Facts Matter. Paula, Atticus, and Me.

A lot was made in here over Chef Paula Deen’s disclosure that “once…thirty years ago…” she’d used the dreaded “N” word.  As with most things that happen on the outside, I am constantly amazed at the direction conversations take after news stories – if you consider some obese Southern chef’s use of a derogatory word newsworthy – break.

Guys in here have skewed ways of looking at things.  What with the prevalence of quasi-religions formed on racial myths, there is a huge distortion of fact from fiction.  Conspiracy theories abound on every subject under the sun.  History revisions occurs more frequently than my ex rewriting our twenty-eight years together.  So, I take most of what I hear in stride, chalking up the ridiculous points being made to sheer ignorance.

But, anything involving race gets magnified in here (can’t wait to see how the George Zimmerman murder trial plays out!).  And, Paula Deen’s idiotic handling of an embarrassing remark is no different.  As the news made major hay out of her ignorant behavior (have you noticed how everyday we have to have “breaking news”?), the guy in the bunk next to me asked me if I thought she deserved to be fired.  “That’s not the question”, I told him.  My prior “legal life” taught me that you can be fired for a good reason, a bad reason, or even no reason, just not an illegal reason (i.e.:  because of race, creed, sex, religion, national origin or sexual orientation).

The real question is, in a free society what’s off limits anymore?  If the “N” word is offensive, then it should be held as such regardless of the user.  And, at that precise moment, my next door neighbor had B.E.T. on showing yet another rap video built around drugs, drinking, scantily clad women, and dropping the “N” word.

“You glorify this stuff and these performers who cause much more damage in the black community than anything some overweight redneck cook from Savannah could say.”  He looked at me for a second, said that there’s a difference between a black artist using the term and a white southerner.  Fair enough, I responded.  And just then, it happened.   One of his buddies walked up to us and said, “Hey Dom, my main Ni—a from home just got here.  He’s a bad M—f—n—a!”  I looked at Dom and said, “Case closed”. 

People say and do stupid things.  Or as Atticus Finch told his young daughter “Scout” in “To Kill a Mockingbird”, “you never know what someone’s going through ‘til you walk around in his shoes.”  It is important to remember that Atticus told his daughter that after she asked him if he was a “n---- lover” for defending a black man accused of raping a white woman in a small, 1932 Mississippi town.

“Don’t say n---- Scout.”  And then, he proceeded to explain to his daughter that he took that case because if he hadn’t, “I couldn’t hold my head up and look you and your brother in the eyes.”  It was that book and Gregory Peck’s portrayal in the movie that led me to want to be an attorney.  I learned early in my legal career, however, that no matter how gifted I was as a trial attorney, I was no Gregory Peck.  Life, outside of celluloid, is much more nuanced.  Clients, case decisions, aren’t as black and white as Atticus Finch confronted.

This blog is not in defense of Paula Deen.  She said numerous stupid things and followed them up with a defense that only reinforced the public’s opinion that she is ignorant.  What this is about is seeing the big picture, the human frailty in all of us to be the next Paula Deen.

There has been a heavy concentration of blog responses recently about my “right” to describe life in here.  I accept and welcome that discussion.  But, discussions must be based on facts.  As the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan put it, “Every one is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts.”  Paula Deen has an opinion; it just doesn’t match with reality.  Just like the ignorant men in here with their conspiracy theories and arguments, their opinions don’t align with the facts. 

Here are the facts:

The United States has the highest percentage of its population incarcerated.  The number of citizens in the U.S. under some form of correctional control is now 1 in 33.  When Ronald Reagan was President it was 1 in 78.  We have 5% of the world’s population and 25% of the world’s inmates.  About 65 million Americans have a criminal record.  The U.S. prison system costs nearly $60 billion a year.  In 1985, that cost was slightly less than $9 billion.

The risk of going to prison does not act as a deterrent to the commission of most crimes.  Fact is, most people misidentify the risk of being caught and the resulting punishment. 

There is no correlation between length of sentence and re-offending.  In fact, the studies done on nonviolent offenders sentenced to prison actually conclude that exposure to violent prison conditions leads to increased recidivism.

Those are the facts.  Economically, prisons fail at their mission.  Rehabilitatively, they likewise fail.  Philosophically, what does it say about this country – and the ethic of the citizenry that we will accept a failed system that destroys lives in the name of corrections?

Prison reform is coming.  And, surprisingly, it is being pushed by Conservative Republicans who see corrections as a gar hole that accomplishes no redeeming social policy, as well as Evangelical Christians who ask, “What would Jesus do?”  Jesus, I am confident, would be (and is) ministering to those behind bars.

As for me, my life is an open book.  As the one commenter who knows me already knows, my life is on the blog.  And while the writer’s opinion of me isn’t very flattering, neither is it factually accurate.

For one thing, DOC in Virginia does not allow inmates access to the internet (some states do).  I provide my observations to a person’s blog for free and handwritten.  Those blogs are then typeset.

Second, my guilt was never in doubt.  At no time did I seek a plea deal or offer any medical or addiction cause for my actions. In a seven minute address to the court on the day of my sentencing, I acknowledged sole responsibility for my actions.  I apologized to my family, my employer, friends and the community.  I told the judge I deserved incarceration.  I then asked him to temper his sentence to give me an opportunity to correct the wrongs I committed.

I have never once “whined” about being sent to prison.  I broke the law and knew there was the likelihood of my arrest and incarceration.  In fact, I consider my arrest a turning point in my life.  For too long I lived with guilt knowing I was living a lie.

And my Atticus moment – I’ve learned that most people are decent.  There are some who are evil and need to be separated from society and prison – safe, secure, well-maintained prisons – are needed for them.

But for the vast majority of men and women put in prison, the experience leads to a life of despair and failure.  Surely, a nation with the intellect, character, and fortitude of this one can do better.  “Walk in another man’s shoes”, urged Atticus. 

People don’t know why I did what I did.  And, that’s ok.  But, I ask you to consider:  Consider being desperate to get your spouse back from sadness and depression.  You make the decision, you violate your own moral code and you feel like hell.  But, it works.  And, you always come back to that approach whenever things are tough because it works.

I won’t go into detail and if I had to do it over I would have made different decisions all the way back to college.  And, whether you think that warrants my behavior doesn’t change the fact that prisons fail and America can, and must, do better.