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Recidivism is one of the highest concerns in the justice system. Recidivism is the rearrest, re-conviction, or return to prison of those convicts who have been released. Prisoners are recidivists with or without a new sentence during a three-year period following their release.
Trini Lazano has high hopes of beating the odds when he is released on Nov. 19, 2011. He was born and raised in Metairie and had a good home life, with a mother and father who now have been married 50 years and two sisters. He describes himself as the black sheep.
“I finished high school with a sold C average, but when I was young I was bullied by kids. After the sixth and seventh grades I was getting into lots of fights, so I joined a gang. Then, when I was younger and in trouble, I felt untouchable and I could get away with it.
“I had my first felony at 17, a theft of $100. I entered the Marine Corps at 21 given a Commander General’s waver for the felony. I spent four years in the military, one year in Iraq. They diagnosed me with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). The Marine Corps prescribed xanax and released me in a general discharge,” said Lazano.
Lazano’s story began slowly while he admitted his difficulty in speaking about this part of his story.
Lazano tried to begin a normal life. He was married to a woman he still loves and she had one child to bring to the marriage and he had two. They had a son two years ago. Lazano worked as an electrician and had his CDL (Commercial Driver’s License).
Lazano went to other drugs, moving up the scale to heroin. His drug habit left him separated and then divorced. He was arrested for schedule 2 possession and theft of a motor vehicle and incarcerated on Jan. 31, 2011.
In the national study of recidivism released in 1994, the findings were disturbing. Fifteen states participated in the study and of 300,000 prisoners released in 1994, 67.5 percent were rearrested within three years. A study of prisoners released in 1983 estimated 62.5 percent.
This study was only amongst 15 states, and even the statisticians caution comparing states. (Recidivism of Prisoners Released in 1994, Bureau of Justice Statistics at http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/index.cfm?ty=tp&tid=17).
The state of Louisiana released statistics for 1999 through 2002 with release number of 12,787 and recidivism 43.9 percent; 2004 through 2007: release, 13,391; recidivism, 39.3 percent. The three-year recidivism rate in Louisiana dropped from 43.9 percent among the 12,787 people released from prison in 1999, to 39.3 percent of the 13,391 prisoners released in 2004.
The drop of 10.7 percent in the number of people returning to prison was the sixth-largest among the 33 states who reported figures for both years. State Public Safety and Corrections Secretary Jimmy LeBlanc said the state’s lower recidivism rates coincide with pilot “re-entry programs” (also referred to as pre-release programs) launched in 2004 aimed at helping inmates adjust to life on the outside. Those programs have since been expanded statewide. In addition to the state-by-state report, The Pew Charitable Trusts is working with Louisiana officials on a yearlong study of ways to reduce recidivism and incarceration rates. Louisiana currently locks up 881 of every 100,000 adults, far above the national rate of 501 per 100,000 that is the highest in the world.
However, these statistics are still a serious concern. Louisiana, as most states, is trying to turn the tide of this serious problem.
There are bills that have been considered to assist prisoners successfully stay in society once released, but they have not been brought up for discussion or vote as of yet. One bill would give judges the decision to issue immediate “administrative sanctions,” such as a weekend in jail, for minor parole violations.
Now parole violations are either a slap on the hand or the a revoke of parole, which could land violators back in jail for several years. “The hope is if you have those immediate consequences that are smaller in nature, that the person will get on to the program and they won’t lose their jobs and they’ll be able to continue on and finally get with the program,” said Rep. Joe Lopinto, R-Metairie, who is filing the measures.
Another bill will seek to reduce, from 33 percent to 25 percent, the amount of a sentence that a nonviolent, non-habitual offender must serve before becoming eligible for parole. (Jan Moller, Bills would attempt to reduce Louisiana prison population, recidivism, Wednesday, April 13, 2011, The Times-Picayune).
“Without education, job skills, and other basic services, offenders are likely to repeat the same steps that brought them to jail in the first place ... This is a problem that needs to be addressed head-on. We cannot say we are doing everything we can to keep our communities and our families safe if we are not addressing the high rate at which offenders are becoming repeat criminals.” Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said in March of this year.
C. Paul Phelps Correctional Center granted a request from Southwest Daily News to interview two offenders in an effort to share with the public the various programming offered to offenders to prepare them for returning to their communities and homes to become productive citizens of society. Warden Robert Y. Henderson said, “The Department of Corrections promotes moral rehabilitation through program participation which enables positive behavior change. Participation in education, faith based initiatives and social services programming instills a motivation for change. This diminishes public risk presented by offenders upon release. Phelps Correctional Center is committed to these goals.”
“I became a Class A Trustee after only three weeks here,” Lazano said. “I worked off six months in participating in self help educational programs. I took correspondence courses from Red River Community College in biology, religion and social psychology. My GPA in those college classes was 3.85. I took leisure learning lessons (courses Phelps offers) in writing. I’m going to be a psychologist when I get out,” Lazano said with an elevated excitement.
