 George
Anderson SJ, associate editor at "America" magazine and former chaplain at the notorious Rikers Island prison in New York City,
told his Carroll audience yesterday that the prisons in the U.S. are
"places of punishment for the poor and for people of
color." Noting that the bishops' pastoral letter on criminal
justice recommended the "restorative model" for prisons, he said
Americans have increasingly turned to the "retributive model"
emphasizing punishment and detention despite the fact that, in the case of
drugs, $1 worth of treatment has been shown to save $7 in law enforcement,
health care and other costs. Father Anderson, who lives on the lower
East Side of Manhattan, said he has been called to "ground zero"
of the World Trade Center recovery to pray over human remains. |