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A Compilation of Student Essays on Jewish Perspectives on Prison Reform & a Collection of Tzedek U'mishpat Sources from Ou

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A Compilation of Student Essays on Jewish Perspectives on Prison Reform & a Collection of Tzedek U'mishpat Sources from Ou ןוֹיְעַרָה Ha’Raayon A Compilation of Student Essays on Jewish Perspectives on Prison Reform & A Collection of Tzedek U’Mishpat Sources from our Beit Midrash Volume 1 Issue 2 Part One Student Essays on Prison Reform The 1st half of Ha’Raayon includes persuasive essays written by our 9th grade students ​ ​ on the topic of Jewish perspectives on prison reform. Each student was asked to research the American prison system, identify three problematic areas within our current system, suggest pragmatic reforms as well as how those reforms connect to Jewish texts that we studied. Their essays can be found on the following numbered pages: Zac Askinazi 4 Ezra Glasman 6 Sarah Gorbatov 9 Yosi Groman 13 Leora Gutmacher 15 Emma Hasson 16 Isaac Levin 18 Jacob Louk 20 Jonah Lumerman 22 Leah Masri 25 Elie Rawson 28 Gabe Schein 30 Felicia Stendig 32 1 Part Two A Collection of Tzedek u’Mishpat Sources Our learning in the Beit Midrash this year began with a study of the Book of Bemidbar through the lens of habits of early civilizations. We discovered that many of the habits displayed by early civilizations could be found as well within the Jewish people’s experience in the desert. Our current study of Talmudic and Halachic sources has sought to probe the development of civilizations further. As a citizen, what are the means by which we make our moral decisions? And, how can ancient Jewish texts continue to inform modern conversations about ethical decision making? Throughout our time in the Beit Midrash, the students have studied B’Chavruta (in ​ ​ learning pairs) many significant Talmudic and Halachic text, wondered about their implications and debated some of the most important ethical questions we face today as a society. Included in this reader are some of the sources we used in our Beit Midrash. Our first unit of study focused on ethical questions related to life/death values and self defense. We discussed: 1. Ba Ba’Machteret: Standing your Ground in Halacha 2. The Case of Sheva ben Bichri and 9/11 3. Changing the Direction of Approaching Danger 4. Do All Lives Equally Matter? 5. What would Waymo do? A Tzedek U’Mishpat Guide to Driverless Cars 6. Law of Necessity 7. Setting a Trap to Injure an Intruder Our next unit of study incorporated some of those texts and introduced some new ones as we discussed Jewish medical ethics. Our discussions included: 8. Balancing my Risk and my Responsibility 2 9. End of Life Ethics We then turned our attention to the study of Jewish business ethics and explored the following sources: 10.Introduction to Jewish Business Ethics 11.Fair Competition in Halacha We concluded our study with a variety of topics related to the Jewish concept of justice. Our study included the following: 12.Reporting a Jew to non-Jewish Authorities 13.Applying Ethics to other Religions 14.Lifnim Mi’Shurat Ha’Din: Beyond the Letter of the Law 15.Communal Responses to a Criminal 16.Prison and Criminal Reform We hope you enjoy this 2nd edition of The Idea School’s Ha’Raayon! ​ Mrs. Tikvah Wiener Head of School Rabbi Tavi Koslowe Judaic Studies Principal Rabbi Zachary Rothblatt Judaic Studies Faculty 3 Zac Askinazi Former House Speaker John A. Boehner once said “When you look at the number of ​ people in our state and federal penitentiaries, who are there for possession of small amounts of cannabis, you begin to really scratch your head. We have literally filled up our jails with people who are nonviolent and frankly do not belong there.” Our prisons are filled with non-violent and often mentally ill offenders who don’t deserve long and difficult prison sentences. Prison reform should be a priority in our society. One big problem with prisons and jails are that they are the wrong place for the mentally ill. A 2004-2005 survey found that there were “more than 3 times more seriously mentally ill persons in jails and prisons than in hospitals”.It is estimated that at least ​ 350,000 inmates currently in jails and prisons nationwide suffer from mental illness, that's about 20% of jail inmates and 15% of prison inmates. If individuals do come to ​ the attention of law enforcement, communities should create options to divert them to treatment and services—before arrest, after arrest and at all points in the justice system. When individuals are in jail, they should have access to needed medication and support. Helping people get out of jail and into treatment is a top priority for us. NAMI ​ ​ (National Alliance on Mental Illness) believes that everyone should have access to a full array of mental health services and supports in their communities to help prevent interactions with police. These supports should include treatment for drug and alcohol use conditions, and supports like housing, education, supported