IS THE AMERICAN CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM BROKEN? THE IMPARTIAL AND FAIR TREATMENT IN PAROLE GLOBAL PUBLIC SQUARE WEIGHS IN.
If you think the names of Messrs. Tony Harper, Trevor Mattis, Muti A. Ajamu-Osagboro, Lynwood Ray, and James Muhammed Taylor sound familiar, you are correct. One year ago, each of these souls basked in the spotlight of the Impartial And Fair Treatment In Parole Global Public Square. Mr. Nguyen Vu who was featured in last year’s Impartial And Fair Treatment In Parole Global Square was released from prison in October 2019. The quest for justice for Messrs. Harper, Mattis, Ajamu-Osagboro, Ray, and Taylor is being revisited while Mr. Darrell Van Mastrigt makes his debut in the Impartial And Fair Treatment In Parole Global Public Square. Created in 2019 by IN SEARCH OF FATHERHOOD®, the Impartial And Fair Treatment In Parole Global Square supports the mission of the Impartial And Fair Treatment In Parole Initiative inaugurated by International Men’s Day Founder Jerome Teelucksingh, Ph.D. which operates under the umbrella of International Men’s Day (http://www.usainternationalmensday.blogspot.com). The cases of the souls featured in the Impartial And Fair Treatment In Parole Global Public Square reflect the nightmarish degree to which the United States’ criminal justice system is broken – cases that were brought to the attention of the North America Coordinator for the Impartial And Fair Treatment In Parole Initiative by Ms. Judith Trustone, an award-wininng author and filmmaker and founder of Sagewriters (www.sagewriters.com) and the Global Kindness Revolution (www.trustonekindness.com).
MR. TONY HARPER
Imagine being born with your feet on backwards, spending most of your childhood in hospitals, battling a disease that softens your bones, dropping out of high school, unable to read because your illness kept you out of school most of the time and prevented you from learning how to read, and having an identical looking brother who decides to borrow your bicycle which was a gift acknowledging your sixteenth birthday. The story does not end there. Your identical looking brother decides to commit a robbery while using your birthday gift – your bicycle – and the robbery becomes a homicide. Since it is your bicycle, the police investigating the crime, interrogate you, brutalize you, and you spend three weeks in the hospital recuperating from the serious injuries you sustained as a result of being beaten by police officers. Your brother, the actual perpetrator of the robbery-homicide cannot come to your defense and confess to the murder. Why? Because he is killed in a drive-by shooting. Now you are a Juvenile Lifer. Time passes You now suffer from Hepatitis C, diabetes, a weakness in your bones, and a lung disease that makes breathing extremely difficult. You struggle to stay alive with the help of dialysis at SCI Laurel Highlands – a correctional facility located in Somerset, Pennsylvania – that is home to incarcerated souls who require long-term medical and personal care, wheelchair accessibility, and geriatric care. In the interim, your attempt to gain your freedom as a Juvenile Lifer evaporated due to a simple clerical error. Someone inadvertently placed the wrong birth date for you on one of your documents. However, despite the unconscionable set of circumstances you found yourself in, you learn to read and write and blossomed into a gifted writer. You became one of a number of co-authors for Celling America’s Soul: Torture & Transformation In Our Prisons And Why We Should Care, published by Sagewriters (www.sagewriters.org) in 1993. This is the fate that 63 year old Mr. Tony Harper has endured for decades. As an aging incarcerated soul with multiple pre-existing medical conditions, Mr. Harper – who has committed no crime -- is susceptible to contracting and dying from COVID-19.
Upon learning about COVID-19 infections at SCI Laurel Highlands, the North America Coordinator for the Impartial And Fair Treatment In Parole Initiative which operates under the umbrella of International Men’s Day (http://www.usainternationalmensday.blogspot.com) sent an inquiry to Mr. Harper about his case and seeking commutation of his life without parole sentence through Ms. Judith Trustone, the founder of Sagewriters (www.sagewriters.com), a soul who has supported him for 25 years. Mr. Harper sent the following response to Ms. Trustone who conveyed it to IN SEARCH OF FATHERHOOD®:
“ . . . I went up for commutation when I had twelve years in prison. If I was to have to make wrong right and refile at this stage, I would be barred from coming back in federal court. Diane Sears, appreciate the suggestion, but a lot has to be considered if I was to start the process right at this time. My family is splintered, and there is not much I can do about that. As for the District Attorney’s unit, it has me locked out. I tried them when they first came out and was ignored. I tried it all and this is my last chance. I was let out of the isolation unit yesterday But I’ve learned that the guy in the isolation unit has the Coronavirus. Did you know he breathes the same air as everyone else, even the guys doing hole time? I just thought this system was so advanced that they would have an air handler. But they don’t . . .”
