Courage to Be Series: Punishment, Redemption, and Mercy

This event occurred on:  While the phrase “mass incarceration” is now commonly used in any discussion of criminal justice, little, if anything, is said about how to redress the crisis of 2.3 million people in American jails and prisons.  Most suggested reforms are prospective – eliminate mandatory minimums, remove sentence enhancements like “three strikes” laws, lower the penalties for drug crimes, etc.  However useful these reforms might be, they do nothing for the people currently behind bars.  To confront and rectify the crisis of mass incarceration it is necessary to decarcerate the nation’s prisons.  That in turn, requires confronting the reality that most people serving lengthy sentences in state prisons were convicted of violent crimes.  And that, in turn, requires asking the question of how much time should or must someone serve for a violent crime?  
The federal and most state constitutions expressly grant the executive the virtually unfettered power via clemency to commute sentences, and yet that vast power is seldom utilized.  Although there are myriad explanations for the failure of elected officials to grant clemency, ultimately their reluctance is grounded in politics.  What is needed, especially as COVID-19 roars through prisons, is a combination of political will, compassion, and courage.

Zoom Info

Topic: Courage to Be: Steven Zeidman
Time: Mar 10, 2021 06:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://bard.zoom.us/j/83344270443

Meeting ID: 833 4427 0443
One tap mobile
+16465588656,,83344270443# US (New York)
+13126266799,,83344270443# US (Chicago)

Dial by your location
        +1 646 558 8656 US (New York)
        +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
        +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington D.C)
        +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
        +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
        +1 669 900 9128 US (San Jose)
Meeting ID: 833 4427 0443
Find your local number: https://bard.zoom.us/u/kdBWa7g0ax

Join by SIP
[email protected]

Join by H.323
162.255.37.11 (US West)
162.255.36.11 (US East)
115.114.131.7 (India Mumbai)
115.114.115.7 (India Hyderabad)
213.19.144.110 (Amsterdam Netherlands)
213.244.140.110 (Germany)
103.122.166.55 (Australia)
149.137.40.110 (Singapore)
64.211.144.160 (Brazil)
69.174.57.160 (Canada)
207.226.132.110 (Japan)
Meeting ID: 833 4427 0443