employment and peer and family support. Mentally ill people who are up for release from prison should be signed up for health coverage if possible and should get help planning their release to ensure they get back on track. Prisons are also overflowing with people arrested for minor marijuana charges and other non-violent offenses. In 2010, there was a pot bust every 37 seconds. A spokesperson for Speaker Boehner described his views, saying, "The speaker is not ​ attempting to make the claim that incarcerations for marijuana possession are the primary reason America’s prisons are overcrowded. He is arguing that our prisons are 4 overcrowded, and that reducing the number of people who are incarcerated for something that many Americans today no longer even believe should be illegal is a logical place to look when we’re looking for ways to stop 'filling up our jails.” Legalizing ​ marijuana could reduce overcrowding, as could good-behavior incentives for prisoners ​ that could lead to early release and parole. There are prison reform efforts happening around the country to try and reduce prison population. In Texas, they put hundreds of millions of dollars toward helping prisoners ​ ​ with substance abuse disorders and mental illnesses through in-prison and separate treatment options. In 2014, Mississippi passed reform that would reduce incarceration for low-level offenses by implementing alternatives to prison. Washington found that cognitive-behavioral programs in prisons can reduce the number of ex-prisoners returning to prison by an average of 6.3 percent. If prisons and jails are to be humane then they must be safe. Some prisons report over 20% of prisoners still use drugs in prison . Top cause of death in local prisons is suicide. One study found that prison environments that had poor conditions (e.g., clutter, noise, and lack of privacy) were related to greater rates of violence and assaults. While the Bierie (2012) study was done in the U.S., This finding is consistent with the work of international scholars. One suggestion to try and address this would be to lessen noise, ​ clutter and lack of privacy to reduce anger and violence among prisoners. These ideas for prison reform have connections to Jewish sources that we studied as well. One Jewish source supporting the need for better conditions in our prisons is the ​ Turei Zahav on Shulchan Arukh , 334:1. “I am shocked at these words (of the Rama)! How can we focus on the prohibition that this person did if, by doing so, will bring that person to further their evil ways Chas V’Shalom.” A source that connects to the idea for humane prison conditions is Leviticus 25:39-43. (39)“If your kinsman under you continues in his straits and must give himself over to you, do not subject him to the treatment of a slave.”....(43)”You shall not rule over him ruthlessly; you shall fear your god.” 5 A source that supports the need for safe conditions is Numbers 35:11-15. (11)”you shall provide yourselves with places to serve you as cities of refuge to which a manslayer who has killed a person unintentionally may flee.” (12) “The cities shall serve you as a refuge to which a manslayer may not die unless he has stood trial before the assembly. (13)”The towns that you thus assign shall be six cities of refuge in all. This source also shows that the Torah protects people who have committed less serious offenses from harsh punishments. Someone who unintentionally kills someone else does not deserve the same punishment as someone who commits premeditated murder. Similarly, non-violent offenders should not be stuck in the prison system for long and difficult sentences. Clearly, there are a number of things that need to be fixed in our prison system. There are too many mentally ill people in the system who do not belong there, and many others who are there too long for non-violent offenses such as marijuana dealing and possession. There is an immediate need for a solution to our problems with prisons, with strong support for it coming from many Jewish sources. As Jews, shouldn’t it be our duty to help out when we see a problem? To quote Pirkei Avot, if not now, when? Ezra Glasman Problems with the Prison System The current prison system in the US is undergoing reforms but is still a huge system with many complexities. Some of these were raised in the Torah and are still applicable today. Examples of these issues are solitary confinement, the length of sentences, and violence against inmates. According to an ACLU Briefing Document on solitary confinement published in 2014, the use of solitary confinement in American prisons is increasing, including the use of “supermax” prisons, where all prisoners are held in isolation: “Although supermax prisons were rare in the United States before the 1990s, today forty- four states and the federal government have supermax units or facilities, housing at least 25,000 people 6 nationwide.”1 Overall, in 2011 according the Bureau of Justice Statistics more than 80,000 prisoners were held in some form of isolation.
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