Prisoner Empowerment Education and Respect Initiative – PEER
Overview
JUDGE MATHIS’ PRISON INITIATIVE…
STATE BY STATE DIRECTORY OF RE-ENTRY SERVICES
In December, Judge Mathis launched his Black Prisoner Initiative, PEER, (Prisoner Empowerment, Education and Respect). Judge Mathis visits jails and prisons throughout the country sharing his personal experience, giving advice and offering encouragement to those in need of uplifting. His first PEER appearance was at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta, GA on Thursday, December 10, which was followed by a visit to the Wayne County Jail in Detroit, Michigan and the State Correctional Institute at Chester Pennsylvania.
For information about other re-entry services click http://www.nationalreentryresourcecenter.org/
Motivated by his own experience as a troubled youth, who overcame the challenges of being incarcerated to become a successful judge and one of television’s most popular daytime personalities, Judge Greg Mathis takes another step to personally reach out to incarcerated individuals throughout the nation.
Judge Mathis is strongly committed to reinvesting in this population as African American males make up over 50% of the national prison population and are incarcerated at a rate of 6.5 times that of white males. At the same time, African American males make up approximately 6% of the entire population of the United States. The majority of those incarcerated do not have a diploma or GED and return to prison within 18 months of their release. While these numbers are staggering, these figures may reflect the lack of positive male influences in the lives of African American males and failed education systems. As an African American male, Judge Mathis hopes his personal investment of time and testimony will offer inmates hope that they can educate themselves, transition to productive lives and provide positive influences for young black males.
Judge Mathis fulfilled the deathbed wish of his mother, Ms. Alice Mathis, to change his path, with the compassion of a Judge who ordered him to educate himself and get a GED as part of his jail sentence. He then successfully obtained his GED, Bachelor’s degree and law degree. He also found inspiration from Rev. Jesse Jackson and the Rainbow Push organization, an organization that Mathis would later become a key member establishing the Detroit Chapter of “ the Reclaim Our Youth ” church-based mentorship program for non-violent offenders. This program was established by Rev. Jackson through Rainbow/Push and was implemented in Detroit by Young Adults Asserting Themselves, Inc., an agency founded by Judge Mathis and his wife, Linda, nearly 25 years ago. Young Adults Asserting Themselves, Inc. still operates in Detroit out of the Judge Mathis Community Center in Detroit. Other programs offered by the Mathis Community Center include an ex-offenders janitorial entrepreneurial training program and the STEP (Second-Chance Through Expungement Program), which assists individuals with expunging their criminal records as Judge Mathis did by staying crime-free for five years.
