Ex-Cons Forced to live outdoors in Oregon

[Stravo]

Ex-cons forced to live outdoors
Monday, August 4, 2003 Posted: 12:16 PM EDT (1616 GMT)




ALBANY, Oregon (AP) -- Bruce Scott Erbs, convicted arsonist and sex offender, shuffles across a vacant yard behind the county jail, pulls back the flaps of a tent and climbs inside.

The nylon shelter, set up on pieces of plywood under a streetlight, is both his home and a stepping stone to life outside prison.

In budget-strapped Oregon, camping is the latest solution to the thorny issue of housing ex-cons -- particularly registered sex offenders -- that has vexed officials for years as they struggle with nervous neighbors and reluctant landlords.

Most counties in Oregon, and most states nationwide, offer transitional housing. Sometimes, parole officials put up newly released prisoners in cheap motels.

In Oregon, the responsibility of implementing parole policies falls to the counties, said Ginger Martin, spokeswoman for the Department of Justice. State officials are on the record as opposing camping as an alternative to transitional housing, she said.

Linn County has only one parolee -- Erbs -- whose transitional housing is a tent.

But in neighboring Polk County, commissioners ordered about a half-dozen parolees to camp in a parking garage outside a county office beginning in February. The parolees unfurled foam pads in the evening, and rolled them up in the morning when county employees arrived to park their cars.

The camp temporarily disbanded last month after city officials objected to the policy. Now, county officials are looking for a site outside city limits, said Marty Silbernagel, community corrections director.

This is an issue of county philosophy. Our county commissioners strongly believe the taxpayers should not pay money to house convicted felons.
-- Marty Silbernagel, community corrections director


"This is an issue of county philosophy," Silbernagel said. "Our county commissioners strongly believe the taxpayers should not pay money to house convicted felons."

Erbs was put in a tent only after Sheriff David Burright spent months searching for a landlord -- and finding no takers. Their reasons: the types of crimes Erbs committed coupled with his diagnosed condition of paranoid schizophrenia.

"You put those problems together, a predatory sexual offender, a fire starter and a person who is mentally ill," Burright said, "and it's probably the toughest kind of person to supervise."

So Erbs wound up in the tent.

Linn County spent $45 on the dome-style camping tent, furnished with an Army surplus cot. A garden hose provides water. A portable toilet stands nearby. Erbs eats and showers at a homeless shelter.

Scattered about the floor of the tent were a half-eaten bag of Ruffles potato chips, a jar of instant coffee, a pair of reading glasses on a pillow and some rumpled clothes.

It's baking hot in the yard, which is surrounded by a chain link fence and razor wire and devoid of shade.

A 58-year-old wearing thrift-store polyester slacks and a T-shirt, Erbs said he believes parolees should not have to be subjected to camping out after they have finished serving prison time.

I'm hardly a prisoner's rights kind of guy, but it strikes me as fairly obvious that if you treat an ex-con like shit after he gets out of jail, how soon is it before he has to commit a crime just to survive?

[Rubberanvil]

I'm hardly a prisoner's rights kind of guy, but it strikes me as fairly obvious that if you treat an ex-con like shit after he gets out of jail, how soon is it before he has to commit a crime just to survive?

Not very long.

[Durandal]

Not only that, but he is a free man now. He served his debt to society. I sometimes wonder if people really understand what is supposed to be meant by "correctional facility." Criminals are supposed to be rehabilitated in the prison system, but frankly, the system does a piss-poor job of it. Not only does it not rehabilitate them, but it makes them more efficient criminals and more likely to commit crimes when they get out. How does this help society in any way, other than by satisfying its bloodlust?

[TrailerParkJawa]

I think its time to make crimes like his, life sentances. I dont think these people ever get better. As Durandal said, prison often breeds better criminals.

[Frank Hipper]

Not only that, but he is a free man now. He served his debt to society. I sometimes wonder if people really understand what is supposed to be meant by "correctional facility." Criminals are supposed to be rehabilitated in the prison system, but frankly, the system does a piss-poor job of it.

That rehabilitation thinking is very old-fashioned, Durandal.
Get with the times.
Modern Correctional Facilities, and the system behind them, are increasingly geared for punishment, not rehabilitation.

[Sea Skimmer]

Sex offenders have something like a 70% reoffense rate. They should not ever be let out.

[Howedar]

Fuckin A, Albany made the news!?

[Howedar]

Oh, that worthless fuck. He burned down my church about 12 years ago. He argued with the parole officer and such, and is back in jail.




I just gotta love our legislature. They spend their goddamn worthless time doing things like defining "science" (Betsy Close, R-Albany) while the fucking schools literally fall apart and the bridges all through the state approach collapse due to overloading.


Okay, the Greater Albany public school district has about 12 elementary schools, 3 middle, 2 high. I don't know just how bad the elementary and middle schools are these days, but most classes at my high school last year had ~35 students in them, some as high as 52 (one first-year spanish class). Every third Wednesday or so this last year, the entire district shut down to save money. Next year, most high school students will be forced to take a reduced schedule (7 classes in an eight-period schedule) to save space. So what does our legislature do? They pass a dramatically lower budget that will probably result in the loss of 24 full-time teaching positions.

So I ask all of you: how the fuck do you cut upwards of 5% of the teachers from a district when it is already not possible to get every student in class all the time? What, cut an elementary school or two? Does our legislature have any clue how bad things are?

[Darth Fanboy]

Eduation vs. Budget, a battle that Education will unfortunately never ever win.

