Now people in the elder Davis’s situation–if they are in prison in New York State– could have other options. A new state law has made inmates with chronic as well as terminal illnesses eligible for early release, as long as they don’t pose a threat to others and have served half their time.

Passed last April, the law even grants eligibility to those convicted of violent crimes including second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter and sex offenses, according to a report in The New York Times.

The new law coincides with a rise in aging and ill inmates serving longer sentences. Between 1999 and 2008, the number of inmates age 55 and older rose 79 percent to 74,000. The state reckons it costs $150,809 a year to care for a seriously ill inmate.

Have you had to cope with having a sick family member in prison? How has that situation made you feel? Call (646) 867-1891 to leave a voice message that we will share with others this site. Please share the phone number with others who might want to describe their experience.

Or fill out this form to share your experiences and see how others coped with the situation:

I lived most of my life in Harlem, but now live in Rochester, NY. I have been keeping myself busy by making short documentaries about social issues that usually get overlooked by mainstream America. I have 11 years of experience as a documentary filmmaker and an M.F.A. in media arts production.

I am currently working on “Solutionz,” a one-hour program meant to remind communities that the incarceration of a parent has lasting negative effects on a child. My inspiration came from seeing my son who is currently incarcerated. I would leave the prison after a visit and see the kids break down when they got to the other side of the gate. It’s just heartbreaking to see. It really stuck in my mind, the faces of the kids and how they were the victims. What was their story? What did they do to deserve the heartbreak? It touched me as a filmmaker to find out what is going on with these kids.

I am looking to interview male children between the ages of 7 and 18 who have a parent incarcerated for my documentary. If you would like for your child to participate or if you’re a child who would like to participate, please fill out this form [this information will NOT be shared with anyone else]:

My plan is to screen “Solutionz” in prisons so that currently incarcerated parents can be more aware of (and thus more prepared for) the emotional and physical status of their children. I have three young women who I have already shot some footage with in Rochester, but no boys at all. I really need males between the ages of 7 and 18. I am also looking for non-profits to sponsor the film and developing a package proposal. I need to have a fundraiser in NYC and Rochester, so I know I need some space.

Well, I put my beans on the table of what I’m doing and why I’m doing what I do. Not for the money, that’s for sure. As an artist, I love filmmaking. I love it even when I’m broke because it makes me whole. Sharing rarely heard stories with others is priceless for me.

If you have any questions, please post them in the comments section below and I’ll get back to you.

I hope to hear from you. Thank you.

“I refuse to be exploited to hear my son’s voice,” says Nicholle.

Instead, she told her son to write and visits him every three to four months so he knows he has her support. It was just a way for the prison system and phone carrier to make money, she says.

Although intense lobbying in New York helped reform the unfair system of charging 16 cents or more a minute with a $3 surcharge for every call (well above what consumers pay otherwise), Family Life Behind Bars is collecting information on how much money people paid over the years and sacrifices they made for accepting collect calls.

If your one of the countless number of people who struggled to keep a strong bond with a loved one in prison by accepting collect calls, please take the informal survey. Come join our live call-in show on Wednesday, Jan. 27 at 9 p.m. ET to share your experiences and thoughts.

The results are listed in real-time below, but please keep in mind that they have not been verified:

please take the informal survey.

On Wed. Jan 27 at 9 p.m. EST, I’ll be hosting Family Life Behind Bars radio, talking to Ford about the burden of collect calls and the complicated task of sustaining a relationship between her granddaughters and their father.  Ford will also talk about the difficulty of coming to terms with her son’s conviction for killing the mother of her granddaughters and the ripple effect it had on their entire family.

I’ll also be joined by Sherry Murray, president of the Coalition to Reduce Recidivism, which aims to help ex-offenders become productive members of the community.  As the mother of a son who was formerly incarcerated, Murray has also been directly affected by the high cost of collect phone calls from correctional facilities.

