New book pushes for rehabilitation

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - A new book by local authors highlighting a program designed to cut down on repeat offenders is getting statewide attention.

The book written, by former County Judge Don Johnson and Purdue Sociologist JoAnn Miller, fills 277 pages with analysis of data from the Tippecanoe County Problem Solving Court.

Johnson said the book examines one central, distressing fact: 68 percent of prisoners released from jail will be back in again within 36 months.

"There's something that's not working right," said Johnson.

Johnson and Miller are working for a change. The approach espoused in their book, Problem Solving Courts: The New Approach to Criminal Justice, is to connect the convict to the outside world. The book said the criminals should be required to get a job, take care of their kids, vote, and get a library card.

If criminals do not make the grade, the authors suggest they should go back behind bars.

"Change is tough on all human beings and not everybody is going to make it," said Johnson.

According to Miller, one in six do not.

"There were individuals in the court program who said, 'This is too difficult for me. Please send me back to prison,'" said Miller.

Miller said readers can expect real results, even if they are not the dramatic sort you might see on TV.

" Law and Order doesn't show up in this book. Instead we see real life stories of what happens to people, where they came from, what their family circumstances were and how they can really transform their lives," said Miller.

Miller said the Problem Solving Court is a money saving measure too. She said the program saves taxpayers an average of $12,000 per year, per inmate.