November/December 2002

Prisons
A Breeding Ground for Terrorists?

by Monte Wolverton with Tom Donlon

Last spring a terrorist threat to detonate a "dirty bomb," designed to spread nuclear contaminants over a wide area, was discovered. The diabolical plot involved Islamic radicals recruiting embittered American prisoners from our correctional institutions. Have the very institutions we have established to redeem errant citizens been turned into factories for hatred and violence?

Jose Padilla could have killed or injured thousands of Americans. Not quickly, but slowly and painfully, from exposure to atomic radiation and the resulting cancers. Thankfully, his plans were cut short by the FBI.

What drove Padilla to become a potential mass-murdering terrorist?

In his teen years, he was a gang member in Chicago. He was not afraid to use a gun, and that, combined with his hot temper, got him a 10-month prison sentence when he shot at another motorist during a road rage incident.

While in prison in Broward County, Florida, Padilla became interested in Islam. After his release, the impoverished Padilla found a job at a fast food restaurant. His employer described him as "hard-working, no problem whatsoever." Later, Padilla would move to the Middle East, where he would become immersed in Islamic extremism.

Although Padilla may not have converted to militant Islam until after prison, it seems clear that his recruitment started in prison. It could well be that Islamic extremist recruiters saw in Padilla a potential for extreme violence and hatred which could be harnessed to serve their cause.

How many other "no problem whatsoever" Padillas are out there? How many hate-filled fanatics are being selected and recruited from our prisons, to masquerade as reformed, productive citizens after they are released -- only later to reveal themselves as mass-murdering terrorists?

Our Burgeoning Prisons

Two million people are currently serving time in jails and prisons in the United States, including about 100,000 youths. An additional four and a half million are paroled or on probation, but under the supervision of the criminal justice system. Two million incarcerated felons are larger than the population of many states, including New Mexico and West Virginia. One in 140 Americans is currently serving time.

The total number of people in the criminal justice system -- six and a half million -- is greater than the population of Indiana or Massachusetts. Only twelve states have higher populations.

The sheer number of American convicts can be seen as either good news or bad news. Crime has decreased over the last few decades, but not because Americans are becoming less violent and more peace loving. Crime has decreased because more criminals are locked away in prisons.

In the 1970s, Americans started to grow tired of revolving-door justice, slap-on-the-wrist sentences, easy prison life and generous paroles. They demanded stiffer penalties.

Criminal justice policies changed, favoring longer prison terms, stringent parole policies, mandatory minimum sentences and "three strikes laws." Sentences handed out in America are now among the longest in the world.

The last decade has shown a marked increase in the prison population in the United States, while during the same period the crime rate decreased. Criminologists caution that the reasons behind the rise and fall in crime rates are complex matters and that fluctuations in the crime rate cannot easily be attributed to one factor.

But it's hard not to imagine a relationship between the two statistics: more criminals off the streets, less crime. And not only do we have more criminals in prison, but time is a lot harder to serve than it used to be. It would seem that more severe penalties are acting as a deterrent.

This is a good thing, isn't it? America is now, officially, tough on crime. Shouldn't that make us feel safer? Shouldn't it make law-abiding citizens feel good that criminals are being soundly punished for their misdeeds? Not necessarily.

In times past, the objective of the American justice system was to reform a criminal while he paid his debt to society. The very term Correctional Institution implies some effort is being made toward redemption. Ideally, at the end of a five or ten year sentence, a new person would walk through the gates, having learned his lesson -- perhaps even having learned a trade -- ready to become a productive member of society. But the reality is that such a scenario now seems pathetically naïve.

As prison populations have increased in the last decade, the American justice system has all it can do to house inmates while they serve their time. Seeking to reform inmates is no longer a priority in most facilities.

Correctional Models That Don't Work

With few exceptions, prisons use one of two correctional models: 1) the restraint/retributive model and 2) the rehabilitative model.

Neither model prepares the prisoner for productivity and civility. The retributive model prevents the acquiring of skills, and the rehabilitative model assumes that skills are all that is necessary to prepare the prisoner for civilian life. Neither model encourages critical thinking and personal responsibility. Prisoners do not learn to live productive civilian lives.

Increasingly, the overriding objective of prison management is to control prisoners. The most efficient tools to accomplish that are deprivation, segregation and solitary confinement.

