State representatives, Circuit judges and local leaders were present for Friday’s Kentucky Criminal Justice Forum (KCJF), held at the H.L. Neblett Community Center. Circuit Court Judge Lisa P. Jones shared her thoughts on reforming the criminal justice system with the 100-plus people who attended Friday’s forum.
Appointed as the keynote speaker for the KCJF, Jones referred to her years-long work in reforming the juvenile justice system across the state of Kentucky. She said the adult criminal justice system needed a reformation in many of the same ways.
The U.S. has the highest incarceration rate in the world — sitting at 2.1million individuals, Jones said. The war on drugs has failed and so has the justice system.
Jones prefaced her speech by quoting Judge Dennis Chaleen, whose famous words have helped to inspire Jones’ mission in seeking criminal justice reform in Kentucky.
“We want them to be responsible, so we take away their responsibility,” she said. “We want them to be part of our community, so we isolate them from society. We want them to be positive and constructive, so we degrade them and make them useless. We want them to be non-violent, so we put them where there is violence all around. We want them to be kind and loving people, so we subject them to hatred and cruelty. We want them to quit being tough guys, so we put them where the tough guy is respected. We want them to quit hanging around losers, so we put all the losers under one roof. We want them to take control of their own lives and own their own problems and quit being parasites, so we make them totally dependent on us.”
When Jones was working to make changes to Kentucky’s juvenile justice system, she realized the pattern of mass incarceration was producing more violent criminals.
“By locking up the kids who made us mad with the ones who made us scared, we were making more scary kids,” she said. “It’s time to apply that reform to the adult justice system.”
Jones said everyone in the Commonwealth needed to adjust their thinking in order to reform the criminal justice system in Kentucky.
“We have to stop doing business as usual,” she said. “We must accept that this business of mass incarceration has failed.”
Jones said drug addiction and drug trafficking has increased, not decreased, with higher jail and prison populations. She said increased incarceration hasn’t made America safer because the violent crime rate is still extraordinarily high compared to other nations.
Jones said 75 percent of criminals go back into the system after getting out, due to their inability to get a job and/or public housing. This cyclical pattern affects everyone.
Jones was named Daviess County’s first Mental Health Court judge this year, after working for years to bring it to the local area. Mental Health Court does not advocate incarcerating those who are mentally ill but working with countywide partners to assist the individuals in getting the resources they need, including medication, housing and employment.
“We have to start at the very beginning — prevention,” she said. “Data shows D.A.R.E. programs don’t work. The Scared Straight program isn’t used in Kentucky, but [studies show] actually increased the incarceration rate. We have to look at poverty, addiction, and mental health. In absence of affordable and accessible mental health resources, an arrest is made. Our justice system has been overloaded with those who have high needs, but aren’t high risk.”
Jones said the criminal justice system should reflect the values and beliefs of our society.
“For those whose crimes we determine merit incarceration, we need to make our jails places where meaningful reflection and self-improvement occur — moral recognition therapy and evidence-based therapy, which have been proven to reduce recidivism and criminal thinking, should be provided to every inmate,” she said. “Restorative justice practices should build empathy and teach healthy communications. The loss of liberty is punishment, the loss of dignity is cruel, the loss of hope hurts us all in the end.”
Out of the 2.1 million behind bars, only 200,000 are serving life.
“Everyone else will be coming out and coming home,” she said. “Who do you want them to be when they come back to our community?”