To learn more about Mr. Harper’s case and to assist him with his quest for freedom, you can communicate directly with him by sending correspondence to:
Smart Communications/PADOC
Mr. Anthony Harper #A6000
SCI Laurel Highlands
Post Office Box 33028 '
St. Petersburg, FL 33733
MR. TREVOR MATTIS
A prolific author, the Pennsylvania Chair for the International Men’s Day “Healing And Repatriation” Initiative (http://www.usainternational mensday.blogspot.com) which provides Incarcerated Men with the opportunity to join institutions, organizations, and other individuals in 88 nations in observing International Men’s Day on 19 November of each year, Mr. Trevor Mattis is the Inside Director for Sagewriters (www.sagewriters. com) and the Ambassador for the Global Kindness Revolution (www.trustonekindness.com). Sagewriters and The Global Kindness Revolution are founded by award winning author and filmmaker Ms. Judith Trustone. Mr. Mattis has published four books and written numerous plays and political commentaries. His literary works include Contemplations of a Convict; Yardies 1: The Making Of A Jamaican Posse; and Yardies 2 and are available at www.ghettolifepublishing.com. Since his initial appearance in 2019 in the Impartial And Fair Treatment In Parole Global Square, Mr. Mattis has been relocated from SCI Smithfield to SCI Greene due to COVID-19. His dream of attending the University of Pennsylvania or Temple University’s Dental School after graduating with honors in Biology/Pre-Med at City University of New York’s York College in Brooklyn came to a screeching halt when he became caught up in the legal system after witnessing a homicide. Evidence of his innocence was hidden by prosecutors. Mattis, who has documented evidence of his innocence, is now on a mission to have his case find its way into a courtroom. During his 31 years of incarceration, Mr. Mattis was badly beaten by guards and sustained a number of permanent injuries. Throughout his ordeal which spans three decades, Mattis has been
dutifully supported by his mother, Mrs. Phyllis Cross.
The circumstances surrounding Mr. Mattis’ incarceration is recounted below:
* Federal authorities contacted the Philadelphia District Attorney, notifying him that an eyewitness swore under oath that Trevor Mattis, under arrest, was an innocent bystander and named the real perpetrator.
* The Philadelphia District Attorney hides the exculpatory evidence. Three weeks later, the Philadelphia District Attorney brings in a surprise federal witness who testifies under oath that Mr. Mattis was the killer. This was the same eyewitness that had earlier testified to federal authorities that Mr. Mattis was innocent and named another man as the killer. The Philadelphia District Attorney doesn’t correct the perjured testimony as required by law and Mr. Mattis’ lawyer did nothing -- never filed an appeal -- and abandoned him.
* Mr. Mattis is convicted in a judge-only trial and sentenced to life without parole. Appealing on his own, the appellate court finally acknowledged the injustice incurred by Mr. Mattis but claimed there is no legal remedy.
* In 2011, Mr. Mattis locates a missing eyewitness, a childhood friend of the victim, in Kingston, Jamaica, who swore under oath in a recording that he was an innocent bystander and named the real killer. The courts ruled that the missing eyewitness was located too late and refused to hear his testimony. Meanwhile, Mr. Mattis grows old behind bars.
To learn more about Mr. Mattis’ case and to assist him in pursuing legal options that will lead to his release, you can send correspondence to him addressed as follows:
Smart Communications/PADOC
Mr. Trevor Mattis #BH3126
SCI Greene
Post Office Box 33028
St. Petersburg, FL 33733
MR. MUTI A. AJAMU-OSAGBORO
The United States is one of 65 nations that hands down life without parole sentences. However, it is cited as being the only nation that renders life without parole sentences to souls under the age of 18 in “Juvenile Life Without Parole: An Overview" (https://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/
juvenile-life-without-parole/), a report penned by Mr. Joshua Rovner that was published on 26 February 2020 by The Sentencing Project. Mr. Rovner who is a Senior Advocacy Associate at The Sentencing Project where he manages its juvenile justice issues portfolio points out that Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Louisiana account for two-thirds of Juvenile Life Without Parole Sentences in the United States. Although the United States Supreme Court’s 2017 decision in Montgomery v. Louisiana invalidated existing Juvenile Life Without Parole sentences which were imposed by a mandatory statute, Mr. Muti A. Ajamu-Osagboro is still serving a life without parole sentence handed down to him at the tender age of 17. Despite having spent 39 years of his life incarcerated for a crime he did not commit, Mr. Ajamu-Osagboro greets each day with unshakable resilience and insatiable curiosity. He is a highly respected International broadcast journalist who is regularly featured on Prison Radio, a print journalist, and “inside-out” Criminal Justice Reform activist. On 12 August 2020, the Innocence Committee International Campaign To Free Muti Now hosted a press conference (https://youtu.be/BuzhkGZ2JYU) at which Mr. Ajamu-Osagboro discussed the circumstances surrounding his incarceration. The Innocence Committee International Campaign To Free Muti is a grassroots organization which points to the role that gross prosecutorial misconduct which took the form of, among other things, the withholding of critical documentation and witness intimidation, has played in Mr. Ajamu-Osagboro’s incarceration. In the interim, Mr. Ajamu-Osagboro has filed a Conviction Integrity Petition with the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office.
