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New Jails? The Fictions and True Costs of our Dependence on Punishment

~ philipamerson

New Jails? The Fiction and a Generational Mistake

Unless the citizens of Monroe County Indiana make a U-turn, we are heading toward a huge, generational mistake. (Others have made such mistakes recently: Grant County, Kentucky; Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana; Santa Fe, New Mexico; Indianapolis, Indiana and Douglas County, Kansas to name a few.) Building the proposed new jail in Bloomington Indiana will undercut resources for our children’s children. Construction, interest and maintenance will cost over $330 million dollars! The drive to build this jail is based on several myths: 1) our current jail cannot be renovated; 2) there are no good alternatives to incarceration; 3) the current jail isn’t large enough; 4) the 2008 ACLU lawsuit requires a larger jail. 

NONE IS TRUE. Renovating and caring for the Bloomington current jail is one-fourth the cost of a new build (under $70 million).  Alternatives to prison are demonstrating significantly better approaches. Monroe County’s current jail capacity is 294 while average population is 225. In her 2025 State of the City address, Mayor Kerry Thompson noted violent crime was down 24.3% in the community last year. There are multiple actions already being taken to respond to the ACLU lawsuit.  It is rinse, wash and repeat with these myths, often hiding other motivations like those encouraged by the entities standing to benefit from the construction of a new jail. A majority of human service groups oppose a new jail based on their day-to-day service efforts. Yes, there is a troubling problem with mold in the building.  Correction is underway.

Finally, there are many other troublesome dimensions to this drive for a new jail. Here are three:

1) A large majority (over 75%) of those held in jail are there because they are poor (can’t afford a bond), suffer from addictions or mental health issues, or are persons without shelter.  Most are pretrial – they have been convicted of nothing. How does incarcerating them provide a way out of difficulty or build a stronger community?  While in jail the indebtedness of those incarcerated grows! The expense to inmates for phone calls, room and board fees, commissary charges all add up, and up.

2) Access to the newly proposed location is limited to those with an automobile. There is currently no public transportation to the location. If courts and public defender’s offices are there, the visits and support of family and friends is further compromised.  Many of the services currently available to the incarcerated, family and friends are downtown.

3) Finally, and deeply troubling, locating a new jail in Tax Increment Finance (TIF) is an attept to hide the way local governments can spur commercial and other development in the area based off the new and extended services put in place for the jail. 

We ALL will pay more, but the debt burden on the poorest among us will be the highest.

Integrity & Jimmy Carter

~ philipamerson ~ 1 Comment

Integrity & Jimmy Carter

Integrity and Jimmy Carter are synonymous. For one hundred years he offered his witness. There were ups and downs, missteps and the recognition of a Nobel prize. I see his life as a wonder-filled demonstration of human decency and generosity. A paradoxical mix of pride and humility, intelligence and determination, vision and myopia. This peanut farmer from Plains, Georgia offered a standard, a vision for a better way.

Friends disagree. Some call him naïve, too uncompromising, or too unwilling to make savvy political calls when necessary.  A ‘fluke,’ they say, ‘one who would never have been elected had not the nation become overburdened by the agony of wars in Southeast Asia and the deceptions of Nixon and Watergate.’ I disagree. Carter’s leadership emerges as an immeasurable gift for our nation and the world. Can we learn from, benefit from, the many positives of his life and perhaps, journey carefully around its pitfalls? 

I hold that President Carter, alongside countless others who have recently died, persons like my friends Ruth Duck, Jan Foster, Bill Pannell, John Cobb, and John McKnight, exemplified lives guided by an informed faith, a hunger for truth and a future established in hope rather than fear that our nation and world now desperately need. Their lives, along with millions of unknown or unnamed others, point toward the better path for humanity, a path taught in scripture.

Closing my eyes for a moment, I see Jimmy Carter standing before a Sunday School class at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, each Sunday. He had studied the lessons found in scripture, lessons that shaped his daily living and informed his efforts to lead. This image is in stark contrast to that of another president filled with guile, poising in front of a church building, sanctimoniously holding up a Bible as a prop, knowing little of the contents or gifts found in its pages.

