Maximum Security Education

How Some Inmates Are Getting A Top-Notch Education Behind Bars

(CBS)  The United States is good at getting criminals into prison: we have over two million people incarcerated right now, more than any other Western country. But what we're not good at is keeping them out once they've served their time—half of all ex-cons end up right back in the penitentiary.

No one doubts that one of the best ways to rehabilitate criminals is through educating them while they're in prison, but who wants to pay for prisoners to go to college when most people have trouble coughing up money for their own kids' education?

Correspondent Bob Simon found one college that does. Bard, an elite private college is offering true liberal arts degrees to some inmates in New York state. It's not what you’d imagine goes on behind the bars of a maximum security prison. And by the way, the program doesn't cost taxpayers a dime.

---

It looks and sounds like an ordinary college graduation ceremony: there are caps and gowns, the handing out of diplomas. But a group of men receiving their degrees from Bard College will not be leaving to go out and make their mark on the world—they are inmates at the Eastern Correctional Facility, a maximum security prison in New York state.

Most prisoners ended up at Eastern Correctional Facility by committing violent crimes, like assault, rape, and murder, with sentences ranging from seven years to life. It’s not the type of place you'd expect to walk into and find the inmates studying 18th century European history.

The Bard College program, which is privately funded, has been in this prison for six years and the academics are tough. One inmate tells Simon he and other inmates study five or six hours a day, outside of class, to make the grade.

The classes they take change each semester but what they have in common is that they're not practical courses—they’re true liberal arts courses, like English, sociology, philosophy, and German.

Salih Israel pushed for a German course because, he says, he wanted to be able to read German philosophers in their original language. "I mean, you’ve got Hegel, you have Marx, you have Kant. A lot of those prevailing ideas – they’re in German," he explains.

Salih Israel, by the way, is serving 20 to 40 years for shooting a woman in the course of a robbery.

"What do you say to somebody who says you should be learning a trade, some vocational training, instead of all this philosophy?" Simon asks inmate Joe Bergamini.

"Well, a vocational training will teach you how to do something, to have a job, but it doesn’t teach you how to think, and I think that’s the problem a lot of men in prison have is that they’re not thinking, they’re reacting. And a vocational program might give you the skills, to have a job, but it’s not gonna give you skills to have a life," says Bergamini, who is in prison for killing his own mother 16 years ago.

Reshawn Hughes shot and killed a man the following year. He was far from being college material. Before he was incarcerated, Hughes admits he had never read a book. Now, he says he hopes to continue his education until he gets his Ph.D.

Wes Caines has already served 17 years for taking part in a shootout in which one man died and another was seriously injured.

He knows how lucky he is to be getting an elite education from Bard. "They made an investment in people that society had written off and people who even today feel that we shouldn’t have this opportunity," Caines tells Simon.

Not every prisoner gets the opportunity; only about 10 percent of the inmates who apply to the college program are accepted. Prison life can be so routine and depressing, it's no wonder that these men jump at the chance to escape with their minds, if not with their bodies.

Travis Darshan dropped out of school when he was 14. When he was 17, he was arrested with two friends for robbing and killing a taxi driver.

Darshan never dreamed he'd get a college education. Asked how he felt when he got in, Darshan tells Simon, "Oh, I was elated. I was elated. It was, it was almost like they told me I was going home. … I really was. I felt like it was a new chapter in my life that it gave me a chance to start over."

"To these people locked up, this is just a psychological lifesaver. A string of hope even if their release is 10, 15, 20 years out," says Leon Botstein, the president of Bard College, a liberal arts college located about an hour from the prison but in every other sense worlds away.

[clewis1817]

Re the article on Bard College:
Wonderful, so proud of Bard & so ashamed of our representatives who refused the use of our money to enrich society by enriching the lives of the guys and women who need it so much.Never ddreamed a national program would tackle such a story & thrilled that you folks did.
Catherine Lewis

[bartlb75]

So if I rob a bank to pay for my student loan debt, can I pursue my Doctorate through Bard? I understand the concept, but in reality, what does this say about hard working, law abiding students who are rejected admission to Bard? Tough sell in my opinion.