Listen live by calling (347) 326-9981 at showtime or listen in online at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/familylifebehindbars.  You can also ask questions or speak your mind during the show by dialing (347) 326-9981 and pressing 1.

If you’ve been affected by the high costs of collect calls, take this survey.  Also, tell us what you think in the comments section below.

How much money did you spend on collect calls and what did you sacrifice? Fill out this form and we’ll post results on Jan. 23, 2010 [UPDATE: See results here]:

But most of us don’t like to read statistics. To get these important numbers across, Family Life Behind Bars is presenting them as a quiz game instead.

See how much you know about incarceration in America with this first of many quiz games:

Quiz director: Sandeep Junnarkar | Quiz questions: Mariana Vasconcellos | Quiz editor: Mary Grace Murphy

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS: Do you have research or statistic that could be translated into a quiz? Let’s give it shot…let me know.

[Use the comments feature below or call (646)-867-1891 to leave an audio message.]

[UPDATE: article today: Out of prison, out of a job, out of luck--check out the comment section, some people have no belief in rehabilitation.]

If you’re not sure which box to check when asked “have you ever been convicted of a felony?” be sure to tune in on Wed. Nov. 11 at 9 p.m. EST.

Makeba and I will be talking to David Koch who will offer advice to recently released or formerly incarcerated people on ways to find jobs.

Following his release in 1980 after serving two years in state and federal prison, Koch took a job cleaning planes and mowing the lawn.  Little did he know that the man who gave him the job was the president and CEO of a airline company.  After working his way up from cleaner to pilot, Koch went on to have a successful career.

Koch will talk about his experience navigating the job search and offer advice ranging from how to deal with the job application to handling the societal stigmas of incarceration.

We’ll also be talking to Aric Coleman and his wife Laianda.  Aric, a Detroit native who was just released in October after serving nine years in prison, will talk about his experience trying to find employment and some of the struggles he’s had in securing a position.  Laianda, Aric’s wife of almost 13 years, will discuss the effect that his job search had on her and why she has continued to support him.

Listen live by calling (347) 326-9981 at showtime or listen live online at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/familylifebehindbars.

If you have a question about finding employment following a felony conviction that you would like to be addressed during the show, please leave a comment below and we’ll be sure to ask it during the show.

Leon Hymes

While serving his fifth year of a nine-to-life sentence for murder, Leon Hymes was transferred from Division For Youth to the Department of Corrections.

The move from one location to another was a cold dose of reality of growing up from childhood to adulthood within the criminal justice system. It also marked the beginning of a six and a half year stretch in which Hymes wouldn’t see his mother. The time apart from his family—seventeen years behind bars–shaped how he connected to his family and forged his relationship to the world.

In December 1990, 15-year-old Hymes was arrested for shooting and killing a man at a party at his girlfriend’s house in the Bronx. He was convicted and sentenced in 1992 having already spent almost two years in Spofford Detention Center in the Bronx. But as an older juvenile inmate Hymes enrolled in a mentorship program to help younger inmates.

Though not a model prisoner–he was denied parole four times–he says that trying to provide younger inmates with the guidance that he didn’t get gave him purpose and kept him going.

Now home for almost two years he’s reconciled family relationships and helps run Choices, an alternative-to-detention program for at-risk youth. When the U.S. Department of Justice released a scathing report last summer exposing horrid conditions inside NY’s youth detention facilities, from excessive restraining measures to overmedication and misdiagnoses, Hymes could relate.

I spoke with Leon about his own experiences in the juvenile justice system and the issues that today’s kids face:

Link to mp3

Link to mp3

Link to mp3

Link to mp3

Link to mp3

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS: How have you tried to help an adolescent family member adjust to live outside of a juvenile detention center?

[Use the comments feature below or call (646)-867-1891 to leave an audio message.]

Michael Cohen is a student at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, graduating in December 2010. ]]> http://livesinfocus.org/prison/2009/11/02/growing-up-in-the-criminal-justice-system/feed/ 1