A time to be silent, and a time to speak: Ecclesiastes

I seriously dislike the idea of grabbing a Bible verse and taking it out of context for justification. I hope that I’m correct in feeling that this is a time to speak.

I’m watching TV news. Of course, coronavirus dominates the news. But then I hear: “About 200 prisoners per week are leaving lockup as the Michigan Department of Corrections tries to walk the fine line between public and prisoner safety.”

That’s exciting news to me, and to our agency, because ours was one of 11 organizations that asked the Governor and the MDOC to reduce the prison population. Michigan has 38,000 people in its 30 prisons, they can’t practice social distancing in many of the facilities, and the virus is spreading, not only among inmates but also among staff. As of today, more than 400 inmates have tested positive…11 prisoners have died.

After making that announcement, though, Channel 8’s news department chose to seek comments from the Kent County Prosecutor and a victim’s rights organization. No one bothered to ask any of the 11 agencies who sought early prisoner release for comment.

Intoned the Ch 8 reporter: “…the Kent County prosecutor and victim advocates like the Michigan Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence are concerned that the releases could do more harm than good. Some people say that criminals shouldn’t get ‘special treatment’ during this outbreak.”

See, my problem is that my background is in broadcast journalism. I did it for 28 years, I taught a college class on the subject, and I wrote a newsroom textbook. Our goal in radio/TV news was and still is to keep opinion and editorializing out of news copy. But I can tell you exactly how listeners respond to statements like I just quoted, especially when supported by responders from only one side of the question.

I am so sick of this idea that prosecutors and victims’ rights people are on one side, and prisoner advocates are on the opposing side. As Fr. Greg Boyle has tried to explain forever: there is no “we” and “they.” It’s all US!

You need not fear, and if TV news departments did just a little digging, they would learn that all kinds of people can be released from prison without causing any danger to the public, such as:

-People who are not only eligible for parole, but whose parole success is highly rated

-Persons who were returned to prison for a technical violation, NOT a crime

-Prisoners who are elderly, infirm and frail

-Patients who are receiving care for cancer and other chronic conditions.

Upon hearing the TV news story, I immediately checked with Kyle Kaminski at the Department of Corrections. This was his prompt response:

It is the normal parole process, but we are expediting the release process to the extent possible.  All of these cases have served at least their minimum sentence, so the Parole Board is reviewing their cases, conducting additional interviews, voting on previously deferred cases, etc. while working as quickly as possible. What is very important for people to understand is that these are not “early” releases of people who are not parole eligible, as those are still not allowed under current law. These are just releases that can legally occur, which we are working to get done as quickly as possible.

This is a responsible and sensible process, and it’s time for me to speak.