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It would get a quick and cheap laugh to make a crack along the lines of “Did you hear the one about the jail that had a yoga program?” The punch line would also be short-sighted and expensive to taxpayers in the long run.
Because it’s no secret many individuals wind up in jail for bad decisions made without taking a moment to check emotions and weigh consequences. So it’s important that a program at the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center is addressing what many folks would consider that lack of anger management and impulse control via classes on creative writing, meditation, nonviolent communication and, yes, even yoga. Critics should know that Comienzos (the Spanish word for “beginnings”) doesn’t translate into country club accommodations. Instead, the MDC unit is overcrowded (98 inmates in a space for 64) because it provides coping skills to inmates willing to embrace the education. Prisoners incarcerated for murder or sex crimes are not allowed, and in its first year the program has lowered the occurrence of fights and violent outbursts in the Comienzos pod, says MDC Chief Ramon Rustin. The program costs $97,000 a year and has two full-time paid employees and six volunteers. If the next two and a half years continue to show it helps inmates make better decisions when they are released — and it’s a fact those participants will be released at some point — then that’s money well spent ensuring a safer community with fewer repeat offenders. This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.