[maoriii-2009]

This expose is perhaps the single most important that I have ever viewed on CBS. The story exposes one of the greatest myths of our modern world. That the capability for higher learning is the sole province of a priviledged few or the specially advantaged upper classes of our society. (By higher learning I mean the capacity to discuss concepts such as freedem and existence.) I am absolutely delighted by the program at Bard and would welcome a push to develop programs of a similar nature throughout the country. One of the greatest disparities in our institutions of higher learning is the racial divide in liberal studies programs. This program illustrates the fact that anyone who has the desire and the means (both at home and in the classroom), neither aspect being more important than the other, can achieve to such a degree as to wish to read and understand Kant or Husserl in the native language. This is remarkable and ought to be encouraged by a society that proclaims to hold progress and vitality in high regard.

[warak1]

What about a student accepted at Bard and has to pay the entire amount for a 4 year education because they are middle class and do not qualify to get any money...or the student who is paying off loans at a state school...or the student paying their own way for a masters or doctorate...they did not commit any crime but come from a hard working family that earns a honest day wage to give their children a higher education at a college they want to attend...watching this segment raised my blood pressure to the extreme...it was tough to watch.

[cerya]

We have always known that education is the key. Imprisoning a body shouldn't imprison the mind to think better thoughts, to learn to address life in another way. Look at the statistics for those in our prisons and it is clear that the vast majority is uneducated, poor, and mostly Blacks. This story makes the point that we should be rehabbing prisoners and the best way to do that is through education, the best deterrent to crime. Yet we take the most disenfranchised people and deny them an education and fail to see the societal benefit in affirmative action.

[randalds]

Sounds like an excellent program! It's a shame that it's only privately funded, but in this case it may be for the best. Here's hoping a philanthropist such as a Bill Gates here's of this and funds similar programs in other prison systems. The vast majority of prisoners in prison will get out someday and it's nice to know that there is at least one program that, as one prisoner said, teaches them to think, not just to react. No vocational rehab program does that. I mean after all, what good does it do to learn to make license plates when the only place they make them is in prison?

[nancykey43]

Thank you, Bob Simon and 60 Minutes! My husband spent his entire 20's in TDC and while there worked very hard to receive his GED, Associate's and Bachelor's Degree. He has been home for 7 years..most have never had a friend or loved one in this situation, so could not see the postive changes that an education instills..thank you for showing the prison student's angle.Nancy P, Texas

[nashu24]

Re; Maximum Security Education.
The item that deals with higher education provided to convicts serving long (and well-deserved) sentences for gruesome crimes is introduced with the usual tiresome liberal cliche about how the United States has more people in prison than any other country in the world. Well, the ones you have featured tonight do not exactly validate your snide preposition. Why does America keep on kicking herself?
When will 60 Minutes undertake a serious study of the causes of lawlessness in all too many segments of your population, instead of implying that apprehending and punishing those who deserve it is somehow morally tainted?
Here in Canada, unlike the United States, I do not recall any prominent "captains of industry" ever going to jail for wrongdoing; yet, in the U.S. it is almost routine. Does that mean that Canada has a more moral business community, or that the United States has a more responsive legal system?
Get real.

[tooamazing1]

It is amazing how I see people who made a disicion to commit a severe enough crime to placed into prison in the first place and they are manipulative to no end. So what does the middle aged white male decide that they need an "elite eduction" for FREE! Never mind the thousands of people who scrounge, save and work more than one job to get an education from a less prestige school with no help or Empathy from the college world. CBS should be ashamed that they promote prisoners gettting educations over hard working average americans that do and can follow societies laws. CBS should be ASHAMED.

[jewsaleh]

Warak and Bartlb make such a tired argument. I didn't realize that we had to choose between educating nonoffenders and educating inmates. We spend $90 billion a year in Iraq without blinking and yet people come here and *** about the cost of one of the very few methods that has been shown empirically to reduce recidivism.

