Humanity for Prisoners

  Joyce was on the line. I have no idea how Joyce got my telephone number, but the mother of two adult sons in prison was calling me from Detroit. A Black senior citizen on fixed income and battling cancer had heard of HUMANITY FOR PRISONERS. She asked me to check on one of her sons who, she felt, was becoming suicidal.   I readily agreed, but my next question was why didn’t she personally visit her son? Then came the tears. Months ago, when Joyce was getting checked in to visit one of her sons, the desk officer informed her that she had to go home. Prison visits were banned because a bench warrant had been issued due to unpaid traffic tickets. Being on a fixed income, it was traffic tickets or groceries for Joyce. She chose to keep on eating.   I’ll make this story very short. Assisted by several national agencies HFP, within days, raised money for her traffic tickets, personally delivered the money to her and the judge. She was finally able to see her boys...the fir...

“You've been one extremely faithful source of support through these many years. I know that support personally, and so many women here (at WHV) have been affected by your prayers and the help you have given through the years. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”   That message arrived at the HFP office as I was working on our  birthday post for the blog site. It came from Karen Boes, now 69, who was convicted of felony murder by a jury in 2003. The state contended that she set fire to her house, a fire that claimed the life of her daughter. She was sentenced to life behind bars. She consistently claimed her innocence. For all these years I personally followed up on her case, especially after learning that junk science had been used to gain conviction. I still have the two-page letter from an arson expert with excellent credentials who informed me that she could not have set that fire. I stayed in touch with Karen, HFP supported her in any way possible, and I kept her in my pray...

  It must surely be a tribute to the resilience of the human spirit that even a small number of those men and women in the hell of the prison system survive it and hold on to their humanity.” ― Howard Zinn   The stuff I’m reading from and about Michigan prisons this week is so unpleasant! It underscores the very reason why HUMANITY FOR PRISONERS was formed 24 years ago, and the reason why, today, HFP offers a cup of cool water, “action with compassion.”   St. Louis Correctional Facility   The Michigan Corrections Organization reveals that it has received alarming reports from St. Louis CF exposing hazardous and unsafe conditions. “SLF experienced a rash of violence in July 2025 which included 15 staff assaults, 25 prisoner assaults, and 69 prisoners sent to segregation for fighting. Additionally, 23 prisoners went to segregation for protection and 45 for refusing to lock in general population. The facility was put on lock down multiple times including after a...

Bridge Michigan recently published a fine report on Michigan’s shameful practice of charging state prisoners for visiting the health clinic. At first glance one might think there’s still hope of eliminating that dumb co-pay idea. But as you read on it becomes apparent that hope for any change is grim. It ain’t gonna happen, and that’s an outrage!   FYI, Michigan prisoners pay a $5 copay for most medical visits.   5 bucks doesn’t seem like much. Keep in mind, however, that these men and women can earn as little as 74 cents per day in their prison jobs (wages haven’t gone up in decades!). Michigan is one of only 16 states where the co-pay for health care costs is more than the average weekly wage for inmates.   One of the arguments in favor of co-pay is that it not only discourages frivolous visits to the doctor’s office, but that it makes money for the state. I can’t prove this, but I insist that, to the contrary, this stupid practice costs the state money. Because ...

Here’s a problem that few people know about: Approximately 6% of the Michigan Department of Corrections budget is spent on overtime pay! Because of staff shortages corrections officers are working long hours. So many overtime hours, in fact, that it’s costing the state more than $112 million per year!   The problem is easily explained. Approximately half of Michigan's prisons are understaffed, with a shortage of around 900 officers statewide!   An in-depth report written by MLive reporter Nathan Clark tells the story well. And, it has clout because it reaches Michigan readers of 9 different newspapers.   On the other hand, instead of making that kind of impact along comes Doug Tjapkes, a little guy, a small market journalist whose radio station had 500 watts, who’s living in a city of 3,000 people, and who has no clout whatsoever. My mantra, in all my careers, has been to speak up for the little guy. So, regardless of impact or clout, I’d like to turn the focus fro...

