An Alternative Sentencing Program
utilizing the Transcendental Stress Management® program for Rehabilitation and Criminal Justice Reform

 

Hon. Judge David C. Mason, Founding Judge of TESP

 

History

There is a trend in contemporary jurisprudence for courts to take a more therapeutic approach to the law and court practice.  The Enlightened Sentencing Project is an example of such a development.

Honorable Judge David C. Mason of the 22^nd Judicial Circuit Court in St Louis, Missouri, after carefully studying the scientific research on the Transcendental Meditation^® program and its application to criminal justice, decided that the TM program provided the “most effective way of helping a person deal with stress short of psychotropic drugs”. 

The Transcendental Meditation^® program has been effectively used within the prison system in California, Massachusetts and Vermont, and there is scientific research documenting the many benefits of the program in this setting as well. The research clearly indicates significantly reduced recidivism, reduced aggression and substance abuse among inmates practicing the TM technique. 

The Transcendental Stress Management program is an adaptation of the Transcendental Meditation program for rehabilitation and criminal justice reform. 

On March 11, 1996, in his courtroom before three TV stations, Judge Mason proclaimed his intention to use the Transcendental Stress Management (TSM)  program as a condition of probation.  In the same week, Judge Mason made the TSM program a part of a defendant’s sentence. 

Since then, over two hundred probationers have taken the Transcendental Stress Management (TSM), and have reported significant benefits to their lives and to those around. 
 

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Farrokh K. Anklesaria Founder & Executive Director		Ruffina F. Anklesaria, M.A. Project Manager

 

Founding & Operations

Farrokh K. Anklesaria and Ruffina F. Anklesaria are Directors of The Enlightened Sentencing Project.  Farrokh is the Founder and Executive Director of TESP and Ruffina is the Project Manager, taking care of all administrative details.

Farrokh is a Barrister-at-Law.   He was trained as a teacher of the Transcendental Meditation program over 25 years ago and has worked closely with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Founder of the TM program, for many years.  The philosophical basis and inspiration for The Enlightened Sentencing Project, and the Transcendental Stress Management program, is derived from Maharishi’s teachings. 

Farrokh was appointed International Director of Rehabilitation Programs for Maharishi European Research University in Seelisberg, Switzerland, in 1979, and has a wealth of experience in implementing rehabilitation programs. Trained by Maharishi for this role, he is the world’s leading expert in the implementation of the Transcendental Stress Management (TSM) program in legal and correctional settings.

Farrokh has conducted and directed rehabilitation programs in prison systems, schools and governmental organizations throughout the world. He has instructed over 3,000 people in Transcendental Meditation and Transcendental Stress Management programs in 12 countries.  He has directed programs for more than 30,000 inmates and correctional professionals in prisons in the United States, Brazil, Sri Lanka, India, Kenya and the West African Republic of Senegal. 

Farrokh has authored and edited five publications on the application of the TM program to the fields of law, justice and rehabilitation.  He has met with hundreds of executive, legislative, judicial and correctional leaders at all levels of government in the United States and abroad.  He has addressed numerous legal and correctional conferences as well as press conferences and television and radio audiences worldwide. 

Farrokh's wife, Ruffina F. Anklesaria, has a background is in diplomacy.   She has an M.A. in International Affairs from Washington University in St Louis, and an Advanced Certificate in Nonprofit Management (graduate level) from the same university.  She became an instructor of Maharishi's Transcendental Meditation program in 1978 and since then has taught hundreds of people to meditate,  including the Mother Superior of the Carmelite nuns in Trinidad and Tobago, the First Lady of one Caribbean country, and scores of students in the Philippines, at the invitation of the government there. 

Farrokh and Ruffina also run their own organization, the Transcendental Stress Management Organization LLC, teaching the Transcendental Stress Management program to non-offenders.

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Mission Statement

The mission statement of The Enlightened Sentencing Project is to bring light to the field of rehabilitation by teaching offenders high-quality and holistic self-development, health-promoting and stress-reducing techniques, including  the Transcendental Stress Management program.  Every human being can be liberated from within and every offender should be given the tools to become fully enlightened, empowering him/her to make maximum contribution to society in the most positive way.

