"We were finding that after this 10-day course, inmates were better able to control their anger and better able to conduct themselves," said Dr. Ron Cavanaugh, director of treatment at the Alabama Department of Corrections, who worked with Ms. Phillips to bring Vipassana meditation to Donaldson.
In response, the inmates became better behaved.
The governor went so as far as to argue that inmates received better medical care inside the prisons than they would once they were released.
Women have not been required to wear prison-issue clothing in British jails since 1971 because research found that inmates responded better to rules if they were allowed to wear their own clothes.
Early this week, three Republican senators who oppose closing Guantánamo visited the prison and one of them, Senator James M. Inhofe of Oklahoma, said inmates were better cared for "than they have been in their entire lives".
But they are higher than in public call boxes and for prisoners, whose average wage is £8 a week, they are mountainous.Then inmates had better stay silent, is one response: those who commit crimes must expect to forfeit access to the conveniences of modern life.
The president called for lowering – if not ending – mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenses, restoring the voting rights of ex-felons, revisiting hiring practices that require applicants to list criminal activity, and expanding job training programs so inmates are better prepared to reintegrate into society.
But state corrections officials said that two female Labrador retrievers -- one yellow and one black -- living at the women's York Correctional Institution had made inmates happier, better behaved and, in some cases, willing to take on responsibilities for the first time.
"We provide services that help families and inmates communicate better," said JPay CEO Ryan Shapiro.
