Chandra Bozelko writes the award-winning blog Prison Diaries. You can follow her on Twitter at @ChandraBozelko and email her at [email protected]. She is a member of our White Collar Support Group that meets online on Zoom on Monday evenings. Ryan Lo is a friend of our ministry who has been helpful in our outreach. – Jeff
After the photo ops ended, the former president’s vaunted First Step Act was barely implemented. The new administration must change that.
President Joe Biden prepares to sign a series of executive orders at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office just hours after his inauguration on Jan. 20, 2021. Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
By Chandra Bozelko, vice president, National Society of Newspaper Columnists and Ryan Lo, founder, Unlabeled Digital Media
Anyone who wants to attribute any positive accomplishments to Trump shouldn’t include the First Step Act among them. The Trump administration followed neither the letter nor the spirit of the law.
Implementation of the law is where it would have had a demonstrable effect on the people it was meant to help; it’s also the part the executive branch is wholly responsible for, and the part the Trump administration has repeatedly failed at, causing many inmates to have to resort to court intervention.
As one might expect, whatever Trump giveth with one hand, he taketh away with the other.
It’s now up to President Joe Biden to implement the First Step Act as it was written — even though Trump is claiming credit for it.
Plenty of smart people have fallen for Trump’s tale: Last September, The New York Times published a “Fact-Checked List of Trump Accomplishments” and called the law a success; fully five of the 123 listed successes dealt with the law. Heck, even we begrudgingly credited Trump with doing something moral because of his support for the bill.
But the federal government isn’t giving inmates the credits they’ve earned: The process of granting credits was supposed to start last January, but inmates are already getting stiffed.
It’s now up to President Joe Biden to implement the First Step Act as it was written.
Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen has become a case study in exactly how Trump failed to implement his own signature prison reform. Last month, he filed two petitions: one seeking his earned time credits, which would mean he could be free in May — approximately one year early; and another to make sure that the Bureau of Prisons orders the credits be issued, which will help those who remain inside get the credits they too have earned.
If he wins his second petition, Cohen will have done more to force the implementation of the First Step Act than his former client did.
Glen Adkins Jr., an inmate at FCI Terminal Island, is among those fighting to assure that the Bureau of Prisons obeys the law. His petition notes that Trump’s Bureau of Prisons distributed an approved programs guide in October that changed the rules of the earned time credits program to limit the number of days that a person can shave off their sentence. That guide was issued without congressional approval, and directly contradicts the plain language of the First Step Act.
So far, the executive branch’s execution of the First Step Act has been replete with bad faith.
And while the criminal justice reform law contained a clause that said that these credits didn’t have to be implemented until 2022, that itself shows that Trump didn’t intend to provide relief to inmates who take their reform seriously. Allowing Trump to delay the implementation of his signature justice reform, while still taking credit for achieving it, amounts to taking another swig of Trump lies — something we’ve sworn off. Besides, the inmates have kept their part of the First Step Act bargain. So should he.
And the earned time credits aren’t the only part of the First Step Act that has been half-heartedly administered: amid a pandemic that has taken the lives of 204 federal inmates as of January 12 — some of whom might have been home before they were infected if the law had been followed — wardens denied 98 percent of compassionate release requests from coronavirus-infected inmates as of last May, even though the First Step Act expanded the criteria under which inmates could get some relief.
Biden can and should correct all of this immediately: Article II of the Constitution says that the president “shall take care that all laws are faithfully executed.” So far, the executive branch’s execution of the First Step Act has been replete with bad faith, though the judicial branch has offered some relief. The new president can and must reverse that by directing — via an executive order, if necessary — that all inmates receive their earned credits immediately and that wardens start giving real weight to compassionate release requests while the Covid-19 pandemic continues. It’s the perfect addition to Biden’s corrective agenda on Trump mistakes.
Meanwhile, we should all recognize that what everyone hailed as a historic change by the Trump administration was really just much of the same con as ever: a deal he made for the photo op with Kim Kardashian and the ability to stick it to his detractors. Don’t continue to give him credit for championing justice reform now that he’s gone; given how he chose not to honor the promise of this law for two years, the First Step Act so far has been more stumble than stride.
