Friends of Justice

Inside the Fence

One truth that I have learned is something that I wrote in a recent post: “Beneath every story is another story that brings light to what is on the surface.” This is true in the story of every prisoner I have met. There are evil people in prison. There are some who should never again be entrusted with freedom beyond these stone walls, but they are a small minority. For the vast majority of prisoners I have met, restoring justice to their lives and restoring their freedom is a singular goal. The problem is that there is very little that happens in a one-size-fits-all prison that helps bring that about, and there is a lot in prison that actually works against it.

Read the blog post by Father Gordon MacRae, an innocent man in prison.

“Being a Christian and living that life in prison is certainly challenging. But who said that the Christian life would be easy? Some of us were believers before we came to prison. Some of us came to know God here in prison. Some of us might have short sentences while others might be here for a while. Whatever the case may be, I believe that being a Christian in today’s world is probably just as difficult as the persecution that Christians of the first few centuries endured. Our beliefs and what we stand for as believers are under attack by a world that seems to turn more secular every day.”

Read Gunther’s full post.

“An accusation is like a spark that can easily start a wildfire and, if not handled or contained properly, can quickly spread out of control thus creating panic in a community. When authorities are unable to recognize in what direction the wind is blowing, they fail at the very task they were trained to do and the misused of the tools that guarantee to extinguish that wildfire become obsolete. The wind can then blow embers and ignite multiple wildfires. The media is like a gust of air that does nothing more but feed the fires by inflaming people’s passions. When it is all over, the damage is widespread and nothing will ever be the same, for anyone, as it will take time to recover — if ever. However, after all the destruction and everything has been left in ruins, one can only go through the rubble and hopefully find the pieces necessary to help you determine how it all started, what was done wrong and how another spark can be prevented.”

Read the full post by Gunther Fiek.

Bob Halsey turns 88 on February 18th. I am surprised he is still alive. He has been in bad health for years.

Bob is an innocent man who has been in prison since September of 1993. He will die in prison. And even if by some miracle he were to be released, he has nowhere to go and no one to take him in.

Bob was railroaded by many of the same characters who sent Bernard Baran to prison. Baran’s prosecutor, Dan Ford, was the trial judge. Jane Satullo was the chief interrogator of the children.

You can learn more about his case.

Here is the address for cards:

Robert C. Halsey
W-55045
POB 1218
Shirley MA 01464

Those white crosses mark nameless people. Only a number can be seen in each cross. The cemetery off Highway 178 is where the Georgia Department of Corrections bury inmates “without family, friends, or a care from the world.” I couldn’t help but wonder whether that would be me one day. Or, any of the men I have met over the years. I tried to shake it out of my head. I prayed.

Read the full post by Gunther Fiek.