Summary Of Reamer's On The Parole Board

The criminal justice system has made a huge impact on past and present society. It has changed dramatically over the years, with different laws being created to help and protect our society. The book On The Parole Board: Reflections On Crime, Punishment, Redemption, and Justice by Frederic G. Reamer explains in great detail about his experiences with being on the parole board. He also describes the challenges that he faces with the inmates and. The crimes he has heard from different inmates, are horrific acts someone can do. As he explains throughout the book, he describes his experiences with the inmate’s parole hearings. These stories are disturbing but interesting to hear because they come from people of different backgrounds. Not all of

“Good and evil are within everyone who is living, regardless of animal or human, it just determines what you choose to have or desire more and what path you want to take till the end.” Pg. 40. Reamer believes that the goodness in a person has to come from sympathy and empathy. There is remorse in a person when they hurt or damage another person physically and or emotionally. When Reamer hears about Isaac Witte’s case, which he was committed for assaulting another man nearly killing him, he was intrigued because he saw the love and affection Witte’s was giving his dog. One of the programs in prison is an organization called the National Education for Assistance Dog Services or NEADS where inmates get a chance to train puppies for people with different disabilities. Witte’s had been in that program for over three years, training three dogs in his sentence. Reamer’s evaluation on Witte’s performances with the puppies displayed goodness and reflected compassion that Reamer recognized and wanted to see from him. In Witte’s hearing, he states that the program has helped him learn to be sympathetic towards others and to learn to actually care about someone in a way that is kind. He then explains that his mother having lung cancer was a big eye-opener and that life is a gift that shouldn’t be taken granted for. To

Prisons were created to keep out the bad and abnormal that were disturbing society, but over time urbanization and capitalism advanced prisons into working factories. Prisons are a way for people to reflect on the decisions that they have made. In Chapter 5, Redemption and Hope, Reamer reflects of the different ways prisoner’s coup with being released on parole. Surprisingly, there are many inmates that get released and commit another crime and are sent right back in because they violate their probation. However, there are the lucky ones who make it out and stay out. There are many rehabilitation centers that help drug addicts to be clean and there are some opportunities that prisoners have when they get out. It is hard, though, for prisoners to get stable jobs because of their record. Being on the parole board for Reamer is one of the most challenging things he’s ever had to face because he believes that the system can be unfair sometimes. There are decisions he has to make that may or may not affect society. He brings up the word “hope” again because he believes that “hope” is part of the recovery and dedication of people to become clean and stay out of prison. But he also states, I can relate to, that no matter how much you believe in a person, don’t get too comfortable because there is always something that’s going to disturb that peace and its going to happen again. That stood out to me because