THE HARVARD DEBATE TEAM LOST TO A TEAM OF INMATES THAT
ARE SERVING TIME FOR MANSLAUGHTER.
THIS IS AN
AMAZING STORY.
APPARENTLY THE HARVARD TEAM FACED OFF WITH
THESE INMATES, AND THEY ASSUMED THAT THE INMATES WOULD NOT BE
WELL PREPARED FOR THE DEBATE.
SINCE THEY UNDERESTIMATED THEM,
THEY LOST BIG-TIME.
AFTER AN HOUR OF THE FAST-MOVING DEBATE,
THE JUDGES DECIDED THAT THE INMATES WON.
"THE AUDIENCE BURST
INTO APPLAUSE.
THAT INCLUDED ABOUT SEVENTY-FIVE OF THE PRISONERSí
FELLOW STUDENTS AT THE BARD PRISON INITIATIVE, WHICH OFFERS
A RIGOROUS COLLEGE EXPERIENCE TO
MEN AT EASTERN NEW YORK CORRECTIONAL FACILITY."
THEY ARE TRYING TO REHABILITATE THESE INDIVIDUALS SO THAT
WHEN THEY ARE OUT OF PRISON THEY DO NOT GO BACK TO PRISON.
RECIDIVISM IS A VERY SERIOUS PROBLEM IN THE UNITED
STATES, MOST PRISONERS END UP GOING BACK TO PRISON.
AS A RESULT, THERE ARE SOME INITIATIVES THAT ARE TRYING
TO COMBAT THAT.
"THE BYZANTINE HAD ITS FIRST DEBATE IN THE SPRING 2014,
BEATING THE U.S.
MILITARY ACADEMY AT WEST POINT, NEW YORK.
PREPARING FOR THESE DEBATES HAS ITS CHALLENGES.
INMATES CANNOT USE THE INTERNET FOR RESEARCH.
THE PRISON ADMINISTRATION MUST APPROVE REQUESTS FOR BOOKS
AND ARTICLES, WHICH CAN TAKE WEEKS."
THEY WERE AT A SIGNIFICANT DISADVANTAGE, AND ON TOP OF
THAT THEY BEAT STUDENTS THAT ARE GOING TO HARVARD.
FIRST OFF, IT WAS SEVENTY-FIVE PRISONERS WHO WERE
THERE TO WATCH, NOT SEVENTY-FIVE
PERCENT.
MUCH MORE IMPORTANTLY, THE JUDGES RECOGNIZE, HEY LOOK,
WE ARE IN THIS BIASED SITUATION.
EVERYBODY WANTS TO ROOT FOR THE
HOME TEAM, EVERYBODY WANTS TO CHEER, AND THEY RECOGNIZE THAT.
SO THEY ARE VERY STRICT ABOUT SCORING AT STANDARDS THAT
ARE APPROVED IN THE DEBATE SYSTEM.
THE JUDGES ARE AWARE THAT YOU WANT TO ROOT FOR THE
UNDERDOGS, AND SO THEY TOOK THAT INTO ACCOUNT.
THAT IS WHY THEY LOST TO WEST POINT IN THE REMATCH.
THEY LEGITIMATELY BEAT THE HARVARD DEBATE TEAM.
THAT IS CRAZY.
EVEN MORE AMAZING BY THE FACT THAT, AS ANA TOLD YOU, THEY
DON'T HAVE THE INTERNET.
THAT IS SOME OLD-SCHOOL STUFF.
THAT
IS WHAT I WOULD DO WHEN I WAS A KID.
YOU WOULD GO TO THE
LIBRARY, USE THE CATALOG INDEXES SYSTEM, GO TO THE SHELF, FIND
THE BOOK AND READ THE BOOK.
THAT IS HOW THEY ARE PREPARING,
THEY STILL BEAT THE HARVARD
DEBATE TEAM.
BANANAS.
BUT THAT IS NOT THE MOST INTERESTING PART
OF THE STORY.
TO ME, THE MOST
INTERESTING PART OF THIS STORY IS, AS A COUNTRY WE SPEND $212
BILLION TO IMPRISON 2.3 MILLION
PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY.
THAT IS NOT ONE PERCENT OF THE COUNTRY,
BUT IT IS GETTING THERE.
THAT IS AN UNBELIEVABLE NUMBER.
WE
IMPRISON MORE PEOPLE PER CAPITA THAN ALMOST ANYWHERE ELSE IN THE
WORLD.
THE AVERAGE PRISONER COSTS $29,000 A YEAR TO KEEP IN PRISON.
SO WHEN YOU SAY, JUST PUT THEM IN PRISON, WAR ON DRUGS, WHATEVER ñ
DO SOME PEOPLE NEED TO BE IMPRISONED?
OF COURSE.
WE WANT THE MURDERERS, RAPISTS, THE CHILD MOLESTERS, THE ROBBERS IN PRISON.
WE NEED THEM IN PRISON.
THEY ARE A THREAT TO SOCIETY.
BUT REMEMBER, ANY TIME THAT YOU PUSH FOR HARDER LAWS ON
EVERYTHING, ON EVERYTHING, EACH PRISONER COSTS $29,000 OF YOUR
TAXPAYERíS MONEY.
OUR RECIDIVISM RATE IS SIXTY-EIGHT PERCENT.
68 PERCENT.
OKAY, NOW, THEY GET REARRESTED.
OVER THOSE, SOME PORTION ARE PROBATION, OR ACQUITTED,
ETC.
SO, THERE IS A FIFTY PERCENT RETURN TO PRISON.
WITHIN THREE YEARS, FIFTY PERCENT ARE BACK IN PRISON.
