View from the Inside: Inmate Study Group Gives Advice on Solving US Crime Problem

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IN the heated national debate over solutions to crime and violence in society, should we listen to the suggestions of Ted Garrety, Robert Lena, Vernard Ansari, and Ken Gauthier?

And what about Robert Pacheco, Arthur Legge, Robert Gaumond, Robert McClary, and Toni Olszewski? Do they want more prisons built to house America's worst felons for life? Should drugs be legalized? Can rehabilitation take place?

These men are inmates at Norfolk Correctional Institution, a medium-security state prison outside of Boston. They are part of a unique master's degree program sponsored by Boston University (BU) in the prison and taught by Paule Verdet, a retired …