State Senator (and current Attorney General candidate) Ken Cuccinelli released a statement about the recent decision by Virginia prison officials to ban the program, Books Behind Bars. Books Behind Bars, which was initiated by Quest Institute, provides free books to prisoners, and has been cited as a way of “productively employing his or her time while incarcerated.”

“Programs like Books Behind Bars provide the literature necessary for more effective educational and faith based rehabilitation programs, and scientific studies have long shown that educational and faith based programs greatly reduce prison recidivism. In 2001, a national study on the effects of prison education programs on recidivism, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, showed that 22% of inmates who attended education classes in prison returned after three years, versus almost 31% who had not participated. (Steurer, 2001) In 2003, a study of the Prison Fellowship Ministry’s rehabilitation program, conducted by Byron Johnson of the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Research on Religion and Urban Civil Society, found that graduates of Prison Fellowship’s program were less likely than non-graduates to return to a life of crime. (Johnson, 2003)

The Washington Post reports that this program was banned for two main reasons. (A Title Wave of Controversy, 09/10/09) Apparently, Quest volunteers, while packing the books to ship them to a prison, overlooked two items — a compact disc packaged in a textbook and a paper clip — and shipped them along with the books. Prison officials have also stated that it creates too much work for corrections officers, who have to search the incoming books and the cells of the prisoners, many of whom possess more than their legally allotted 13 books. However, the Post also reports that both of these contraband items were found before they made it into an inmate’s hands and that the Quest Institute has volunteered to limit the number of books sent to each prisoner.

Cuccinelli, who currently serves on the Rehabilitation and Social Services Committee in the Virginia State Senate, believes that Books Behind Bars offers the rehabilitation, as well as, education for those who are currently serving time in prison. Cuccinelli also pledged to work with Virginia prison officials to bring back this program and work to facilitate other successful rehabilitation programs, such as Prison Fellowship Ministries.