Why can't we be more enlightened about programs like this one AND provide financial assistance to nonincarcerated students who want to go to college? We are the richest country in the world -- surely there's enough money to go around.

[randalds]

Why can't we be more enlightened about programs like this one AND provide financial assistance to nonincarcerated students who want to go to college? We are the richest country in the world -- surely there's enough money to go around.


Posted by jewsaleh at 08:24 PM : Apr 15, 2007

Not and pay for the war too. We've spent half a trillion dollars on that debacle. Just think of all of the education programs that could have funded? To say nothing of the REAL security we could have provided here in America. It's enough to make one sick.

[joemissy1]

Regarding Bard "An elite private college" educating prison inmates:
Even though it doesn't cost the taxpayer a dime, what about all the children in this country living in poverty who would give anything for a college education? Why not have those professors teaching the inmates give their time to those less fortunate children? One prisoner, when asked how he felt about getting his college education in prison, replied that he wanted to make his daughters proud. Don't you think he should have thought of that before committing such a heinous crime?
Shame on 60 Minutes for reporting such a ludicrous story when there are so many other major issues facing this country and the world.
Mary F. Hauser
Philadelphia, PA

[ramona15-2009]

This is a very compelling story. Inmates being Educated is a wounderful thing. I would like to know if their is such a program being offered in other states like New Jersey. I feel giving these men and women the opportunity to an quality education is wounderful.

[oneill251]

Which of you stories this evening tells us more about racism in America today: Imus' off handed comment, though revealing and deplorable, or the Federal Government's, our government's, refusal to fund education in our prison system? It is difficult to understand why education in our prisons has to be explained and justified. Have we completely lost the concept of rehabilitation in this country? Perhaps if the majority of prisoners were white, the explanation would not be necessary and the funding would be provided.

An embarrassed white American

[longsk2]

Its about time humanity is made aware that, we the common criminal can soar to new heights. After serving a 4 year sentence for drugs, my only saving grace was an education. My degree in Electrical Engineering has propelled me into a primary position in man space flight. Though I only obtained me GED and 6 college accredited hours whiles incarcerated, the ability to have finish, was planted by the path that was available. I hope that American society will learn that an educated ex-con has the drive to accelerate be on their past. The past is not the future.

[henkie78]

I'm not sure if i heard in the report that this Bardd College program was funded by state and/or federal funds but I know that years ago this was stopped because of a public outcry about people who were incarcerated receiving a free education. I hope this is not the case at this time. I know many law abiding people who work very hard to save and work to put their children through school. For most of us it is a struggle. I would like to know if this is feral or state funded.

[smilingeyes5]

Prison Free College Education

Dear 60 Minutes,
Free college education for prisoners is a great idea; it is a step back in time. As you noted there used to be free college education till federal funds dried up. Without some form of rehabilitation in prisons, the prisons become training grounds for criminals, thus continuing the cycle of crime.

Thank you,

Mark Burwinkel

[evesullivan]

I am a Bard graduate from the 60s now doing volunteer parenting education in a medium security prison in Massachusetts. Whenever we present a PARENTS FORUM workshop, many times the numbers we can accommodate sign up for the sessions, which we give in both English and Spanish. The prison's treatment directors are eager for this programming as well. I hope we can expand and I am very proud of my college for offering this opportunity to inmates. As a parent of post-college-age young adults, however, I agree with others' comments that the burden of tuition costs on young people and families of modest means is unreasonable. We need more consistent financial support for higher education across the board.

[mpw101]

Amazing. Not one of these men used the phrase, "ya know". Not once. Not at all. They spoke in complete, grammatically correct sentences and not one of them ever uttered that annoying phrase.

They no longer sound like gangsters, they sound like gentlemen.

