I came across this story the other day. The short version goes like this. Seems Mr. Abraham got convicted of murder when he was 13. Under some idiotic ‘get tough’ law in Michigan they tried him as an adult. After conviction the judge sentenced him as a juvenile, which means he gets to walk when he’s 21. Now that he’s out some bureaucratic gymnast got him into a program that gives free college tuition and room & board. The program was designed for foster kids. Really kinda ticked me off when I first read it, but not for the reasons you're thinking of. The biggest reason is that some poor kid that didn’t murder anybody won’t have a slot now. Sends a really, really bad message. On the flip side this is actually a good thing..... in theory. I’m looking at this from a long dollar/short dollar perspective. National recidivism rate for felons runs between 65 and 75%. Oklahoma had a program a few years back where they were letting people get college degrees in prison. The recidivism rate for those that got degrees dropped to 4%. Guaranteed that tuition costs less than housing an inmate for five years.
That said, I think this is gonna be a waste of time. The article talks about how Abraham had trouble with authority on the inside. If you can’t hack the program on the inside you’re sure as hell not gonna hack it on the outside. What’s going to happen the first time his boss gets in his face about being late for work? Also, it’s been shown time and again that emotional development stops when you enter a correctional setting. He was 13 when he went in. And walking out of prison dressed like Huggy Bear doesn’t help your image any. This is gonna be money down the toilet for the folks in Michigan.
Ares
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