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Non-profit status

The Enlightened Sentencing Project is a non-profit organization incorporated  in the State of Missouri on September 8, 1997.  It is a 501 (c) 3 organization and all donations made to the Project are tax-deductible.  View our Certificate of Incorporation and Tax Exempt Certificate by clicking here  (also available in .pdf format).

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Classes offered

The Enlightened Sentencing Project teaches a course of holistic health strategies to its students.  These strategies reduce stress, promote psychological development, improve health and improve behavior (see Scientific Research). The principal technique employed is the Transcendental Stress Management (TSM) program.  Once taught, the student becomes self-sufficient in his/her ability to reduce stress and experiences a wide range of benefits.  The practice results in probationers reporting more interest in educational programs, successful job performance,  peace within the household, decreased substance abuse and improved health.  (Read the Experiences reported by the participants.)

Classes are offered in St Louis, Missouri and consist of the following:  

• Seven-step course of instruction in the Transcendental Stress Management program.

• Instruction in neuro-muscular and neuro-respiratory techniques to improve mind-body coordination.

• 20 follow-up classes.

Students do psychological tests pre and post-participation in the TESP program and these are evaluated by a research psychologist.  Students also do a self-evaluation and report on the results of the program themselves.  They are eligible for graduation after successful completion of the course with TESP.

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Demographics

Clients of The Enlightened Sentencing Project are principally male African-Americans between the ages of 19 and 40.  They may come from poor families, have been drug abusers, and have not always been successful in school or employment situations.  They are sent by the courts and may have committed any number of crimes – from driving while intoxicated to manslaughter.  Judges decide whether the probationers before them might benefit from a course with TESP and sentence them accordingly.  Clients may also be referred by their Probation and Parole Officer, under special circumstances.

It should be noted that the Transcendental Stress Management (TSM) program is easily learned by anyone and can be effectively used by people from any ethnic or cultural background.  Practice of the TSM program is not dependent on a specific lifestyle or belief system.

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Board of Directors and Advisory Board

There is a four-member Board of Directors and an Advisory Board.

A number of distinguished jurists and professionals serve on the Advisory Board of The Enlightened Sentencing Project. The Enlightened Sentencing Project enjoys a good reputation with these distinguished jurists who have been called upon to be speakers at various TESP functions, or have given their written endorsements of the program.  Among them are:

• The Hon. Justice Michael A. Wolff, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Missouri

• The Hon. Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr., former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Missouri

• Senator the Hon. Rita Heard Days, Missouri Senate

• The Hon. Henry E. Autrey, United States District Judge, Eastern District of Missouri

• The Hon. Sherri B. Sullivan, Judge, Missouri Court of Appeals

• The Hon. Anna Forder, Senior Judge, 22nd Judicial Circuit Court, St Louis, Missouri 

• The Hon. David C. Mason, Judge, 22nd Judicial Circuit Court, St Louis, Missouri

• The Hon. Lisa VanAmburg, Division 7, Judicial Circuit Court, St Louis, Missouri

• Peter Raven, Ph.D., world renowned botanist, Director of the Missouri Botanical Gardens,  Engelmann Professor of Botany at Washington University, and President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world's largest organization of professional scientists.

• James D. Pearson,  Attorney-at-Law

• Derald L. Gab, Attorney-at-Law

• Phil Santoni, Businessman 

• Arthur John Anderson, Ph. D., Attorney, Publisher and Lecturer

• Dr Gyanendra Mahapatra, M.D., M.B.A., long-standing instructor in Maharishi's Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhis program.

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Budget and funding

The budget of The Enlightened Sentencing Project at present is approximately $100,000 per year.   
 

Staff

The Project at present has two full-time staff.  Several other volunteers work with the Project including Dr John Sterling, a research psychologist who gives assistance with ongoing psycho-social research.  
 

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