THE CHARACTERS WERE:
• Parris N. Glendening, Governor of Maryland;
• Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Lt. Governor of Maryland;
• 154 men serving life sentences within the Division of
Correction (DOC), State of Maryland, who had achieved pre-release security
status--me being one.
BACKGROUND:
In the years prior to the Glendening/Townsend
administration, men with life sentences (not to be confused with life without
parole) served time with the hope and possibility of eventual freedom.
Regardless of how heinous their crimes may have been, each man had the
opportunity to gradually progress through the system. Many entered the
Maryland Penitentiary as teenagers. Those who survived maintained an
exemplary disciplinary record and exhibited a significant effort toward
self-rehabilitation, indeed achieved pre-release security status after having
served nearly two decades of their sentences. After functioning in that
least restrictive level of security for a while, parole was a viable likelihood
(a second opportunity to function in free society as a productive citizen).
As of
The overwhelming majority of lifers having achieved THAT
level of security were not committing infractions. However, the actions
of two lifers in April 1993 were used to rationalize policy changes that
affected the 154 who had complied with and succeeded in the transition
programs. It also affected all others serving (or to serve) life
sentences, including sentences of life with all but a designed number of years
suspended.
THE INCIDENT:
In April 1993, one Samuel Veeney, a lifer who had gotten to
work-release status, failed to return from a weekend leave. He was
subsequently returned without incident.
Several weeks later, another lifer, Rodney Stokes, did not
report to his job assignment. Instead, he obtained a firearm and
proceeded to the workplace of his estranged girlfriend, killed her, then took
his own life.
As you may well be aware, society has adopted an
“anti-crime” and “anti-criminal” position.
Virtually all politicians govern based upon society’s current desires and
poll readings. As one would expect, the murder-suicide committed by a
lifer while on work release generated a great deal of publicity, and
then-Governor William Donald Schaefer decided to arbitrarily return the lifers
back into higher security facilities.
The “check-in” mass movement was orchestrated
and executed with Nazi-Gestapo efficiency. The camps were simultaneously
raided on
The lifers were then transported to various medium- and
maximum-security institutions throughout the state. Those of us taken to
the Eastern Correctional Institution (ECI) were paired and placed in cells,
cold and damp, under punitive disciplinary conditions. For the next 36
hours, we remained on lock-down status without the benefit of personal hygiene
items. We were not allowed to gather any personal property when we were
removed from camp and none was provided to us. It would be a grave
understatement to say that we were disappointed, and I believe I speak for all
when I say that the 36-hour period was spent in shock. We were
disoriented, confused, angry, hurt. We felt the loss of jobs, separation
from and possible loss of families, and wondered what our overall fate would
be. We saw our lives flash before our condemned eyes! Men who had
survived the school of hard knocks and succeeded in the difficult task of
achieving the status we had earned and enjoyed now wondered, “Was it all
for nothing???” We were all men convicted of serious offenses--the
elite of
How does a man explain to his children why he wasn’t
there to take them to the park that weekend? “You were being good,
weren’t you, Daddy? If you didn’t do anything wrong, why did
they take you away again?” It’s very difficult to explain to
sweet and innocent children something practically incomprehensible.
Shortly thereafter, we were informed by the respective
institutional administrations that the “check-ins” were
“merely a temporary safeguard measure.” It was also implied
that after individual evaluations, we would return to our previously earned
status.
The 1994 gubernatorial election resulted in Parris N.
Glendening (a mean-spirited man with misdirected political aspirations) and
Kathleen Kennedy Townsend (a neurotic, not-so-liberal Kennedy who has publicly
compared all convicts to the likes of those who murdered her more famous
relatives). Along with them appeared an increasingly harsh attitude
toward crime and punishment. In response to the unresolved plight of the
lifers still held in limbo, Glendening chose the new Maryland House of
Correction Annex as a backdrop to announce his new and Draconian policy in
September 1995, i.e., that no lifer would henceforth progress through the
system beyond medium security, nor would he sign or authorize parole for any
person with a life sentence! He further decreed that “LIFE means
life and that the Parole Commission need not even send the case file of anyone
serving life to him--effectively changing parolable life sentences to life
without parole (or death).
THE INJUSTICE:
I shall not bore you with the laws and statutes that define
the fundamental differences between sentences of death, natural life and
life. Suffice it to say that the law does allow the provision of parole
to those serving a LIFE sentence, and judges sentenced us with that eligibility
in mind.
THE CONSEQUENCES:
There is a Christian cliché which states, “Where there
is life, there is hope.” For the 154 affected lifers and any other
inmate sentenced to life, Mr. Glendening reversed that fundamental human
belief. He in essence declared that “where there is a life
sentence, there is NO HOPE.” It is quite a paradox that most of the
154 lifers having been convicted of some of the most heinous, violent crimes have
been model prisoners since they were returned from pre-release security
status. Imagine the pain, disenchantment and emotional distress these men
must feel…men who had been living a semi-normal life as long as 8
years…men who sensed a large degree of freedom…only to have it unjustly
replaced with a lifelong diet of bitterness and despair. I had been
recently married before that nightmare began. My new wife and I spent
daily phone calls and weekly visits planning a belated honeymoon. She
endured the disappointment of my being returned to prison through no fault of
my own for a while, but when Governor Glendening resentenced me to death,
reality set in! She left in despair, abandoning hope of ever being able
to have a meaningful relationship of marriage with the man she loved. She
understandably believed she could not have much of a marriage if I would never
be released from prison.
I could convey 50 or more stories to you--stories of men who
made mistakes when they were young--but the mistakes made during a few brief moments
of irrational fear or rage in no way dispels their general character.
Notwithstanding their past, they followed the rules, educated themselves, paid
their debts (and taxes) to the society in which they longed to be productive
and permanent parts of…only to have their dreams quashed. We are
literally the walking dead!
POTENTIAL CONSEQUENCES:
It may interest you to know that many DOC officials have not
been in agreement with the unjust and controversial policies of Glendening and
Townsend. Perhaps even society in general would be opposed to many if
they realized the price and potential consequences. We, the lifers, and
many other interested persons hope that our dreams may once again find some
vitality--praying that the current policies will change. Between 1995, if
not 1993, and now, many people have entered the DOC with life sentences and
little to no hope, trying to accept the fact that even 20 or 30 years later
they will not have any opportunity to progress through the “correctional”
system. Most seem to believe there is not only nothing to gain but
nothing to lose. Prison construction and costs have increased, and
practically all related problems are escalating. Such mismanagement may
be related to an increasing number of young offenders being more prone to
“hold court” in the streets. When there is nothing to gain,
not even self-esteem, there is nothing to lose.
CONCLUSION:
Last but not least, I speak particularly for myself and
others who were able to feel humane with pre-release status. We reach out
to you now with passion and reasoning for a reversal of the dead-end policies
so carelessly and inhumanely imposed by the previous administration. If
you have any concerns or questions that may be answered realistically, rather
than being glossed over by those with self-serving political aspirations,
please take a close look at the digressions currently in practice and give due
consideration to dramatic improvements, thus political accomplishments. I
would welcome any interviews or evaluations which you may deem appropriate.
© Copyright 2003 Charlie Hatfield
________________________________________
Charles
Hatfield #122-827
Western
Correctional Institution
13800
McMullen Highway
Cumberland, MD 21502-5622
The
Predator by Charles Hatfield
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