Chandra Bozelko writes the award-winning blog Prison Diaries. You can follow her on Twitter at @ChandraBozelko and email her at [email protected]. She is a member of our White Collar Support Group that meets online on Zoom on Monday evenings. Ryan Lo is a friend of our ministry who has been helpful in our outreach. – Jeff
After the photo ops ended, the former president’s vaunted First Step Act was barely implemented. The new administration must change that.
President Joe Biden prepares to sign a series of executive orders at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office just hours after his inauguration on Jan. 20, 2021. Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
By Chandra Bozelko, vice president, National Society of Newspaper Columnists and Ryan Lo, founder, Unlabeled Digital Media
Anyone who wants to attribute any positive accomplishments to Trump shouldn’t include the First Step Act among them. The Trump administration followed neither the letter nor the spirit of the law.
Implementation of the law is where it would have had a demonstrable effect on the people it was meant to help; it’s also the part the executive branch is wholly responsible for, and the part the Trump administration has repeatedly failed at, causing many inmates to have to resort to court intervention.
As one might expect, whatever Trump giveth with one hand, he taketh away with the other.
It’s now up to President Joe Biden to implement the First Step Act as it was written — even though Trump is claiming credit for it.
Plenty of smart people have fallen for Trump’s tale: Last September, The New York Times published a “Fact-Checked List of Trump Accomplishments” and called the law a success; fully five of the 123 listed successes dealt with the law. Heck, even we begrudgingly credited Trump with doing something moral because of his support for the bill.
But the federal government isn’t giving inmates the credits they’ve earned: The process of granting credits was supposed to start last January, but inmates are already getting stiffed.
It’s now up to President Joe Biden to implement the First Step Act as it was written.
Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen has become a case study in exactly how Trump failed to implement his own signature prison reform. Last month, he filed two petitions: one seeking his earned time credits, which would mean he could be free in May — approximately one year early; and another to make sure that the Bureau of Prisons orders the credits be issued, which will help those who remain inside get the credits they too have earned.
If he wins his second petition, Cohen will have done more to force the implementation of the First Step Act than his former client did.
Glen Adkins Jr., an inmate at FCI Terminal Island, is among those fighting to assure that the Bureau of Prisons obeys the law. His petition notes that Trump’s Bureau of Prisons distributed an approved programs guide in October that changed the rules of the earned time credits program to limit the number of days that a person can shave off their sentence. That guide was issued without congressional approval, and directly contradicts the plain language of the First Step Act.
So far, the executive branch’s execution of the First Step Act has been replete with bad faith.
And while the criminal justice reform law contained a clause that said that these credits didn’t have to be implemented until 2022, that itself shows that Trump didn’t intend to provide relief to inmates who take their reform seriously. Allowing Trump to delay the implementation of his signature justice reform, while still taking credit for achieving it, amounts to taking another swig of Trump lies — something we’ve sworn off. Besides, the inmates have kept their part of the First Step Act bargain. So should he.
And the earned time credits aren’t the only part of the First Step Act that has been half-heartedly administered: amid a pandemic that has taken the lives of 204 federal inmates as of January 12 — some of whom might have been home before they were infected if the law had been followed — wardens denied 98 percent of compassionate release requests from coronavirus-infected inmates as of last May, even though the First Step Act expanded the criteria under which inmates could get some relief.
Biden can and should correct all of this immediately: Article II of the Constitution says that the president “shall take care that all laws are faithfully executed.” So far, the executive branch’s execution of the First Step Act has been replete with bad faith, though the judicial branch has offered some relief. The new president can and must reverse that by directing — via an executive order, if necessary — that all inmates receive their earned credits immediately and that wardens start giving real weight to compassionate release requests while the Covid-19 pandemic continues. It’s the perfect addition to Biden’s corrective agenda on Trump mistakes.
Meanwhile, we should all recognize that what everyone hailed as a historic change by the Trump administration was really just much of the same con as ever: a deal he made for the photo op with Kim Kardashian and the ability to stick it to his detractors. Don’t continue to give him credit for championing justice reform now that he’s gone; given how he chose not to honor the promise of this law for two years, the First Step Act so far has been more stumble than stride.
Hannah Smolinski is a CPA and the founder of Clara CFO Group, a virtual CFO and consulting services firm providing small businesses with financial clarity as they grow. Her experience working for one of the world’s largest accounting firms inspired her to bring that level of financial expertise to the small business community through financial strategy, best practices, and knowledge to realize their missions.
