The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

As a prison inmate in Connecticut, I often hear about Cheshire. Almost all discussion of our sentences include the phrase “after Cheshire.” After Cheshire a national media spotlight intensified on a small Connecticut town and the state's Department of Corrections, provoking questions surrounding three p-words we use when we talk about letting someone out of jail: punishment, parole and propensity to re-offend.

Parole is largely misunderstood by many who think paroled offenders are just cut loose, released early from their punishments for good behavior. In truth, parolees are still considered to be in custody, but they live outside the facility, in the community, subject to rules. Think of parolees as inmates tethered to the prison, whose leashes extend beyond the prison walls.

At any time the facility can yank that leach and re-incarcerate the person. This is what happened two summers ago. Connecticut pulled back on all violent offenders on parole, regardless of how long they had been out or how much success they had created.

All inmates waiting for parole were stalled for months as the state reviewed parole standards. After Cheshire, suspicion about every offender's propensity to re-offend shot up because of a hideous crime.

Pundits lambasted parole. Citizens in every state complained about cream-puff correctional models that released animals instead of punishing them. All of the voices merged into one deafening chorus: “Why did you let them out?”

The irony is that Connecticut's prosecutors and judges work together to make the state one of the toughest criminal justice systems in the country. Criminal defense attorneys call Connecticut “Little Texas” for its severe sentences. As an inmate sentenced to five years in prison I would advise you not to fool around with Connecticut, especially after Cheshire.

After Cheshire no state leader can afford to have another Cheshire.

Human behavior unpredictable

Yet, ultimately, Cheshire was not about parole, punishment or propensity to re-offend, but about prediction. The three gruesome murders confronted everyone with a reality we collectively deny every day - our inability to predict human behavior.

People surprise us daily, from quirks to savage violence. How often have you started a sentence with, “Geez, you think you know someone and then ...”

In addition to the horror of Cheshire itself, is the horrible reality that we are powerless to predict the next one.

After the murders, Connecticut's Board of Pardons and Paroles released statements, correct statements, that there was no way to forecast the violence Hayes and Komisarjevsky allegedly wreaked on the Petit home. The two men were thieves and addicts, not killers. Even without paroles, each would have been released eventually. Does this mean Cheshire would have happened later?

In their fear and grief, people conclude that the inability to predict is tantamount to an inability to prevent, which is not necessarily true.

If we want to truly try to prevent such atrocities we must concentrate on another p-word: post-traumatic stress. I have not met one inmate here at York Correctional Institution who lacks a trauma history. Trauma is the demon that drives busloads of prisoners to Niantic. Trauma makes stops at drug addiction and abusive relationships along the way, but trauma's final destination, when left untreated, is prison.

Traditionally trauma has been treated by lengthy one-on-one psychotherapy or rapid-eye-movement desensitization, costly cures that no state can afford for each inmate. However, education about the mechanics of traumatic stress, taught in laymen's terms in a group setting, might work.

Current research indicates that certain experiences, when they resemble a past trauma, trigger “inner alarms” that cause emotional dysregulation, the cradle of all bad decisions.

By implementing the right psychoeducational programs in prisons, - courses about how trauma colors actions - correctional facilities can improve outcomes and reduce repeat offenders.

After Cheshire, understanding post-traumatic stress can change us even more, for the better.

Chandra A. Bozelko is an inmate at the York Correctional Institution serving time for crimes including credit card fraud, larceny and identification theft.
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