‘The prison system is like any other business’

The prison system is a deeply flawed one, and it’s something 35-year-old Christopher Ejoh knows about first hand.

Ejoh now has a home in Woodbridge, a steady well-paying job and holds a degree. Four years ago, though, he was released after spending nearly nine years in four different prisons — Yardville, Northern State, Southwood, and Southern State.

Ejoh said that what he’s achieved is difficult – staying out of a prison system built on bringing people back inside.

“Right before you get out of prison they ask you where you can stay afterwards, and if you don’t have a place, what they normally do is put you in a shelter but it’s a really long process,” he said.

While some would think that getting released from prison would be a relief, life can get exponentially harder if you have nowhere to stay afterwards.

Ejoh laid out the scenario. When someone is released from prison, and has no family, friends or a home of their own, they usually get connected to social services. If they’re lucky, a shelter. But, if there are no beds available, they become homeless.

At this point, people can dial 211, a one-stop shop social service number that runs a waiting list for shelters. Because the demand for basic shelter in New Jersey is a very competitive and lengthy process, it can take months for space at a shelter to open up.

“I think if being incarcerated was supposed to be some type of rehabilitation or reform, they would have structures that aid towards that goal,” Ejoh said. “And I don’t think that they do. I think the prison system is like any other business. That’s why the return rate for people in prison is so high. Because they leave them out to dry; they give them the bare necessities and put them out there to fend for themselves, and for most they can’t.”

Ejoh, who dropped out after 11th grade, received his GED in prison and a college degree once he was released. After getting released, Ejoh initially wanted to get a place of his own. But finding a place is hard, he said, so Ejoh chose to stay with his mother. He’s still living with her now.

“I came into a good situation with my mother still here. I was able to maintain a job and obtain a college degree. For most people they have absolutely no one; nowhere to go and no money. On top of all of that, they may live in a high-crime area where they think they have no other choice,” Ejoh said.

Ejoh’s been with his job for about six months and is looking forward to getting a place of his own, once his job feels more stable. He’s still on parole but will be off next year, and is even planning a trip to the Dominican Republic sometime in the near future.

While Ejoh said he’s in a good situation, it’s a much harsher reality for most coming out of prison. The lack of structure for what to do after you get released is tough to deal with, Ejoh said, especially when you have nothing to go back to.

“If people are going to prison and they have a long sentence they should be required to pick a trade. Once they get out, the state should help them go into that trade so that these people can go home to something,” he said. “You used to be able to obtain a college degree, you still can now, but they make it such a long process.”

Ejoh found the prison system to be extremely flawed. Instead of providing rehabilitation and reformation, he found it was run like a business.

“For a business to work, there needs to be a rotating door; people need to keep coming through that door. They cut out certain things to make sure that happens.”

The United States has one of the highest recidivism rates in the world. According to the World Prison Brief, over 76 percent of people who have been incarcerated wind up back in prison within five years. Compare that to Norway, one of the lowest in the world, at 20 percent.

“I did eight years and nine months, and in that time I saw a lot of people come back. While I was incarcerated, I’ve seen people do their time go home and come right back. I didn’t know a lot of them but the one’s I did know, I would ask them what happened,” Ejoh said.

“Some people went home but it was too hard. For some, it’s easier to be in prison than to be on the streets,” Ejoh said. “Grown men said this to me, ‘Why should I be out on the streets and suffer when I can be in prison? I get fed. I get housing. I can watch TV, work out, and do whatever because when I’m out in the world I’m a nobody. But when I’m in prison I’m a somebody.’ It’s sad but people make those choices.”