Re-Entering

Spent the last couple of days at a big re-entry training conference. Not a lot of profundity or new info, but I came away thinking that not only should the correctional practitioners be required to attend, but also policymakers, legal and sentencing scholars, and reporters and general citizens. The gulf between what we talk about in sentencing and what gets discussed in these interactions among the people actually putting the rubber to the road is enormous. The debates over what needs to be done, what can be done, and what's just too stupid to contemplate or live should be front and center on our policy agendas across this nation. The other thing that really impressed me is that, granted we're talking about attendees who had already demonstrated commitment to the cause, there are people out there who are passionate about changing the lives and directions of offenders, people who speak dissertations on criminals and how to effectively work with them in just a few sentences. It can be inspiring stuff and I'm sorry you didn't get to be part of it. Like I said yesterday, I'll do my best to try to apply it all to what we bring up here in the future.