Page 37 - Greg Mathis News Today

not everyone is cheering, though. the debate over prison reform next on "larry king live." we begin with judge greg mathis. hes host of "the judge mathis show." hes a retired district court judge. hes launched a prisoner program called p.e.e.r. which encourages inmates to change their lives. how did this start? >> well, it started from my own reflection on my experience. many of your viewers, or those who watch my show, certainly know that prior to becoming a lawyer and a judge, i was ...

streets? >> come back out slicker than you were before you went in. >> the system itself rehabilitated me. >> larry: dwyane "dog" chapman was locked behind bars before the system helped them. >> i think im a pretty good taxpayer myself. >> larry: their message -- save lives on the inside, will help on the outside. not everyone is cheering, though. the debate over prison reform next on "larry king live." we begin with judge greg mathis. hes host of "the judge mathis show." hes a retired...

>> larry: our next guest is a former officer at san quentin. he runs a program called real choices. what do you make of this whole discussion and judge mathis program of helping people when theyre coming out? >> judge mathis, its good to be able to talk with you and i commend you for your program. i would like to set a few things on the record. larry, you and i on june 6, 2006, you came out to san quentin when i had eight men that came on to your show to talk with you. those eight men represente...

>> i think that it depends what you do with them while inside. thats why i say youll find research is clearly identified that when you are exposing them to a cognitive behavioral model that youre going to find that you change the way they think about themselves, their personal and community experiences. i think the judge, judge mathis struck the nail on the head. that is what our society has created is, weve created these environments with our larger cities, and now its spread to our suburbs whe...

Nch>> duane, you agree? >> i like that. thicker and slicker. i, of course, was there. i met a kid didnt do hardly anything. when i left, he said, dog, ill take it from here. instead of learning how to shoot the lock off, you learn thousand pick it. its a training field for felons. >> you have seen the worse at san quentin. thats true? they come out smart e criminals? >> i think that it depends what you do with them while inside. thats why i say youll find research is clearly identified that when...

>> it was education. the judge ordered me to get a ged as a condition of my release. then i left and went to college. there were no thugs in college, and then i was able to obtain a productive skill, of course, as a lawyer, and then later as a judge. but it was as a result of an education. thats why i emphasize that. >> larry: now youre giving back, trying to help young men from lives of crimes. the prison program is called prison empowerment education and respect. lets see this in action. watch...

>> both, jails and prisons. >> larry: how did you not end up a criminal? >> well, unfortunately, a street youth and getting involved in the jail as a criminal, i cannot deny that. >> larry: you didnt end up one. >> how did it overcome that? >> it was education. the judge ordered me to get a ged as a condition of my release. then i left and went to college. there were no thugs in college, and then i was able to obtain a productive skill, of course, as a lawyer, and then later as a judge. but it w...

>> larry: snoop, how were you able to come off drugs, snoop? >> i never was on drugs, larry. >> larry: oh, you just sold them? >> yeah, i just sold them. i learned from my mother. that was my example right there. because i almost died three types in the hospital, you know, and it was because of my mother was getting high. i never even tried it. i just sold them. i know i was wrong for selling them, but i never tried them. >> larry: did you have trouble getting work when you got out of prison, sn...

Them, but i never tried them. >> larry: did you have trouble getting work when you got out of prison, snoop? how did you get a job? >> i went through a temp agency and they fired me because, you know, my background. and this is what i want to say to the judge. how you doing, judge mathis? but, you know, the programs thats in prison, you know, the same programs that help them in prison, like, im trying to get something in maryland, like once they get out, that program they was in in prison, it ca...

Lives on the inside, will help on the outside. not everyone is cheering, though. the debate over prison reform next on "larry king live." we begin with judge greg mathis. hes host of "the judge mathis show." hes a retired district court judge. hes launched a prisoner progra called peer, which encourages inmates to change their lives. how did this start? >> well, it started on my own reflection on my own experience. prior to becoming a lawyer and a judge, i was a street youth, a high school dropo...