Prisoners To Get Federal Financial Aid? Watch Jesse Ventura Sound Off!

On this week’s Off the Grid, I talk about the Obama Administration’s new pilot program that gives Pell Grants to eligible prisoners so they can complete a higher education program while serving time. The experiment aims to rehabilitate prisoners so they have a shot at staying out of jail once they are released rather than returning like a majority of them do.

Do you think Pell Grants will set prisoners up for success back in the real world?

Seeing that so many prisoners are in pay-as-you-go prisons run by corporations with a little glad handing from politicians, help from LEO and judges by way of quotas etc, why not give back?

People are up in arms over these pay prisons as being inhumane and unjust but now when it hits close to the personal pocket book it's a different story?

In fact, make the corporations pay for the grants from the profits they are making from them.

But Jesse...Are you saying that the hundreds of thousands non-violent, 1st time offenders who in any other Nation on Earth wouldn't even be in prison because there is no pay-for-play- prison system should just stay put? Do you mean that so many of these victims of a corrupt prison system should not have the chance to escape the maze and should just stay put or get put back in so that the corporations can continue to proifit? It seems that you are saying exactly this Jesse.

I just need to understand what you really want Jesse...

Here you scream at Prison-For-Profit but your OP vid is against education of those same victims so they might have a chance at staying out of those same walls.


In the first moments you even state this is a conspiracy to keep people behind bars. You go on to state the point that a convicted person can not get licensed to cut hair upon release.

So in essence we allow the Govt. to incarcerate more than any other Nation on Earth, we keep non-violent offenders and misdemeanor charges behind bars for the Corporations to profit and you scream we are doing nothing about it. Education is doing at least something Jesse.

But we shouldn't educate them either. Give them back to the corporations for work duty right?

Which side are you on?

Jude

Can't watch the video right now, but in general I agree with the idea of educating prisoners. If we want to rehabilitate people we need to give them an education to be productive in the future. I guess my major concern would be that there's a large stigma against hiring ex convicts and that leads to more returning to a life of crime than a lack of education does. Until we can change the culture that a convict shouldn't get another chance we're not going to be able to fix things.

a reply to: JesseVentura

Spot on, Governor. The current system isn't working. Education would obviously stop many from returning to prison. This would both reduce what these 'corporate prisons' are being paid and add to our economy.

originally posted by: Aazadan
Can't watch the video right now, but in general I agree with the idea of educating prisoners. If we want to rehabilitate people we need to give them an education to be productive in the future. I guess my major concern would be that there's a large stigma against hiring ex convicts and that leads to more returning to a life of crime than a lack of education does. Until we can change the culture that a convict shouldn't get another chance we're not going to be able to fix things.

That is addressed in the video. Jesse says if they are going to implement this, they should bring corporations onboard who are willing to employ these people after. Most companies are more worried about a felony if one is going to be handling money, even if the charge was not robbery related or it was a particularly violent crime. I think the stigma has changed over the years.

This may be a good idea in some cases. If the offender is a drug addict, education may not be enough.
I wish they would throw some money at drug rehabilitation programs. There are some programs offered in some institutions currently but no support when the person is released back into society...

That's good.

But how are they going to get a job? Either way educated or not the majority of employers will turn them down for a job.

a reply to: onequestion

True, true...
In some situations an offender CAN and does get hired only to slip back into their original addictions. I wonder the percentage of inmates have a GED or Diploma.
I'm NOT saying it is NOT a good idea. I was just saying IMO that it may not be enough.
If employers aren't hiring them it may have more to do with having a felony OR the type of crime they were found guilty of committing than NOT having an education.

My employer will not hire anyone with a drug conviction. Felony or Misdemeanor. This is because of their potential access to medications.

Ventura is an actor.

He got this part already in the 80's. See the Running Man.
He has beewn seen seen doing the masonic diamond hand sign (Merkle does this all the time). Just google it.

He is a collectivist and a narcisist. Bought and payed for. His fight with the Seal Sniper was planed all along. The court case was to pay him his salery.

You do not get to teach at Harvard if you are not part of it all.

I like most of the things he says but he is just playing his part in all this. He cares about himself and fso kot give a crap about us.

originally posted by: reldra
a reply to: JesseVentura

Spot on, Governor. The current system isn't working. Education would obviously stop many from returning to prison. This would both reduce what these 'corporate prisons' are being paid and add to our economy.

Hi there.. what exactly is a corporate prison and pay as you go imprisonment?

a reply to: tony9802

Private prisons are corporations paid by the government, yet not owned or ran by the government. In regard to 'pay as you go' that may be the states that charge inmates for their daily upkeep...one article I remember was that a lot of those prisoners were in for not paying fines and are never able to get out from under the debt- but the 'pay as you go' was posted by someone else and they may have meant something else.

originally posted by: tony9802

originally posted by: reldra
a reply to: JesseVentura

Spot on, Governor. The current system isn't working. Education would obviously stop many from returning to prison. This would both reduce what these 'corporate prisons' are being paid and add to our economy.

Hi there.. what exactly is a corporate prison and pay as you go imprisonment?

As someone already stated the prisons owned by corporations are there for nothing but profit. From being paid by the State to house and feed to farming out the prison labor to other companies at cheap rates. Big money. Some even have call centers in them.

The pay as you go is my term meaning You go to prison while they get paid.

This can help but there is so much more:

en.wikipedia.org...

Jude

originally posted by: TNMockingbird
a reply to: onequestion

True, true...
In some situations an offender CAN and does get hired only to slip back into their original addictions. I wonder the percentage of inmates have a GED or Diploma.
I'm NOT saying it is NOT a good idea. I was just saying IMO that it may not be enough.
If employers aren't hiring them it may have more to do with having a felony OR the type of crime they were found guilty of committing than NOT having an education.

