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| Lady Justice high above our local court house. |
Augusta Inmate Discovers Omissions In His CORIS Record
In July of this year a prisoner at Augusta Correctional Center received yet another of repeated denials for parole, this one stating he needed further participation in institutional work and/or educational programs. After speaking with many of the staff there he was finally shown what was documented in the CORIS Database System from his hard file. It showed that after nearly four decades of incarceration he had only completed three programs and earned his G.E.D. In fact he had consistently maintained employment, taken advanced vocational studies and earned certification in numerous trade skill programs. He had also earned a Certificate of Recognition for 20 years of being infraction free, and graduated magna cum laud from a community college program with an Associates Degree.
His experience has led others at ACC to have their CORIS records examined, often with similar results. This individual is appealing his recent turn-down for release by the Parole Board.
The Incarcerated Can Apply For CARES Act Funds
A federal judge recently ruled that the U.S. Department of Treasury and the IRS may not prevent inmates from receiving CARES Act stimulus funds. The deadline for applying is October 30, 2020.
Here is the link for applying on the IRS website: https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/non-filers-enter-payment-info-here
Here's a link to print off a form to mail to those behind bars to fill out and mail: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040.pdf
And here is a link for those over 65 years of age: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040s.pdf
Deerfield CC Reports 60% Of DOC’s 33 Total COVID Deaths
The virus hit Deerfield Correctional Center in April and May with 76 cases, four hospitalizations and one death. At that time, all of these were confined to one pod. After a two-month lockdown, the restrictions were relaxed in June and July, but things exploded again in August, and by mid-September the official count rose to 465 cases, 21 hospitalizations, 35 staff cases and 10 deaths. The National Guard was called in to help, and inmates who tested positive were moved to one of a number of "red zone" pods. Those who tested negative were moved to "yellow" pods. There is no way to social distance in the sleeping area dormitories as the bunk beds are roughly 3 feet apart.
Meanwhile, the DOC sent in state doctors and nurses to take over medical. As of October 15, the 825-bed facility reported 19 deaths.
Earned Sentence Credits Bill Passes!
On October 14 the first major criminal justice reform legislation in 25 years passed in Virginia and was sent to the governor's desk for his signature. The bill is to take effect on Jan 1, 2022.
This Earned Sentence Credits Bill is primarily for those charged with "nonviolent" offenses, and unfortunately has 119 exclusions added by the House of Delegates, strictly along party lines. Senator Boysko was able to add the following to the final version: "the Department of Corrections shall ensure that educational, vocational, counseling, and substance abuse programs for earning sentence credits are available at all state correctional facilities." These programs will be available to help everyone whether they qualify for expanded sentence credits or not.
In January 2021 there will be new efforts to 1) amend the bill to allow more people to earn an earlier release, 2) reinstate parole for all and 3) create an oversight committee for the DOC. The goal is to give everyone behind bars the opportunity to earn a second chance.
In a recent series of podcasts, state Senator Mark Obenshain lamented the number of parole releases granted by the Virginia Parole Board in March. He and three Commonwealth's Attorneys, along with a former Governor George Allen (who in 1995 signed the "truth in sentencing" law that eliminated parole) all agreed that the sentences imposed by courts should be carried out in full, with 15% of time granted for good behavior.
I fully understand the need victims and their families feel for retribution or revenge after having suffered some traumatic loss. But if justice calls for everyone sentenced to life in prison to remain on a de facto "death row" until they die, there seems to be little point in offering classes designed for their rehabilitation or for learning trades or skills they will never be able to use. And by their logic there would be little point in even having a Parole Board at all.
The fact is, even multiple life sentences would never be enough to compensate for the trauma of a rape or the terrible tragedy of a brutal loss of human life. Only genuine repentance on the part of a wrongdoer, met with tough love, amazing grace and ongoing accountability, is a viable alternative. Here are three critical ingredients for a repentance-based system:
Restitution: Courts should be redesigned to focus on repairing harm rather than merely meting out punishment. Restorative justice processes would focus on the needs of victims for reparation and restitution, with offenders being mandated to work in whatever ways necessary and for as long as necessary to right their wrongs. Wherever possible those with jobs would continue their employment and continue to support their families, wearing electronic monitoring equipment if needed, and would be supervised, mentored and counseled by trained professionals and by members of their families, congregations and other appropriate agencies and organizations.
Relocation: In cases where offenders are unrepentant, are unwilling to work and to make restitution and/or are clearly a danger to others, individuals would be moved into secure rehabilitation centers where they would be taught job skills, civic responsibility and be offered psychological and drug treatment. Some individuals might literally be relocated to other communities and offered support and help as outlined above.
Rehabilitation: In all cases the ultimate goal would be to restore people's lives, support them in repairing harms they have caused, and to help them become fully responsible, tax-paying and constructive members of their communities.
