Humanity for Prisoners

Pope Frances died on Easter Monday, and immediately we started reading headline descriptions of the Pontiff like these from around the world: CNN:   The ‘outsider’ pope who faced fierce resistance to his reforms   LA Times: …beloved for his compassion and willingness to shake up scandal-ridden church The Guardian: …who pushed for social and economic justice, and an urgent response to the climate crisis.     On the other hand, leadership from what I call “mass incarceration circles,” such as state corrections directors, prison administrators and wardens, and tough-on-crime politicians, have been less effusive in their descriptions and praise.   I’m going to let specific quotes from a hero to those of us dedicating our lives toward improving the plight of the incarcerated give you a hint as to the subdued response from some quarters.   ON PRISON LIVING CONDITIONS   “…it would appear that in many cases practical measures are urgently needed ...

Holy Week. A week filled with a tsunami of emotions. It’s early in the morning on Easter, and the stories of the past week remind me of so many similar circumstances in my own life.   Take, for example, that best friend of Jesus. Jesus had changed his name from Simon to Peter, and had expressed such high praise for him…said he was going to be the actual head of the church! So, what does Peter do when the chips are down? He denies that he ever knew the guy!   Yep, been there…done that! You’re loved by many when you go about your regular activities in your community…raise a family, go to work every day, go to church every Sunday. BUT, let something bad happen in your life, and it all goes to hell. Following an unfortunate situation, an arrest, a conviction and a sentence, not many friends anymore. I know the feeling. Many of my former associates, and even some family members, act like they never knew me.   Then there was the actual sentence of Jesus. Death on a cross....

Well, it was Jesus who started this whole business of foot-washing. Yes, that Jesus, whose death and resurrection we remember this week.   In many churches around the country on Maundy or Holy Thursday, there’ll be foot-washing ceremonies. Remembering that unusual event in the Last Supper, people will wash the feet of fellow worshipers and pray for them while doing so. Polite, clean, beautiful.   The original ritual with our Lord and his disciples, however, did not take place in a fancy church with running water, stained glass windows and padded pews, nor did it involve beautiful, clean, pedicured feet.   In those days feet were filthy. People wore sandals in the dusty streets of Israel. The only people who washed feet were slaves. And in that hierarchical system, a slave was property, not entirely human, someone to whom one could do anything with impunity. So of course, it was the slave who washed feet. And this act was considered beneath the dignity, beneath the h...

I’m going to give Paul Egan, our hero at the Detroit Free Press, the podium on this one. I’m speechless.   LANSING — A man died after falling from an elevated platform at a Jackson-area prison April 12 in what was the fifth similar falling or jumping death since 2020 at two state prisons.   Ervin Robinson II, 42, was an inmate at the Charles Egeler Reception & Guidance Center, where prisoners are normally sent for a few weeks or months after they are sentenced and before they are assigned to another state prison to serve their time.   Jenni Riehle, a spokeswoman for Michigan Department of Corrections Director Heidi Washington, confirmed Robinson's death April 15 and described it as resulting from a fall from an upper gallery.   Since 2020, Robinson and four other men have died after plunging from heights at either Egeler or a second Jackson-area prison, Parnall Correctional Facility. Each prison has a similar tiered structure with four levels of cells tha...

We’ve always known that there’s a drug problem in the Michigan prison system. It’s that way in every state. But, there’s word now that the issue is much more serious than we thought.   For years the HFP team has been hearing horror stories from our clients about drug availability, drug use and drug overdoses in our state prisons.   Now comes a prison employee, a “whistle-blower,” who details a deadly culture in the MDOC. He’s willing to name names and provide documentation. He’s been yipping about it for a few years. The worst part of this story: Nobody will do anything about it!   Finally, in recent days, this whistleblower shared his story with a Detroit reporter, and he  is  doing something about it! The shocking information is being made public.   Eddie B. Allen, Jr., is a writer for the Detroit Metro Times, which is an alternative weekly newspaper with a huge circulation. Allen says that this person told him: “One of prison’s worst-kept secret...