To learn more about Mr. Ajamu-Osagboro’s case and the struggle for his freedom, you contact him directly by sending correspondence addressed as follows:
Smart Communications/PA DOC
Mr. Muti A. Ajamu-Osagboro #AM6021
Frackville State Prison
Post Office Box 33028
St. Petersburg, FL 33733
MR. LYNWOOD RAY
An extraordinarily gifted artist, Mr. Lynwood Ray spent the most critical years of his childhood development – ages 11 through 18 – incarcerated. The decision to play hooky from school on a hot summer day with a friend, being struck with unbridled curiosity as they approached a railroad yard which housed a locomotive, and an unauthorized joyride on the locomotive landed Mr. Ray in a juvenile detention center. Mr. Ray’s phenomenal artwork and his inability to read caught the attention of a social worker who helped him develop literacy skills. Subsequent to his release, Mr. Ray’s art career blossomed. His extraordinary portfolio consists of portraits of a Philadelphia Mayor, several sports figures, and the late Mrs. Suzanne Roberts, the wife of the founder of Comcast Mr. Ralph J. Roberts. Mr. Ray’s blossoming art career was hijacked by a false accusation of rape lodged against him by a woman described as a prostitute whose arrest record mysteriously disappeared from her file. Gross missteps on the part of Mr. Ray’s defense attorney resulted in his Post-Conviction Relief Act being filed too late. Ray is time-barred by a new Pennsylvania law enacted in 1995 which limits the window of time within which new evidence can be presented. He has not received a new trial that would provide him with the opportunity to present new evidence which could result in his release. Thus far, Mr. Ray has served 11 years of a 25 to 50 year sentence at SCI Benner. Mr. Ray has utilized his time positively enhancing his institutional environment by developing programs through IHope which is facilitated by his colleagues at SCI Benner; creating resources for other incarcerated souls; and his participation in the SCI Benner branch of The Creative Spirit of the Global Kindness Revolution. .
When asked to discuss his case, Mr. Ray offered the following:
“I’m currently incarcerated for a crime I did not commit at SCI Benner, near Penn State University. Eleven years so far on a 25-50 year conviction. My pro bono lawyer in Philadelphia who was my legal counsel at the time, filed a timely appeal on 15 February 2010 after I was found guilty. The judgment was affirmed by the Superior Court of Pennsylvania on 15 December 2011. Discretionary Review was not sought in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Judgment became final on 15 January 2012. Between February of 2010 and December of 2011, my pro bono counsel of record transferred to another law firm but failed to notify me of the Pennsylvania Superior Court decision. His failure to notify me constitutes negligence, breach of contract, and breach of fiduciary duties. This abandonment led me to be time-barred in filing my Post-Conviction Relief Act Petition. In 1995, various restrictions and narrowing exceptions contained in amendments made to the Post-Conviction Relief Act further limited my accessibility to relief under the law. A Post-Conviction Relief Petition had to be filed within a year of the date that a petitioner’s judgment become final. I filed an untimely Post-Conviction Relief Act Petition because my counsel neglected to inform me of his move to another law firm which also limited my ability to exercise due diligence under the Superior Court decision. It is undeniable that when notification of appeal results, the attorney is the sole recipient of these results which he should inform his client about according to Rule of Professional Conduct 1.4. If abandonment by counsel may be a newly discovered fact for purposes of timeliness execution as ruled in Commonwealth v. Bennett, 930 A. 2d 1264 (Pa. 2007) and in Commonwealth v. Blackwell, 936 A.2d 497 (Pa. Super. 2007), why is it hard for me to get my Post-Conviction Relief Act rights back so I can prove my innocence? Thanks for reading this.”