[Darth Fanboy]

Especially when people appraently can't spell "education" right.

Doh!

[Illuminatus Primus]

Not only that, but he is a free man now. He served his debt to society. I sometimes wonder if people really understand what is supposed to be meant by "correctional facility." Criminals are supposed to be rehabilitated in the prison system, but frankly, the system does a piss-poor job of it. Not only does it not rehabilitate them, but it makes them more efficient criminals and more likely to commit crimes when they get out. How does this help society in any way, other than by satisfying its bloodlust?

How would you do this?

[Howedar]

The man is a sex offender, last I checked. Their record for rehab is not exactly sparkling.

[RogueIce]

Bleh, prison=rehab is so much BS to me. Prison should be about punishment. They committ a crime, why waste taxpayer money so they can learn a skill? It's like an evil boarding school.

Lock 'em up. Punish them. They keep on committing crimes, don't let 'em out.

[Illuminatus Primus]

"We live in a primitive time, Will. A sane society would either kill me, or put me to some use."
- Hannibal Lector, Red Dragon

[Frank Hipper]

Sex offenders have something like a 70% reoffense rate. They should not ever be let out.

Pissing outdoors is indecent exposure, and a sex offense in many states.

[RogueIce]

Sex offenders have something like a 70% reoffense rate. They should not ever be let out.

Pissing outdoors is indecent exposure, and a sex offense in many states.

Lock them up too. What do they think this is, Boy Scout Camp?

[Wicked Pilot]

How would you do this?

If I may give my answer: simple carrot and stick approach.

When a convict comes in, he/she has little privilages. With good behavior, they earn them. However, not enough can be earned to make prison comfortable. The prisioners are also given the oppertunity to get things such as education if they are lacking it, and other services like anger counseling, etc. When they get out they will hopefully come out with two attitudes: 'I have the skills now to live an honest life', or 'fuck jail, I ain't coming back to this shit hole.'

Of course, this approach is mainly for the juvaniles and non-violent offenders that make up a large chunk of the prision population. It won't work for everyone, there are some assholes who need to rot behind bars for a long time.

[Bob McDob]

Bleh, prison=rehab is so much BS to me. Prison should be about punishment. They committ a crime, why waste taxpayer money so they can learn a skill? It's like an evil boarding school.

Lock 'em up. Punish them. They keep on committing crimes, don't let 'em out.

It's far more cost-effective simply to execute them all.

[darthdavid]

You stole a candy bar? Off with yer head!!!

[Newtonian Fury]

Once a person has served a sentence, the punishment should end there and then. He shouldn't have to face housing discrimination or have his past crimes (for which he has already paid for in prison) divulged to the public. Let the guy have a chance to start over.

However, I do support having law enforcement keep track of potential re-offensers. But keep it discreet. Tell only to the people who need to know about it (e.g. school and daycare administrators) and let these people know that they can't just tell the public about it. Sure, they should be allowed to divulge the secret if they genuinely believe it will prevent a crime. Other than that, make some kind of punishment for frivolous disclosure. We don't need vigilante mobs to harass past convicts (or bystanders, as it frequently happens when these mobs get incorrect info).

[Iceberg]

The only time the public has a need to know that a criminal offender has just been released is when the offender has a statistically high chance of reoffending. Clearly, we don't need to know every time a pothead gets out of jail, but by the same token, if a serial rapist gets out of jail, we SHOULD know.

[Hamel]

I wonder if anyone here would like to abolish imprisonment and just resort to public flogging or something similar.

"Hey now, don't look at Hamel funny, he just heard it from the Freepers."

[Howedar]

Once a person has served a sentence, the punishment should end there and then. He shouldn't have to face housing discrimination or have his past crimes (for which he has already paid for in prison) divulged to the public. Let the guy have a chance to start over.

We already know what he was found guilty of; its public record. What, you want to wipe everyones' minds?

[The Duchess of Zeon]

I'm hardly a prisoner's rights kind of guy, but it strikes me as fairly obvious that if you treat an ex-con like shit after he gets out of jail, how soon is it before he has to commit a crime just to survive?

He's got food and he's not getting rained on; that's all he deserves and he should be thankful for it.

[Edi]

I'm hardly a prisoner's rights kind of guy, but it strikes me as fairly obvious that if you treat an ex-con like shit after he gets out of jail, how soon is it before he has to commit a crime just to survive?

He's got food and he's not getting rained on; that's all he deserves and he should be thankful for it.

Let's see, he just served out his due punishment, but he should be punished after it just for kicks? This is the tone I hear in your words anyway.

A prison system where the conditions are designed to be living hell for the inmates without any letup are nothing but a waste of money. The prisoners will focus on how shitty their conditions are, and they will be angry, and they will hate, and they will tend to see everything in terms of the system trying to grind them down. It's not conducive to any productive results.

One where the prisoners are treated decently (This does not mean they are pampered!!) and given a chance to gain something for themselves (an occupational skill, for example) and really put their past behind them has a much greater rehab rate than the other system described above. Of course there will be reoffenders, those can never be prevented with a 100% guarantee, but there will be a lot less of them.

Then there is also the matter of the prison being punishment for the crimes committed, and loss of freedom is punishment, duration indicates severity. It doesn't (and shouldn't) have to be intentionally cruel beyond that (e.g. treating the prisoners like animals). If it is, it's just unnecessary and counterproductive bloodlust being carried out institutionally for nobody's gain.

Edi