Please check out Hannah’s informative and topical videos about SBA PPP & EIDL Loans, and other financial topics, on her Clara CFO GroupYouTube Channel.
The ministry hosts an online White Collar Support Group every Monday night. After an addiction to prescription opioids and serving almost fourteen months in a Federal prison for a white-collar crime he committed when he was a lawyer, Jeff started his own reentry — earning a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York with a focus in Social Ethics.
Jeff has over three decades of experience in crisis management, business, law (former), reentry, recovery (clean & sober 18+ years), public speaking and corporate training. Sometimes referred to in the press as “The Minister to Hedge Funders,” he uses his experience and background to guide individuals, families and organizations forward in their lives, relationships, careers and business opportunities, and to help them to stop making the kinds of decisions that previously resulted in loss, suffering and shame.
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More on SBA PPP & EIDL Loan Fraud:
Entrepreneur’s #4 Most Viewed Article of 2020: I Went to Prison for SBA Loan Fraud – 7 Things to Know When Taking COVID-19 Relief Money: by Jeff Grant, J.D., M.Div.. Link to article here.
The Philadelphia Inquirer: Steal Money from the Feds? First, Meet Jeff Grant, an Ex-Con who Committed Loan Fraud, by Erin Arvedlund: Link to article here.
Hannah Smolinski YouTube: Thinking About PPP Fraud?: Hannah Interviews Jeff Grant About Going to Prison for SBA Loan Fraud. Link to article and YouTube video here.
Fraud Stories Podcast with Mark Lurie: SBA/PPP Loan Fraud with Guest: Jeff Grant. Link to podcast here.
Forbes: As Law Enforcement Pursues SBA Loan Fraud, Jeff Grant Talks Redemption, by Kelly Phillips Erb. Link to article here.
Taxgirl Podcast: Jeff Grant talks Desperation and Loans in a Time of Crisis with Kelly Phillips Erb on Her Podcast. Link to article and podcast here.
Business Talk with Jim Campbell: Jeff Grant Talks with Jim About Going to Prison for SBA Loan Fraud and What to Know When Taking Coronavirus Relief Money, Biz Talk Radio Network, Broadcast from 1490 AM WGCH Greenwich, CT. Listen on YouTube here.
Babz Rawls Ivy Show: Babz Rawls Ivy & Jeff Grant Talk SBA / PPP Loan Fraud and 7 Things to Know Before You Take Coronavirus Relief Money, WNHH 103.5 FM New Haven. Watch on YouTube here.
White Collar Week with Jeff Grant, Podcast Ep. 21: All Things SBA, PPP & EIDL, with Guest: Hannah Smolinski, CPA, Virtual CFO: Link here.
White Collar Week with Jeff Grant, Podcast Episode 09: Small Business Edition, with Guest Kelly Phillips Erb. Link here.
On Jan. 12, the federal government carried out the first execution of a woman since 1953.
The woman is Lisa Montgomery, who in 2008 was convicted of killing Bobbie Jo Stinnett, a pregnant woman, and removing Stinnett’s baby and treating her as her own. It looked like the execution might have been scheduled for Jan. 20 or later, but the Supreme Court of the United States reversed each of three stays – court orders halting the execution – to allow the government to take her life.
Montgomery’s last hope was President Donald Trump. But he didn’t grant her clemency or a reprieve, thereby throwing away his legacy of protecting victims of sex trafficking.
The Department of Homeland Security defines human trafficking as “the use of force, fraud or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act.” The mention of human trafficking conjures images of women from foreign countries being smuggled out. But it’s a domestic problem; about 83% of sex trafficking victims are United States citizens, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. About half are children, according to the federal Office for Victims of Crime.
Montgomery was one of them. As her clemency petition detailed, at age 11, she was prostituted by her own mother in order to “earn her keep.” Her lawyers report that “the roofer, the plumber, the propane man, and who knows how many others, each took their turn” raping Montgomery and paying her mother for the opportunity.
When I was incarcerated, I saw how much sexual abuse of young girls contributes to mental illness that rips away moral inhibitions as an adult. This isn’t an abuse excuse; it’s statistical analysis. Experiencing child abuse doubles the probability that an adult will break the law, says the National Bureau of Economic Research, and sexual abuse amplifies this risk the most.
Indeed 16 women who committed crimes like Montgomery’s had similar abuse histories, yet they were either spared the death penalty by a jury or had their death sentences commuted because of that mistreatment.