[moorefield3]

An inspiring story. I understand how some may see it unfair to hard working, law abiding students but keep in mind this program is being offered at a high security prison where sentences are 7+ yrs and only 10% of applicants get in. It's about the bigger picture. 2 million currently incarcerated and 50% will return once released. If we invest more in educating these criminals, we'll have less crime in this country. The impact won't be immediate, but it will lead to a safer place for our kids and their kids. Federal funding is used for a lot of less beneficial causes.

[sllewl]

FINALLY, SOMEONE REALIZES THAT THERE ARE MANY INMATES THAT NEED TO BE AND WANT TO BE MENTALLY CHALLENGED.

TRULY, JUST AS ONE INMATE STATED, "FREEDOM" ISN'T JUST PHYSICAL - "FREEDOM" COMES FROM THE ABILITY TO THINK AND FEEL FOR YOURSELF.

THANK YOU BARD COLLEGE AND 60 MINUTES FOR AIRING THIS STORY. YOU'VE GIVEN A VOICE TO THIS ISSUE OF PRISON "REHABILITATION" AND WHAT IT TRULY CAN ACCOMPLISH.

THANK YOU.

[karenkm2]

WHAT AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THESE MEN. NOW, TURN THE TABLES AND LET THEM BECOME THE TEACHERS TO OPEN THE WAY FOR OTHER INMATES. DON'T WE ALL HOPE THAT "REHABILITATION" IS A POSSIBILITY? WE HAVE 3 KIDS WHO ARE PAYING OFF STUDENT LOANS, SO WE CAN UNDERSTAND THE FRUSTRATION OTHERS FEEL, BUT IF THESE MEN CAN HELP THE PROGRAM CONTINUE, INSTEAD OF RELYING COMPLETELY ON FUNDING, I SEE THAT AS A POSITIVE STEP!

[jewsaleh]

Warak and Bartlb make such a tired argument. I didn't realize that we had to choose between educating nonoffenders and educating inmates. We spend $90 billion a year in Iraq without blinking and yet people come here and *** about the cost of one of the very few methods that has been shown empirically to reduce recidivism.

Why can't we be more enlightened about programs like this one AND provide financial assistance to nonincarcerated students who want to go to college? We are the richest country in the world -- surely there's enough money to go around.

[samsamm9]

Bob -- Great Article:

I don%u2019t know if you do follow up%u2019s with the people that you interview --- but I was struck by the comment of the fellow that was sent to the more liberal institution in that he would go back to his original place of incarceration at the drop of a hat to continue his education. My comment would be that if you are able to contact him again suggest to him that he now has the opportunity to start an education program at his new institution.

Again Bob great article.

[jewsaleh]

Warak and Bartlb make such a tired argument. I didn't realize that we had to choose between educating nonoffenders and educating inmates. We spend $90 billion a year in Iraq without blinking and yet people come here and *** about the cost of one of the very few methods that has been shown empirically to reduce recidivism.

Why can't we be more enlightened about programs like this one AND provide financial assistance to nonincarcerated students who want to go to college? We are the richest country in the world -- surely there's enough money to go around.

[htinzoar]

The story about the inmates receiving college degrees from Bard College made me want to cry. After scrimping, sacrificing, saving and working long hours for the last 28 years... trying to bring up my kids as good, honest, moral people ... volunteering in our community ... trying to help people before they got into trouble and went to jail ... all I had to do was commit a violent crime and my own dream of going to college would come true, along with the time to study, and I wouldn't even have to pay for it. My children probably wouldn't have to pay for theirs, either.
Instead my children and I will have student loans to pay off for the next 12 years at least, and they will be punished because they are indeed good, honest, moral and hard working people. In the real world these traits don't get you anywhere but shoved down anymore. If only I had realized this before I raised my children.
What Bard College is doing is WRONG. If you're going to give out free education, enrich the lives of people who deserve it AND pay taxes.
The message they are sending out got to me too late - I'm sure others will get it in time - so they won't have to look back at their lives and feel like crying.

[moorefield3]

Are underprivileged children more likely to take advantage of a free education than someone who is serving a 7-20 year sentence? I'd think someone a little older and who is serving that amount of time is likely to have a better perspective of life. Either way, education reform is needed across the board.

