Humanity for Prisoners

The New York Times is changing my mind.   It’s no secret that I was not pleased when the Michigan Department of Corrections adopted a new mail policy whereby residents of our state prisons could no longer receive original letters and cards from friends and loved ones. Instead, prison staffers would open the mail, photocopy the card or letter, and destroy the original. Later, explaining that the state was dealing with some drug issues, the department extended the policy to include legal mail. And that’s when I complained.   “Constitutional violation,” I cried. “A violation of attorney/client confidentiality!”   Then, last month, I learned of a special report from the New York Times about a nationwide drug problem in prisons. NYT team-members conducted a sweeping investigation that started at the Cook County Jail in Chicago. The conclusion: A means of drug abuse in jails and prisons all around the country now looks an awful lot like office supplies! Reporters Azam Ah...

Having spent nearly 30 years in the broadcasting industry, I have a great appreciation for a good business slogan. Big companies pay big dollars to advertising agencies to come up with something that people remember.   A few examples:   On jewelry: Diamonds are forever On soda pop: The pause that refreshes On coffee: Good to the last drop On fried chicken: Finger-lickin’ good On automobiles: Let’s go places On cigarettes: Winston tastes good like a cigarette should.   One of the very first slogans I can remember did not promote a product. It promoted a standard for living. AI is telling me that this slogan dates back to the 50s and 60s. AI is wrong. Its origin goes back at least to the 1940s. Those were the summers that I attended the YMCA’s Camp Pendalouan on Big Blue Lake in Muskegon County.   I never forgot the campground slogan: I’m Third! Time and again the counselors and the camp director reminded us: God first, the other fella second, I’m t...

Decades ago I was asked to host a national memorial service that honored fallen members of the United States Coast Guard. Every summer the birthday of the Coast Guard is officially observed in a huge event called the Grand Haven Coast Guard Festival. Our harbor is filled with Coast Guard Ships, and mega crowds come here for parades, concerts, food, carnival rides, art exhibits and more.   Many Coast Guard officials, as well as local leaders, have commented that this meaningful memorial service, held at the city’s Escanaba Park on the bank of the Grand River, is a festival highlight.   What a thrill to serve as the emcee! Following a welcome to the large crowd attending the outdoor ceremony, I read the name of every person who died in the line of duty in the previous 12 months, as a bell tolled. That was followed by the symbolic ritual of placing a wreath at the waterfront park’s memorial plaque. Fitting music was provided by the U.S. Coast Guard Band. In conclusion, a fire...

I work with people who are incarcerated. That’s one reason why today is so special for me. Today is a feast day for the Roman Catholic Church, as it   observes The Memorial of St. Dismas . And by now many of you are asking, “Who the heck is St. Dismas? Why does that have any meaning for Doug, a protestant?   Well, a little background here.   The season of Lent reaches its peak on Good Friday when Jesus was put to death, and then on Easter when he conquered death.   The St. Dismas story occurs on Good Friday when two crooks were also hanging on crosses, right beside Jesus. So here you had one man, wrongly convicted, and two guys with really bad records…probably guilty of rebellion or treason!   The three of them on this hill in an area called Golgotha.   Here’s how St. Luke tells it: ""One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: 'Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!' But the other criminal rebuked him. 'Don't you fear God,...

I don’t write 700-word essays very often, but I choose to do so today in memory of a dear friend. I witnessed his death on March 20, 19 years ago. Seeing someone take final breaths is not an unusual experience. Many people have been at the bedside of a friend or loved one for precious final moments. No, that isn’t the way this happened. I was behind a window at the State of Texas’ death chamber. I watched the state take the life of my friend Charles Anthony Nealy. He would have been 43 if he had lived three days longer. It’s a long story, but worth re-telling as a reminder that capital punishment is sinister and evil and wrongful convictions are real. The year was 2002, just 12 months after I had founded a little organization called INNOCENT…an agency that later became HUMANITY FOR PRISONERS. A support group for Mr. Nealy in England had contacted me for assistance. It was a sad story. Anthony had been found guilty of murder by a Texas jury in 1998 in, what the Dallas Morning Ne...