University professors Edward Shihadeh and Cecile Guin encouraged community involvement to reduce crime as part of the “Cease the Crime, Reduce Recidivism” panel in the Manship’s School Holiday Forum Tuesday evening.
The five-member panel addressed Louisiana’s — and in particular Baton Rouge’s — overwhelming, although decreasing, crime rate and the effect of convicts returning to society.
Shihadeh argued the prison system punishes the convicted not only while incarcerated, but also after their sentencing is over.
Because crime is stigmatizing, getting a job after being a convicted felon is impossible, he argued.
Instead of shaming people for being a criminal, our goal should be to educate and rehabilitate criminals to function in society, he said.
The panel agreed that people who commit crimes are often given sentences that are too harsh.
Second-degree murder is the crime with the lowest recidivism rate of all crimes, Shihadeh said.
“These are not premeditated murders,” he said, “but on the turn of a dime, our lives can change.”
Guin told the audience if they were not interested in changing the corrections systems for humane reasons that economic reasons should be motivation.
“One out of every 14 tax dollars goes into corrections,” she said. “This is what we are spending our money on.”
Guin argued that an increase in education and mentorship programs could help future generations avoid a life of crime.
She said there are 40,000 people imprisoned in Louisiana, a higher incarceration rate than anywhere in the world.
But Louisianans are not born with a predisposition to crime, she claimed. Individuals have to be willing to be the difference in their community.