Smile. You're on PB TV!



My friend David asked me to be at his side for a Parole Board interview. He's a lifer, but claims wrongful conviction. Unlike most PB interviews, this was a great experience. And here's a major reason why it was so good: The interviewer was sitting across the table from us.

I bring this up because nowadays, most PB interviews are done by interactive TV. It's a simple system really. One camera is set up in the Parole Board office in Lansing. Another is set up in the prison where the interviews are being conducted. These cameras are in a fixed position. Microphones, also in a single location, allow interviewer and interviewee to communicate.

I think it's a terrible situation.

When I sat by David for his interview, the Parole Board member was able to see and feel the sincerity and conviction in his voice. Instead of lasting the usual 10-20 minutes, the discussion continued for nearly an hour. At the conclusion of the interview, the Parole Board member insisted that I assist David in getting his case before the U of M Innocence Clinic. “If what you tell me is true,” he said, “then it's a crime that you're in prison!”

I'm convinced this would not have happened in a cold, impersonal TV interview situation.

A friend of HFP said that years ago, when he was director of Community Mental Health Services in a nearby county, he dismissed a psychiatrist because he refused to look into the eyes of clients---he merely looked out the window during therapy interviews. He quoted famed preacher John Wesley's sermon about how to visit the sick and imprisoned: The word which we render visit, in its literal acceptation, means to look upon. And this, you well know, cannot be done unless you are present with them.

Interactive TV in the courtroom for arraignments of prisoners as a cost-cutting measure makes some sense. But this system for PB interviews is counterproductive. We're not talking about a simple plea before a judge, here. We're talking about an inmate's future, and we think it demands the presence of a live interviewer.

MDOC budget cuts are important, but not when these cuts can result in an unfair flop of a real, live, human being... perhaps placing that person in prison for up to five more years when it's not deserved.

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