Holy Week, not all that nice for many prisoners

I live in a broken world.  Many of my friends are behind bars, and for many of them life isn’t all that great. 

While visiting in a Muskegon prison last night, one guy came to me to thank me for trying to help, even though I had done absolutely no good.  He has torn something in his leg, and so he hobbles along in pain.  Not only can he not get adequate pain medication, he can’t persuade anyone to approve the necessary surgery to repair this injury.  God knows we tried, all the way to the regional prison doctor and the warden of the facility.  I don’t know what else to do for the guy but to pray.

During the prison service last night I sat next to a man I’ve been trying to help for years.  Other than finding him an attorney who cares and who is now working on his case, I have done very little for him.  His conscience has dictated some activity in prison that has been very beneficial to law enforcement.  In fact, he was promised that if he testified in a court case, efforts would be made to have him re-sentenced so that he would be able to see freedom.  Well, he provided the necessary testimony and the state got a conviction.  But, the state then reneged on its promise.  Years later, he’s still wondering when he’ll get that hope for freedom.  I don’t know what else to do for the guy but to pray.

This morning I received an email message from a man I know in another Michigan facility.  He just received divorce papers.  Needless to say, relationships are more than difficult to maintain when one partner is in prison.  I love the man.  I love his wife.  I don’t know what else to do for the guy but to pray.

All of this is on my mind on the Monday morning of Holy Week…a time when we remember that our Lord experienced the worst injustice of all, and eventually was wrongly convicted and executed.

It’s in his name that I’ll be praying for these friends and many more this week.

I know he’ll understand.

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