Do You See the Irony?

            Do you the irony all around us? In a Washington Post editorial this Sunday, a Columbia University professor who lost a son fighting in Iraq for this country, points out that since 1980 we have bombed fourteen Middle Eastern, majority Muslim countries. What has been accomplished? Nothing. Yet, here we go again. In our quest to protect “America,” the President has created a grand coalition of willing partners to take on the brutal thugs in ISIS. They behead their victims. Yet, one of our coalition partners – Saudi Arabia – beheads as a punishment. In September, 19 were beheaded (publicly) in Saudi Arabia. We claim such behavior is a danger to the “civilized” world; this country however is one of the few who still allow capital punishment. Irony, yes indeed.

            In Virginia, hundreds of inmates are held in solitary confinement. “Solitary,” “the hole,” is used to excess throughout this country. Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and a significant number of America’s religious organizations have called on the nation to end this cruel incarceration practice. And still, as I write this, thousands languish alone in cells, deprived of human contact. Ironic in a nation that cherishes freedom and basic human dignity.

            Hundreds are held at Guantanamo Bay. These men, labeled “enemy combatants,” have never been charged with any crime. The United States, a nation built on the “rule of law” ignores that very concept by holding without charge. Worse, at the military tribunals being held for the few who have actually been charged, the CIA is entitled to interject in legal proceedings and stop them from moving forward if, in the intelligence officer observing the hearing’s opinion, questions of National Security are in issue.

            Irony. Virginia Courts sentence young men like “Cubby” to prison for heroin usage where, with the help of corrupt guards, drugs flow as freely as on the streets. Then, DOC penalizes the inmate for his dirty urine and takes his good time. They ship him to a higher custody level where drugs are even more prevalent and, because of his youthful appearance he becomes easy prey for violent, predatory inmates. Nice “justice” system.

            How about this? You are told every day that DOC “prepares offenders for re-entry” by providing quality programs especially “education.” Then, they promote a security mentality at the lower levels that each week somehow manages to interfere with schooling. The security chief, i.e. “The major,” holds schooling for inmates in contempt. And yet, as guys earn GEDs, as the college program succeeds and gets national recognition in spite of his efforts, he is lauded. Irony.

            Irony. We live with it every day. We “hold these truths” to be self-evident then accept less from those in charge. “Allies” are as barbaric as our enemies; our enemies – while cruel, hold no exclusivity on cruelty or ignoring basic human dignity and rights. And, corruption overflowing in our “justice” system is met with yawns. The most ironic thing is we continue to tolerate it.

Justice in a Needle

It is a moment of Kafkaesque realization to be in prison as the news drones on and on about a condemned inmate, mere moments from death, awaiting word of any last minute reprieve.  I experienced that realization – again – the other night as our building watched the circus that became Georgia inmate Troy Davis’s last day.

I don’t know if Troy Davis was guilty of the crime of killing an off-duty Savannah police officer.  His guilt or innocence is of little consequence to the absolutely appalling atmosphere that grew around his case.  Here’s what I do know:  a white off-duty Savannah police officer was gunned down coming to the aid of a homeless man being attacked in a parking lot.  That deceased police officer left children who grew up without their dad.  He left a grieving mother who simply wanted justice.

I also know Troy Davis spent over 20 years on Georgia’s death row.  I know nine chief prosecution witnesses recanted their testimony and claimed they were coerced.  I know Troy Davis lost every appeal and still the U.S. Supreme Court ordered a Federal Judge to review the case in its entirety due to numerous, significant questions about the conduct of the prosecution in the case.  I know the Federal Court – after months of review and providing a painstakingly detailed analysis of the case in a multi-hundred page opinion, concluded “Davis did not meet the burden of proving he was innocent” (in a twist of the law, after convicted it is up to the “guilty” to prove they are in fact innocent).

And I know religious leaders from Pope Benedict to Bishop Tutu spoke out against the imposition of the death sentence on moral grounds.

And yet, on Tuesday night, I watched as the circus came to town; the schizophrenic push to execute or stay execution so unique and troubling to America.  And, I was disgusted.  America has lost its moral framework.