[james-claude]

Angry over not being like the other kids (i.e. unable to read?) - a likely cause to act out or get into trouble? Hmmmm...
Only 1 in 10 Texans is dyslexic, but a study shows 3 in 10 Texas prisoners are dyslexic. According to the Texas Comptroller's Fiscal Notes, hopelessness due to learning disorders leads to overincarceration. Anything we do to help inmates is not only more humane, but is ultimately cheaper than warehousing them. How can you argue against "habilitation" ? ("Re-habilitation" doesn't count if they weren't "habilitated" to begin with). Here's the article: http://gritsforbreakfast.blogspot.com/2005/07/failure-to-treat-dyslexia-increases.html
Do you remember the kids who made the worst grades were also the bullies ? I do. All this makes sense...

[evesullivan]

I am a Bard graduate from the 60s now doing volunteer parenting education in a medium security prison in Massachusetts. Whenever we present a PARENTS FORUM workshop, many times the numbers we can accommodate sign up for the sessions, which we give in both English and Spanish. The prison's treatment directors are eager for this programming as well. I hope we can expand and I am very proud of my college for offering this opportunity to inmates. As a parent of post-college-age young adults, however, I agree with others' comments that the burden of tuition costs on young people and families of modest means is unreasonable. We need more consistent financial support for higher education across the board.

[ditzycat]

I support Inmate Higher Education Programs (IHEP).My husband had to drop out of his IHEP program when funding was pulled after he was more than half way through his Bachelor's program. He is still in prison -- he used to be at Eastern, ironically -- and has grown emotionally and intellectually as a result of his meeting me and being in college. You see, I was his IHEP College Counselor until we got married 17 years ago. From my professional work in prison programs and research, I am well aware that college participation improves inmate behavior. There are controversies but, even still, I continue to urge government officials to BRING BACK PRISON COLLEGE.

[jalarson5]

College education as a part of rehabilitation should be a priority of the correctional system. Education expands minds and opens doors of opportunity. The inmates and society can only benefit from such programming. However, unless entirely privately funded, inmates should have to pay for their education just as the majority of non-traditional student do.

Universities in the US are big-profit businesses. The admissions process is difficult, obtaining a scholarship or grant near impossible even for above average students. Most non-traditional students find themselves faced with taking out large student loans to assist with the financial burdens associated with achieving an advanced degree. It is society%u2019s responsibility to rehabilitate criminals but it is the criminal%u2019s responsibility to pay back their educational debt to society.

[caylorwoman]

This program is right in every way - there is absolutely nothing to complain about here. The inmates are given something to occupy their minds and a means to improve their circumstances and self-esteem, the college has an opportunity to educate an element of the population which would otherwise NEVER have such a chance, and the community at large benefits both socially and spiritually and fiscally. Educated people are less likely to reoffend. Why do we punish? If not for pure retribution, then we need to have programs like this active and growing in every state. Way to go, Bard!

[SuperDave500]

There are 2 external degree colleges that may be of interest to prison inmates. They are Thomas Edison State College (located in Trenton, N.J.) and Excelsior College (located in Albany, N.Y.)
The websites are www.tesc.edu and www.excelsior.edu
Each college has financial aid, but it is limited. The least expensive method by which to earn college credit is proficiency exams. It is possible in many cases to earn a degree entirely by examination. I do know of inmates who have graduated from Edison and I am reasonably sure the same is true of Excelsior. I am happy to correspond with interested people. However,I won't provide my email address without the consent of 60 Minutes.

[elizalexus]

Clearly we have been going about it all wrong. WE thought teaching our children to be good citizens, hard workers and stay in school so they could possibly EARN a scholarship was the right thing to do. Little did we know we could have taught them to be criminals, sent them to NY to kill someone and they could be rewarded with a free education that costs the rest of us over $100,000 for a masters or doctorate degree.
As usual, lets punish the innocent and reward the guilty.

