THE CASE FOR COMMUTATION FOR MR. JAMES MUHAMMED TAYLOR #AF4120, MODEL PRISONER, "INSIDE OUT" REENTRY AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM THOUGHT LEADER

         The Impartial And Fair Treatment In Parole Initiative which is observed on 29 August of each year was inaugurated  in 2018 by humanitarian, Gender Issues Thought Leader and International Men’s Day Founder Jerome Teelucksingh, Ph.D. of Trinidad and Tobago.  In 2019, the commutation case of Mr. James Muhammed Taylor #AF4120 was brought to the attention of the United States International Men's Day Team for the Impartial And Fair Treatment In Parole Initiative by best-selling author, humanitarian, Criminal Justice Reform Activist and founder of Sagewriters, a publishing company (www.sagewriters.org) Ms. Judith Trustone.  As a result, the United States  Team for the Impartial And Fair Treatment In Parole Initiative has launched a Commutation Support Campaign for Mr. Taylor, a 78 year old model prisoner who currently resides at SCI Phoenix in Collegeville, Pennsylvania and has been incarcerated for four (4) decades.  Mr. Taylor will apply for commutation in February 2021.  In the interim, efforts are underway to generate a groundswell of community support for the commutation of Mr. Taylor’s life sentence.   He does not and will not pose a public safety risk and has a Home Plan and a number of private citizens who will readily assist him with reintegrating into society.  Equally and more importantly, society will benefit exponentially from Mr. Taylor’s return. 

Who Is Mr. James Taylor?

         So, who is Mr. James Taylor?  Mr. Taylor is a man who has spent virtually every day of his incarceration atoning, taking full responsibility for,  and making restitution for his actions in 1971.  Mr. Taylor participated in  the Victim Offender Reconciliation Program (“VORP”)  -- the first of its kind in the United States  -- directed by Howard Zehr, Ph.D. and the late Julia G. Hall, Ph.D.    Not only did Mr. Taylor complete the program, he also wrote and placed on file a letter in which he atoned and took full responsibility for his actions that caused the death of another soul.  Why?  He wanted to personally atone for his actions to that soul’s family in the event they wanted to meet with him.  Throughout four (4) decades of incarceration, Mr. Taylor has not committed any infractions or violations of the policies and procedures promulgated by the correctional institution within which he has resided. 

           In the eyes of the souls “on the inside”  -- at SCI Phoenix -- whose lives he has helped to transform, he is a Teacher, Mentor, and Father Figure.  For souls “on the outside” – particularly, community stakeholders in the metropolitan Philadelphia  area – Mr. Taylor is a Criminal Justice Reform , Reentry, and Restorative Justice Thought Leader and consultant upon whom they rely for solutions-based strategies that will help them effectively address and resolve the myriad of challenges that marginalize their community – challenges that include, but are not limited to, gun violence, recidivism, the “school-to-prison” pipeline,  and lack of access to legitimate real-life career and employment opportunities for at risk-youths and young adult males.  This speaks volumes about Mr. Taylor’s value to the community he will return to.  Provided below is a snapshot of Mr. Taylor’s accomplishments which have positively enhanced his institutional environment and the transformed the lives of other incarcerated souls along with the work he has done “from the inside out” to address the myriad of issues which marginalize our communities:   

·                 The recipient of the Pennsylvania Prison Society’s Prisoner Of The Year Award, Mr. Taylor is the holder of an Associate’s Degree in Business and Accounting from the Pennsylvania Business Institute, and a key member of SCI Phoenix LIFERS, Inc. (https://www.lifersincpa.org/) which represents Criminal Justice Reform from the “inside out” and has amassed a research-driven written body of  work and solutions-based initiatives that span three (3) decades.

·                   On 17 February 2020, Mr. Taylor was one of the presenters for the SCI Phoenix LIFERS, Inc. – Senior Policy Advisors Presidential Campaign Criminal Justice Reform Conference Call with the National Policy Director for the Buttigieg Presidential Campaign.  Mr. Taylor presented his solutions-based initiatives that addressed the underlying causes of recidivism, street crime, gun violence, and mass incarceration.