Mr. Ray welcomes communications from individuals who can assist in his quest for legal relief and ultimate release from incarceration. Correspondence to Mr. Ray should be addressed as follows:
Smart Communication PA/DOC
Mr. Lynwood Ray #JJ5829
SCI Benner Township
P.O. Box 33028
St. Petersburg, FL 33733
MR. JAMES MUHAMMED TAYLOR
In the eyes of the souls “on the inside” -- at SCI Phoenix (formerly SCI Graterford)-- 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. James Muhammed Taylor is an “inside-out” Reentry, Criminal Justice Reform and Social Justice Thought Leader and consultant (www.jamesmuhammedtaylor.com) upon whom they rely for solutions-based strategies that will help effectively address and resolve the myriad of challenges that marginalize their community – challenges that include, but are not limited to, gun violence, recidivism, street crime, 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 that have positively enhanced his institutional environment and transformed the lives of other incarcerated souls along with the work he has done “from the inside out” to address the myriad of issues that marginalize our communities:
- On 17 February 2020, Mr. Taylor was one of the co-facilitators of and 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
- In 1989, Mr. Taylor established People Advancing Reintegration (https://home.par-recycleworks.org/), an inmate self-help program at SCI Graterford (now SCI Phoenix) which has morphed into PAR Recycle Works, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that employs Returning Citizens and has an estimated annual revenue of US$1,000,000.00.
- Reentry Zone - Mr. Taylor envisions the establishment of a gun violence free, crime free, and business driven Reentry Zone in the West Philadelphia section of the nation’s fifth largest metropolitan area. The Reentry Zone will address recidivism, gun violence, the “school-to-prison” pipeline, and poverty by providing Returning Citizens with housing, jobs, vocational and entrepreneurial skills training, clothing, transportation, and food. At the same time, at-risk youths and young adults will receive mentoring that will positively transform their decision making, mindset, and behavior along with vocational and entrepreneurial skills training through the Project Pipe Line Prison To Youth/Reclaiming Their Lives As Men Initiative. A component of the Reentry Zone, Project Pipe Line Prison To Youth/Reclaiming Their Lives As Men which Mr. Taylor designed, has successfully mentored incarcerated young men at the State Correctional Institution at Phoenix in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. Communities within and surrounding the Reentry Zone will be declared “gun violence free” and “crime free” – a declaration that will be enforced through a collaboration consisting of Returning Citizens, law enforcement professionals, the Interfaith Community, community leaders, and concerned citizens. Jobs created within the gun violence free, crime free, and business-driven Reentry Zone will employ Returning Citizens as well as members of communities within and surrounding it.
- 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 Youths 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 designed by SCI Phoenix LIFERS, Inc. (www.lifersincpa.org) and 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, was to operate for 13 weeks beginning on Saturday, 22 February 2020 through Saturday, 16 May 2020 in the Cobbs Creek section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
- 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.
- 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).
- For nine (9) years, Mr. Taylor taught “Thresholds, A Problem-Solving & Decision Making Course
You can also communicate directly with Mr. Taylor by sending correspondence to him addressed as follows:
Smart Communications/PA DOC
Mr. James Muhammed Taylor #AF4120
SCI Phoenix
Post Office Box 33028
St. Petersburg, FL 33733
MR. DARRELL VAN MASTRIGT
Darrell Van Mastrigt.jpg
Mr. Darrell Van Mastrigt poses alongside one of his paintings that is featured in “Prison Landscapes”, a book he contributed to and is co-authored with Alyse Emdur (https://www.amazon.com/Arts-Photography-Darrell-Van-Mastrigt-Books/s?rh=n%3A1%2Cp_27%3ADarrell+Van+ Mastrigt)
A gifted artist whose paintings are so masterfully crafted that they are sometimes mistaken for photographs, Darrell Van Mastrigt was convicted of murder at the age of 19. Mr. Van Mastrigt’s conviction is based on a false confession that he gave under duress during a brutally intense nine-hour interrogation without the presence of legal counsel. Van Mastrigt has dedicated his prison time to helping others. Several years ago, Mr. Van Mastrigt founded Innocence Denied, a publication that collects and helps publicize cases of wrongful convictions and imprisonment for which he serves as Editor. To thwart the spread of COVID-19 in correctional facilitates, the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections instituted and continues to enforce a 23-hour lockdown for incarcerated souls. For 23 hours, incarcerated souls must stay in their cell until they are let out to make phone calls to family, friends, and legal counsel, shower, visit the kiosk to send and receive e-mails, or to participate in a video visit with family, friends, or legal counsel. Despite precautions taken by the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, COVID-19 is spreading in Pennsylvania’s correctional facilities. Mr. Van Mastrigt recently weighed in on what it is like to live in prison under the specter of COVID-19 in an e-mail communication with one of his ardent supporters Ms. Judith Trustone which she forwarded to IN SEARCH OF FATHERHOOD®:
“Hello, my fellow Covid19 hostage! Hope you're making good progress on your horse article. Unfortunately, all the relief things for DOC will never cover a lifer. What really should be apparent is that the prisoners most at risk for dying are lifers because of their ages, decades in prison, and underlying medical conditions! A cynical person might look at this as an easy way to get rid of the DOCs problem of aging lifers. It's coming through the DOC one way or the other and I'm scared of how many people I know will be dead before I'm even out of this 23 hour a day lockdown to find out about it. As far as I know, the commutation process has been put on hold until who knows when. I've been resigned for a long time that I would die in prison. I made peace with that and found comfort in the fact my life has meaning in prison. I've had strong relationships with both prisoners and staff to make positive changes in the prisons and people forced to be there. Helping others change their lives or just see better choices and options has been my spiritual soul food. It makes the hell of prison bearable when you can help others around you or even offer kindness in an unkind world. Staying busy, helping others,, seeing and building on the positive in all situations, and even just being able to appreciate the beauty in those around me has sustained me physically, mentally, and spiritually for over 2/3rds of my life spent behind prison walls. And now, in a few weeks’ time my entire world, purpose, and balance has been stripped away! I can't do any work (painting or otherwise). I can't participate in ceremony with my native brothers to offer prayer. We are denied the Canunpa (pipe), drum, herbs, and spiritual support for the unknowable future. My entire support system has been socially distanced from me. I'm unable to speak to my friends, coworkers, spiritual advisers, and even staff members I've come to trust and rely on.
Although I've always appreciated and been thankful for those people in my life, I don't think I fully understood how important the people I see every day, pray with every day, and work with every day are in keeping my life in balance mentally, spiritually, and even physically. In addition to my outside support system, these inside people keep me going. Literally! Being locked in a cell 23 hours a day, with no communication to many I care about, and not knowing if I'll ever see them again is stressing me badly. I'm starting to realize I'm much more of a social person than I knew!! This lockdown is stressing me in ways I couldn't conceive. I need to work. I need to talk to people I trust. I need to do something besides sleeping, eating, watching TV, and feeling sorry for myself. Right now, what I need (in the absence of all the things I can't do) is peace, quiet, and solitude to find my balance, find peace of mind, pray, meditate and quit letting myself slip into a dark place of not caring about anything, anybody, and especially what happens to me! I CANNOT do that locked in a cell over 23 hours a day with another person!! I know I'm being selfish and others are suffering worse than me! My head says I'm being an idiot and need to deal with the lockdown. Yet, the feelings inside are screaming for help! I am the one who should be helping, not needing help is what I try to tell myself. This stress is starting to manifest physically with tenseness, muscle spasms, and literal shaking. I asked for help from the counselor this week. Just give me a single cell until this is over and I promise to take a celly again when we get back out. You can't take everything away and expect me to be fine. She sent the request to the unit manager and he's blown me off for over a week. They probably think I'm playing games and don't realize how hard it was for me to ask for help. I feel myself slipping and don't have a lifeline.
I think I may have to ask to see psych this week. What's totally ironic about this situation is that I've had people telling me in recent years that I need to open up more and let others help me. They try to convince me I don't have to always be the strong one and refuse to admit I'm hurting. I've cried more this week watching stupid shit on TV than I have in a year. I know part of that was because I couldn't finish the year of letting the spirit of my dad go in the proper ceremonial way. But still, the first time I reach out and admit weakness and ask for help I get blown off!!! I will say that this counselor and unit manager do not know me, so I don't hold it against them. They probably just think I'm being the idiot that I feel like right now. I should be able to deal with it myself! It's been decades since I've felt this out of control, this emotional and this stressed. I can't go back to that depression state of ‘I DON'T CARE ANYMORE’.. It's weird that I had almost forgotten the headaches and physical spasms and shakes that led me to become addicted to drugs and alcohol all those years ago. My life is so different today that I think my arrogance at believing I was beyond needing help blinded me to the fact that I need help! We'll see what happens this week but they say writing helps and admitting a problem helps. I'd appreciate your prayers and some good vibes sent my way if possible! Take care and be safe!”
Correspondence to Mr. Van Mastrigt should be addressed as follows:
Smart Communications/PADOC
Mr. Darrell Van Mastrigt #AJ1088
SCI Fayette
Post Office Box 33028
St. Petersburg, FL 33733
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