[elizalexus]

Clearly we have been going about it all wrong. WE thought teaching our children to be good citizens, hard workers and stay in school so they could possibly EARN a scholarship was the right thing to do. Little did we know we could have taught them to be criminals, sent them to NY to kill someone and they could be rewarded with a free education that costs the rest of us over $100,000 for a masters or doctorate degree.
As usual, lets punish the innocent and reward the guilty.

[renee-n-nett]

I am glad that prisoners are getting college education. But I have to say I do not believe that it is right that they receive that education for free. I am not sure if they are using tax payers money or not, but why do us people that have done no wrong have to pay to get that same education? We either have to pay or get a loan in which we have to pay off on our own. I think that if college education is offered to people because they have done ssomething wrong enough to go to prison, It should equally be offer to us. I have trouble living financially because I am paying off a loan that I had to take out to go to vocational college. We should get the same treatment toward college than prisoners if not better education than them.

[elizalexus]

Clearly we have been going about it all wrong. WE thought teaching our children to be good citizens, hard workers and stay in school so they could possibly EARN a scholarship was the right thing to do. Little did we know we could have taught them to be criminals, sent them to NY to kill someone and they could be rewarded with a free education that costs the rest of us over $100,000 for a masters or doctorate degree.
As usual, lets punish the innocent and reward the guilty.

[toolmangler-2009]

This is a great article! I visit many forums and see many things people in general write. To see people that actually learn to think fills me with hope. I am angered when I think of the minds that could have been melded into society instead of locked away after it is too late to avoid just punishment. You people inside, please know that I will put you in my prayers. I guess that is not much comfort though.

[pwetzel2]

WOW! Nice job! I use to be a volunteer writing tutor for inmates at a Bard program in Upstate New York and was delighted to see the Bard Prison Initiative and the efforts of Max Kenner (& his diligent staff) finally received some well-deserved national attention. The inmates I tutored were the hardest working and most focused students I had ever encountered. Obviously I did not know them before they took up residency in prison, but these men were quite different from the MANY others I had to pass on my way into the school area once I passed through security. The inmate-students were smart, POLITE, well spoken, and incredibly appreciative of their professors, tutors, and of course, those who helped fund their education through Bard. It was clear education changed them in ways no other "rehibilitation" could have. I once read that the recidivism rate for inmates that receive a Bachelors is less than 1%, but without one....well, that's a WHOOOOLE different show! I wish all the rich private universities out there (like Emory and Harvard) would step up and follow Kenner's example. You got the funds, so go to it! You wouldn't believe the minds behind bars.

Those that are feeling put off from the show, try to remember that the crappy public school system in the inner cities (that most of these men endured or abandoned) failed them as children/adolescents. Thank goodness for Bard!

P Wetzel

[jcrbrown]

Thank you CBS for airing this. Society fails to remember that inmates will eventually be out among us. Do we want reformed inmates who have a purpose for their lives or do we want inmates who commit crimes again. I personally would rather pay for their education than for more prisons. Throwing away the key and forgetting about prisoners isn't help solve crime in our country it's actually fueling it. Let's reform before they get there, while their in, and after then we'll see crime rates start going downward.

[iceman_1960]

This program is a good idea.

It isn't being funded by the taxpayers' dollars.

The biggest single problem related to incarceration is recidivism. This program reduces that.

It also reduces the level of frustration that makes prisons more violent, It makes the prisons a little bit safer for the guards.

It gives some hope to the most hopeless.

Prison guards have noted that the educational level of prison inmates in America is appalling. Many are illiterate. Some have never seen a clock radio. One prisoner with a small TV in his cell (someone had given it to him), sat in darkness every day because he didn't know how to turn it on, and was too proud to ask for help.

Anything that brings a little light into such darkness is a good idea.

[jeanne2330]

Excellent program on College Education In New York prison. CBS, or viewers, or the college itself should offer to help the inmate who has been transferred to the lower security prison continue his college education via correspondence classes...hard to believe that the Bard College can't come up with a way for him to continue his education.

