During the show I talked to Makeba about her own experience growing up with an incarcerated mother and her involvement with Lives in Focus.  We also discussed the misconceptions that some people have of children with incarcerated parents.

Content offered her own expertise, discussing the role of her organization and ways of breaking the cycle of incarceration.  Listen to the show below to hear what you missed.  We welcome feedback and suggestions for future shows so please leave a comment below.

Last month, I was conducting one of my free workshops for youth who have an incarcerated parent when Maya approached me to ask is she could help. And now, in addition to helping with the workshops, she’ll be reporting and producing pieces using audio, video, photographs and text to help broaden the site’s coverage. She will also co-host a Web radio show starting next week.

Maya is an Oakland, CA native who moved to New York last year to pursue a Masters’ degree at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism.  Her freelance articles have appeared in newspapers such as the Brooklyn Heights Courier, Contra Costa Times, and the Brooklyn Free Press, and online for sites like the Amsterdam News, Latina.com, and Whatchusay.com.

Enacted in 1973 by then-governor Nelson Rockefeller, the tough on crime statues established mandatory minimum sentences for drug-related offenses, limiting judicial discretion on the length and type of sentences handed out. Last year more than 20% of new inmates, or roughly 12,000 prisoners in the New York state correctional system were committed for drug-related offenses. Over the last 35 years, hundreds of thousands of offenders have been sentenced under these laws.

In 2004, in response to questions about both the laws’ efficacy , and their ability to distinguish between kingpins and addicts requiring treatment, the Drug Law Reform Act was introduced. Yet, while some mandatory minimums were lowered, the lack of judicial discretion remained unchanged.

This past May, on the 35th anniversary of the laws’ enactment, public hearings convened by six assembly committees reopened the question of their reform. With a Democratic majority senate around the corner, some anti-Rockefeller groups are looking forward not only in the laws’ repeal, but also to a new approach to drug-related sentencing.

“The changes in Albany are something that we have anticipated for some time. There’s near universal agreement that they’ll be scrapped. The question is what type of drug policy should New York State have to replace the Rockefeller drug regime,” said Gabriel Sayegh of the Drug Policy Alliance, and group that advocates for the laws’ repeal.

The May hearing’s emphasis on drug treatment and alternatives to incarceration is indicative, said Sayegh, of what will likely replace the Rockefeller laws.

“A public health approach to drug policy might be an indication of where we are going nationally. Health providers have been very vocal that using incarceration as a response to addiction is not only patently wrong, but immoral.”

It is also expensive. In 2001, the cost to New York State per inmate was nearly $37,000, or 35% higher than the national average, according to the Justice Department’s National Institute of Corrections. Critics of the laws anticipate the state’s fiscal emergency will encourage many lawmakers to re-examine less costly alternatives to incarceration, such as addiction-treatment.

“We think that the time is more right that ever for moving on reform given the state’s fiscal crisis,” said Gangi. “Repealing the Rockefeller drug laws would save the state millions if not hundreds of millions of dollars.”

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS: How has your family been affected by the Rockefeller drug laws?

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Ria Julien is a student at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism. She has worked on prison issues as a book editor and organizer.

The crumbling economy, taxes, and the Iraq War have soaked up the limelight when it comes to the 2008 Presidential Election.  With less than one week left before voters’ caste their ballots, questions about Senator John McCain and Senator Barack Obama’s positions on incarceration and criminal justice remain unanswered.

According to the Sentencing Project, a nonpartisan research and advocacy organization, little specifics are known about the candidates’ viewpoints to reform the federal prison system.

Based on information from the candidates’ past records, Obama once against the death penalty, currently supports it for monstrous crimes.  As an Illinois State Senator, Obama also lead the charge in passing legislation that requires confessions and interrogations to be videotaped to prevent death sentencing errors in capitol cases.

Obama has connected issues of unemployment and poverty within certain communities to the disproportionally high rate of crime and incarceration of those who live there.

Senator John McCain who has been labeled as “tough-on-crime” is a firm supporter of the death penalty. In his past votes, during the mid-nineties, McCain showed support for restricting appeals to the death penalty and was against using the defense of racial discrimination within appeals. McCain has favored violent offenders to serve their complete sentences, with no opportunity for parole.

McCain has also offered the alternative of rehabilitation programs for first time drug offenders and has voted for more community police to prevent hate crimes.

Both candidates have vocalized support for re-entry programs once a prisoner has been released, but a clear and concise picture as to what the programs actually look like and involve is unknown.

On November 4th, regardless of who is elected into the oval office, Ryan King, a policy analyst for the Sentencing Project, says incarceration issues should must become a priority for the next President.

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS: Are you considering the candidates’ views on incarceration and criminal justice in your voting decision? Which way are you leaning and why?

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Lindsay A. Lazarski attends CUNY Graduate School of Journalism with a concentration in Urban Studies and Interactive Media.