Montgomery’s crime is severe and she took responsibility for it. She knew she deserved accountability. But imposing the ultimate punishment on her ignores the fact that the road to Stinnett’s death was paved with molestation by adults who never faced consequences for it – even after Montgomery reported it to a family member who was a police officer.
Addressing sexual trafficking of children is a blueprint for crime reduction, and very few presidents have tackled human trafficking the way Trump has. In September the Department of Justice released $100 million in grants; $35 million will cover survivors’ short-term housing costs. On Dec. 31, he named January 2021 “National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month.” For the first time, a White House staffer will work exclusively on combatting human sex trafficking, a change that future presidents will likely maintain – at least they should.
The awareness of human trafficking has increased exponentially, arguably because of what the 45th president of the United States did to combat it. The National Human Trafficking Hotline referred 499 cases to law enforcement in 2010 but 3,599 in 2019.
The Jan. 6 riots at the nation’s Capitol and his historic second impeachment have imperiled what Trump can bequeath to history; anything good he might have done will be ignored as people interpret his works. The president could have associated his tenure with protecting people by forbearing the ultimate punishment on a trafficking survivor like Lisa Montgomery. But he didn’t.
Interestingly enough, on Oct. 16, 2020 – the same day the Department of Justice announced the scheduling of Montgomery’s execution – Trump told NBC’s Savannah Guthrie that he agrees with being “very strong against pedophilia.” If that were the case, then he would have hated what was done to Montgomery as a child, at least enough to prevent her unnatural death. But he didn’t.
Executing Montgomery implicitly endorsed the illegal and wretched trade of her tiny body that Trump allegedly worked so hard to stop. The president vowed to “tenaciously pursue the promise of freedom for all victims of this terrible crime.” But he didn’t.
While freedom for Montgomery wasn’t a possibility, administering capital punishment granted a win to the people who sexually abused her. That’s not what Trump’s tenure was ever supposed to be about. But in the end, it was and it will remain that way.
When he leaves office Jan. 20, remember this: President Donald J. Trump turned his back on trafficking victims and protected pedophiles and sexual abusers. It was fully within his authority – and consistent with his other acts – to spare Lisa Mongtomery. He didn’t, instead opting for a shameful legacy.
Chandra Bozelko writes the award-winning blog Prison Diaries. You can follow her on Twitter at @ChandraBozelko and email her at [email protected].
Host Jacqueline Polverari is joined by defense attorney Norm Pattis to discuss his philosophy on the prison system, judges, and what makes a good defense attorney.
Host Jacqueline Polverari is joined by defense attorney Norm Pattis to discuss his philosophy on the prison system, judges, and what makes a good defense attorney.
On Friday, December 18th at 9 am EST, Quan Huynh, author of “Sparrow in the Razor Wire: Finding Freedom from Within While Serving a Life Sentence,” was our guest on the Criminal Justice Insider Podcast with Babz Rawls Ivy & Jeff Grant – Live on WNHH 103.5 FM New Haven, rebroadcast at 5 pm. Live-streamed on Facebook Live. On podcast platforms 24/7 everywhere. The Criminal Justice Insider Podcast is sponsored by the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven and Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc.
Quan Huynh
Quan Huynh has been described as a mighty warrior, a magician, and a mountain of goodness. He is the bestselling author of Sparrow in the Razor Wire: Finding Freedom from Within While Serving a Life Sentence. His book was written for men that are doing long or life term sentences, and in it, he shares how he found his freedom years before he was even paroled.
He works as the senior post release program manager for Defy Ventures, a non profit helping those with a criminal past transform their lives through the journey of entrepreneurship. After spending twenty-two years in and out of correctional institutions, Quan was paroled from a life sentence in 2015 and created his first company six months later. The following year, he received the Peace Fellowship Award for his work with the Alternatives to Violence Project. Quan has been featured in Entrepreneur, PBS Newshour, and numerous other publications and podcasts.
Purchase Sparrow in the Razor Wire: Finding Freedom from Within While Serving a Life Sentence on Amazon or on quanxhuynh.com
Watch on YouTube:
Listen on SoundCloud:
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Please tell your friends, colleagues and clients:
The Criminal Justice Insider Podcast with Babz Rawls Ivy and Jeff Grant is broadcast live at 9 am ET on the first and third Friday of each month from the WNHH 103.5 FM studios in New Haven. It is rebroadcast on WNHH at 5 pm ET the same day.