[iceman_1960]

One inmate at Rikers Island in New York lamented the fact that so much effort was being expended on setting up gyms in the jail, with all the weightlifting equipment.

He said that they should be building libraries and encouraging the inmates to read books. Teach the illiterate inmates to read, and encourage all the inmates to sit in their cells and read books, instead of hitting the weights.

[iceman_1960]

"They tend not to stir up trouble by fighting and arguing, although when Simon and the team ran into a group of inmates in the prison yard, they were arguing about Rousseau and Machiavelli."

I'm not sure Machiavelli is the best philosopher for these convicts to be studying.

They might get some Machiavellian ideas about right and wrong.

[stephenlantz]

Great piece. It made me ruminate on what level of responsibility we have to rehabilitate criminal offenders, even the serious ones. Interesting is the juxtaposition subtly presented between two very different, ideas of morality. There was an undercurrent of skepticism throughout this story which continuously asks whether it is right for an individual to be given any opportunity after heinously removing it from others. At the same time, you ask whether it%u2019s right for individuals who clearly have severely disadvantaged backgrounds to be forever denied opportunity. Some may think the words %u201Cright%u201D, %u201Copportunity%u201D and %u201Cheinous%u201D are the concepts to debate. I think it is the word %u201Cindividual%u201D. There was a time when an individual was a single person. This no longer appears to be the case, In fact, now an individual is a group of people. An individual is now a brand, company, style, way of living. Its an entity. As actual people, we understand who we are as individuals in terms of our connection to legal entities. Yet our culture%u2019s response to the violation of individual rights is sluggish to say the least. Has the average American noticed that the second chances received by legal entities is extraordinarily disproportionate to those received by the %u201Cindividuals%u201D? It makes one wonder how much to cheer for a nation that consistently allows this to take place over time.

[pippermouse]

This story made me sick to my stomach! Bob Simon was his usual great self - but the topic was completely insane! These SO CALLED college graduates are getting their education with MY tax dollars and their victims who they have MURDERED are lying rotting in the ground! Where is their opportunity to get an education - and a paid for one at that. Why in God's name are we giving opportunities to animals who should be rotting in jail?? Why should they be allowed to FEEL GOOD about themselves or be allowed to accomplish anything at all?? They took those rights away from their victims. They made mistakes?? TOUGH!!! You take a life - you *** well should be paying for it!! I'm sure the families of their victims are mortified at seeing these losers in their caps and gowns! What an absolute joke!! This country has TRULY gone down the tubes.

[pippermouse]

BTW - my good decent law abiding son is in college and paying it for it! All this story is about to them is that it doesn't pay to be a law abiding citizen in this world today. Be rotten and sick and despicable and you'll truly be rewarded for it!

[pippermouse]

Ok so it supposedly isn't paid for with your tax dollars?? Big deal! If they receive a wage it has to come from somebody? We pay the wages of the guards and employees of the prison -- obviously the money comes from somewhere to be able to pay the criminals to work. If criminals are being paid a wage while being in prison it's STILL WRONG! Make them work as part of their punishment!! And the money - ANY money they make should go to the victims families forever!

[lin1945-2009]

My son is incarcerated for having a weapon in a storage locker and he was a convicted felon from age 18 ride in a stolen vehicle. School in a federal prison (CA) is available and he has tried to take advantage of it but he is very restricted in the class materials he can receive, no required CDs, so it becomes almost impossible to do a satisfactory job of class work. He is willing to pay for his courses if only he could have the available and required course items but that does not happen. I had to explore 40 colleges before I found two that worked with inmates. He will be out in 2 years and I know if he was able to get some classes and able to have the advantage of schooling that his would make better choices. Failure to educate and train inmates put them right back into negative or criminal activity because they do not know any other way to move forward. I do not take his crime lightly but I do wish that there was more support and training, education and classes available to make him a more well-rounded human being.

[maoriii-2009]

In a great twist of irony I believe early in the piece is quick camera shot of Foucault's Discipline and Punish. I may be wrong but I do believe it was there.