My employer will not hire anyone with a drug conviction. Felony or Misdemeanor. This is because of their potential access to medications.

Where I work 70% of the guys I work with are felons. We work in a facility that helps rehabilitate drug users. All of the guys I work with are great people. They are not back stabbing narcissist. They genuinely want to see people get better and go out of their way to help people who are treat like # by society.

a reply to: onequestion

I think that's wonderful, I wish there were more places like that.
Sadly, in my local community there is nowhere to receive professional help.
Oh, you can go to church or the "mission", there is a NA and AA place but you've got to get the addict there and they have to participate and want to...

Anyhow I wish there were something like that in my town, it may have saved one of my BILs from the sad existence that is addiction, crime, and prison...revolving door...

ETA: my BIL is one of the most loyal (to his family) people you could ever meet. His most recent stint is due to him and my nephew and their addictions. He is taking the "wrap" so to speak to keep my nephew (20) out of the system...

a reply to: reldra

I agree, in prison, not everyone's in there for life. Not everyone's in there to die in prison. Eventually you get paroled, you get a second chance. The problem is, our prison system doesn't prepare anyone for that second chance, and so the likelihood that they'll end up back in prison is overwhelming. And when you have corporations running prisons, they need them full to make profit, so that's the resistance you're going to come up against. But I believe that prison should also be for rehabilitation. When you get out, you should have some glimmer of a future, and some pride to hopefully not go back in again. That's what we should be shooting for, so that we're not number one. Maybe that's why they want to gather up all the illegals, because if they gather up and throw in all the illegals, that keeps us at number one, doesn't it?

a reply to: TNMockingbird

If we legalized, that would eliminate the majority of that too. I've always maintained addiction is a medical problem, it's not a criminal problem. And if we were to legalize, decriminalize, well you don't see people going to jail for their addiction to coffee, do you? The point I'm making is that then these people could even still be addicts, and they could still be assets to society. There's a lot of addicts out there that did remarkable things. I'm not saying that drug addiction is good, but I'm saying you treat it medically, you don't treat it criminally, and if we did that, we wouldn't have to worry about these people being in prison in the first place for being addicts.

a reply to: jude11

As I stated in the video, I don’t know if Pell grants are the answer. I just know that we need to do more to help prisoners be reintroduced into society so they don't go back to a life of crime. We should test it out and see if it works, and if it does, than expand. And if it doesn't work, we need to find a different solution. But I am very much in favor of prisoners having the opportunity to be educated.

originally posted by: JesseVentura
a reply to: jude11

As I stated in the video, I don’t know if Pell grants are the answer. I just know that we need to do more to help prisoners be reintroduced into society so they don't go back to a life of crime. We should test it out and see if it works, and if it does, than expand. And if it doesn't work, we need to find a different solution. But I am very much in favor of prisoners having the opportunity to be educated.

WOW!

Didn't know you actually existed. Thx for the reply if that's you.

And yes, there are definitely pros and cons for education in rehabilitation as I mentioned as well.

The PAY prisons are where these should be directed towards IMO as many of these prisoners are there for the pleasure and profit of corporations and education may be the only way out of their clutches.

Off topic/On topic but a bit of something you are aware of:

Judge Sentenced To 28 Years For Selling ‘Kids For Cash’ To Prisons

www.reuters.com...
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court tossed about 4,000 convictions issued by Ciavarella between 2003 and 2008, saying he violated the constitutional rights of the juveniles, including the right to legal counsel and the right to intelligently enter a plea.

Ciavarella, 61, was tried and convicted of racketeering charges earlier this year. His attorneys had asked for a “reasonable” sentence in court papers, saying, in effect, that he’s already been punished enough.

“The media attention to this matter has exceeded coverage given to many and almost all capital murders, and despite protestation, he will forever be unjustly branded as the ‘Kids for Cash’ judge,” their sentencing memo said.

And: Search this term for many resources... " Private Prisons Threaten To Sue States Unless They Get More Inmates For Free Labor "

Private Prisons Threaten To Sue States Unless They Get More Inmates For Free Labor

California guarantees that prisons will be filled to 70% capacity at all times. Arizona promises almost 100% occupancy. With crime dropping, the private prison industry is losing money and they are none too pleased.

In order to avoid these lawsuits, judges will have to dish out extra-long maximum sentences – not because the defendant deserves it, but because the state wants to keep these contracts in good standing with the private prison industry.

So the problem not only exists but is gaining ground and influence.

My point being that if this is allowed to continue then we will see more and more in prison for minor offenses and if the Govt. allows this type of corruption then I say we make them pay for education at the very least. But the ultimate solution IMO is to make the Corporations pay for that same education which would take from the profit line and not make it so lucrative.

Jude

originally posted by: JesseVentura
a reply to: jude11

As I stated in the video, I don’t know if Pell grants are the answer. I just know that we need to do more to help prisoners be reintroduced into society so they don't go back to a life of crime. We should test it out and see if it works, and if it does, than expand. And if it doesn't work, we need to find a different solution. But I am very much in favor of prisoners having the opportunity to be educated.

One criticism I would point out with Pell grants is that are in need of reform. They haven't kept up with the cost of most schools, they're currently about $5500 per year which as I'm sure you know doesn't fully cover tuition. Now, to be fair there are good reasons to limit how much is available from Pell Grants, such as students enrolling just for the student aid refund checks (this happens a lot at less expensive colleges), and free money only serving to increase tuition as colleges look to suck up the money. That said, perhaps this will shine a light on college financing in the first place, educating prisoners is a good idea but I'm not sure Pell Grants are currently equipped to solve things.