Clackamas County Jail

Closing Advice

Interview with Lisa


JM: Is there anything else you would want a friend or family member to know if they have a loved one going to jail?
Lisa: Going to jail is a lesson. It is a tool that society uses to let people know that they have done something wrong. What the common public does not know is that the nature of the crime and assignment at the time of the crime is the worst offense so the county can get more money out of the criminal, make the lawyers more money and keep the criminal as broke as possible. When a person has been there once they don't want to go back. My son killed himself after one night in the Clackamas County Jail. He was charged with Kidnapping I which my ex-husband that used to beat me NEVER got charged with during a domestic fight. The system needs serious and careful insight to be just. Once a person is a repeat offender, they will have very little opportunity to ever be out in the "normal" world again. It is a sad, unrelenting way to keep criminals labeled for the rest of their life. I know very few that make it. The one that I do know got the worst offense assigned for a fist fight in a bar. 2.5 years in OSP. Without his family, his job and his friends, he would still be there. I have a throw away nephew that will probably never be able to stay out. It is sad. To be successful, criminals need to be medicated if needed, tested and trained in critical thinking skills. That will never happen.

JM: Is there anything else you would recommend to a future inmate?
Lisa: Don't do the crime if you can't do the time!