One man, Carter, worked to build homes for the impoverished. The other, Trump, gained wealth by building hotels for the rich and casinos that served to impoverish the vulnerable. One worked to end the guinea worm disease and other illnesses in the world. The other used an epidemic to divide and undercut public health initiatives needed by a fearful nation. One worked to encourage care for our fragile earth, protecting more than 150 million acres of wild lands and rivers. The other continues to deny the reality of climate change and lives by the words “drill baby drill.” One was ridiculed as naïve for saying he had committed “adultery in his heart.” The other was convicted of sexual abuse and bragged of his sexual exploits.  One said, “I will not tell a lie.”  The other said, I will offer “alternate facts.” One spoke a hard truth about people torn apart by religion or culture, and scripted peace accords between nations. The other used culture wars to establish new enemy lines and employed exaggeration and falsehood about the immigrant, poor and vulnerable.

Sr. Joan Chittister writes: “At the end, three things measure both our integrity and the harmony of our own lives: self-control, respect, and freedom from self-deception.”  The true value of our living will ultimately surface like a submerged cork in the ocean.  Life comes and passes; nations rise and fall. I hold to the wisdom of scripture: “Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out.” (Proverbs 10:9)

Locked up in the Rush County Jail

~ philipamerson ~ 1 Comment

Locked Up in the Rush County Jail

Tears fall from her chin; she carries a never ending uneasiness. Ashamed she waits.  In a nearby cell, he fidgets, knees bouncing uncontrollably, repentant without a path to forgiveness, he waits for a phone call.  Both have made serious mistakes. Life-altering condemnation results, closing off future options. I do not know these two personally, but I can “see” them sitting alone, or with a cellmate, or standing in shackles in a courtroom.  Such scenes continue across my state and our nation.  Each person has a name, a history, a family, friends, and enemies waiting on the outside.

They have “done harm.”  Some crimes are extremely serious, I understand.  Much of the damage, however, has been done to themselves and their loved ones. This self-harm is often rooted in addiction or psychological illness. Some are dangerous to themselves and others.  Sometimes, not always, these who sit and wait have journeyed through poverty, homelessness and/or abuse. We all lose. In Indiana alone the estimates are that opioid addictions cost the state between $4 billion and $5 billion in lost revenue, incarceration, and recovery expenses every year.

I write of “Rush County” jail more as metaphor than the actual place. There is a Rush County; Rushville, Indiana is the county seat. It is grand old town, where Wendell Willkie headquartered his 1940 campaign as the Republican candidate for the President.  It is east and south of Indianapolis.  Traveling south and east it is on the way to Cincinnati. With a population of roughly 6,200, it is like hundreds of towns dealing with the scourge of addiction and other illness. It is a symbol that across the board, once arrested, so many are rushed to vilification, only to languish in jail.  It is quick judgement and slow justice. The wheels of our legal system grind ever more slowly as so many weep and wait for that phone call.

In Monroe County, my home, our jail is a disgrace – overcrowded, unhealthy, and understaffed. Monroe is regarded as one of the most progressive counties in Indiana, yet every month seems to find another incident reflecting the horrors of our jail. We have a fast train into jail and a slow walk to trial. This, despite a sheriff, judges and commissioners who diligently seek to change the situation and build a safer facility.  It is already too late for so many. 

Our county jail is only a few blocks from where I live.  Walking along the sidewalk paralleling the jail I see scrawled messages in chalk or paint.  These are messages of hope, love and encouragement to prisoners who can look out and see what friends and family have written.

Over my decades as a pastor, I have met with, walked alongside, and known far too many who are like the two persons imagined in the opening paragraph. I do not know names of those currently in Rush – or Monroe – County facilities.  I do know these are not only imaginary.  These exist, just as surely as you do, good reader.  I know parents and spouses, children today who have loved ones being held, awaiting trial.  

