I'm tired of this mess we're in

I agree that she rambles, but maybe someone ought to listen to Jennifer, mother of a 17 year old kid in the Michigan prison system.

Who is our voice? This state cannot have it both ways. They can't keep whining about the budget and then disallow people who can help to do so. I visited my son in prison yesterday. He said "They're taking away the food tech program at some of the facilities, discontinuing the trades programs and stopping a lot more programs to help these guys when they get out. They are evening stopping the GED program!" What the hell is wrong here? I want to use my own money and labor to cook these guys a real dinner once with something that might resemble real meat. Hell, I'll go in and help these guys study for their GED and I know other people that will, too. It's not enough we lock 'em up like animals. Now, we can't even be sure there is any kind of incentive to improve their lives out in the world. Are we just going to sit back and do nothing? I have cabled my congressman's office. It's not so much what they say. They even listen in a very condescending way. Their attitudes are: they're just prisoners. Finding a way to bring in our own programs and food has to stop fitting under the guise of contraband. That's old and worn out. Aren't you sick of it? I want to give more money. I want to give more than money. Isn't there a way to find more people willing to be on committees to bring back good time? I know you've heard all of this before. I know it's frustrating. I read your book SWEET FREEDOM. It broke my heart. If keeping these guys in so long isn't wrong, than nothing is wrong.

Well-said by a frustrated mother of a prisoner.

What say ye?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Half-a-race!

The HFP Drag-Racing Fund-Raiser had the potential of being extremely successful, and could have raised several thousand dollars. Let's just say it was partly successful. For background purposes I'll explain that I was racing a 1963 supercharged Studebaker Lark that has a reputation of being one of the fastest stock Studebakers in drag racing today. The engine was built by one of the finest Studebaker engine mechanics in the country, and the car many times has achieved quarter-mile runs in less than 14 seconds! We promised to make at least ten passes in the Pure Stock Muscle Car Drags at Mid-Michigan Motorplex in Stanton, Michigan, this past weekend, and we asked for pledges ONLY ON THOSE RUNS REACHED IN LESS THAN 14 SECONDS. On Friday, here's how we fared: Run #1 13.936 @ 101.24 mph Run #2 14.027 @ 101.30 mph Run #3 14.091 @ 100.88 mph Run #4 13.805 @ 102.84 mph Run #5 14.058 @ 101.26 mph By the 5th run we discovered that
Read more

Gregory John McCormick: 1964-2008

Itchy is dead. The lifeless body of this talented rock musician, whose band Shock Therapy was a popular group especially in Europe, was found in a field in Detroit last Wednesday, November 5. The Wayne County Coroner's office informed father Glenn McCormick that the body of his son Gregory, better known to all of us as Itchy, bore no signs of trauma. Glenn said that Itchy, who had been living at his father's dental lab in Detroit, had been drinking to excess for some time. While the toxicology report has not been released yet, the general consensus seems to be that he drank himself to death. Our agency, while still named INNOCENT, first got involved with Itchy in 2005. The Detroit native, who called Germany his home, got involved in some unfortunate activity that placed him in the Michigan State prison system on a charge of arson of a dwelling. It was really just a bonfire in an alley, but an alleged parole violation placed him in prison for 1-20 years. I personally sat w
Read more

Three lives, connected by a divine thread

My kids say it should be a book! The Doug, Pat and Mark story is a doozie!   About 25 years ago, while fighting to free Maurice Carter from prison, I read a newspaper column written by Pat Shellenbarger of the Grand Rapids Press on the topic of eyewitness identification. I contacted Pat re that story. That led to a friendship between Doug and Pat that continues to this day.   In subsequent months, Pat would go on to assist me in an investigation into the Maurice Carter case that eventually led to solving the crime.  That particular episode became a chapter in my book about the Carter case, SWEET FREEDOM, published in 2006.   Fast forward to 2009, A New York businessman claims wrongful conviction, and while serving time in a Michigan prison is handed a copy of my book. Mark Hartman, who was also convicted in Berrien County, was amazed at the similarity of these two stories and tried to reach out to me. His letters bounced.   Persisting in his efforts to contact the author, Mark
Read more