Today the NY Times Editorial board wrote a piece supporting Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s attempt for New York State to fund college programs in NYS prisons. All his prior attempts to do so have been opposed. He bravely tried to convince people that prisoners should be afforded the opportunity to receive a college education while in prison. But critics shot the idea down quickly arguing that prison is a place for punishment and prisoners should not be allowed to get a free college education while families struggled to put their kids through school. This was said despite several studies that showed the more education a prisoner would acquire the less probability he or she would return to prison.
According to the NY Times Governor Cuomo introduced his new plan using $7.5 million criminal forfeiture funds from Cyrus Vance Jr, the Manhattan district attorney, along with matching funds from private donors. I applaud the governor for his actions because I know how important receiving an education while in prison is.
While serving a 15 to Life sentence for a non-violent drug crime under the Rockefeller drug laws I received three college degrees while imprisoned including a master’s degree from NY Theological Seminary which was paid for from private donations. When I was released from prison after serving 12 years when I received executive clemency by then Governor George Pataki I easily found gainful employment with a law firm and became litigation paralegal for Fish & Neave. The job helped me maintain my humanity and kept me walking on a straight and narrow road. It has been over 20 years now and I know from personal experience that a college education offered to someone in prison is not only lifesaving it is life changing.
Many studies, even one conducted by the New York State Department of Correctional Services, have demonstrated empirically that people who earn college degrees are far less likely to return to a life of crime upon release.
In 1995, Governor Pataki dismantled an already existing college program. My masters degree class from New York Theological Seminary wrote a manifesto that countered the 1994 Republican Party’s “Contract with America” which said in part:
“We the imprisoned people of New York State, 85% of whom are black and Latino, 75% of whom come from 26 assembly districts in 7 neighborhoods in New York City, to which 98% will someday return, possibly no better off than when we left, uneducated and lacking employable skills, declare this Kairos in response to the elimination of the prison college programs, GED and vocational training programs and education beyond the eighth-grade level. The elimination of prison education programs is part of Governor Pataki’s proposed budget cuts. It amounts to less than one third of one percent of the total state budget, but it will cost taxpayers billions of dollars in the years to come. I went on to state that many studies, even one conducted by the New York State Department of Correctional Services, have demonstrated empirically what people know intuitively: that prisoners who earn college degrees are far less likely to return to a life of crime upon release. According to research conducted by the Department, of the inmates who earned a college degree in 1986, 26% had returned to state prison, whereas 45% of inmates who did not earn a degree were returned to custody. For many prisoners, gaining an education signals an end to personal failure and a ladder out of poverty and crime. Without it, the governor may as well change the name “Department of Correctional Services” to “Department of Correctional Warehousing. As the former Chief Justice Warren Burger stated: “To confine offenders without trying to rehabilitate them is expensive folly.”
When I was released from prison after receiving executive clemency for Governor George Pataki in 1997 my re-entry into society was eased because of my college education. But it was not an easy deal and I struggled tremendously. When some people found out about where I got my college education they were not too happy. I remember going on a few television shows and talking about my college education. Instead of being happy for me they talked about how I got a free college education instead of being punished. My response was that I did not get a free education, I paid dearly for it, serving 12 years in prison like an animal. I did everything I could to become a better person.
My hat goes off to Governor Andrew Cuomo for advocating for college education for prisoners. I also must thank him for granting me a full pardon in 2016. Hopefully prisoners will take advantage of this rehabilitative program to help them survive their imprisonment and become productive and tax paying citizens upon their release.