Justice that Restores

Many of our troops in Iraq have unknowingly placed their safety in an unlikely set of hands: those of federal prisoners.

Since 1997, nearly every standard helmet used by American ground troops is manufactured at a federal prison located in Beaumont, Texas. That's 70,000 helmets a year.

The factory is operated by Federal Prison Industries, also known by its trade name, UNICOR. UNICOR employs more than 21,000 inmates at 111 factories in seventy-one prisons across the country.

While these numbers sound impressive, it's far from enough. The number of inmates employed by UNICOR is only a little more than 10 percent of the federal prison population. And, the wages paid -- as little as twenty-three cents an hour -- isn't enough for their work to serve society's interests.

My years as Attorney General of Virginia and in ministry inside prisons have taught me that idleness is the enemy. Prisoners whose minds and hands are not productively engaged can only get into trouble. Idle prisoners are more prone toward violence, drug use, or debilitating depression. That's because of the biblical principle that God created us to work. This is one reason that Justice Fellowship, the justice arm of Prison Fellowship, has long advocated meaningful work inside prisons.

There's another reason: Meaningful work provides inmates with the means to make restitution to their victims. Again, there is a clear biblical principle of justice at work here -- offenders are to make restitution to their victims. While no amount of money can truly make a victim whole, paying some kind of restitution forces the offender to take responsibility for his actions. It's an admission that he took something from his victim, something he had no right to take. This acknowledgment of guilt is an antidote to the culture of moral denial that pervades American prisons.

To pay restitution, however inadequate, a prisoner must earn something for his labor, which brings me to what I mean by "meaningful work." Meaningful work is the kind of work that teaches offenders useful skills and a good work ethic. And it pays them enough to make restitution and contribute, however modestly, to the support of their family. These last two are important because the connection between our labor and the well-being of others is what gives our work its dignity.

The bad news is that programs like UNICOR are far from sufficient. The worse news is that most state corrections work systems are even less satisfactory. This year, an estimated 650,000 prisoners will be released, and the vast majority will have never learned the most basics skills needed to stay out of prison -- the ones we learn from earning our daily bread.

Call us at BreakPoint (1-877-3-CALLBP) for more information on this and other justice issues, including a speech Chuck Colson gave to our entire Prison Fellowship staff outlining the rationale behind restorative justice (available on audiocassette).

Christians are commanded to care for both the victim and the offender. As such, we have an interest in anything that can help to heal the wounds caused by crime. A good place to start is putting prisoners to work -- the kind of work that makes us all safer.