Some experts suggest that the prison of the future will resemble the super maximum security prison at Huntsville, Texas, where some of the most violent criminals in that state are housed. Aside from the privilege of exercise in a cage for an hour three times a week, inmates spend the remaining 165 hours a week inside the solitary confinement of their cells, with no human contact.

While this strategy for controlling prisoners may be effective as a short-term goal, its psychological side-effects can be disastrous.

According to Harvard psychologist Stuart Grassman (in an ABC News interview), solitary prisoners "become increasingly anxious, paranoid, overtly confused, delirious, psychotic."

And 95 percent of the men in solitary will eventually be released back into society. Should we be worried?

Without efforts to reform the criminal, and in the absence of incentives for good behavior, criminals are often no better when they come out than when they go in. In fact, some evidence suggests that criminals come out much worse, having used their time to learn skills of crime from master criminals, or to seethe in their own hatred.

Out of every 100 people in solitary, 95 will come out -- perhaps better trained in crime and filled with hate -- prime fodder for those who would manipulate them.

Crime in Prison

Does convicting criminals reduce crime?

No. Prison is a place where some of the worst people in society are allowed to victimize each other. A recent study of New York prisons concluded that incarceration "merely shifts the locus of criminal activity away from neighborhoods to correctional facilities."

Gangs, extortion and violent crime are more common in prison than on the street. Correctional officers in many systems freely admit that they don't control the prisons.

Good prisoner behavior is not the priority of most guards, who are trying to keep prisoners behind bars and to keep themselves safe. Different prison systems are run differently. In some facilities guards make an effort to prevent attacks and rapes by violent inmates. In other institutions guards tell abused inmates that they aren't there to "baby-sit" them.

Prison rape is the most dreaded and infamous feature of prison life. A 1996 study of Nebraska prisons concluded that 22 percent of male inmates had been pressured to have sexual contact against their will. One can only imagine what that percentage might be in the more urban states.

Violent attacks in prison are seldom prosecuted, because inmates don't effectively have the right to police protection. It is difficult, if not impossible, for prisoners to file charges of assault against another prisoner. While inmates have the right to file complaints with local police, they are generally ignored, and inmates lack the expertise to use the civil court system.

If an inmate fails to follow correct prison procedures in bringing a complaint, it is tossed out as being frivolous.

Ill and Incarcerated

Health care is a major issue in prisons. Inmates typically have higher rates of mental illnesses, HIV and AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases and illnesses associated with substance abuse and violent behavior. According to U.S. News and World Report (August 5, 2002), the rate of contagious tuberculosis in prison is about 20 times higher than that of the general population. Hepatitis C affects nearly 20 percent of U.S. prisoners.

Health care is provided free of charge to prisoners, and critics complain that too many tax dollars are being spent on medical care for convicted felons. But considering that hundreds of thousands of prisoners are released back into society every year, the consequences (in both endangered public health and financial impact on the public health care system) of not caring adequately for sick inmates could be disastrous.

Prison -- a Hothouse of Racism

Racism is rampant behind bars. Part of the reason is that more than half of those behind bars are from non-white populations. African Americans make up 44 percent of prisoners, Hispanics 15 percent and other minorities about 1 percent. Minorities behind bars can feel oppressed and often take out their anger on the 40 percent of their fellow inmates who are white.

Even if whites aren't already racist, they quickly learn to return this racial hatred. According to one white inmate, "If you weren't racist when you came to prison, more than likely you will be when you leave."

Many African Americans in prison see whites as "the law." They are convinced that a white, racist legal system has put them in prison.

Given the hellish, chaotic environment of prison, the order and peace offered by even moderate Islam is compelling to many prisoners. Although it is as difficult to practice Islam in prison as it is any other religious activity, Islam offers an internal refuge from the storm surrounding the prisoner. It also offers fellowship with small groups of like-minded individuals. However, as with any faith, there are variations in practice, and moderate Islam is not the only form of that religion being taught in prison.

Robert Morey, author of the controversial book The Islamic Invasion, (www.faithdefenders.com) asserts that Muslims have targeted the federal and state prison systems as part of a five-step program funded by a billion dollars of Saudi Arabian money to convert Americans to Islam. According to Morey, they are sending Muslim chaplains, missionaries, copies of the Koran and other literature aimed at the most violent and hardened criminals.

