Willie aint’ goin’ home! Neither is Nancy. Neither is Mark. Neither is Andre’. Neither is Troy. Neither is Tracy…


From news sources this week:

MLive:

A former United Auto Workers vice president and Flint union boss has been released from a federal prison’s minimum security satellite camp and is expected to finish his sentence through home confinement, part of the federal government’s efforts to expedite the release of eligible inmates during the COVID-19 emergency. Federal inmate records show the transfer occurred this week, putting Norwood Jewell, 62, in the custody of a Residential Reentry Management field office in Detroit, which is expected to transition him from a halfway house to home confinement.

Politico:

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort — who was serving a 7½-year sentence on charges brought by special counsel Robert Mueller — was released to home confinement Wednesday due to concerns about the spread of the coronavirus in federal prisons, a lawyer said.

Need I even say any more?

Fredric Neuman, MD:

Someone wrote a book—and then a musical—about how to succeed in business without really trying. It was a prescription for what an ambitious person without skills, talent, or brains needs to do to succeed. It was a matter of being in the right place at the right time and saying the right things to the right people. It was amusing because it alluded to certain aspects of business that we all recognize. People sometimes fail their way up the corporate ladder. Others “rise to their level of incompetence.” It is said—usually by someone who is not progressing quickly in a career---that “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.”

In 2007, I sat on Texas death row with my friend Anthony Nealy. He was amazingly upbeat when one considers that he was about to be executed for a crime he claims he did not commit. I naively asked about his companions on death row, being a newcomer to this scene…wondering how the wealthy, white guys were faring. “Doug,” Anthony patiently explained, “there are no rich, white guys on death row.” Duh.

As an old-time journalist, I’m still a news junkie, so I’m still reading newspapers and scanning news channels. I do that when I’m not at my desk, with the other team-members at HUMANITY FOR PRISONERS. The reports in the media break my heart, as we review hundreds of incoming messages from prisoners dealing with Covid 19.

There’s nothing fair about this.

Some of the rich folks behind bars may be going home, but I’ll be quick to point out that the poor folks in prison are NOT going home. Many are past due, many are eligible, some are sick, some are dying, and many deserve it.

It’s not happening.

It is one thing to be awakened to injustice, and quite another to be willing to be inconvenienced and interrupted to do something about it.
Christine Caine


           

Comments

Troy Chapman said…
All I can say is "amen, Doug."
—Maryann
May 21, 2020 at 9:27 AM
Cindy Anderson said…
Makes me sad and angry at the same time!
May 21, 2020 at 9:30 AM
Wflower2001 said…
There is No justice in the justice system...
May 23, 2020 at 11:03 PM
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