Shameful reports about Michigan’s prison system in recent Detroit Free Press stories just about send me into a frenzy! Investigative reporter Paul Egan tells about falsified cell search records and metal detector lapses; corrections officers arrested for beating and breaking bones of a misbehaving inmate; a federal judge blasting the MDOC’s grievance process; and the leader of Michigan’s House of Representatives promising no prison reform for the next two years!   My first reaction is indignance. The longer I think about it, the angrier I get. As a writer I feel prodded to raise hell, and I’ve done my share of that over the years.   As many of you know, in 2001 I formed an organization to help incarcerated men and women in Michigan. Despite the claim that our prison occupants are “the worst of the worst,” as described by a former MDOC director, I have found that to be untrue. Some of the nicest people I know live in prison. Some of my best friends are locked in these cage...

Michigan prisoners had high hopes for “Second Look.” Sadly, the prospects aren’t all that great anymore. Who’s to blame?   The Second Look Sentencing Act, approved by the House Criminal Justice Committee last year, would have allowed individuals who have served at least 20 years to petition their original court for a sentence reduction. Those convicted of criminal sexual conduct, terrorism, mass shootings and certain domestic violence cases would remain ineligible.   Naturally a bill like this would have a lot of interest, especially among old-timers behind bars. But, it should also be of interest to you and me. For example, Michigan’s average prison sentence length is roughly three times the national average. Our state leads the nation in the proportion of its prison population serving sentences longer than 10 years. But here’s where it affects your pocketbook and mine: It costs Michigan about $5.5 M per day to run our Department of Corrections!   Three fine prison...

March 25 is a day when this Protestant writer joins up with Catholics. The Catholic Church observes the feast of St. Dismas on the 25 th .   And by now you’re asking, “Just who is this Dismas character?”   I’m glad you asked! That's the name given to the convicted criminal who was granted the greatest clemency ever!   Dismas, sometimes referred to as The Thief on the Cross, was welcomed into Paradise by Jesus himself just before both of them died on side-by-side crosses.   I love this story! I love the hope that it gives to our friends behind bars. And, I love the way Gloria Gaither tells the tale in contemporary terms using these words of Bob Benson’s The Misfit:   It seemed to be his lot, he was one of those unfortunate people, With a talent always to be in the wrong place … always at the wrong time. He was born wrong: The declining Roman Empire, the broken home. The conquered Jewish nation, the poverty-stricken slums. He lived wrong: When o...

  “The opposite of poverty is not wealth. In too many places, the opposite of poverty is justice.” ― Bryan Stevenson   Chances are, you heard nothing about this today. But, this is a special day in our country. March 18 is National Public Defense Day …a day that was created to honor those lawyers who resist the appeal to make big money in order to represent individuals who are charged with crimes but are unable to hire a defense attorney.   Most of us haven’t been arrested. And, if we were, we probably have enough dollars to hire a lawyer. But, there are many who cannot, and I’m proud to say that our country’s forefathers considered that possibility. Here’s how the UCLA Law Library words it: " The right to counsel under the U.S. Constitution is actually a fairly simple concept. If you are charged with a crime for which you face potential time in jail, then you have the constitutional right to have a lawyer to assist you in your defense. And if you can’t afford to hi...

Brad Sigmon was shot to death last week. It was his choice.   Sigmon, age 67, was executed by firing squad on March 9 in South Carolina. He was the first person to die by firing squad in the United States in 15 years.   If there were such a thing as humanity for prisoners, our organization would not exist. But, even with what little humanity you might find in our justice system, it took a step backward last week! Having experienced some horrific experiences with lethal injections, the State of South Carolina responded by offering alternatives to prisoners facing execution. After being convicted on a murder charge, Sigmon was allowed to choose between three inhumane methods of execution—lethal injection, electrocution, or firing squad.   A personal note. It's not at all uncommon or unexpected that I consistently criticize capital punishment. Early in my career as a prisoner advocate I actually witnessed an execution. My buddy/client Charles Anthony Nealy was executed...

Call it vanity if you wish, but when I was a young, aggressive broadcast journalist I coveted the title “award-winning” for my news department.   As a teenager I aspired to become a good radio news reporter. I had no formal training in the field, so it was up to me to establish and follow my own curriculum. I worked hard at it, and eventually became a respectable and respected newsman. Over time my small-market radio news department became incredibly good and nationally recognized. But, I wanted awards. We never got them.   Some radio news departments that were receiving honors were so large they actually had staff members preparing materials for annual award entries. Others had large enough departments to assign team-members to prepare documentaries and investigative features hoping for awards.   But, here’s what I’m finally getting.   While these award-seekers did their best to get recognition every year, my little team and I were doing our darndest to serv...

