Graduating Greystone means new chance for prisoners

Fresh off his valedictorian speech, Cory McClintic finally clutched a diploma in his hand. But the honors student won't be headed off to college - or even to the workforce. Not yet, anyway. McClintic, 23, is serving 12 years in Folsom Prison. His graduation July 25 is just one step in the long road to taking his life back.Greystone Adult School - the prison's accredited educational system - graduated 235 inmates this year, the largest group in recent history. Some, like McClintic, received GEDs, while others earned vocational certification in trades like electronics, welding, or janitorial service."This opens up a whole new world," said Warden Matthew Kramer, praising education and job skills as tools that increase the chance prisoners will land a job on the outside.This new focus on rehabilitation is part of a statewide movement to reform a prison system plagued by recidivism and overcrowding.California recidivism - the rate at which released inmates are re-incarcerated - is the highest in the nation, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Nearly 70 percent of the state's inmates return to prison after they are released.Of the 171,000 inmates currently in state prisons, thousands are housed in gyms, TV rooms, and classrooms.Just this spring, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a $7.9 billion state prison reform bill - Assembly Bill 900 - that could add space for 40,000 new beds and increase participation rates in academic, vocational, and drug-treatment programs. Proponents hope the bill will reduce rates of early release for unprepared inmates and provide better rehabilitation for those who are freed."This gives me an opportunity when I'm released," said Bilal Coleman of the graduation, his second in three years.Coleman received his GED in 2004; this time around, he completed janitorial certification. Marcelline Sinclair sounded optimistic about the future of her newly electronics-certified grandson, Joseph Elders."I'm glad that he's completed something," she said. "I'm proud of him."Jade Whatley, 6, beamed proudly as she recalled the best part of her father's graduation: "I like the part when they throw their hats up in the air."But the program is not a happy solution for everyone. "I'm here for life," said EugeneYoung. "For me, this is just a way to pass time."Young's bleak assessment, coupled with the prison's historic gray walls, was a stark reminder that this was no regular ceremony. But unlike Young, most inmates enrolled in school will be parole and will get a second chance."Don't get me wrong. I don't like being here," said McClintic, the valedictorian. "But if I never would have come here, who knows how I would have ended up. Possibly dead."McClintic said he was never a good kid before ending up in Folsom Prison."The older I got, the worse I got," he said. "I was mad at the world and I hated everyone in it."But the shock of prison woke him up to his mistakes and gave him the motivation to change. He took his parents advice and went to school, resulting in not just a diploma, but three college credits in business."Now he has a chance to do something with his life," said McClintic's father, Forrest."It gives him something to look forward to. A lot of guys are here a long time," said his mother, Joeley. "He's got nine more years to go."The young graduate seems to be on his way to better things - but the real test will come down the road, said Warden Kramer."The true measure of this program's success will be whether we see these inmates come back through our gates after they are released."