Representative Laurel Lee (R-FL) discussed prison reform, specifically evidence-based recidivism and preventing the smuggling of contraband, in a recent House Judiciary Hearing.
Rep. Lee began the discussion by acknowledging her recent introduction of the bipartisan Fresh Start Act, before asking the hearing witness, Patrick Purtill, Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Unify.US, "I would love to hear your thoughts on some of the tools and strategies that are evidence-based that help us reduce rates of recidivism."
Purtill answered that "We do know a fair amount about when people are more likely to recidivate. We know that employment is one of the most important factors that someone can ever have in determining whether or not they are going to recidivate once they are released from prison."
While there were others more qualified than he to describe evidence-based programming, "I know that the Bureau [of Prisons] has a process by which they examine programs before they determine that they are evidence-based."
Rep. Lee then turned to Cody Wilde, the Senior Vice President of Correctional Programs at Prison Fellowship, asking, "From the inmate rehabilitation standpoint, have staffing shortages affected the availability of programming and those types of opportunities for those who are incarcerated?"
Wilde affirmed the Florida Congresswoman's answer: "In several locations where staffing is low, you have to be able to escort volunteers. You have to ensure that if people are coming in to offer those programs, that they are kept safe and secure as well. So yes, staffing shortages do impact programs."
Finally, Lee asked about efforts to stop the smuggling of contraband into prisons, asking One Voice United Executive Director Andy Potter about the "issue of increased contraband being smuggled into prisons and specifically the dangers associated with cell phones."
"Cell phones, in particular, are in my mind pretty dangerous because, well, there is a way of communicating from across the compound," Potter answered, "There is a way of communicating with folks outside to do all kinds of nefarious things, it is not just a communication to see how you are doing."
As a result, Lee continued, "What are some of the things that you think we could do to help deter or reduce the amount of contraband entering our prison systems?"
Potter replied that "there has been a lot of innovation that has taken place over the past several years, and there are a lot of facilities in a lot of states that are taking those steps, like cell phone detection, drone detection, and things like that, when people come in. If you can detect what kind of contraband they are bringing in, or if there is contraband coming from over the fence, if you can identify what that is and stop or disable it, I think those are all mechanisms that are extremely useful."