“In the pre-release program I was a member of Toastmasters — an organization that teaches public speaking and leadership skills; the Jaycee’s teaching entrepreneurism and business management; Protestant Brotherhood; and I’m the secretary for the Veterans Incarcerated.
“I’ve had two parenting classes, anger management sessions and so many other pre-release programs offered here. I stayed away from write-ups (disciplinary problems noted in prison) for 10 months. Now my release date is almost here,” he said with a smile.
Lazano had a lot to say about his release and his hopes for a successful life.
“When I was on narcotics, I wanted to just OD. Coming to jail sucks, but had I not, I’d been dead somewhere or have killed someone,” Lazano’s voice was filled with emotion and he took a moment to compose himself.
“This time I’m going out of jail slow. The first thing I’m doing is going back to college and get back with my family. I have 50-50 custody with my son.
My mom and my dad have been my rock. Warden Constance and Brenda Garrick, program director for education, helped me so much here. When we came in we took a TABE (Test of Adult Basic Education) test. Tutors helped me get my math. The key is education. The social services department helped me with my PTSD and other medical problems. I found out I had hepatitis, but it can be cured with medication. I’ve never lost my faith. God saved my life. Just maybe I can save somebody’s life,” Lazano paused.
“I don’t regret the past I’ve had; I try to use it as a learning experience. God puts us through trials and tribulations for a reason, wanting us to become better. The application of knowledge is power: the measure of a man’s strength is not by the overpowering emotions that control him but the power of emotions he controls. It’s what you do in life. It’s the footprints you leave,” he concluded.
Lazano has agreed to a second interview with Southwest Daily News to tell his story of those first few months of life in society on parole.
The pre-release or pre-entry programs that many facilities like Phelps Corrections have implemented may help the recidivism rate. Department of Corrections Secretary Jimmy LeBlanc is optimistic about the project. Participants receive GED opportunities, values development, job skills training, and substance abuse treatment prior to their release. LeBlanc is passionate in his defense of the program.
“I want people to understand that what we’re doing is going to reduce crime. It’s not being soft on crime. Ninety-five percent of the people who come to prison are coming home and people need to understand that. ‘Lock em up and throw away the key’ is the easiest thing to do, but they’re coming home and we’re trying to do a better job of whose coming home. We talk about being tough on crime, but that needs to lend itself to being smart on how we deal with crime,” LeBlanc said.
Recidivism is one of the highest concerns in the justice system. Recidivism is the rearrest, re-conviction, or return to prison of those convicts who have been released. Prisoners are recidivists with or without a new sentence during a three-year period following their release.
Trini Lazano has high hopes of beating the odds when he is released on Nov. 19, 2011. He was born and raised in Metairie and had a good home life, with a mother and father who now have been married 50 years and two sisters. He describes himself as the black sheep.
“I finished high school with a sold C average, but when I was young I was bullied by kids. After the sixth and seventh grades I was getting into lots of fights, so I joined a gang. Then, when I was younger and in trouble, I felt untouchable and I could get away with it.
“I had my first felony at 17, a theft of $100. I entered the Marine Corps at 21 given a Commander General’s waver for the felony. I spent four years in the military, one year in Iraq. They diagnosed me with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). The Marine Corps prescribed xanax and released me in a general discharge,” said Lazano.
Lazano’s story began slowly while he admitted his difficulty in speaking about this part of his story.
Lazano tried to begin a normal life. He was married to a woman he still loves and she had one child to bring to the marriage and he had two. They had a son two years ago. Lazano worked as an electrician and had his CDL (Commercial Driver’s License).
Lazano went to other drugs, moving up the scale to heroin. His drug habit left him separated and then divorced. He was arrested for schedule 2 possession and theft of a motor vehicle and incarcerated on Jan. 31, 2011.
In the national study of recidivism released in 1994, the findings were disturbing. Fifteen states participated in the study and of 300,000 prisoners released in 1994, 67.5 percent were rearrested within three years. A study of prisoners released in 1983 estimated 62.5 percent.
This study was only amongst 15 states, and even the statisticians caution comparing states. (Recidivism of Prisoners Released in 1994, Bureau of Justice Statistics at http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/index.cfm?ty=tp&tid=17).
The state of Louisiana released statistics for 1999 through 2002 with release number of 12,787 and recidivism 43.9 percent; 2004 through 2007: release, 13,391; recidivism, 39.3 percent. The three-year recidivism rate in Louisiana dropped from 43.9 percent among the 12,787 people released from prison in 1999, to 39.3 percent of the 13,391 prisoners released in 2004.