Regardless of what you believe about the morality of capital punishment, can you honestly justify strapping a man on a death gurney at 6:00 pm and leaving him strapped down for five hours, until 11:00 pm, when the United States Supreme Court finally refused to issue a stay of execution?  Does that sound humane?  Does that validate this society’s alleged belief in the sanctity of life?  Does it pass Constitutional muster under the 8^th Amendment’s prohibition to cruel and unusual punishment?  More importantly, is America a better country having executed Troy Davis, a man who uttered as his last words “You are killing an innocent man.  May God have mercy on your souls.”

An interesting expression, “May God have mercy on your soul”.  They utter that at every execution.  Fact is, God has mercy for us.  No matter what we’ve done God stands ready to show us mercy, grace and forgiveness.  And what do we do as salvaged, forgiven people?  We set a legalistic standard.  We hold the Troy Davis’ of the world accountable for their crimes while we muddle through our lives sinning and conniving and being unmerciful.

May God have mercy on our souls.  The African American poet Langston Hughes wrote “O let America be America again.  The America that never was.”  This nation was founded on an ethos that God ordained freedom and dignity for all men.  And every time we witness the disconnect between that fundamental ideal with the reality of a legalistic, revenge motivated society, we realize God’s ordination is nothing but a pipe dream.

As I wrote earlier, I don’t know if Troy Davis was guilty or not.  I do know his execution is a stain on this country.  America is not the land it can be as long as capital punishment is imposed.  It’s time for mercy and justice to roll down like a stream over this land.  As I sit in this trash heap of America’s love affair with punishment I can only pray “May God have mercy on all of us.”

Empathy 101

The prison’s warden, a 56 year-old African American woman, was killed in a two vehicle accident in a small town, ten miles from here, Thursday evening. At 6:00 am Friday the entire compound knew. First, the details of the accident made the morning news. Initial reports indicated the warden ran a stop sign and was struck broadside by the second vehicle. The warden was dead at the scene. The two people in the second vehicle were seriously injured.



At 6:00 am count, the day shift officers arrived with black tape on their badge. By 8:00, a memo was up in the building from the assistant warden. As with so many “Dear Offender” memos, this one also misjudged the mood of the prison population.


It began: “We regret to inform you. . .” Honestly, there weren’t a great deal of regrets being expressed around the compound.


“Maybe we’ll get chicken and ice cream tonight. . .”
“Karma’s a bitch man. . .”
“F--- her and all the cops. . .”


Harsh? Yes. Shocking to your senses? Absolutely. But, before you get indignant, consider that on the day Ms. Lewis was executed in the Virginia death chamber less than four months ago, pro-death penalty advocates applauded. Consider that it was recently reported that 70,000 Iraqi civilians were “casualties” of our nation’s war effort with little if any public remorse exhibited. I write that in embarrassment knowing I supported both the war in Afghanistan and the war in Iraq.


I pass no judgment on your view of capital punishment or use of military force. I have come full circle on both issues. My prison experience has taught me faith in God means an avoidance of violence in all forms. But that’s my view.


No, I point these things out because I’ve come to the conclusion we have become woefully lacking in empathy. We refuse to seek understanding of someone else’s feelings. “Screw them. Nobody cares how I feel.”


Guys in here use macabre humor and downright gloating when bad things happen to people they blame for their circumstances. Four cops shot in Detroit, guys cheer. Almost every inmate has a story of how the police took advantage of them. Stories of crooked police appear almost nightly in the paper. USA Today ran a series of stories on prosecutorial misconduct. Yet, guys in here continue to struggle to get their story told.


A young kid in the building showed me a picture the other night. He was at a party. There was a girl in the picture. She was obviously high and she was hanging on him. I recognized her. She has filled in here as a CO.


“I met her at Nottoway (a level 4 prison) on my last bid. She was on duty up there. I got out and started dealin’ coke. Got called to a party. Sold a lot of eight balls (3.5 grams). She saw me. I banged her for three days and kept her in coke.” He then got busted on a probation violation – dirty urine. She’s still working as a CO, eight ball and all.


There’s a senior officer here who’s had four (yes four) DUIs. He pulled no jail time and is still working here. Guys here see that and realize the system’s rigged.


Meanwhile, the people on the street demand politicians “get tough on crime”. After all, criminals aren’t good people; criminals are scum.