·         He is the founder of People Advancing Reintegration (“PAR”) (https://home.par-recycleworks.org/) – an idea he created in 1989 at SCI Graterford that has expanded into an US$1,000,000.00  501(c)(3) nonprofit organization now known as People Advancing Reintegration Recycle Works – a successful electronics waste recycling operation established in 2016 – which employs Returning Citizens and operates in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

·               In his role as a key member of SCI Phoenix LIFERS, Inc.’s Internal Team which together with an External Team comprised of key community stakeholders, Mr. Taylor   co-implemented the “Middle Neighborhoods At-Risk Youth And Young Adults Mentoring Program, A Branch Of LIFERS, Inc. Public Safety Initiative External Affiliations” --  a gun violence prevention/reduction initiative.  The initiative, which was approved and funded by the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Violence Prevention  (https://mailchi.mp/phila. gov/city-awards-more-than-700000-to-grassroots-efforts-to-stem-gun-violence-309345?e=0dfdd a1bd3), prior to being suspended on 23 March 2020 due to Coronavirus-2019 commenced implementation on Saturday, 22 February 2020 and was scheduled to conclude on Saturday, 16 May 2020.

·       Mr. Taylor served as a tutor in the Prison Literacy Project and completed a correspondence course in Short Story Writing offered by the Writer’s Digest School. 

·          During his incarceration, he was granted escorted leave twice – to receive “The Prisoner Of The Year Award” from The Pennsylvania Prison Society in recognition of his establishment of People Advancing Reintegration (https://home.par-recycleworks.org/) in 1989, an inmate self-help program at SCI Graterford – and to speak at Philadelphia’s Academy of Natural Sciences on behalf of Educating Children for Parenting (www.ecparenting.org).

How Will Society Benefit from his release?

            Mr. Taylor’s journey to successful reintegration will be supported by a diverse group of community stakeholders who stand ready to lend their expertise and talents to his solutions-based initiatives.  He will employ the well-honed communications, entrepreneurial, leadership, business management, problem-solving, and research skills -- developed during his  four (4) decades of incarceration --  to transform his vision for a business-driven Reentry Zone into an entity that reduces recidivism by providing a full-range of support services which includes housing and employment for Returning Citizens.  Under Mr. Taylor’s leadership, the Reentry Zone will simultaneously  create economic sustainability for the marginalized community it surrounds.  Mr. Taylor’s mentoring of incarcerated young adults, which spans numerous decades, serves as the foundation for the mentoring initiative he has established -- “Project Pipeline-To-Prison Youth/Reclaiming Their Lives As Men”.   The mentoring initiative, for which Mr. Taylor has developed a curriculum, will transform the mindset, decision making, and behavior of at-risk youths in marginalized communities.  At-risk youths enrolled in “Project Pipeline-To-Prison Youths/Reclaiming Their Lives As Men”  will learn entrepreneurial skills, develop communications, literacy, problem-solving and research skills, and will have access to and create legitimate real-life employment and career opportunities.  Mr. Taylor will continue his role as a consultant to community stakeholders  and national senior policy makers on Reentry, Criminal Justice Reform, .and Restorative Justice   What will Mr. Taylor offer the community he returns to?   Upon his release, Mr. Taylor will not only offer, but will help implement – with the assistance of a support group consisting of community members – the plethora of internal and external transformative initiatives he has designed and co-designed during his four (4) decades of incarceration.  These solutions-based initiatives address, among other things, crime, recidivism, gun violence, the “school-to-prison” pipeline, and economic turpitude.  There is no doubt in my mind that our city, our state, and our nation will reap an exponentially positive benefit from giving Mr. Taylor a second chance             

              Letters of Support for Mr. Taylor’s commutation can be mailed to:

D.A. Sears

Chair, James Taylor Commutation Campaign Committee

P.O. Box 3885

Philadelphia, PA  19146-0185

In the event that you would like to communicate directly with Mr. Taylor, correspondence can be sent to:

SMART COMMUNICATIONS/PADOC,

SCI Phoenix

Mr. James Taylor #AF4120

Post Office Box 33028

St. Petersburg, FL  33028