I may not know or understand all the “crimes,” but I do know there are currently over a half-million such persons held in over 5,000 local jails and youth detention centers in the U.S.  There are another 1.5 to 2 million persons held in state and federal prisons. Our nation consistently has the highest incarceration rates in the world.  Our practices still have the mark of primitive and counterproductive logic.  It is built on monistic, either-or understandings of human behavior and psychology.  It is not far removed from shameful practices of shunning, exclusion, and projecting our fears on the most vulnerable among us.  Are there evil actors? – yes, of course.  Might our systematic response be greatly flawed? – yes, of course.

Frankly, much of what continues is often based on simplistic theologies of good and evil that are subject to manipulation and misuse by the wealthy and powerful.  We have become experts at isolation and seem to know very little about restoration. Our young believe our systems are rigged in favor of the wealthy. Are they not? I find myself thinking of the families who see loved ones locked up for minor crimes of addiction, while at the same time watch a former President of the U.S. use his power and wealth to manipulate the current court systems to avoid trials and dodge accountability. 

We spend more than $182 billion on incarceration each year in the United States.  Increasingly this is built on “for profit” prisons, that turn incarceration into a profit-making venture with the inmates as customers-without-a-choice facing exorbitant expenses for phone calls or other prison “benefits.”

I am far from being an expert on how to best address these concerns.  There are many acronyms for efforts underway, already proposed and practiced. Over the years I have seen us turn to more flexible sentencing, home confinement, halfway houses, drug courts, mental health courts, restorative justice and/or restitution options, community service, etc.  It is a complex system, filled with obstacles and some more enlightened practices.  My appreciation for conscientious judges, defense and prosecuting attorneys, sheriffs, jail and police officers is enormous.  I am grateful for, and applaud, all those who are pushing for reform, for a better way.  Still, too many languish behind bars, weeping alone and waiting for that phone call.

The Principle of Clarity

~ philipamerson ~ 5 Comments

Full text of Bloomington Rotary Reflection Notes 2-7-24 (Parts were edited out at presentation for brevity.)

Mark Twain once said: “When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.”

There is another side to this wisdom.  For me, now that I am in my late 70s, I am often surprised by how little I know.  Wendell Berry and Wes Jackson have written we need to often add an “Ignorance-based world view.”  Philosophers call this the Principle of Clarity.  The administration of Indiana University would benefit from a familiarity with this Principle of Clarity.  Clearly the administration’s failure to support the Kinsey Institute and canceling of the exhibition of Palestinian artist Samia Halaby at the last minute after months of planning demonstrate an abandonment of Academic Freedom that is dependent on open conversation and dialogue.

I mention Wes Jackson in honor of our speaker today who, of course, offers much valued alternative perspectives on agriculture. Wes is a geneticist, farmer, winner of MacArthur Genius award for research on perennial polycultures at The Land Institute in Salina Kansas.

As we enter Black History month while facing continuing racism exhibited by candidates for the highest offices in our nation and in a world filled with violent problems that seem intractable, there is need for open-minded clarity.  If you are like me, it is too easy to live in an information bubble, supported by confirmation biases. Without looking at events from multiple perspectives, it becomes easier to argue than to respectfully disagree. It leaves us in zero-sum worlds where an understanding the opposite person’s perspective and experiences are disregarded.

Last week, Traci Jovanovic offered a helpful word about knowledge of others related to the war in Gaza.  It caused me to think of my second visit (of what I think are now six trips) to Israel/Palestine; this in the 1988.  Mickey Mauer invited many civic, corporate, and religious leaders from Indianapolis. We met with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in political, economic, and educational arenas.  Near the end of trip, several of the Indy leaders held an unscheduled meeting seeking to come up with a solution they could offer after hearing from a few of the many sides in the region.  It was 40th anniversary of State of Israel and in the early years of First Intifada.

My friends, these leaders, were going to suggest ways to fix things. After a few minutes, feeling discouraged by the well-intentioned naivete of some, I left the meeting and sat in the bar with our Israeli tour guide and Palestinian bus driver. We chuckled together about the well-meaning effort to find easy solutions to struggles that had gone on for decades, centuries, well… millennia.  Indiana Jones movies were popular in those years.  I recall the Palestinian bus driver saying, with a wink to the Israeli tour guide, “Well, maybe these Indiana Joneses can solve things.  I wonder have they fixed all the problems in Indiana?”

