My friend Ty has been incarcerated for 36 years. He turned 65 earlier this year and applied
for geriatric parole. An inmate, over
the age of 64 may apply for early release; there are some criteria. Ty was turned down. Ironically, geriatric parole has never been
granted. Makes you wonder why they have
it on the books.
Saleem has a life sentence.
He’s been in 31 years. Every year
since his twentieth in here he comes up for parole. Every year he gets turned down. Saleem’s “update sheet” – that’s the form DOC
generates annually after an inmates review which provides stats on the person –
shows his release date as “deceased”.
Thirty-one years he’s looked at a sheet that says “you’ll get out when
you’re dead”. Saleem is a devout Muslim
and leader of the Sunni brothers on the compound. He’s earned his BA and Masters Degrees while
locked up. He is a man of patience and
peace. Thirty-one years will do that to
you.
A younger friend – Mike – turned 34 in April. In June he finished nineteen years in
prison. At the age of 15, in a fit of
unbridled, uncontrolled rage, he stabbed a man to death. Mike comes from a “good family” – his mom’s a
schoolteacher. His father (who divorced
his mom and left his life after the conviction) is an engineer. Mike stayed in juvenile custody until he
turned 17, then went to a level “5” max security prison. He has seven more years and then he “mandatories”;
they have to let him go. Mike and I do
yoga together, exchange books, discuss TV, politics, religion. He’s one of the brightest and most decent
people I’ve ever met.
I bounce off the walls at times in here as I think about all
I’m missing. My mind runs a continual
reel of “Larry’s Greatest Hits” and I remember dinners with my ex, family
hikes, my sons’ birthday parties and ballgames.
I am awash in memories. My ability
to recall minute details – what she wore, her perfume, what the kids ordered to
eat – can be maddening.
How do they do it?
How do they watch years slip by and calmly move forward? There’s no set answer; no right way. You do what you have to do to survive.
Saleem is fatalistic.
As a Muslim he sees everything from God.
“When God is willing, I will be delivered.” That’s easy to say; it’s a lot tougher to
live. During my “desperate days” this
past winter it was Saleem who asked me to sit in his cut one day and vent
against the “injustice” present in my life.
After I’d worked myself into a frenzy, he calmly asked “Do you believe
in God?” My reaction was one of puzzlement. “You know I do Saleem. I’m praying and in the book every day.” He smiled and said, “Then shouldn’t you trust
him?” Smart man.
Mike, he doesn’t keep track of days. He has no calendar. He hates his annual parole hearing because it
reminds him of time, dates certain. He
knows there’s a day coming and he’ll go home.
Former Republican Presidential candidate and ordained
Baptist minister Mike Huckabee is a supporter of prison reform and opposes
mandatory sentencing. In a recent
interview, he said the following:
“Tell a person ‘you’re going to prison. If in the next 10 years you get an education,
learn a skill and behave, you’ll serve exactly 10 years. If you act up …you’ll serve 10 years…we’re
not fixing them. We’re not changing our
society.”
Nineteen years; thirty-one years; thirty-six years;
thirty-nine years; three years – when is it enough time? When has the penalty been justly meted
out? When does the punishment fit the
crime?
Thirty- nine years.
Think about it.
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