Everyone wins when that happens. - Harvey Yoder
This is from my colleague Wynonah Hogan, young co-chair of the Shenandoah Chapter of Aging Persons in Prison:
We should not only ask "What Would Jesus
Do?" for the incarcerated, but what should
we do if he himself were behind bars?
"…I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me."
- Matthew 25:35-36
John Wright is a 90-year old prison inmate who has been incarcerated for over 40 years. Now, at the end of his life, he would like to return to society and spend the rest of his days as a normal citizen. But he, like many of his peers, has no family or friends available to help him make that transition. Without a place to go and a network of support, the Virginia Parole Board is likely to deny him his freedom once again.
John’s only hope lies in the compassion of God’s people. He urgently needs a congregational family to welcome him into society. John is eager to participate in such a community upon his release.
This would involve the following for a one-year (12 month) commitment:
• Welcome Mr. Wright into the congregation, providing him with transportation/access to services.
• Provide money or in-kind donations for basic needs like clothing, etc.
• Provide temporary housing (1-2 months) for him in the home of a family or couple. John is eligible for Social Security, so he could pay for room and board once his application is complete. APP-HRC will assist the sponsoring congregation with a long-term care and housing plan.
• Provide two or three members of the church as support persons. They would build a relationship with him through correspondence until his release from prison, and provide him with transportation, paperwork assistance, and emotional support during the first year after his release.
Mr. Wright is in relatively good health for his age, although he is hard of hearing. He gets around in prison with the assistance of a walker and performs janitorial duties on a part-time basis. Please consider welcoming him, or someone like him, into your church family!
If you are interested in this opportunity to serve, please contact Wynonah Hogan, co-chair of the Shenandoah Valley chapter of Aging Persons in Prison: shenvalleyapphrc@gmail.com
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| According to my pedometer I experience over 4000 potential "falls" every day. |
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| Our hearts are always fixed on where our treasures are stored. |
- Luke 12:33-34 (the Message)
Some of the good folks in our neighborhood are compulsive savers, so on one of my regular walking routes down next to the railroad I marvel at their amazing arrays of old cars, vans, pickups, U-Haul style trailers, rusted lawn mowers, and multiple storage sheds, all of which appear to be packed full of all kinds of earthly treasure. One of the homes is on a double lot surrounded by an iron fence that protects nearly an acre of possessions, including a second (abandoned) house and a sad looking RV. Everything is guarded with padlocked gates and with numerous "Private Property," "Keep Out" and "No Trespassing" signs, and the area has become so overgrown with decades of underbrush and tree growth that its treasures are barely visible to passersby.
I find this both intriguing and puzzling. What drives people to extreme forms of hoarding and saving? On the plus side, they never have to mow their back yards, and as long as they aren't creating a health or safety hazard, I'm not complaining. And, after all, all of these decrepit objects were once brand new, highly prized, and of showroom quality.
All of this got me thinking about whether, from God's perspective, many of the rest of us are equally guilty of holding on to far more things than we need. Of course, we may keep our "stuff" in far better condition and better organized, but most of us are avid collectors of some kind of treasure, whether in the form of baseball cards, porcelain salt and pepper shakers, walk-in closets (bulging with enough shoes and clothes for multiple lifetimes), or ever growing stashes of investments in mutual funds.
To all of us collectors, saving "valuables" always seems necessary and desirable, regardless of how others might see it. But from a fifty-year-from now perspective, how much value will they really have? Even our retirement funds are only as good as the viability of the economy in which they are invested. There is no guarantee that any of the wealth we invest in our future security will be worth even as much as a collection of rusty lawnmowers when we need it for retirement or nursing care.
So maybe there's great wisdom in Jesus favoring our investing in the needs of the poor, including our own daily needs and those of members of our families and congregational families. Could it be true that it is only the things we give away, and don't keep for ourselves, that in the end are the treasure we get to keep and enjoy forever?
I'll never forget a Readers Digest story I read many years ago, called "Wealth Beyond Diamonds," in which a young couple decides to give up buying a diamond for their engagement and to give the money to a friend who was about to have to drop out of school because of not being able to afford the tuition. The return they saw in their investment, in the gratitude and in the remarkable future success of the person they helped, led them to a lifelong practice of giving and lending to as many worthy students as possible, resulting in a lifetime of enjoying rich rewards through the blessed lives and futures of those they supported.
Jesus once told the story of a financial manager, who when he was about to be fired for mismanaging his master's funds, immediately went about reducing the indebtedness of some who owed the estate large sums, thus gaining their friendship and their willingness to help him out after he lost his job. In the story, the owner of the estate actually praises the man, not for being dishonest, but for his shrewdness in managing his master's "mammon" in a way that was truly in his own long-term interest. In a similar way, Jesus said, we should invest our worldly wealth in ways that gain friends for ourselves, so that when our lives and our money come to an end, we'll be welcomed into "eternal dwellings." (Luke 16)
If you think about it, the only investments we make that are truly eternal are in people, who in the arms of God live on forever. Everything else we value as treasure has an expiration date.