Our great friend, Will Nix, is a Member of the Advisory Board of Journeys in Film. Will sent us information about how teachers can share the movie, Just Mercy, with their students at no cost. Included is a free Curriculum Guide and Student Packet. Thank you Will and all at Journeys in Film for your huge commitment to social justice and to our children.
Journeys in Film believes in amplifying the storytelling power of film to educate the most visually literate generation in history.
We transform entertainment media into educational media by designing and publishing cost-free, educational resources for teachers to accompany carefully chosen feature films and documentaries while meeting mandated standards in all core subjects. Selected films are used as springboards for lesson plans in subjects ranging from math, science, language arts, and social studies to specific topics that have become critical for students to learn.
Podcast Ep. 20, Glenn E. Martin & Richard Bronson: Reinventing Yourself After Prison
Today on the podcast we have two of my favorite people, Glenn E. Martin & Richard Bronson, talking about how they each reinvented themselves after prison. They are both incredibly generous and reveal their struggles, disappointments, and frailties as well as their successes and service in helping others.
Glenn talks about his journey from armed robber, to prison, to nonprofit executive, to founding JustLeadershipUSA, to entrepreneur, executive coach, and investor with Gem Trainers and Gem Real Estate.
Richard discusses his Wall Street life, including at Stratton Oakmont (made famous in the movie “The Wolf of Wall Street”), Federal prison, and then founding two companies to lift up returning citizens, 70millionjobs.com and his latest, Commissary Club.
So coming up, Glenn Martin & Richard Bronson. Reinventing Yourself After Prison. On White Collar Week. I hope you will join us. – Jeff
Listen on Apple Podcasts:
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Listen on SoundCloud:
Watch on YouTube:
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If you have a friend, family member, colleague or client with a white collar justice issue, please forward this email; they can reach us anytime – day or night! Our contact info: http://prisonist.org/contact-us.
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Guests on this Episode:
Glenn E. Martin
For two decades, Glenn E. Martin successfully conceptualized, created and directed a handful of national multi-million dollar organizations in the non-profit sector. Glenn has occupied the important leadership role of “visionary”, while developing a strong track record in the more pragmatic aspects of building and running successful organizations, including fundraising, operations, administration and communications.
Before launching both GEMrealestate and GEMtrainers, multi-state real estate investment company and a successful non-profit consultancy, respectively, Glenn founded and served as President of JustLeadershipUSA for three years, an organization he built as a tribute to his son Joshua, dedicated to cutting the U.S. correctional population in half by 2030. For almost 20 years, since leaving prison, he’s been a part of the vanguard of successful reform advocates in America.
His leadership has been recognized with multiple honors, including the 2016 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, the 2017 Brooke Astor Award, and the 2014 Echoing Green Fellowship. He is also a Founding Member of the Council on Criminal Justice.
Prior to founding JustLeadershipUSA, Glenn was the Vice President of The Fortune Society, where he founded and led the David Rothenberg Center for Public Policy. He also served as the Co-Director of the National HIRE Network at the Legal Action Center, and co-founded the Education from the Inside Out Coalition. He’s also the founder and visionary behind the #CLOSErikers campaign in NYC.
Glenn has served as a public speaker and has been a media guest appearing on national news outlets such as NPR, MSNBC, Fox News, CNN, Al Jazeera and CSPAN. You can follow him at @glennEmartin on Twitter
Richard Bronson
“Y Combinator-backed employment platform 70 Million Jobs is launching a new social network geared toward helping formerly incarcerated individuals connect with each other. While 70 Million Jobs focuses on helping people with criminal records find jobs, Commissary Club wants to serve as a place for folks to find community.
‘Folks with [criminal] records have always, since prisons were first built, lived in the shadows,’ 70 Million Jobs founder Richard Bronson told TechCrunch. ‘They’ve lived in fear and in shame — afraid to emerge with this terrible stigma, being treated as second-class citizens in every single way.’
Through Commissary Club, folks can find community through topic-specific clubs, explore education courses and find mentors, jobs and housing. […]
The plan with the social network is to take an ad-based approach, along with referral fees for things like online classes and wellness services. Commissary Club also plans to partner with brands and host events for the community.