“Lock him up and throw away the key!”   You’ll be hearing talk like that, once again, as Bradford Gille gets processed through the justice system. Gille is the man who stabbed 11 people at a Walmart in Traverse City on July 26. His family had been unsuccessfully trying to get help for this mentally challenged man for years. Now he faces 11 charges of assault with intent to murder, as well as one terrorism charge.   Even though Gille is obviously struggling with severe mental illness and needs appropriate psychiatric care and hospitalization, there is always the possibility that public clamor and aggressive criminal justice officials might determine that he’s well enough to be tried.   Sadly, it’s really the State of Michigan that is to blame, and who’s going to punish the state?   Since 1965, we closed 36 hospitals and centers serving adults with mental illness, developmental disabilities, and emotionally disturbed children. Between 1987 and 2003 alone, Mich...

It’s dang hot these days! A widespread and dangerous heat wave is currently affecting a large portion of the United States, particularly right here in the Midwest.   Daily we hear reports about the most vulnerable people affected by this hot weather. The focus is often on the homeless, but others include outdoor workers, pregnant women and low-come folks, especially children and the elderly. And, to their credit, many agencies and organizations are coming to their rescue.   Sadly, there’s another segment of our society seriously affected by the heat: prisoners. We hear very little about their plight. Maybe that’s because they “deserve” what they get. This is a critical problem nationally, but also right here in Michigan.   For example, one of our clients warns that the heat conditions at St. Louis Correctional Facility are a potential health risk. He said that “they are closing the door grates even during the heat advisory.” The Deputy Warden told HFP that it’s the ...

Just what the heck is “Maurice Carter Day?”   Well, I and the team at HUMANITY FOR PRISONERS feel that, on July 24, we should honor the memory of Maurice…the guy who thought up the idea for HFP's existence.   Maurice, an indigent Black man from Gary, Indiana, was wrongly arrested, convicted and sentenced to life behind bars in Michigan’s Berrien County back in the 70s. I met him in the 90s, and for the next decade we fought for his exoneration and freedom. We never got the exoneration, but he was released on July 24, 2004 for medical reasons after serving 29 years. He died three months later.   But, we must do more than honor the memory of this kind and gentle man. I think it’s time to focus on racism, especially in our justice (or non-justice) system. I know, I know…racism is rife in the deep south, right? We live in the north.   Let me share a few figures with you…stats that come, not from the deep south, but from right here in Pure Michigan.   - Mu...

So, here’s what often happens in our state prisons.   Numerous Michigan prisoners are not allowed to visit with their spouses, kids and loved ones, indefinitely, because of tickets they received for alleged misconduct. This is especially true for those prisoners who have received two or more Class I Substance Abuse misconducts within a five-year period. This means that the prisoner gets no visits from anyone…friends or loved ones, nor can he or she have video calls from anyone and everyone on the visitation list, even children !   I will interrupt our conversation here to explain that we (the HFP team) know quite a bit about this stuff. Two of our staff members have spent more than 40 years behind bars and they can tell many sad stories.   Because of our experience in this field, the HFP Board of Directors was quick to endorse a new bill, introduced in the state’s House of Representatives, that would modify this situation. Citizens for Prison Reform, a fine prisone...

We don’t like sex offenders.   Let’s face it. many liberal Americans will stand behind illegal immigrants, transgender persons, gays, mentally challenged individuals and homeless people. But sex offenders? Nope! No way!   Well, you and I have a problem. Right here in Michigan we have some 4,000 sex offenders in our state prisons, and most are going to be released someday. However, we’ve placed so many hurdles in their path that successful reentry is very difficult and recidivism is very possible. These men and women can’t get housing, can’t get jobs, can’t avoid the social stigma attached to their record, and face all kinds of problems due to our sex offender registration system.   They are even shunned in the Christian community. Many churches develop policies regarding sex offenders including conditional attendance, perhaps other risk management strategies, and in some cases, even total exclusion.   I’d like to introduce you to CoSA   CoSA (Circle of...

