellate process, and many years
of higher court scrutiny which either reduces their sentences or just simply
affirms what already, the injustice was done in lower courts!
In
like manner, many prisoners, who receive a short or intermediate sentence,
become eligible for parole. Parole is a contractual commitment between the
state correctional authority and the prisoner, that upon release, he or she
will abide by a certain set of rules, a written two party contract.
Probation
is a contractual commitment between the court, the prosecutor, and the
prisoner, that upon release, he or she will abide by terms and conditions
preset by the court, for his or her release. In many instances, neither works
because the authority demands more than the prisoner or his families are able
to give, and thus a relapse, revocation!
In
many states, prisoners return to the Courts, upon violation of probation, or to
prison, upon violation of parole, because no one would work with them or give
them an opportunity for change or a chance for employment!