Mandatory Sentence

Crime and punishment sure has gotten interesting. There have been some recent changes in federal sentencing laws, which have, in effect made ESL tui-tion mandatory for all federal prisoners. The change is due to specific language in two forms of legislation. One is known as VCCLEA (Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act) and the other PLRA (Prison Litigation Reform Act).

Both of these were produced based upon Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) documents and have a significant impact on incarcerated individuals who speak Spanish as their main language. The new rulings, in essence, compel non-English speakers to learn the language.

According to Tony Stello, California Education Director for the Federal Bureau of Prisons, "These laws affect both those who are citizens and those who are not, those who face being deported upon completion of their terms because of the internal structure of prisons."

Currently, the sentencing laws are such that by performing various jobs behind bars or going to school in the prison education program, you vest what is called "good conduct time". This time is a credit that the individual is earning toward being released earlier than their regular sentenced time. For every day that they are good or are involved in work without negative incident, there is a schedule of how this time translates into earlier release. Without getting too caught up in the specifications of the system, if an inmate is good for one year, they will receive between a 54 and 42-day sentence reduction.

"The important point," says Tony Stello, "is that an inmate can also get this good conduct time simply for attending school. There was a time when the federal government felt it was not appropriate to force those who are likely to be deported to participate in school. These inmates traditionally did not get jobs in prisons, did not choose to go to school and, therefore were not eligible for good time. Alien students cannot earn good time in any other way. It may not be mandatory for them to go to school, but there is a major coercion involved, because, to get good time it is crucial to be involved in a work program or deemed to be making satisfactory progress toward earning a GED credential or high school diploma."

"As for the citizen...they must go. They have no choice. An inmate can be exempt from attending school. But even when you are exempt from it you are not entitled to good time, unless you earn it and there are only two ways to earn it," said Stello. According to a program statement of BOP rules and regulations, a prisoner is exempt from participation in the work or education program if they are going to leave the country upon release. But an inmate who voluntarily pulls themselves out of a work or education program is not eligible for what is termed, "incentives" from BOP. One of these incentives is that different jobs pay different dividends. These jobs are ranked according to pay as well as status. To hold a job at the highest rank requires the greatest amount of education. These jobs are limited to English speakers. "In the Federal Bureau of Prisons," says Stello, "we have the ability, in essence, to create a law that deals specifically with our own procedure. The final say is with the Congress, but we have the ability to introduce legislation that relates directly to our program. Our educational requirements have changed over the years. Originally, we had a requirement of literacy at the 6th grade level. Then, it went up to 8th grade. Then we hiked requirements up to a mandatory high school diploma or GED."

"What this means in terms of implementation is that each prisoner who does not already have a high school diploma or GED, has a mandatory 240 hours of instruction, regardless of their literacy level. If they quit or are kicked out of the program before that time, they are not eligible for any further schooling or incentives."

There are a lot of incentives built around keeping people in school while incarcerated.

"A GED for our Spanish speakers is going to be a requirement as of October," added Stello. "This doesn't mean that an ESL student in prison will now have an easier road to success. In fact, it is just the opposite.

"When the new GED is available, we will also require an English Proficiency to be passed along with the Spanish GED. In other words, you will not be able to take a Spanish GED test until you've proven your English literacy. There are currently five levels of English Proficiency. Next year, the proficiency test will include a literacy test, in English. The year after that a writing test in English will be required."

The incentives to become more educated while in prison become greater for everyone. For the non-English speaker, the incentives are greater still.