Humanity for Prisoners

  "No government ought to be without censors: and where the press is free, no one ever will. If virtuous, it need not fear the fair operation of attack and defence" — Thomas Jefferson.   The Jimmy Kimmel saga has suddenly drawn strong focus on the threat of news censorship. This is not new, and it’s not just at the national level.   As a young, small-market radio news reporter, I was awakened to the problem decades ago.   When appointed News Director of WJBL in Holland in 1957 I was immediately warned by the Chamber of Commerce that no news from that office could be released before noon, thus assuring that the local newspaper would not be scooped. A similar warning came from Hope College.   (It didn’t work!)   That reminds me of a troubling national story. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wants credentialed journalists covering the Pentagon to sign a “pledge” to not report on — that is, keep from the American public — information the administrati...

The MLive newspaper chain recently published a story about a surge in violence at the St. Louis Correctional Facility. We’ve been hearing reports that the MDOC is working on solutions for violence, which seems to be increasing throughout the system.   An HFP client, a good writer who also has good insight, offers some suggestions. I think his ideas are worth sharing.   “A good start,” says my friend Douglas, “is to go back and copy what it was like when I came in rather than trying to reinvent the wheel.”   Here are his suggestions.   -“Create jobs . This place is the most miserly paying joint I've been to, and with the fewest and most meaningless jobs. Idleness is truly the Devil's workshop, so just allowing men who've already shown a propensity toward violating the law to walk endless circles when they're not locked down is a recipe for all manner of assaults. People who worked in the factories generally did not want to mess up, and even the less desirable ...

  History was made today!   I’m not exaggerating. It was a historic moment for the Christian Reformed Church of North America. It was a historic moment for the Michigan Department of Corrections. And it was a historic moment for HUMANITY FOR PRISONERS.   The Christian Reformed Church has two new pastors today. In an impressive ceremony attended by 16 people at the Muskegon Correctional Facility, two prisoners were ordained! Pastor Mark Urban and Pastor Crisanto Escabalzeta are both serving lengthy sentences on charges involving criminal sexual conduct. Neither will be eligible for parole until the 2030s.   It's an amazing story of redemption!   The two men first completed years of study in Calvin Prison Initiative. CPI is a Christian liberal arts education program for Michigan inmates. That was only the first step in their decade-long pursuit of ordination. Even though they could not continue their studies in a seminary, tutors were provided. Finally cam...

  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...