As the country has increasingly turned against capital punishment as barbaric and horrifyingly prone to legal abuses, defenders are pointing to the emotional needs of the families of murder victims — “co-victims” to those who study crime — as justification. Many family members, however, have said they want no part of that.
Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday canceled construction of a $356-million death row at San Quentin prison, saying it would be “unconscionable” to spend so much on condemned inmates as the state is slashing budgets for education and other social services.
“At a time when children, the disabled and seniors face painful cuts to essential programs, the state of California cannot justify a massive expenditure of public dollars for the worst criminals,” Brown said in a statement.
Convicted of robbing a video store in California in 1997, Ayanna Spikes decided to change the trajectory of her life. In 14 years, she has had no further brushes with the law.
The eight months she spent in prison, she said, were “the best thing that ever happened to me,” persuading her to pursue training in medical administration and complete coursework for a degree in psychology at the University of California, Berkeley.
Mark John Walker, 52, of Eugene, Ore., pleaded guilty today to charges related to his engaging in sexual contact or aggravated sexual abuse with female offenders who were under his direct supervision as a federal probation officer from 2006 to 2009.
Corrections costs for the states have quadrupled in the last 20 years — to about $52 billion a year nationally — making prison spending their second-fastest growing budget item after Medicaid. To cut those costs, the states must first rethink parole and probation policies that drive hundreds of thousands of people back to prison every year, not for new crimes, but for technical violations that present no threat to public safety.
This weekend was eye-opening and inspiring for me. But as I talked with Deborah Daniels, Alabama volunteers, and Angel Tree founder Mary Kay Beard, I was especially encouraged to learn that Prison Fellowship’s ministry in Alabama continues all year.
As I leave Alabama, I am grateful to all of you who have taken time out of your Easter weekend to follow along with Chuck and the Prison Fellowship crew on our special trip.
Every time I get the privilege of interacting closely with inmates (which the Gospel of Matthew says is tantamount to drawing close to Jesus), I try to imagine what their daily lives must be like. Airport security procedures–like the ones that led me to lose control over my person and my property for just five minutes today–must give a brief glimpse.
Robert, an inmate at Bibb County Correctional Facility near Brent, Alabama, has spent most of his life behinds bars. A drug-user by age 8 and a junkie by 14, he committed murder when he should have been learning how to drive.
William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility, separated from the outside world by yards of razor wire and fencing, houses over 1,500 inmates, one third of whom are serving life sentences without the possibility of parole. Donaldson is named for a correctional officer who was murdered on the job there two decades ago.
Holy Saturday is a somber day, as Christians continue to reflect on the death of Christ and prepare eagerly for His resurrection. It is fitting that today, Chuck Colson will visit death row as part of an Easter weekend trip to William E.
It’s 11 o’clock at night in central Alabama, and Prison Fellowship staff have just returned to the hotel after an invigorating day of interaction with inmates, the PF donors who make our ministry possible, and the PF volunteers who carry it out.
More than a decade ago, a 14-year-old boy killed his stepbrother in a scuffle that escalated from goofing around with a blowgun to an angry threat with a bow and arrow to the fatal thrust of a hunting knife.
The boy, Quantel Lotts, had spent part of the morning playing with Pokémon cards.
This Easter weekend, Chuck Colson and friends will travel to three Alabama prisons—including Maxwell—to share the Gospel in the place where the ministry of Prison Fellowship originated.
You’re invited to come along with us. As Chuck and Prison Fellowship volunteers lead special Easter services in Alabama prisons, we’ll be reporting live from the road.
A psychologist who examined more than a dozen death row inmates for intellectual disabilities has been barred from performing future evaluations. George Denkowski, who has been a witness for prosecutors and defendants in death penalty cases, reached a settlement with the State Board of Examiners of Psychologists after other doctors and defense lawyers questioned his methods.
Attorney General Eric Holder proposes to seriously weaken standards intended to hold prison officials accountable for eliminating rape in their prisons.
It isn’t often that we hear much about prison rape – except in jokes on late night TV. However, it is not a laughing matter.