While Morey's charges may initially seem conspiratorial or alarmist, they are plausible. It would be in the best interest of Islamic extremists to enlist hate-filled outcasts -- people who believe they have been given a raw deal -- people with enough of a grudge against American society to want to bring it down -- people with nothing to lose -- people who would gladly commit terrorist acts. What better place to find these people than in prison?

We have seen how the prison experience spawns racial hatred and amplifies any racism that is present before prison. Black Muslims have historically exploited this racism. The same dynamic may be present with Latino prisoners, many of whom, like Jose Padilla, were violent street gang members.

Author and former prisoner Joe Loya (Los Angeles Times, June 23, 2002) notes that radical Islam can appeal to Latino prisoners as a form of rebellion against the traditional European authority of Catholicism. For some, it may affirm Hispanic Muslim Moorish roots.

Welcome Back?

Whatever the reason, radical Islam is taking a foothold among minorities in prison -- minorities with a grudge against America.

If they were to stay in prison, we might feel relatively safe. But they don't.

There is evidence to suggest that the trend of growth in prison population may be over. More convicted felons are coming out than are going in.

Over the past year or so, growth in prison and jail populations has slowed substantially. The steep increases in incarceration rates have ended. A six-month period in 2001 actually showed a small decrease in the total State Prison populations across the country.

Fewer people are entering prison, while more are coming out -- including hate-filled terrorists recruited by radical Islamists.

Does the Bible Have Anything to Say About Prisons?

Western civilization may have derived many of its institutions from Christian principles, but our prison system isn't one of them.

In biblical times, imprisonment was not used so much for punishment as for detention.

In the Old Testament, punishment for criminal behavior in ancient Israel was not unlike that of the neighboring nations. Penalties fell into several categories, including corporal punishment (Deuteronomy 25:2), retaliation (Exodus 21:23-25), enslaving (Exodus 22:3), restitution (Leviticus 5:16), exiling (Numbers 15:30) and capitol punishment, usually by stoning (Exodus 19:13).

With the exception of exiling or death, the criminal was quickly returned to society after punishment. In some cases, criminal offenders or captured enemy soldiers were used in forced labor -- but they were rarely if ever simply incarcerated for punishment.

While some of these ancient penalties seem cruel and unusual by modern standards, it may be argued that they inflict less pain than the psychological effects of the solitary confinement and sexual assault common in today's prisons.

The New Testament marks the end of the civil government of Israel, and with it the penalties for crime under the old covenant. The apostle Paul (often a prisoner himself) states that Christians are to be subject to civil authority, granted to the state by God to make and enforce laws to maintain order in society.

The church is given no authority to punish criminals or those it deems to be in violation of its policies, practices or doctrines. However, the Inquisitions, John Calvin's Geneva experiment and the early American Puritan settlements were times when the church arrogated such authority to itself, ignoring Scripture.

But while the church overstepped its bounds in these tragic historical instances, it is equally important to note that the church has also brought about improvements in criminal justice -- such as the major prison reforms in the 19th and 20th centuries.

More than ever, society needs Christians to take an active role in improving and reforming today's criminal justice system. 

Tom Donlon, who assisted in researching this article, lives in western Maryland, with his wife and son.

