Every Neighborhood is invested in whether ex-inmates go straight
News Journal, Our View

Sooner or later, the overwhelming majority of Delaware's prisoners will get out.

This means that many, if not most, will return to their old haunts, their old neighborhoods and, unfortunately, their old criminal habits.

This leads to more crime, more arrests, more strain on the criminal justice system and more people back in prison.

The re-entry of prisoners into society is a serious and complicated problem that has long been ignored by the general public. However, the effects of collective failure to help inmates become law-abiding civilians have been felt by just about everybody.

Even the most secure upright citizen pays for this failure in increased taxes, insurance rates and fear of crime.

At a less remote level, the price is higher. Families and communities suffer when an ex-prisoner fails to adjust to life outside.

As a U.S. Department of Justice report put it, this pattern of failure leads to increases in child abuse, family violence, the spread of infectious diseases, homelessness and community disorganization. As Delaware's Commissioner of Correction Carl Danberg notes, between 12 percent and 16 percent of the thousands released from state prisons suffer serious mental illness. Without a transition system, we are allowing them spread their misery to those around them.

It's easy to see how the failure of a prisoner to re-enter society sends ripples of pain through a community.

In addition, the negative influence of ex-offenders can pull a marginal youth further into crime. Prison loses its effectiveness as a deterrent.

Worse, the pattern can continue until the prisoner ages out of a criminal career. By then, how much did he cost the taxpayers? What saleable skills will he have after a career of crime?

We think that putting criminals in jail is the extent of our involvement. Certainly criminals must be serve time. But failure to go beyond the political sound bite of "lock 'em up" is exacting a heavy cost.

As Commissioner Danberg also notes, this isn't a job for government alone. Communities must be invested in an ex-prisoner's success.

Delaware is both small enough and big enough to do something positive. Suggest solutions. Send them to The Editorial Page, The News Journal, P.O. Box 15505, Wilmington, DE 19850. Or e-mail them to letters@delawareonline.com.