The Smart Society's Guide on How to Fight Crime, Reduce Recidivism, and Close Jails & Prisons

10 Things American Society Can Do to Decrease Crime and Increase Productivity Among Ex-Offenders

By: Richard Bovan, Demico Boothe

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

An old social phenomenon known today as "cancel culture" is largely responsible for America's incessantly high crime, incarceration, and recidivism rates. It began with the unreasonable discrimination and disenfranchisement of virtually all ex-prisoners being enshrined into national law by the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. The nefarious wording within these post-Civil War amendments paved the way for the federal government, state governments, and mainstream society to basically declare that any person convicted of a "felony" is effectively no longer an American citizen. As a result, millions of nonviolent and first-time offender ex-prisoners have been forced to live lives of desperation and despair, being part of one of the most openly discriminated-against groups in America since Reconstruction.

Studies show that 100% of American adults repeatedly break the law in one way or another during their lifetimes. However, getting caught breaking the law is what engenders punishment and consequences, not simply committing an act of illegality. That being said, studies have also shown that there is generally no inherent physical or psychological difference between people who have been caught committing crimes and those who haven't. Therefore, there is no justifiable reason to render lifetime penalties of social disenfranchisement to citizens who have been caught committing first-time or nonviolent offenses after they have served their time in jail or prison. This post-incarceration mistreatment and extraneous punishment is the direct cause of America's high recidivism rate among ex-prisoners, not an inherent proclivity on the part of ex-prisoners for engaging in criminal activity. This means that with the right correctional recipe, America's criminal justice systems can greatly decrease their default reliance on punitive institutions and policies, incarceration, policing, and self-interested politicians and bureaucrats.

Written by two ex-prisoners who are also bestselling authors, this much-needed handbook specifies ten things that government and society can do together to greatly decrease our high crime, incarceration, and recidivism rates. It offers the necessary solutions that will subsequently enable the closure of many jails and prisons all across America.

The chapters are:

1. Make Ex-Prisoners Who’ve Paid Their Debts to Society Full Citizens Again by Outlawing Discrimination in Employment, Housing & Voting
2. Refocus the Tenets of Incarceration on Rehabilitation & Life Correction
3. Universally Ban Cash Bail
4. Ban Private Prisons
5. Require Prisoners to Submit Feasible Life Action Plans Before Release and Enable Halfway Houses, Probation, Parole & Supervised Release Offices to Make Resources Available to Support Those Plans
6. Make Second Offense Violent Gun or Knife Crime Carry a Mandatory Federal Life Sentence & Apply Gun Ownership Disenfranchisement to Violent Offenders Only
7. Standardize Conjugal Visitation for Nonviolent Prisoners
8. Pay More for Industrial Prison Labor
9. Utilize More Creative Alternatives to Incarceration for Nonviolent First-Time Offenders & Juveniles
10. Increase Training Requirements, Supervision, Accountability & Pay for Police Officers, Probationary & Correctional Staff