Life Without Parole or LWOP are very difficult words to process for those who are serving the sentence. Upon hearing them, initially, there is no processing for most—but only the shock of a sharp pain that follows the judge’s decree. This pain is similar to the feeling of receiving a blow to the mid-section—except that only a selected few manage to recover or get their wind back. The long ride from the county courthouse to state prison in the back of the “paddy-wagon” cuffed at the wrist and shackled and chained at the ankles feels like dying. Many men’s spirits are left at the courthouse still awaiting to be released, though their bodies are in transit to a living graveyard (state prison).
LWOP prisoners are given a sentence with no release date and ordered to exist in an enlarged coffin (prison institution) until they are no longer able to physically move about. They have no incentive to want to live or “behave” while alive and are deemed to be society’s lepers—as they remain excluded from society. The only way they’re able to rise above their situation is through their own determination to not give up their fight for freedom. The first step towards freedom for men in such conditions is through a mental liberation from the hell within their own minds, brought about by their post-conviction experiences. It’s not uncommon to find men hanging by a bed sheet from the ventilation grate within their cell—or slicing away at their arms with a canteen razor simply to garner a few hours of attention from prison staff. I couldn’t even begin to speak for the prospective pains suffered by the men on death row awaiting execution by injection or who are on the chopping block for death by electrocution. I can assert though, that for the person scheduled to remain in a space smaller than a one-room apartment bathroom and given food not fit for an animal but just precisely enough to keep an individual’s heart beating, in combination with the severely inhumane treatment by bigoted prison guards who release the hate they hide towards certain people and groups within society but have a free pass to openly release it against America’s “wretched of the earth” (the prisoner) is also, as Pope Francis called it, “A hidden death penalty.” This torment, is the common day to day life cycle of the average LWOP prisoner—total indifference, exclusion, loneliness, and slow death.
The thing is, many can understand the inhumanity inherent within the holistic sanction of a LWOP sentence. The common response is “hey, tough luck, they’re scumbags [murderers] and deserve what they have coming to them.” I hear that, and the logic is reasonable, but I would argue that the wisdom behind that logic is rooted in fixed assumptions primarily grounded in the notion that we have an airtight, fair, and equitable judicial system in which everyone sentenced to LWOP is guilty of the charge they’ve been convicted of. That couldn’t be any further from the truth. At E.I.’s previous planning event, “The Legal Institution of Slavery in America” at the Community Church of Boston on Boylston Street in Boston, two of our speakers were men convicted of murders and sentenced to LWOP. One man (Sean Ellis) served 22 years and was released following revelations that the evidence presented in his case was flawed, while the other (Victor Rosario) was released after serving 28 years after the discovery of evidence likely to prove his innocence. These are just two out of the 2006 men in Massachusetts DOC prisons who were serving life and LWOP prison sentences who happened to have a support system to help guide them to maintain the fight for their freedom. Oh, and coincidentally, as of today 4/11/2017, a good friend of mind who’ve been incarcerated 36 years who is currently in the same institution as myself (Fred Weichel), just overturned his murder conviction, which has been all over the local news. This is clear evidence that our assumption or idea that we have a credible and fair justice system is erroneous.
No doubt, there are guys in here who are 100% guilty and take full accountability for their crime they were convicted of. But, not surprisingly, some of these same men display through their actions that they would be more of an asset in their community rather than languishing in a prison cell until death. I believe we all agree that all lives are valuable and that there should be some degree of accountability for a loss of life—but after observing the unfolding of the infamous “Whitey Bulger” trial, and how the prosecution’s witnesses, Keven Weeks and Johnny Martorano, one who had admitted to 12 murders and the other who had an admitted 9 murders, both were given under 10 years to serve for a prison sentence in exchange for testimony against Whitey Bulger (a guy accused of 19 murders). This episode shows that justice is disproportionately administered, because there are many men here in Norfolk prison rotting in a prison cell who should have a chance to be reunited with their family just like Weeks and Martorano who were convicted of far more than those guys. No person is incorrigible and despite the wide variations of iniquities spanning across the range of convicted persons throughout the country and MA DOC, men must not be defined and perpetually punished by their worst act, especially if others who are able to afford better legal representations or opt to cooperate with the prosecution in exchange for a lesser consequence are able to evade the same level of accountability as a less fortunate individual
People, this is what our Emancipation Initiative is about, infusing our system with equitable justice and bringing about absolute inclusion for our people locked down and out of our democracy. Our key focus is ending Life Without Parole prison sentences and restoring voting rights here in Massachusetts as well as establishing universal prisoner suffrage throughout the country. Our strategy has been to host legislative planning events in each city and town throughout the state of Massachusetts to amass a state wide communal voice to usurp the attention of our state legislature and effect criminal justice policy. E.I. is designed as the people’s movement and anyone who is involved in positive social and criminal justice reform efforts is considered to be facilitating in the progress of OUR Emancipation Initiative. It is the collective NGO work and individual activism that enables us to break the chains of oppressive policy.
If you’re reading this, know that you are the lifeblood and heartbeat of [y]our Emancipation Initiative and we need to work collaboratively to share these slave narratives, solicit signatures for our change.org petition, spread the awareness of our Facebook page and strive to get as many participants as we possibly can. Also, make sure you all spread the word of our 29th April event “The Legal Institution of Slavery in America Worcester” at 700 Southbridge St. in Worcester, MA at the Gathering from 1:00-4:00 PM. Furthermore, continue to follow our Facebook page because we are in the process of transitioning to a website that’s currently in the works of being created, which would make it easier to navigate through our contents and locate activities (change.org petition, slave narratives, C.C.E., essays, etc.)
In the meantime, continue the fight and know that I love you all for your collective work and participatory efforts. The power is within us! Peace and Love
Your Champion,
Derrick Washingotn