Fragment I includes an upgraded version of the Beatitudes, including such welcome words as "Blessed are the privileged, the protected, the pampered," etc., followed by assurances like "for they shall inherit the earth," and "great is their reward in heaven."
Fragment II contains a heretofore lost prophecy, as follows: "It shall come to pass in the latter days that brave explorers will discover a pristine new world, decimate its native population, exploit its forests and other resources, and with the help of slave labor and cheap immigrant workers, establish the "Kingdom of US" as the most powerful nation on earth, with hundreds of military (and missionary) outposts all over the globe."
Fragment III hails this future "Kingdom of US" as offering "freedom and justice for all," with "all" being variously defined over time by its legislators and jurists.
Fragment IV is considered by some scholars to be from a later source, but many "US" citizens embrace it as an indisputable part of their Gospel, as follows: “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.”
Fragment V includes extensive plans for building a secure wall (one their neighbors will pay for) along the southern border of the Kingdom as a defense against rapists, drug dealers and other criminals, and accompanied by policies regarding "aliens and strangers" that often separate desperate families from their children. A northern wall is also prophesied, one that will keep such evils as socialized medicine from entering the realm.
Fragment VI is an addendum to Jesus's teachings about the sanctity of life. It explicitly states that since all life begins at conception, that even using a morning after pill in the case of incest or rape would be the exact moral equivalent of the cold blooded murder of a living, breathing newborn. This fragment resolves without question the age-old debate over when a life being fashioned in the womb becomes a "living soul" and thus becomes one of "the least of these sisters and brothers of mine." *
Fragment VII, a revision of earlier gospels, offers God's permission to pledge our lives and allegiances to both Caesar and Jesus, and to serve both God and Mammon--as long as we do so as honest, law-abiding citizens.
Is that good news or what?
P.S. Setting all satire aside, I sincerely hope no one takes offense at my amateur attempt to remind us all to carefully distinguish between the Kingdom of GOD and any version of a "Kingdom of US." Meanwhile, don't we all wish Jesus had spoken more explicitly about current issues such as abortion, racism, earth care, homosexuality and war-making?
* If you want to know more about where I stand on abortion, please take time to read this: https://harvyoder.blogspot.com/2019/02/yes-i-am-pro-life-and-oppose-abortion.html
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| I post this with permission from BCS and the Evangelical Immigration Table. |
I was deeply moved by the following piece, "Pray For Unaccompanied Children":
Around 34 million children are forcibly displaced from their homes. They have escaped violence, trafficking, and starvation – horrors that no child should ever experience. Each of these 34 million children are made in the image of God, each of them matter deeply to him, and each of them should matter to us. The Psalmist reminds us of this writing, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful; I know that full well.” (Psalm 139:13-14)
I have been working with organizations that support displaced children for 45 years and have met thousands of children who desperately want to be with their families again. Many others have been orphaned and need temporary families and a little support. I wish you could look into each child’s eyes as they share their story.
I am often reminded of two sisters who I met in 2018. They were 15 and 11 and were raised by their grandmother in Guatemala. Their mom lived in the U.S. and regularly sent money back home so that the girls could be fed, clothed, and attend school. It was not long before gang members visited their home demanding protection money. The price for their protection eventually surpassed their ability to pay; their grandmother was told her innocent granddaughters would be sold into trafficking to pay the debt. The girls fled, desperately searching for safety. As unaccompanied children, they ended up in our care at Bethany Christian Services where we found their mother and helped them become a family again.
Unaccompanied children entering the U.S. need what all children need—a loving environment where they are cared for and safe. But it can take a few months until they are reunited with their family. That is why Bethany Christian Services offers transitional foster care with help from generous, compassionate families who are willing to care for these children in their homes.
If these sisters fled to the U.S. today, this beautiful reunification may not have happened. Since March 20, the law that was designed to protect children like them has been suspended. Instead, children are being expelled to the country they fled from — back into the arms of those who threatened their lives.
Bethany has been able to help thousands of unaccompanied children stay safe with temporary foster families while working to reunify them with their own families. God designed families for children, and a family can change everything for a child.
I urge you to pray for the children who are denied safety at the U.S. – Mexico border, for the children alone in a refugee camp, and for the families who continue to be kept apart. Pray that our elected officials set policies that protect vulnerable children around the world. Pray for the foster families who are caring for refugee children and that many more will answer the call to be the hands and feet of Jesus for the children who need them. Take heart in the words of Jesus when he took a child in his arms and said, “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”
Thank you for your prayers,
Dona Abbott
Vice President of Refugee Services
