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LETTER |
Vicki Lopez Lukis is with Governor Jeb Bush’s Ex-Offender Task Force, the Corrections Committee of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and the Girls Advocacy Project Community Advisory Board of Miami, Fla.
Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Vicki Lopez Lukis, 836 Madrid St, Coral Gables, FL 33134 (e-mail: viclukis{at}aol.com).
I applaud the Journal for highlighting the public health issues relating to incarceration and reentry into society. In 1999, I surrendered myself to a women’s federal minimum security prison in Florida and began serving 15 months of a 27-month sentence for mail fraud. I learned firsthand the devastating impacts of incarceration on the thousands of women in prison throughout the United States. I witnessed the despair and sadness created by the prison environment as well as the depression and anxiety resulting from being separated from one’s children and family. Worse still is the posttraumatic stress syndrome experienced by many women once they are released from prison.
Many women enter prison having suffered physical and emotional abuse, economic disadvantage, substance and drug abuse, mental illness, and a plethora of other health issues. Before their incarceration, they were not afforded the important health and social services they needed. Once in prison, they experience the same misfortune, and, additionally, they find that they are needlessly medicated without proper attention to the risk factors that brought them into the justice system.
Improving these women’s chances of successful reentry into the community will surely require a dramatic change in public policy to address the many challenges inmates face while incarcerated and on release. In his 2004 State of the Union address, President George W. Bush initiated the drive for change by stating, "When the gates of the prison open, the path ahead should lead to a better life."1
Inspired by the president’s words, Florida Governor Jeb Bush created the Governor’s Ex-Offender Task Force, which is responsible for identifying barriers to successful reentry for released prisoners and recommending reforms that will eliminate those barriers. To date, the task force has focused on public health issues that include employment, housing, education, mental and physical health, and substance abuse treatment, not only when reentering the community but also when beginning incarceration.
Spotlighting this discussion in the public arena is a first step to bringing community, faith-based, and business leaders together to formulate ways to effectively integrate into society the thousands of men and women who will return home from prison each year. The Journal is to be commended for contributing to this effort by devoting an entire issue to the subject.
Reference
1. Bush GW. State of the Union Address. Delivered February 2, 2005. Available at: http://www.whitehouse.org/news/2005/020205.asp. Accessed February 2, 2005.
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