One of my teeth broke a few months ago. I’ve learned that the teeth of octogenarians are not as strong and healthy as those of teenagers. I immediately contacted the office of my dentist, fearing the worst because it’s an incredibly busy office. No worries. A very nice member of the staff found a cancelation, and I was able to get an immediate appointment.   That reminded me of a situation I encountered years ago. I was working solo in a much smaller Humanity for Prisoners back then. A Michigan prisoner complained by letter that he had suffered a broken tooth and was experiencing pain from an exposed nerve. Upon contacting the prison dentist he and was informed that he could be seen in about a month!   I’ll bet money that that situation ended up with a removal of the tooth. We continue to hear horror stories about prison dentists…removing teeth instead of repairing them. One dentist explained to an inmate, “I don’t get paid to fix teeth!”   I bring up the issue beca...

We have long deplored the manner in which the Michigan Department of Corrections treats women. Some 2,000 women reside in our state’s only prison for women, located in Ypsilanti. When a plumber employed by the state dared to speak his piece after witnessing the sad treatment of women while he was working at WHV, we put that message out to the public. When a group of whistleblowers among the women dared to sneak abuse messages to HFP, we did something about it. The ACLU jumped in, and a federal investigation was started!   It's no secret that incarcerated women in Michigan face a number of challenges, including trauma, sexual assault, and inadequate health care.   Now it’s time to raise hell once again!   Claiming that this is unlawful, our friends at the American Friends Service Committee bring a deeply disturbing practice to our attention: The MDOC is recording strip searches at Women’s Huron Valley Facility, a blatant breach of dignity and privacy.   Here’s...

Two headlines shouted at me this week! I thought I had written my last piece in observance of Black History Month for 2025. Then, just the other day, MLive newspapers carried this headline:   Black babies in Michigan face triple the mortality rate of white infants before first birthday   T oday, while reading some reports on-line, another headline smacked me:   Ruby Bridges was the first Black child to enter an all-white school in the South. She’s just 70 years of age!   OK, I’m prodded into one more piece.   I remain focused incarceration, prisoners and the justice system on this HFP website. I must tell you that our team encounters racism on a regular basis!   There's a two-tier justice system. And anyone who denies it is either naive or in denial. This is what the reality of America is. If you have certain privileges, if you're from a certain socioeconomic status, you have a certain skin color, the odds are in your favor. ---Ana Kasparian ...

The short answer: I do!   I continue to see an incredible imbalance in news coverage about the release of prisoners. The most flagrant examples of this bias seem to come when TV reporters cover the release of lifers. Some of these people committed crimes when they were teenagers, and the Supreme Court has wisely ruled that we may not give those kids life without parole. Others are perhaps aging, perhaps in failing health, and the Parole Board has decided they are no longer a threat to society.   Recent coverage about a young man who had committed a heinous crime as a teenager really troubled me. The individual had served many years behind bars, and was now a middle-aged man. All who knew him, even those in the prison system, admitted that he was a changed person and a model prisoner.   That made no difference to the victims of the crime.   Neither did it make a difference to TV reporters covering that story.   OK, now I’m going to put on my newsman cap...

I find myself doing a lot of reflecting as we observe Black History Month, 2025.   After all, Black people were not a part of my early life as a white boy of Dutch descent, growing up in a white neighborhood in Muskegon, worshipping in a Christian Reformed Church and attending a Christian School.   But then, I remember seeing a Black kid walking past our house on his way to school. Turns out Billy Green was much nicer than many of the white kids I knew.   My dad, a Muskegon grocer, entered into an agreement to sell unused and discarded produce to Mr. King, a Black pig farmer. He was nicer than many of the white guys who serviced our store.   My parents invited a Black woman from the local county hospital, formerly known as the poor farm, into our home for a Thanksgiving dinner. This delightful lady, with no legs and sitting in a wheelchair, was nicer and more fun than many of our relatives at Thanksgiving dinners.   When getting started in radio broadc...