Rep. Jason Lorber, D-Burlington, is a stand-up comic, but he says his newest on-screen endeavor isn't one bit funny. Lorber is taping a series of interviews, which he has entitled Correcting Corrections, for Channel 17. He said he's hoping through the interviews and subsequent audience response, that some new ideas might emerge about how to reverse the seemingly unstoppable growth in the state's prison population.

Lorber became interested in this topic through his service on the House Institutions Committee and as a member of the Corrections Oversight Committee. In 2005, Lorber did his first in-depth research into the prison problem, producing a written document called 53 Voices. It was based on interviews with a host of different people connected with prisons. You can check it out here

Lorber's first guest for his new television series was newly elected Chittenden County State's Attorney T.J. Donovan. The interview already aired, but Lorber said a podcast is available at this address

This week, Lorber tapes his next show, which will feature Rita Whalen McCaffrey, executive director of Dismas of VT Inc., Cara Gleason, executive director of Northern Lights, and Hal Colston, executive director of NeighborKeepers. These guests will talk about helping former inmates rejoin and become productive members of society.

He expects the show to air within the next two weeks. There is no set schedule.

If you have ideas to share, guests to suggest for future shows or reaction, Lorber said he would welcome them. His email is jlorber@leg.state.vt.us.

He also wants reaction to a bill he has introduced, H.386, which calls for a 10-10-30 work group to develop a 10-year plan to decrease selected crime rates by 10 percent and reduce the prison population by 30 percent.

So why do this show? Lorber said the public needs to know that Vermont's prison population is growing at a faster rate than all but four other states. "It's important for people to talk about this."

--Nancy Remsen