HOPE FOR THE HOPELESS: THE PRISON RESOURCES REPURPOSING ACT

The Prison Resources Repurposing Act, a legislative proposal for North Carolina, aims to instill restorative change in prisoners serving life sentences by mandating behavioral, educational, and vocational goals for completion over a twenty-year period in preparation of parole eligibility. Publicly, prison officials identify record levels of understaffing as the main cause of prison violence. As a result, state legislators have passed bills addressing symptoms of the problem, not the true cause of prison violence: the hopelessness of prisoners who have no chance for release. Without the promise of a meaningful future, prisoners serving life without parole have no incentive to live virtuous lives or pursue positive personal change. The Prison Resources Repurposing Act does not alter current sentencing laws but acts as an addendum that opens parole to people serving life without parole and repurposes existing prison programs into a tiered structure to reduce recidivism and diminish prison violence at a low cost to taxpayers.
HOUSE BILL 697 714 I. THE PRISON RESOURCES REPURPOSING ACT: AN INTRODUCTION 717 II. HOW WE GOT HERE 721 III. UNPREDICTED PROBLEMS 723 IV. THE PRISON RESOURCES REPURPOSING ACT AS [...]