The Big Picture

It’s easy in here to think the whole world is contained inside these fences. Then, there are weeks where the news from the outside overwhelms the normal rhythm – if what goes on in here can ever be described as “normal” or rhythmic - of things. This past week was one of those times.  You realize how little guys in here actually know about life and history and – unfortunately – moral frameworks to operate through. Life in here tends to be a series of reactions, most not carefully thought out – to news and events beyond our control. But, it’s those visceral reactions that give me pause. How can a man expect to leave here and do well if he holds the same ideas that landed him in here?

            

A few weeks ago, much was made of the 150^th anniversary of the greatest battle to take place on North American soil. For three days in the heat of July 1863, the army of the United States faced off against their counterpart in the confederacy. It was a horrendous, bloody three days with deaths and wounded numbering in the tens of thousands. And, it was the pivotal battle of the Civil War. The future survival of this country was decided on the bloody grounds surrounding the small Pennsylvania town of Gettysburg.

            

Most Americans know about the battle of Gettysburg. But, there is a little known post-script to the conclusion of the battle. It was a topic touched on briefly by Director Martin Scorsese in his epic “Gangs of New York.” On July 4, 1863, weary and bloodied Union troops were pulled from Gettysburg and sent by train to quell massive anti-draft riots that had turned New York City into a fiery hell. “Four score and seven years” (87 years, that is) after this country’s founding as a democracy crowds were rioting through New York City. Hundreds were killed and injured. Free black men were lynched at will or burned alive. Homes and businesses were looted and destroyed. It was, simply put, utter chaos.

            

President Lincoln rushed thousands of battle-worn troops to New York. Martial law was declared and troops fired at will on crowds. Arrests and detention without benefit of due process or use of the constitutionally guaranteed right of Habeas Corpus (suspended by Lincoln in a clear execution of dictatorial power) occurred. All of this was done in the name of liberty, in an effort by a president and a government to preserve a still fragile and new democracy in the midst of war.

           

I write this as more images of burning and chaos and soldiers in the street in Cairo, Egypt, or Damascus, Syria, or a dozen other Arab nations bombarded our airwaves. Because of the significant number of Muslim inmates in here, discussions – loud at times – usually degenerate into “what’s wrong with those Arabs?” or people will try and tell you the violence is just a by-product of a religion (Islam) that shows little regard for  democracy or peace. And, we tend to scoff at the notion of an “Arab Spring” where freedom and liberty take over. The Middle East, struggling to join the 21^st century with a ballooning population under the age of thirty, is in the throes of upheaval. But before we’re quick to draw conclusions from what we see, let’s remember our own past. The reason people like Bishop Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela are so highly regarded by us is because they act contrary to what most of us would do. It’s an unfortunate fact but a fact none the less, that most of us would be with the rioters, and seeking revenge.

           

I told some of the young Muslim guys in here there is nothing anti-democratic about the Arab world. Just like this country in 1863, democracy is a fragile thing. Ultimately, good will triumph.

            

Then there was the Federal jury in Boston who convicted noted mobster Whitey Bulger of numerous crimes including murder. There’s no denying Bulger is a cold-blooded killer. He ran most of the organized crime in South Boston and was ruthless. His story, fictionalized somewhat in the academy-award winning movie “Departed” glossed over and glamorized some of the worst that was Whitey Bulger.

            

The most notable disclosures at his trial didn’t relate to his crimes. No, the most notable disclosures concerned the government’s willingness to get in bed with brutal criminals in their quest to catch other criminals. The government it seems is not above breaking the law in the pursuit of enforcing the law. If that idea doesn’t concern you, I’m not sure what does.

            

In the past few months we have learned the government can – and does – collect virtually every electronic form of communication we utilize. In one breath, we are lied to and told, “No, we don’t collect all that data,” and a day later that same senior administration official admits he lied but it was merely to keep the “terrorists guessing.” And that’s all it takes now. “We’re pursuing terror threats” or trying to break an organized crime syndicate. The ends – the government tells us – justify the means.

            

What does that mean? In Bulger’s case, that meant FBI agents tipped him off about other crime family activity. They shielded and protected Bulger from prosecutions for murder, extortion, and a host of other crimes. They were a party to much of Bulger’s wrong doing.

