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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Ronald G. Waters |
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Waters reaches out to inmates
HARRISBURG, June 18 -- State Rep. Ronald G. Waters, D-Delaware/Phila., joined inmates on Friday, June 12 at the State Correctional Institution at Graterford while they discussed their experiences in prison during a live radio broadcast on WURD's, News Source 900, hosted by Thera Martin Connelly.
Waters and his staff members were joined by state Rep. Kenyatta Johnson, D-Phila, and Sam Staten Jr., business manager for Laborers' International Union of North America Local 332 of Philadelphia.
During the two-and-half-hour-long show, inmates shared the lessons they've learned while incarcerated and discussed their plans to become productive citizens and contribute positively to society. The show provided a forum for prisoners to speak to the public directly on the real consequences of criminal behavior and to discourage behavior that would ultimately result in incarceration.
"This radio broadcast gave offenders a chance to tell their stories with the hope of persuading listeners that jail isn’t a place they want to be," Waters said.
The June 12th broadcast was the fourth that Waters has sponsored. Previous broadcasts have included the "Old School Call Out, Return of the Missing Men," which occurred in January 2007. That was a simulcast from behind the walls of Graterford where incarcerated men had an opportunity to speak to thousands of people in the gymnasium of the Community College of Philadelphia.
Waters has also discussed criminal justice and prison reform issues on the Loraine Ballard-Marrow Sunday morning talk show and the Hot Boyz show on Power 99 FM.
Waters thanked the state Department of Corrections, particularly Secretary Jeffrey Beard and the superintendent of SCI Graterford, David DiGuglielmo, for assisting him in his efforts to decrease crime and make Pennsylvania a safer place.