Dear Edgar:

Our work group of economists had the opportunity to see your video last weekend. I think we will continue to use it [A Sentence of Their Own] as a heartfelt and devastating reference point in our work when we talk about “costs.”

We’ll definitely add it to our resources list. Many thanks for letting us have the opportunity to watch it [A Sentence of Their Own.] All the best for the new year.

Lois Ahrens
Executive Director
The Real Cost of Prisons Project

P.S. What an amazing person Becky is!

(December 20, 2002)

(March 16, 2002)

The reason I'm writing is because I'm very interested in the video A Sentence of Their Own. I have a wife and daughter out there in the free world that are going through the stress of me being locked down. To be honest, they are the only family I have - I've been an orphan since the age of 12 and my daughter and wife are all I have in my life that are worth anything and I'm on the verge of loosing them because of my present situation. Is there any way the tape could help and save my family?

This system can put a strain on our peoples out there. I guess this is part of the punishment - but I just can't sit back and see my life and only family crumble around me. Respectfully yours.

Inmate in Georgia

(May, 28, 2002)

Dear Edgar:

Last year my husband was arrested, charged with a crime, accepted a plea bargain, and incarcerated. Now I am an inmate’s wife. I have come to know an entirely different world then the one I spent over fifty years in. It is as if I have passed through an invisible gate and entered a world that looks the same but is completely different. I have been searching for signposts as I try to navigate through this new world. One of the signposts I have found is A Sentence of Their Own.

A Sentence of Their Own gives a glimpse into the lives that are destroyed by incarceration. Whole families are being destroyed and rendered useless in our society, not just the life of the incarcerated. Many of these people are still part of society and most of those that are incarcerated will return to society. These people understand that they are not valued. These people have been persecuted, verbally abused, physically abused, and cast out. It is little wonder that our police officers cannot control the crime on the streets and in our homes. Angry, hurt, and abused people do not make good citizens.

Society accepts that children must be loved, nurtured, educated, and disciplined with respect if they are going to become productive adult citizens. Society understands that children learn from example, and that our examples must be honest, caring, and nurturing, rather they are the parents, teachers, or care takers. But this same society believes that an adult that has been convicted of a crime will be cured by a long, harsh prison sentence with other inmates, while being supervised by verbally abusive, and sometimes physically abusive guards. I have heard statements such as these over and over again: “They can change if they want to. Prison isn’t bad or they wouldn’t keep coming back. They’re the scum of the Earth. They’re all throwaways.”

We now have over two million people in prison in this country and we have plans to build even more prisons to hold our growing criminal population. Unless we want our prison population to continue to grow, unless we want crime to continue to escalate in our society, we will begin to reprogram people that are incarcerated. Incarcerated people must be given large doses of rehabilitation, education, life skill training, and job training by people that teach them to respect other people and life, through example. And this is just the beginning; these people must be given the opportunity to be successful when they return to society.

For this to happen society must come to understand that our justice system is producing criminals faster then we can incarcerate them. Society must recognize the need to rehabilitate prisoners, and to protect inmate’s families. Inmates already know all to well what incarceration does to their families. If they were able to break the cycle they have fallen into by themselves they certainly would. Everyone wants the American Dream, even prisoners and their families.

A Sentence of Their Own is a step to help educate the public on this critical problem. This film must be seen by as many people in society as possible. It should be mandatory viewing.

(June 8, 2002)

Becky Writes Back!

Dear Mr. Barens:

Watching your documentary, A Sentence of Their Own, at the International Community Corrections Associations’ annual conference today was a moving and illuminating experience. I hope very much that it gets wide distribution, first because it is an outstanding documentary video in its own right, and second because the issue it examines needs to be brought into the public awareness.

With simple clarity, it shows the enormous burden that Becky had to shoulder when her husband was incarcerated, and the anguish and confusion that affected each child differently. I especially appreciate how the video maintains its focus on the family without getting sidetracked into the matter of the husband/father’s crime. Those momentary glimpses of him through the visiting room window are an absolutely inspired metaphor for the way the family must experience their brief contacts with him during the long years of his incarceration.)

I work in corrections and can see the video being used effectively with the inmate population. This would need to be done with care, in context of a guided treatment program, with plenty of time built in for processing the onslaught of conflicting feelings it is likely to inspire.

I am also involved in a local initiative to develop services for the children of inmates, and a copy of your video would be a huge help in raising consciousness about the complicated needs and issues. Thank you so much for the opportunity to see your video today.

(September 25, 2001)