  As guest speaker for a senior citizens seminar on a college campus I was invited to explain the work of HUMANITY FOR PRISONERS.   I make extensive use of anecdotes in my public presentations about this work. Facts and figures may be impressive to a few people, but stories about the lives of fellow human beings are far more attention-getting.   In that the HFP staff helps men and women with many issues and problems they face living in Michigan’s 27 correctional facilities you can well imagine that many of my stories have a negative flavor. Before concluding my speech, I had some unpleasant things to say about prison guards and their mistreatment of inmates. At the conclusion of my presentation a very nice elderly woman politely raised her hand. “I have a son who is a corrections officer,” she had. “He has a college degree, he does his job well, and he loves his work!” That was an important reminder for me: All the apples in the bushel are not rotten!   That li...

  “Prison education is a concept whose time has come. It is time to stop studying the issue and stop discoursing. It is time to start the ball rolling and do something about it.” ― Christopher Zoukis, federal prison consultant   I’m proud to report that Pure Michigan IS doing something about it!   Prison Journalism Project, an independent non-profit, recently published this exciting information:   The state Legislature recently allocated $3.9 million to transform an unused industrial-scale warehouse within Thumb Correctional Facility in Lapeer into a self-contained college center. The college will provide higher education classes to all of the over 1,000 state prisoners held at the prison. Once completed, the campus building will house dozens of classrooms, a computer room without internet, a library and a small cafe with food available for purchase by professors and students.  To be eligible, prisoners must be incarcerated at this medium security prison...

  We are blessed to have your support!   My message, on behalf of the HUMANITY FOR PRISONERS team, is extended to all who see that we meet our financial obligations day in and day out. I felt this message was important after reading a recent newspaper story about giving in America.  I learned, for example, that American adults under the age of 45 don’t feel like giving one cent to charity !   Here’s what else the AP survey showed:             -¾ said their household gave to a charitable organization;             -¼ said their household made no donations;             -4 in 10 support helping people in U.S. who need food, shelter, etc.;             -4 in 10 donate to religious organizations; and -The average one-time gift is around $121,...

Some years ago a member of our staff added these words to our June newsletter: “Happy Pride Month!”   Response was immediate, and not always positive. One person, whom I know to be a devout Christian, chose to stop her monthly support contribution. She and I differ in the way we interpret the word “evangelical.”   Well, here we are in the month of June, once again, and that incident and those memories don’t make me angry, don’t make me proud…they make me sad.   When I started this organization 24 years ago, there was no intention to favor one group, one race, one religion, one anything. Our mission was simple: Help those who need help!   During Pride Month 2025 it’s appropriate that we focus on those prisoners who really need our attention as they struggle with sexual identity issues.   -Lesbian, gay, and bisexual people are more than twice as likely to be arrested as straight people — and lesbian and bisexual women, specifically, are more than four t...

Bold headline in the Sunday newspaper: Feeding residents on less than $10 a day? ‘That’s appallingly low.”   The feature story was written by NJ Advance and MLive reporters. The focus was on food in our nation’s nursing homes. A study showed that a quarter of these facilities spent under $10 a day to feed their residents. Some were as low as $4-6 per day! “Appallingly low,” exclaimed David C. Grambowski, Harvard Professor of Health Care Policy   If you think that’s low, you ain’t heard nothin’! Let’s compare the expense of prison meals with that of nursing home meals. In our country m ost states spend less than $3 per person per day on prison food. Some spend as little as $1.02 per person per day! Right here in Pure Michigan, I’m ashamed to report that the daily cost to feed a prisoner in a state prison is estimated to be around $1.98. Now THAT’S appallingly low!   It is not uncommon for the office of HUMANITY FOR PRISONERS to receive complaints that include substa...

I have a confession. In my spare time, I like to read legal thrillers. I know, I know…perhaps I should be reading War and Peace. But, these novels, featuring court battles between prosecutors and defense attorneys, give me a lot of insight. As a worker with prisoners for more than 2 decades, I’m also learning that the feelings and emotions of defendants often get tossed aside. Winning and losing seems to be the game.   Well, anyway, I recently picked up a very decent novel by James Chandler.   I know very little about James Chandler. I do know this: He earned his law degree George Mason University School of Law, and practiced law in Wyoming for twelve years before his appointment to the bench.   What I don’t know interests me even more. Somehow, he relates well with people who have been in prison. It almost sounds like he might have had a taste of it, or else he became very close to someone who had lived through these experiences.   For example, on the topic ...