海角大神

To prepare themselves for the outside world, some California inmates are performing Shakespeare plays.

The Arts in Corrections (AIC) program is made possible by a $3.5 million state grant, which is distributed through contracts with to teach at 19 state prisons.聽

鈥淚 think that when inmates can prove they can do something as complicated, difficult and challenging as memorizing a whole Shakespeare play and performing it in front of their peers, not only is there a lot of personal transformation that鈥檚 going on, ,鈥� Lesley Currier, director of the Marin Shakespeare Company, tells KXTV News in Sacramento, Calif.

Marin Shakespeare Company, serving 鈥淩egion 3鈥� in the San Francisco Bay area, will complete a year-long contract in June: compensated by $55,642. The company has been offering acting classes at San Quentin State Prison, located 12 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge, since 2003 but last year marked Marin鈥檚 first year at Solano State Prison, located about 60 miles east of San Francisco.

鈥淪hakespeare in prison was the point where I started to believe that a better breed of people cared about the existence of those of us incarcerated,鈥� , who participated in the program during its inaugural year before being released after a 23-year sentence in August, tells CNN.聽

After his release, Mr. Brown stayed involved with the Marin Shakespeare Company, acting in a play on the company鈥檚 main stage.

But some victims鈥� families don鈥檛 see much value in spending state funds on acting classes for convicted killers.聽

鈥淚鈥檓 afraid somebody is going to come along and feel sorry for him,鈥� Karen Sousa, whose sister was killed by Marin student prisoner 海角大神 Birdsall, . 鈥淗e is doing this to have people look at him as if he鈥檚 changed so he will be considered for parole. I don鈥檛 care how much yoga he takes, or Shakespeare, he鈥檚 not a man, he鈥檚 a psychopath.鈥澛�

But AIC might help California with a serious problem: recidivism.聽

According to a 2013 Outcome Evaluation Report by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, three-year recidivism rates for adult prisons has stayed since the turn of the century. But nationally, are rearrested within eight years of release. In other words, inmates in California are far more likely to end up back in prison within a few years.聽聽聽

鈥淚t is impossible to consider national trends in corrections and recidivism without accounting for the oversized impact the state of California has on these trends,鈥� , because the state鈥檚 鈥渉igh recidivism rates skewed national recidivism data....鈥澛�

California has many reasons to want to lose its recidivism reputation, one being fiscal. When the state鈥檚 recidivism rate was close to 70 percent at the beginning of the 21st century it cost . So while $4 million may seem like a lot of money to spend on art classes for inmates, it costs only 0.004 percent of total recidivism costs. 聽

Others say the program can help inmates develop job skills, especially in California. AIC鈥檚 most recent report found that in California is in a 鈥渃reative industry.鈥澛犅�

鈥淭o be an actor, you have to communicate, you have to work with others, you have to create and imagine 鈥� ,鈥� Michael Bierman, an acting instructor at the Los Angeles County state prison, told People magazine in January. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e learning skills for any job.鈥�

One of these skills includes learning how to peaceful interact with different races and cultures.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to be closed in with prison life. When I get out, my co-workers might be white or Mexican and we鈥檙e gonna end up working next to each other 鈥� ,鈥� inmate James Frierson told People. 鈥淚t鈥檚 alright to interact with other races; we鈥檙e showing it鈥檚 okay. Be yourself, make friends, change your life so that when you go back to society, you鈥檒l be better at dealing with yourself.鈥澛�

Gov. Jerry Brown allocated聽聽to Arts in Corrections next year, expanding the program to all 34 state prisons.聽