She thought it was a good deed; the law said otherwise, and 67-year-old Sandra McFeeley learned she could face two years in prison and a $10,000 fine. For pruning.
Deputy Police Chief Rick Watson said his officers had grounds to make the arrest because the parks department filed a report of damage.
For the vast majority of inmates, prison cells are not their permanent address. Most prisoners will serve their sentences and then return back into our communities. What kind of neighbors will they be?
If current trends continue, over half of them will be rearrested and back in prison within three years.
In prison ministry, one issue that consistently arises is the need for accountability—helping prisoners or ex-prisoners take responsibility for their thoughts, choices, and actions. Ultimately, we want to help them bring everything into trusting submission to Christ and increasingly show evidence of the fruit of the Spirit in their lives.
“I don’t think you and I can understand the pull of the world on these guys when they get out,” says Dan Pearson, a Prison Fellowship volunteer and a 70-year-old grandfather from Grand Rapids, Michigan. “They are like children—giddy.” But after the thrill of freedom come the challenges of reintegration.
Periodically Frontlines will feature a book recommended by Prison Fellowship staff as a resource for your ministry to prisoners, ex-prisoners, and their families. In this issue we highlight TrueFaced, written by Bill Thrall, Bruce McNicol, and John Lynch.
Most of us have an assortment of masks we put on when we feel the need to hide our real selves.
The Supreme Court ruling on Monday barring life sentences without parole for juvenile offenders offers minors another chance at life, said a prison ministry.
In a five to four vote, the high court ruled that sentencing juvenile offenders to life imprisonment without parole for crimes other than murder violated the Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment in the Eight Amendment.
Prison Fellowship President Mark Earley discusses Out4Life, and how the program works to reduce recidivism and gives prisoners the opportunity to change their lives for the better. Click here to listen to the interview.
What does it really take to keep a person from going back to prison? Let’s see. Resources that work, perhaps faith and prayers, a change in peers or environment, and, most important of all, the willingness and commitment of the offender to do what it takes to make that change.
Like many states, South Carolina faces a huge budget deficit. Will it be business as usual for the state, or will state leaders think outside the box?
To keep the state afloat in treacherous economic seas, Arizona has already dumped significant public programs and services overboard. But even while battered by a $2.6 billion budget deficit, we must not sacrifice public safety to the wind and the waves.
Tamlyn Ommert doesn’t go into detail about her childhood in Portland, Oregon. It was so long ago, and so much has changed in the four decades since. Her father then, she describes, was “very powerful, intimidating, controlling, and abusive.” He was also an alcoholic, with seemingly no qualms about supplying his underage daughter with samples from his supply.
Prison Fellowship launched a movement this week in one of the most dangerous states in the country to keep former inmates out of prison for life.
Out4Life was launched in Arizona which has the sixth highest incarceration rate among the 50 states and where one in 33 adults is under correctional control.
Knowing that God has called us to prison ministry doesn’t mean it will be a constantly joyful experience. We can get tired, discouraged, stressed, even burned out if we don’t address the warning signs soon enough.
This can be especially true of people who are typically “givers”—dedicated to helping others—and who are serving a group of people with complex and often relentless needs—such as prisoners, ex-prisoners, and their families.
As volunteers in ministry with us, you hold a special place in our hearts. In the words of the apostle Paul, we consider you “our joy and our crown.” And we are committed to doing everything we can to support you and provide you with a meaningful opportunity for service in God’s kingdom.
A conference going on in Phoenix this week is working to create solutions to help keep ex-prisoners from re-entering the system.