            

But it’s not just big criminals like Bulger. Daily, police use lies and deceit to “break a crime.” In my own case, the detective in charge couldn’t accept my conviction. There had to be others involved, he thought. There had to be an offshore account (this even as I provided full financial disclosure). So what did he do? He told my wife I “admitted if I made bond I was going to drive home, kill her and our kids, and dig up the money.” He used this lie about a guy who had never even spanked his children.

            

Why’d he lie? “I figured she’d show me where the money was. I guess I was wrong.” The problem with tolerating this sort of police behavior is that the power of government to deprive you of your liberty or property is a power that can be easily corrupted by unscrupulous, power-driven people.

            

The Bulger case should be a clear call to this nation to require government itself to live within the law. The ends do not justify the means. Government law enforcement cannot be allowed to get cozy with criminals – or lie, cheat, and steal – to get a conviction.

            

This past week almost every TV in the building was tuned in as Attorney General Eric Holder announced the Department of Justice was going to push “significant prison reform measures,” immediately. As the A.G. ran through the litany of facts about the United States current mass incarceration problem:

-        25% of the world’s prisoners are locked up in the US though this nation has only 5% of the world’s population

-        $80 billion spent annually on prisons

-        Staggering recidivism rates even as violent crime rates plummet

I couldn’t help but smile when my bunk neighbor leaned over my way and said, “Hey, Holder reads your blog.”

            

The A.G. has just admitted what anyone who really examines the system already knew: prison wastes money, resources, and lives. That politicians on both sides of the aisle now agree with that premise should be enough to tell you it isn’t even a controversial position.

            

Too many people are sentenced to prison for far too long. For many of those inmates, their time in prison determines their future success and that of their children. No one with an ounce of sense will suggest that there shouldn’t be consequences for breaking the law. But, the consequences must be in proportion to the wrong committed and must always have as a goal the successful return of the lawbreaker to society.

            

The A.G. correctly pointed out that America’s reliance on prison fails that simple test. It’s now time for Virginia to follow the A.G.’s lead. Let’s get creative with sentencing. Reward inmates who truly seek to atone for their wrongs and be rehabilitated. Prison – when necessary – should be with brief stints unless the crime is so violent or the defendant so sociopathic that returning him – or her – to society is impossible.

            

The same day the U.S. Attorney General announced the Federal government’s prison reform push, a Federal judge in New York ruled the city’s “stop and frisk” program unconstitutional. The controversial program allowed police to stop and pat down anyone they wanted. Do you know who was stopped? Tens of thousands of black men, most with not even the slightest hint of any wrong doing or any suspicious activity.

            

I know how I feel being patted down every time I enter or exit a building and I’m in prison. To be subjected to that invasion of my personal space in the “free” world based almost exclusively on the color of my skin is abhorrent. American law, we tell our children in school, is color-blind. But, there are reasons expressions such as “driving while black,” resonate in the African-American community. For all its noble purposes, stop and frisk is simply an invitation to police harassment. The Federal Court correctly noted its unconstitutionality. It belongs on the dust heap of other failed police practices.

            

And finally, I reminded a group of students this week that we are approaching the 50^th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech. With the exception of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, no other speech in American history so beautifully and lyrically portrays the ideals of this country.

            The most significant piece of his speech, the part where Dr. King rhythmically recited over and over “I have a dream,” and then spoke about children – black and white – holding hands, was not even in the original text. Dr. King, the Baptist preacher that he was, felt the pull of the Holy Spirit and went off script.

           

As I reread his wonderful words, I wondered what Dr. King, had he lived, would say about America today. At the time of his murder he had gone beyond a call for racial justice. He had denounced America’s war in Indochina. He was pushing the rights of the poor. He was preaching to the outcasts. And white America was made uncomfortable. We don’t like sitting in our fancy homes and churches and being told those material items aren’t God’s blessings. And Black people? They thought he was a sellout. Young Blacks demanded rebellion. Dr. King preached reconciliation.

           

I feel confident if Dr. King was with us today he would denounce drone strikes, NSA surveillance, and America’s obsession with material wealth. And, I think he would remind Christians everywhere of Jesus’ parable in Matthew 25:

            

“I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink; I was a stranger and you did not invite me in; naked, and you did not clothe me; sick, or in prison, and you did not visit me … truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.”

           

Sometimes prison can be completely isolating. You forget there’s a world out there with people going through so much. Weeks like this come along and you’re reminded – for most of us anyway – this is but a stop along the way. And doing right, treating people right, seeing the big picture matters.