No wonder he loved prisoners

It's the night before Easter Sunday. I should be thinking about my Savior, and what he did for me. But I'm hurting. I'm reading a letter from a prisoner. He's terminally ill. He has cancer. We've been trying to help him obtain a commutation of his sentence. There's no reason for him to be there anymore. It would cost the state a fortune to treat him properly. He's certainly no threat to society. So what's the point?

The problem for Mr. C. is that he just can't get treatment. What the heck is wrong with us? Can't we give the guy the medicine he needs?

His simple letter just explains how sick he has become, and that recent tests at a Michigan hospital showed that his tumors are growing.

But then he complains about his chemo. First they gave him this. Then they gave him that. Than they decided to stop.

He enclosed copies of his many grievances, because it appears that all kinds of steps have been taken by the system to block his treatment. What's this all about? An oncologist ordered chemo, but a nurse got in the way and stopped it because there was a confusion over what day the treatment was to be received. So she wouldn't let him have it. And then it got to be five days after the treatment was ordered, he was in pain, and still no chemo.

I apologise on behalf of all free citizens. Our system is broken. God help us.

It's absolutely no wonder why Jesus felt such compassion for prisoners. This season reminds us that HE was wrongly convicted. In the process, he was terribly abused. And then wrongly executed.

We take our marching orders from the risen Lord.

He is risen! He is risen, indeed!

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 c...
Read more