Are the Times Changin?

I received New Years wishes from a dear relative the other day. She told me to think about Bob Dylan’s song “The Times They Are a Changin”. She told me to keep the faith. Perhaps 2011 will be the year when DOC changes, when lawmakers find the courage to do what is right and give the incarcerated a second chance. She included an article about the new DOC director, Harold Clarke. The son of a Baptist preacher, he sees his work in corrections as a calling: to change the lives of those in prison before they are released.



I’d love to sit down with Mr. Clarke and face to face tell him exactly what is going on in his ministry, believer to believer. I’d start with John 8, Jesus was confronted by the Pharisees and the scribes who present a woman caught in the act of adultery. The law was clear: adultery was punishable by death. Jesus didn’t say the law was wrong or cruel. He simply drew in the sand and quietly stated “he that is free of sin” carry out the law. No one in the crowd remained. Every “law abiding” man there realized they could not judge by that standard. The rest of the story is equally compelling. Jesus looked at the woman and asked “Where are those who condemn you?” When she replied that they had all left, Jesus said the following: “neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.”


If Mr. Clarke is serious about his faith (which I believe he is), then that is the message he needs to carry forward. I challenge Mr. Clarke: you cannot profess belief and obedience in the saving grace and forgiveness of the Savior and direct an organization that deprives almost 40,000 men and women of an opportunity for redemption.


Salvation doesn’t occur on a set date and neither should a person’s release from prison. DOC should evaluate every incarcerated person yearly for release. Has the person been reformed? Have programs been attended, education and training received to change the offender’s behavior? “Truth in sentencing” (the catch phrase for Virginia’s abolition of parole) is immoral and un-Christian. It is directly contrary to the call to believers to forgive, show mercy and love.


If Mr. Clarke came to speak to me I’d tell him faith in action is worth more than words.


I was given 30 years for embezzling $2.1 million. Even with suspended time, even with “earned good time”, I will be incarcerated into the next decade. That is immoral. Should I have broken the law? No. But, I can’t make restitution from inside this prison. My sentence had repercussions beyond affecting me. My ex-wife has to struggle as a single parent. My 13 year old son has no father in his daily life. Did I deserve to be punished? Yes, but not to the extent the Circuit Judge carried out. There are no winners in my case. There is no justice, no redemption, no mercy. There is just punishment. And punishment, I would tell Mr. Clarke, is left to God.


This week on the news it was reported Virginia has a $17 billion unfunded pension liability. 6,500 Virginia families with disabled children can’t get state services because of budget cuts. Yet, Mr. Clarke presides over a department that will spend over $1 billion this year to basically house and feed 40,000 inmates. Money is not going to “rehabilitate” or educate. It’s going to maintain, to keep things “as is”. I’d tell Mr. Clarke, Jesus came precisely to challenge that mentality. He came to turn the world upside down and change our human heart.


I’m no preacher, but it seems to me there’s a reason the dirty, the sick, the criminals and the outcasts flocked to Jesus while the “decent folk” stayed away. His message was uncomfortable for all those so sure of their place in society and their own self-worth and self-righteousness.


“You who is free of sin cast the first stone. . . .”


“Forgive seventy times seven!”


“As you treat the least of my brothers so shall you be treated.”


I’d ask Mr. Clarke what kind of director of corrections Jesus would be. Would He oppose parole? Would He challenge “truth in sentencing?” Would He favor second chances? I think Mr. Clarke already has the answer to those questions.


I pray every morning and evening for Mr. Clarke. I pray that he be granted wisdom and courage to do what is right. Interviews are great. You can say what you want. “I’m a Christian” has a nice ring, but being one takes great courage and effort. Imagine a DOC director going before the Virginia legislature and stating “God demands we do better. We must give these women and men a second chance. We must educate and rehabilitate them and let them go home as soon as possible.”


The college IT program begins Monday, January 10th. We had our introductory meeting last week with the principal and all the aides and students. Forty students have a chance to earn certification in information technology along with 37 college credit hours. After the meeting, one of the students came up to me. Though he’s only 32, this is his third time in prison. All his convictions involve drug dealing.


“They always send me to a road camp. I cut weeds, pick up trash, do my bid. Get out and can’t find work so I sell to make it by. This is the first time I’ve ever been given a chance to make something of myself.”


That opportunity shouldn’t be just for 40 guys at Lunenburg. Almost every incarcerated person deserves another chance. Are the times changing? Will Mr. Clarke put his faith in action? I pray he will. I’d love to discuss it with him, but it seems he’s busy running DOC.


If he wants, he can come out to Lunenburg and talk. I’m here every day tutoring and writing.