U.S. prison system: It's an eye for an eye

Kit Murphy McNally anchored a panel on the need for prison reform in the U.S. She said our own inability to forgive is what keeps the U.S. building prisons. Incarceration is an "eye for an eye" form of retribution. "Retribution is pretty shallow, pretty easy," she said. "Forgiveness is much deeper, harder."

Both McNally and colleague Robert Miranda of Milwaukee's Benedict Center noted the racism and the economic injustice rampant in the system. Miranda said that "money is still the king in America"- the poor and the black usually ending up in jail, while those with money avoid sentencing. He said building prisons in poor, rural America adds to the tension - isolating the poor from the well-off, the minority from the majority.

Mark Larsen, convicted of armed robbery in 1983, spent 14 years in a Wisconsin state prison. He emphasized the importance of educational programs in prisons, where he earned his college education. Larsen now works to oppose the cutbacks in educational opportunities as prison populations rise.

Nancy Rost is a prison family member and founded a family network. She described the trauma of a prison visit. Rural or out-of-state prisons require long travel. After arrival, visitors, usually female, are subjected to dress code stipulations and lack of privacy. And the high cost of phone calls from prisoners must be absorbed by their families. Rost noted that prison policy encourages family "fall-off" at the very time when support of family is critical.

Members of the audience joined in the conversation. Said one woman, a prison chaplain: "Criminal justice is an oxymoron. Restoration justice is better."