Humility is a virtue that is enhanced by honoring the Principle of Clarity. For those of us who are Christians, it is worth noting that the keys to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem have been entrusted to Muslim families for hundreds of years because the various “Christian” denominations and sects struggle and disagree over who should have what spaces in the church.  Alas.

One of my friends over the years was Palestinian Christian Rev. Alex Awad.  He worked with United Methodists who visited the region, was pastor of the East Jerusalem Baptist Church and taught at the Bethlehem Bible College. Several years ago, Rev. Awad suggested that perhaps the future will need something more connected at the grass roots, something deeper than politics. He said, “People must start dreaming about Palestinian and Jewish children playing together without refugee camps, segregation walls and tanks.  Then we can truly call it a Holy Land.”

Israeli peace activist Amos Oz has written “I believe that if one person is watching a huge calamity, let’s say a conflagration, a fire, there are always three options. 1. Run away; 2. Write a very angry letter or hold a demonstration; 3. Bring a bucket of water and throw it on the fire, and if you don’t have a bucket, bring a glass, and if you don’t have a glass, use a teaspoon, everyone has a teaspoon.” In his book “How to Change the World” Oz suggests everyone can join The Order of the Teaspoon.

I am glad there are some people in this room working to find BIG SOLUTIONS to war and violence.  There are also small things we can do, right here, now, at home.  Welcoming the immigrant, finding shelter for the unhoused, saying no to racial prejudice and discrimination, seeking to mitigate domestic violence and gun play on our streets.

Jon Paul Dilts heads our club’s peace building committee.  He reminded me that February is Rotary’s “Peacebuilding and Conflict Prevention Month.” The February issue of Rotary Magazine offers several grass roots ways to seek clarity – to work across differences.  Much of the brokenness in our world has been ongoing for centuries, millennia.  Big steps and small ones toward peace are required.

I close with the wisdom of my friend Wes Jackson who said, “If your life’s work can be accomplished in your lifetime, you’re not thinking big enough.”

America’s UnCivil Wars

~ philipamerson ~ 1 Comment

Republican Presidential Candidate Nikki Haley, campaigning in New Hampshire at the end of 2023, was asked a simple question “What caused the U.S. Civil War?” Haley’s response was word-salad. It was mumbo-jumbo talk about differing theories of governance. We hear you loudly and clearly Nikki Haley. One hundred and fifty-eight years after the end of the U.S. Civil War, she was unable to give the clear one-word answer to the question.  It was SLAVERY.

If anyone believes racism isn’t deeply embedded in our national psyche, our politics and civic discourse these more than fifteen decades later, they are either ignorant of history and/or unwilling to confess a sin that continues to erode our best future. There is considerable irony, of course, that the question was asked in New Hampshire.  New Hampshire is a state from which thousands of brave young men gave their lives to end slavery.

The answer Nikki Haley gives – or fails to give – underlines our need for national confession of sin, repentance, and reconciliation. It exemplifies our continuing Un-Civil Wars. If the Confederacy had prevailed in 1865, would someone like Haley be able to hold political office today?  One wonders. Yes, there are several auxiliary causal factors to U.S. Civil War; however, why avoid the basic truth?  It was, and is, wrong for human beings to be treated as property to be held and sold? This was the crux of the war — the evils of racism as evidenced in slavery.

On April 9th, 1865, General Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia. Five days later President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in Washington, D.C. A surface telling of the history misses that thousands of troops continued fighting after April 9th and April 14th. 

It also misses the continuing Un-Civil Wars across these past fifteen decades (Reconstruction, Lynchings, Jim Crow Laws, Segregation, Red-lining in housing, Unequal school funding and dozens of other discriminatory acts). The UnCivil Wars continue today as is evidenced clearly in voter suppression efforts and racial gerrymandering. Racist impulses and ideologies continue to shape our political conversation and actions, national values, and self-understandings. If one believes otherwise, please explain why Haley’s answer could not have included one simple word?