The drop of 10.7 percent in the number of people returning to prison was the sixth-largest among the 33 states who reported figures for both years. State Public Safety and Corrections Secretary Jimmy LeBlanc said the state’s lower recidivism rates coincide with pilot “re-entry programs” (also referred to as pre-release programs) launched in 2004 aimed at helping inmates adjust to life on the outside. Those programs have since been expanded statewide. In addition to the state-by-state report, The Pew Charitable Trusts is working with Louisiana officials on a yearlong study of ways to reduce recidivism and incarceration rates. Louisiana currently locks up 881 of every 100,000 adults, far above the national rate of 501 per 100,000 that is the highest in the world.
However, these statistics are still a serious concern. Louisiana, as most states, is trying to turn the tide of this serious problem.
There are bills that have been considered to assist prisoners successfully stay in society once released, but they have not been brought up for discussion or vote as of yet. One bill would give judges the decision to issue immediate “administrative sanctions,” such as a weekend in jail, for minor parole violations.
Now parole violations are either a slap on the hand or the a revoke of parole, which could land violators back in jail for several years. “The hope is if you have those immediate consequences that are smaller in nature, that the person will get on to the program and they won’t lose their jobs and they’ll be able to continue on and finally get with the program,” said Rep. Joe Lopinto, R-Metairie, who is filing the measures.
Another bill will seek to reduce, from 33 percent to 25 percent, the amount of a sentence that a nonviolent, non-habitual offender must serve before becoming eligible for parole. (Jan Moller, Bills would attempt to reduce Louisiana prison population, recidivism, Wednesday, April 13, 2011, The Times-Picayune).
“Without education, job skills, and other basic services, offenders are likely to repeat the same steps that brought them to jail in the first place ... This is a problem that needs to be addressed head-on. We cannot say we are doing everything we can to keep our communities and our families safe if we are not addressing the high rate at which offenders are becoming repeat criminals.” Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said in March of this year.
C. Paul Phelps Correctional Center granted a request from Southwest Daily News to interview two offenders in an effort to share with the public the various programming offered to offenders to prepare them for returning to their communities and homes to become productive citizens of society. Warden Robert Y. Henderson said, “The Department of Corrections promotes moral rehabilitation through program participation which enables positive behavior change. Participation in education, faith based initiatives and social services programming instills a motivation for change. This diminishes public risk presented by offenders upon release. Phelps Correctional Center is committed to these goals.”
“I became a Class A Trustee after only three weeks here,” Lazano said. “I worked off six months in participating in self help educational programs. I took correspondence courses from Red River Community College in biology, religion and social psychology. My GPA in those college classes was 3.85. I took leisure learning lessons (courses Phelps offers) in writing. I’m going to be a psychologist when I get out,” Lazano said with an elevated excitement.
“In the pre-release program I was a member of Toastmasters — an organization that teaches public speaking and leadership skills; the Jaycee’s teaching entrepreneurism and business management; Protestant Brotherhood; and I’m the secretary for the Veterans Incarcerated.
“I’ve had two parenting classes, anger management sessions and so many other pre-release programs offered here. I stayed away from write-ups (disciplinary problems noted in prison) for 10 months. Now my release date is almost here,” he said with a smile.
Lazano had a lot to say about his release and his hopes for a successful life.
“When I was on narcotics, I wanted to just OD. Coming to jail sucks, but had I not, I’d been dead somewhere or have killed someone,” Lazano’s voice was filled with emotion and he took a moment to compose himself.
“This time I’m going out of jail slow. The first thing I’m doing is going back to college and get back with my family. I have 50-50 custody with my son.
My mom and my dad have been my rock. Warden Constance and Brenda Garrick, program director for education, helped me so much here. When we came in we took a TABE (Test of Adult Basic Education) test. Tutors helped me get my math. The key is education. The social services department helped me with my PTSD and other medical problems. I found out I had hepatitis, but it can be cured with medication. I’ve never lost my faith. God saved my life. Just maybe I can save somebody’s life,” Lazano paused.
“I don’t regret the past I’ve had; I try to use it as a learning experience. God puts us through trials and tribulations for a reason, wanting us to become better. The application of knowledge is power: the measure of a man’s strength is not by the overpowering emotions that control him but the power of emotions he controls. It’s what you do in life. It’s the footprints you leave,” he concluded.
Lazano has agreed to a second interview with Southwest Daily News to tell his story of those first few months of life in society on parole.
The pre-release or pre-entry programs that many facilities like Phelps Corrections have implemented may help the recidivism rate. Department of Corrections Secretary Jimmy LeBlanc is optimistic about the project. Participants receive GED opportunities, values development, job skills training, and substance abuse treatment prior to their release. LeBlanc is passionate in his defense of the program.
“I want people to understand that what we’re doing is going to reduce crime. It’s not being soft on crime. Ninety-five percent of the people who come to prison are coming home and people need to understand that. ‘Lock em up and throw away the key’ is the easiest thing to do, but they’re coming home and we’re trying to do a better job of whose coming home. We talk about being tough on crime, but that needs to lend itself to being smart on how we deal with crime,” LeBlanc said.