We live in a course, degraded world and it’s getting worse. Funny thing is prisons just mirror society. Some of the most popular magazines sell precisely because they expose our human foibles. We love when people fail. We love other’s misery. Pretty sick, yet pretty prevalent.


To guys in here the warden represents the machine that is keeping them in this hell. She represents, she controls, the officers that shake us down, strip search us, watch us urinate. Is it rational? No. But then again, neither was my glee when I heard Saddam Hussein was hung or my sentence.


Later in the day I overheard guys say “you know she wasn’t that bad a warden”. Other guys were contemplating the suddenness of her passing. “Man, when your number’s called, it’s time.” The initial jokes passed, most men thought about the “what if” in here. “What if I get a call about my family? My parents?”


Empathy is an interesting thing. You suddenly gain understanding of a person’s problems. You’re more likely to show mercy and forgive.


Two and a half years ago I thought I knew right from wrong. I was quick to pass judgment on others (quick to ignore my own sins). Then, I started meeting murderers and armed robbers. I talked to drug dealers and drug addicts. I discovered no two men were the same. I found some I grew to care deeply about. They became friends. Others I just couldn’t stand. But, I learned to listen. I learned to hear.


There is evil in the world and we should confront it and defeat it. But, we should never gloat over anyone’s suffering. At least, that’s the lesson I’ve learned in here.

End of the Line

I was watching PBS the other evening and a story came on the show “Frontline” about the conviction and release years later of the “Norfolk 4”. It was a story of dishonest police tactics, the despair of prison, yet the amazing capacity of humans to survive. I thought immediately of a favorite song of mine from 1989, by the Traveling Willburys. The song, “End of the Line”, is an up tempo ballad featuring Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty and George Harrison.



One verse in this song about getting through life until “judgment day” went:


“Well its alright
even if they say you’re wrong
well its all right
sometimes you gotta be strong”.


The story of the “Norfolk 4” should be a sobering reminder that just because the powers that be say someone is guilty doesn’t make it so. It is the story of four young sailors from the USS George Washington who were accused and convicted of the brutal rape and murder of a Norfolk woman. An overzealous detective lied, coerced and threatened all four men. A jury believed the Commonwealth’s case even though the police knew DNA testing of all four men cleared them of involvement. That evidence was withheld from the four defendants.


All four spent almost twelve years in a high security level Virginia penitentiary before being released by executive act of the former Governor.


Unless you have been on the receiving end of a police interrogation you cannot imagine the deceit that is used. It is not about “getting to the truth”, it’s about finding someone to convict. Thousands of men and women are wrongly convicted each year in this country.


John Grisham has a new bestselling novel out called “The Confession” that is a stinging indictment of capital punishment in Texas. The book is selling well, but will it make a difference? Will the public finally give a damn about justice and force states to reform police practices, the courts and prisons?


I remember a conversation I had with my wife a few months before my arrest. She reminded me (during a heated debate about terrorists) that on our first date I told her “its better that a thousand guilty men walk free than one innocent man be executed”. I looked at her like she was nuts. “One life, small price to pay for safety.”


I was wrong in my later opinion. No innocent person should ever have to see the inside of a prison. Justice requires more. Justice demands perfection when a person’s liberty, his freedom, is at stake.


We claim we accept as a basic tenet of American justice “you are innocent until proven guilty”. Fact is, from the moment a person is arrested and the weight of the state begins to pressure you, and the story is released to the newspapers or TV, perception that the person is guilty begins to grow like a giant wave.


Ask the security guard wrongly accused of setting off the bomb at the Atlanta Olympics; ask the Duke Lacrosse players; ask the Norfolk 4.


Laura Hillenbrand, author of the book “Seabiscuit” has a new bestseller out called “Unbroken”. It is the true story of Louis Zamperini, a navy flyer shot down in the Pacific. He survived 47 days on a leaky raft only to be captured by the Japanese, imprisoned and tortured.


It is the story of him overcoming imprisonment, alcoholism and bitterness by finding his faith, forgiving his captors and living a wonderful life.


Consider the accused. Keep an open mind. Look in your heart for what justice really means. Demand perfection from the system. You never know when you or a loved one will be on the receiving end of the criminal justice system.


As the Willburys said “sometime you gotta be strong”. There is strength in real justice, not retribution or vindictiveness, but true justice. And true justice demands what happened to the Norfolk 4 should never happen again.