John Tetpon took quite a thrashing in response to his recent article, "Justice system sets Alaska Native men up for failure." Ten years ago, I shared similar concerns in a Compass piece for the Anchorage Daily News entitled "Locking up Natives Isn't the Answer." It takes only an online glance at the Department of Corrections 2012 Offender Profile to realize, sadly, that nothing has changed. In 2003, I wrote:
Alaska is enriched by the highest percentage of indigenous peoples in the United States and the influence of their culture, spirituality and perspective is beautifully woven into the fabric of our society. But what pride we take in our heritage is tarnished by the fact that we arrest and imprison more of our First People neighbors than any other state by double the nearest competitor.
A slight 8 percent of our general population are male Alaska Native; a staggering 37 percent of our prison population are Alaska Native men ... Many Native offenders have committed serious crimes. But many more do not fit conventional patterns of criminal behavior, and most do not respond to conventional corrections programs. Were it not for loss of purpose, hope and the ravage of alcohol, a high percentage of Alaska Native offenders would be leading (and can again lead) productive lives.
Correcting the situation by half, or even a quarter, would defer prison and jail construction for years and save the State hundreds of millions of dollars. But the fiscal savings pale when compared to the social and economic benefit of diverting or restoring productive, healthy people back to the family and home community.
Over the past two decades (three now) the cultural bias in our criminal justice system has been a concern of the Alaska Judicial Council, the University of Alaska Justice Center and a variety of task forces and commissions. Yet year after year the State pumps millions of dollars into programs that have no measureable impact on Alaska Native incarceration rates.
This gorilla has circled the room while my generation of Alaskans have danced with symptoms rather than causes.
Criminal behavior is a personal choice, common to all racial groups, that has just and predictable consequences. But when the burden weighs most heavily upon a single racial group there is good reason to hope that the problem is systemic rather than endemic. When 8 percent of a society occupies 37 percent of its prison beds, reason and logic suggest that the problem lies within ourselves.
We can start by contemplating whether we, as a society, share J.W.'s disparaging attitude toward any human being. Then we can focus in practical ways on what it means to "love your neighbor as yourself." Alaskans are a people of great resource and ingenuity. I cannot think of a single issue facing us that, when corrected, will speak more highly of our community character.
Frank Prewitt was legal counsel, deputy commissioner and commissioner of the Alaska Department of Corrections under Govs. Bill Sheffield, Steve Cowper and Walter J. Hickel.
The views expressed here are the writer's own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, e-mail commentary(at)alaskadispatch.com.