“Recidivism” is the cycle of people trapped in the criminal justice system. When offenders complete their time in prison and earn their release, many of them don’t know any other life, re-offend and are thrown back in prison. The Badger Institute in Wisconsin focused their criminal justice reform campaign on breaking the painful and expensive cycle of recidivism.

Badger used their research capabilities as a think tank to advocate for re-entry and recidivism reforms. But they also developed innovative partnerships with other organizations to engage the media, legislators and the public on this incredibly important issue. The result was two research reports with far-reaching results and a completely new organization to help ex-offenders earn their life back.

Unlocking Potential

In 2016, Badger released a report titled “Unlocking Potential” on the damage of ineffective criminal justice policy with first-hand accounts from Wisconsin’s criminal justice system. Then in 2017, Badger released “Black Robes & Blue Collars: How to let Wisconsin’s judges help job-seekers and employers” which showed how even misdemeanor charges prohibit many Wisconsinites from getting a job—locking them out of a meaningful future.

Over the past year, multiple large-scale criminal justice reform laws have been debated in Wisconsin. During those discussions, both of these reports have been heavily cited by lawmakers on the Governor’s Task Force on Minority Unemployment as well as the Wisconsin Criminal Justice Coalition.

But where Badger broke the mold of traditional think tank work is when they highlighted a Las Vegas area nonprofit called “Hope for Prisoners.” This organization helps ex-offenders get job training and counseling, but also partners them with members of the law enforcement community to develop a network of support to move their lives forward.

Badger then brought members of “Hope for Prisoners” to Wisconsin to meet with lawmakers, and they took lawmakers, state law enforcement leaders and other nonprofit leaders to Las Vegas to see the program in action.

It’s out of this campaign that “Partners in Hope” was born. Modeled after “Hope for Prisoners,” this program connects ex-offenders in Wisconsin with mentors in the local law enforcement community for support. Instead of having to rebuild their lives by themselves and hope for the best, ex-offenders in Wisconsin have partners and a network to succeed.

A former bank robber becomes a policy reformer

Even though it’s only been operational for a short time, Partners in Hope is expanding and helping more and more ex-offenders find their way into a meaningful future.

Jon Ponder used to be one of those ex-offenders. Ponder was a three-time convicted felon who spent years in prison for bank robbery. If it wasn’t for Ponder’s unique relationship with FBI agent Richard Beasley—who actually arrested him 14 years ago—then he might have been just another statistic from a failed system. But Ponder and Beasley became friends while Ponder was in prison and they stayed close after Ponder was released. That friendship eventually led Ponder to found Hope for Prisoners himself.

Ponder spoke to Wisconsin lawmakers about what amazing advancements can happen by rehabilitating offenders instead of simply punishing them and hoping they—and their offences—go away. Jon Ponder’s amazing transformation from bank robber to a policy reformer is evidence of what can happen when lawmakers, researchers and reformers have the bravery to look for the best solutions to an issue, not simply the most convenient one.