SOME PEOPLE THINK THERE IS NOTHING THAT
YOU CAN DO ABOUT THAT.
TURNS OUT, THAT'S NOT TRUE AT ALL.
RESEARCH INDICATES THAT THESE HIGH AND EXPENSIVE RATES OF
RECIDIVISM FALL TO LESS THAN TWO PERCENT IF
PRISONS OFFER SIGNIFICANT EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY TO
INCARCERATED MEN AND WOMEN.
AMONG FORMERLY INCARCERATED BARD STUDENTS, LESS THAN TWO
PERCENT HAVE RETURNED TO PRISON.
THINK ABOUT THAT.
FORGET BARD FOR A SECOND, FORGET THIS
PARTICULAR PROGRAM.
OBVIOUSLY IT IS WORKING, THEY BEAT THE
HARVARD DEBATE TEAM, ETC.
BUT IF YOU JUST EDUCATE PRISONERS,
THE RATE DROPS FROM SIXTY
PERCENT TO TWO PERCENT.
THAT FREES HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE.
THEY SERVE THEIR TIME, AND THEY ARE NO LONGER CRIMINALS AFTER
THAT.
RECIDIVISM IS THAT THEY NO LONGER DID ANOTHER CRIME.
YOU SAVE THAT PERSON GOING BACK TO PRISON, YOU SAVE TAXPAYERS
$29,000 A YEAR FOR HUNDREDS OF
THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE.
ARE WE MENTAL?
WHY ARE WE NOT EDUCATING
THE PRISONERS?
I KNOW THAT AMERICANS ARE MORE BARBARIC THAN
EUROPE, AND WE LOOK AT NORWAY, AND I SEE HOW COMFORTABLE THEIR
PRISONS ARE AND I THINK, YOU CRAZY, SOFTIE EUROPEANS,
RIGHT?
THEY ARE DOING IT FOR A REASON, SO THAT PEOPLE DON'T
COME BACK AS MUCH.
YOU CAN'T SOLVE EVERYONE'S PROBLEMS, SOME
PEOPLE ARE GOING TO COMMIT CRIME ANYWAY.
BUT IF WE CAN REDUCE IT FROM SIXTY-EIGHT PERCENT TO
TWENTY-TWO PERCENT, HOW CRAZY ARE WE THAT WE DON'T TAKE
THAT ACTION?
YOU CAN ACTUALLY LOWER THE RECIDIVISM RATE
FURTHER, IF YOU CHANGE CERTAIN POLICIES FOR PRISONERS
AFTER THEY GET OUT OF PRISON.
FOR INSTANCE, RIGHT NOW, EMPLOYERS ASK WHETHER OR
NOT SOMEBODY HAS BEEN CONVICTED OF A FELONY.
IF THEY HAVE, THEY ARE DONE, THEY WON'T GET A JOB.
I KNOW THAT PEOPLE ARE REALLY UNEASY ABOUT HIRING SOMEONE
WHO HAS A CRIMINAL RECORD.
ONE OF THE REASONS PEOPLE GO BACK TO PRISON IS THAT THEY
DON'T HAVE MANY OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE TO THEM AFTER
THEY GET OUT.
IF I AM A WARDEN OR A GOVERNOR, IN ANY WAY RELATED TO
PRISONS, AND I SEE THESE NUMBERS, THIS IS THE BIGGEST
NO-BRAINER OF ALL TIME.
OF COURSE I AM GOING TO EDUCATE THE
PRISONERS, I DON'T WANT THEM TO COMMIT MORE CRIMES AND HURT
MORE OF MY CITIZENS, AND I DON'T WANT TO PAY TAXPAYER MONEY TO
IMPRISON THEM.
OF COURSE YOU SHOULD EDUCATE THEM.
NOT BECAUSE YOU LIKE THEM, NOT BECAUSE YOU WANT TO BE
FRIENDLY TO THEM, BUT BECAUSE IT WORKS.
IT WORKS, BUT I DON'T THINK THOSE NECESSARILY WORKING IN THE
PRISON INDUSTRY WANT IT TO WORK.
I DON'T THINK THOSE IN LAW ENFORCEMENT NECESSARILY WANT IT
TO WORK.
IT DOES NOT MATTER IF
YOU ARE IN A PRIVATE OR PUBLICLY FUNDED
PRISON ñ THOSE WORKING IN THE PRISON INDUSTRY HAVE AN
INCENTIVE TO KEEP LOCKING PEOPLE UP.
THEY DON'T WANT TO LOWER
THE RECIDIVISM RATE, THEY WILL
BE OUT OF A JOB.
THAT WILL SUCK, WON'T IT?
YOU CAN'T DO THAT.
WE HAVE GOT TO BE MORE RESPONSIBLE
CITIZENS.
THE PEOPLE WHO ARE RUNNING THE PRISONS ARE
GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS.
I KNOW THEY WANT THEIR JOBS, THEY WANT
PROFITS, THEY WANT ALL THE GOODIES THAT COME WITH IT, YOU
HAVE GOT TO END THIS NONSENSE.
YOU DON'T END THE PRISONS, YOU
JUST DO IT IN A SMARTER WAY.
IF IT IS TRUE WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT
BARD, AND I WOULDN'T TAKE THEIR WORD FOR IT, I WOULD DO MANY
MORE STUDIES, BUT IF IT TURNS OUT THAT THIS LOWERS YOUR
RECIDIVISM RATE, EVERY PERSON IN THE COUNTRY SHOULD DO IT.
IF IT
IS TRUE, SIGN THEM UP.
WHO DOESN'T WANT A RECIDIVISM RATE
OF TWO PERCENT?
WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?
WHY DO YOU WANT TO HURT
YOUR FELLOW CITIZENS THAT WAY?