Radical Recruiting in America's Prisons by Cal Thomas The mail brings a letter from a self-identified African-American prison inmate (several of the same type have arrived since September 11). He predicts Islam will take over the world and America's days are numbered. This man is one of many converts to radical Islam under a program indirectly funded by Saudi Arabian money through the National Islamic Prison Foundation, which underwrites a "prison outreach" program. [Editors Note: Such programs are discussed at conferences such as the fifth annual Islam in American Prisons Conference, held this last July in Chicago, Illinois (see www.ISNA.net, click on "Islam in American Prisons").] One of the co-sponsors of the gathering is the Islamic Society of North America, which has ties to other Muslim groups in the U.S., some of which are up to no good. Let us hope that under the new Justice Department guidelines, the FBI will be attending and taking notes. Prison Fellowship Chairman Charles Colson, who heads a Christian ministry to prisoners, believes radical Islamic clerics (imams), trained in Saudi Arabia, are converting large numbers of African-American inmates not only to their religion, but to their political objectives, including virulent anti- Americanism. Colson thinks such inmates could serve the radicals as terrorists once they are released, murdering their own countrymen in a kind of "payback" for perceived injustices done to them by white America. Last October 20, The New York Times quoted Faheem Shuaibe, imam at a large, predominately black mosque in Oakland, California, as saying that more than 200 African-American imams have been trained so far in Saudi Arabia. Shuaibe told the newspaper: "There was a very deliberate recruitment process by the Saudis, trying to find black Muslims who had a real potential for Islamic learning and also for submission to their agenda. They taught Islam with the intent to expand their influence. A principal target was to stop the indigenous Muslim leadership in America from tinkering with their religion." According to the Times story, the brand of Islam being taught and exported was the most extreme sect, known as Wahhabism. "These are bad guys," says Colson, who contrasts his Christian ministry, which uses volunteers to visit inmates, with the "extreme agenda" of the Wahhabbi Muslims, who do not utilize volunteers, but rely on imams. Colson says he has been in 600 prisons (counting the one in which he served time for Watergate crimes). He calls some of the anger of black inmates "legitimate" because of sentence disparity and the anger they feel at themselves. These angry men are being shaped by radical clerics in a way that will threaten America's interests when they get out. There are about 2 million people in American jails and prisons. Most are men and about 40 percent are white. "If only 5 percent of the African-American population is disaffected," says Colson, "that is an enormous pool from which the radicals can draw." Inmates of whatever faith, or of no faith, are entitled to visits by lay or professional ministers. But Supreme Court rulings grant the prison system the right to determine who might undermine order and who best preserves it. Wardens in state prisons and officials in the Federal Bureau of Prisons should issue new guidelines and bar radical Islamists. While the government is at it, a serious investigation should be conducted into the proliferation of Islamic front-groups in this country. Influential American political activists are rumored to be taking money from Islamic states and seeking to shape U.S. foreign and domestic policies that may not be in the best interests of their own country. They should also be the focus of journalistic concern. This is war, after all. German spies were hunted down and exposed during the Second World War, as were spies and other threats to American freedoms during the Cold War. We should be doing the same with this greater contemporary threat.   © 2002 Tribune Media Services, Inc.

What About Private Prisons? Movies and television portray corporate prisons of the future as indifferent and dispassionate factories where inmates are mistreated, abused, given mind-controlling implants and are exploited for profit. Such depictions reflect the skepticism among the general public regarding private prisons. Less than one out of thirteen prisoners in the United States are housed in privately operated facilities run by prison corporations. At the end of the 19th century, privately operated facilities were common in America, but they were notorious for their abuses. Social and religious groups pressing for reform put an end to the practice of privately housing inmates. Federal and state governments owned and operated most prisons through the 20th century until the last two decades, when financial pressure made the efficiency of private facilities more attractive. But some government reports suggest that privately operated prison facilities have run out of gas. Alarm bells were set off when at least one private prison corporation started lobbying the government for longer sentences for criminals. This is clearly inappropriate -- a reminder that such corporations are primarily looking out for the bottom line. Corporate prisons need a clear advantage in order for the general public to be inclined to give them custody of more prisoners -- especially if the statistics indicating that the number of people behind bars is stabilizing are accurate. Still, compared to government institutions, private corporations have a greater potential to develop innovative solutions to prison management. If they moved quickly to be leaders in doing what is best for society, they could increase their share of prisoners held. The need for more effective prisons is now. Will correctional corporations rise to the occasion?

What Can We Do? Many Americans who have never served time, or have a friend or relative who has, care little about what happens in prison. But we forget that what happens in prison eventually comes around to impact us where we live -- especially if your new neighbor turns out to be a parolee who has been fed a steady diet of hate, racism, sexual assaults or psychosis-inducing isolation. Worse yet, he may have been recruited by terrorists who will leverage his emotional pathologies for their own diabolical purposes. But it's not too late to do something. Here are two actions you can take: (1) Support prison reform. There are better ways than the flawed correctional models most commonly used in the United States. The Missouri Department of Corrections has had considerable success with its "Parallel Universe" corrections strategy, in which life inside prison is made to resemble life outside. Inmates can acquire skills, habits and most importantly, values that will help them become productive, law-abiding citizens. Other countries, such as Mexico, employ prison models designed to train inmates to function successfully in society. (2) Help bring the gospel to prison. In a dark and hopeless environment, Jesus Christ is the one true source of light, hope, healing and joy for many prisoners. The more the truth of the gospel penetrates the shadows of prison, the less fertile soil there is for hatred and terrorism. Thanks to our generous donors, Plain Truth Ministries is doing its part by sending magazines, literature and Bibles to prisoners.

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