I will do a post on Sadie's trial-which was a joke-but first I want people to realize that when you read someone's charges, that is not necessarily what really happened. The prosecutors stack charges on charges and you are basically coerced into a plea bargain that you may not agree with because they scare you out of going to trial. They tell you if you go to trial and you lose you will get the maximum penalty. Trials cost the state time and money. They would rather run everyone through the system. My daughter was not going to plea to something she did not do, so she went to trial and was punished for it. Her charges show Attempted Kidnapping with a Deadly Weapon. It doesn't say the "deadly weapon" was her crack pipe pusher she happened to have on her that was proven to have no sharp edges. If you don't know the back story to someone's charges, it is easy to conclude the worst. It is not about justice. It is about who can tell the better story or the most believable story which may or may not be the truth. There are many many innocent people in prison and many who are over-sentenced.
It is always so sad for me when I go visit to see these young, beautiful women who made mistakes-usually caused by drug addiction-spending life in prison. There are some people who are criminally insane and should never be let out-but that is rare. Most all of these women deserve another chance. They deserve redemption.
Pat is a woman who is now in her 60's who has spent most of her adult life in prison for murder. She is a wonderful, caring human being and I know that what she did weighs on her and it is a burden she will carry her entire life. Her parole came up and I wrote a letter for her. She has been a model prisoner, a trusted canteen worker and is not the same person she was when she was a young adult. Does she deserve another chance?
There is a young woman in there in her 20's who was a drug addict and she and her boyfriend stole a woman's purse and were driving off. The woman hung onto the car door and fell off and died. She got life.
It is difficult because I always try and put myself in the position of the loved one who had someone they love murdered. Would I be able to forgive that person? Would I feel that person deserved another chance when my loved one will never have a chance for anything.
And I find that it all depends on the circumstances. Child murderers and pedophiles I would have a very difficult time forgiving. Rapists I have a hard time with. But if I look at it spiritually, I would not want to carry the burden of hate, or bitterness or being unforgiving. After all, all of our "sins" are forgiven by the Creator so what gives us the right to judge and condemn. We do not have to condone the action, but we can forgive the person. It gets complicated doesn't it. In Germany, no one is incarcerated for more than 20 years except the criminally insane but they also offer tons of rehabilitation.
I think Pat deserved another chance because I know her. I think the young woman deserves another chance because she is so young.
I also think that anytime we physically hurt another person either in a rash moment or planned, we are mentally ill because doing those things goes against our divine nature. To me it means that we have completely lost touch with our humanness, with our heart. And a lot of these women in the prison grew up in drug addicted households, were sexually and/or physically, mentally and emotionally abused. They had no guidance. Not everyone is a strong individual but with the right tools and help, they can change and become healthy again. But, we would rather throw them away and throw away the key.
The other issue is if you are going to incarcerate people for a good amount of time, then make incarceration something that is going to better someone. Make sure the environment is safe and free from abuse-physical and mental. Make sure there are programs that build self-worth and self esteem. Teach them job skills so they can make it on the outside. Most of these women will again be someone's neighbor.
The recidivism rate in Florida prisons is 33% within the first three years and increases to 65% five years after release. Why is that. It costs the state (taxpayer) about 20,000 a year to house an inmate in a Florida prison.
Right now prisons are filled with wasted time, isolation and idleness. There is a lack of funding for meaningful and beneficial rehabilitation programs.
Because I have met a lot of these women, I have so much compassion and empathy for them. We are not the worse thing we have ever done. We are a myriad of things that are also positive.
For me as a mom with an incarcerated daughter, my everyday stress is that my daughter will be treated inhumanely and without regard, that a guard will be having a bad day and decide to take it out on her, that a mentally unstable inmate will lose it and take it out on her. All of these things have already happened to her. When she first went in, an inmate (for no apparent reason) started beating her up and fractured her jaw (which they never fixed). The officer was out talking to another friend and left a TA (trainee) in charge and she had no pepper spray or way to stop it. I have had a guard yell and scream at her an inch from her face calling her all sorts of names for no reason-just because he was a bully and could. She was terrified and in tears. There is a jail within the prison where they take you if your fighting or have contraband or you just don't look right that day and you are targeted. That is a constant stress for the inmates because they never know when a guard is going to decide what was fine yesterday is no longer fine today and you go to jail. For instance, yesterday you could leave your shirt untucked, but today we want it tucked in. Yesterday all the black women could have dreds, but today they cut them all off. You put a bunch of macho men in charge of women who are powerless, what do you think is going to happen-nothing good. I know of one officer that I respect and I feel has integrity and is more interested in doing good than bad, but that is not the norm.
And we have to ask ourselves as human beings-divine beings-if this is acceptable or not. And if we don't think it is then we need to be the voice for the voiceless, the power for the powerless. I would not treat an animal like they treat the inmates. What kind of world do we live in? What kind of morals do we have where it is ok to treat other human beings so inhumanely. The families have so much stress related to this. We are all doing the time also. If I knew my daughter was safe, that she was valued, that there were rehab programs that improved her life, that she was treated humanely-that would take so much stress off of me. But no, I have to worry every day. If she isn't able to call, I think something has happened and I can't sleep that night. I can never just relax. The whole thing is a damn shame.
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