‘The population we serve is really desperately in need of help,’ Bronson said. ‘But we’re not in position to provide all of it. We’re going to be a concierge for folks.’
But there’s an obvious risk with bringing formerly incarcerated people together and serving them on a platter to advertisers, given that some are notoriously predatory.
‘I feel incredibly protective of our clients because there are bad actors,’ Bronson said. ‘We’ve seen people try to come to our job business and gain access for their less than positive ends. So we’ve gotten smart and also sensitive to the fact that this could go on. We make damn sure that whoever we’re working with is operating with integrity and honesty. We’ve been in this space for a long time and we know the good lawyers and bad ones, the good education platforms and bad ones and many other verticals with good actors and bad actors.’
Commissary Club launched a few days ago in beta and currently has thousands on the wait list. But the service is doing a slow rollout because, Bronson said, ‘we want to get it right.’
To date, parent company 70 Million Jobs has raised $1.6 million from investors and is seeking an additional $2 million in funding.” – Taken from TechCrunch
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You can find all episodes of our podcast “White Collar Week with Jeff Grant” on our website prisonist.org, our Facebook page, Podbean, YouTube (video), SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter.
Welcome to White Collar Week with Jeff Grant, a podcast serving the white collar justice community. It’s the isolation that destroys us. The solution is in community.
If you are interested in this podcast, then you are probably already a member of the white collar justice community – even if you don’t quite know it yet. Our community is certainly made up of people being prosecuted, or who have already been prosecuted, for white collar crimes. But it is also made up of the spouses, children and families of those prosecuted for white collar crimes – these are the first victims of white collar crime. And the community also consists of the other victims, both direct and indirect, and those in the wider white collar ecosystem like friends, colleagues, prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, law enforcement, academics, researchers. Investigators, mitigation experts, parole & probation officers, corrections officers, reentry professionals, mental health care professionals, drug and alcohol counselors, – and ministers, chaplains and advocates for criminal and social justice reform. The list goes on and on…
Our mission is to introduce you to other members of the white collar justice community, to hear their very personal stories, and hopefully gain a broader perspective of what this is really all about. Maybe this will inspire some deeper thoughts and introspection? Maybe it will inspire some empathy and compassion for people you might otherwise resent or dismiss? And maybe it will help lift us all out of our own isolation and into community, so we can learn to live again in the sunshine of the spirit.
Along the way, I’ll share with you some of the things I’ve learned in my own journey from successful lawyer, to prescription opioid addict, white collar crime, suicide attempt, disbarment, destruction of my marriage, and the almost 14 months I served in a Federal prison. And also my recovery, love story I share with my wife Lynn Springer, after prison earning a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in NYC, pastoring in an inner city church in Bridgeport CT, and then co-founding with Lynn in Greenwich CT, Progressive Prison Ministries, the world’s first ministry serving the white collar justice community. It’s been quite a ride, but I firmly believe that the best is yet to come.
So I invite you to come along with me as we experience something new, and bold, and different – a podcast that serves the entire white collar justice community. I hope you will join me.
It’s the Isolation that Destroys Us. The Solution is in Community.
Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc. is the world’s first ministry supporting the white collar justice community. Founded by husband and wife, Jeff Grantand Lynn Springer in Greenwich CT in 2012, we incorporated as a nonprofit in Connecticut in 2014, and received 501(c)(3) status in 2015. Jeff has over three decades of experience in crisis management, business, law (former), reentry, recovery (clean & sober 17+ years), and executive and religious leadership. As Jeff was incarcerated for a white-collar crime he committed in 2001, he and Lynn have a first-hand perspective on the trials and tribulations that white-collar families have to endure as they navigate the criminal justice system and life beyond.
Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc. is nonsectarian, serving those of all faiths, or no faith whatsoever. To date we have helped over three hundred fifty (350) individuals, and their families, to accept responsibility for their actions and to acknowledge the pain they have caused to others. In accordance with our commitment to restorative justice, we counsel our members to make amends as a first step in changing their lives and moving towards a new spiritual way of living centered on hope, care, compassion, tolerance, empathy and service to others. Our team has grown to over ten people, most with advanced degrees, all of whom are currently volunteering their time and resources.
Progressive Prison Ministries’ goal is to provide spiritual solutions and emotional support to those who are feeling alone, isolated, and hopeless. We have found that these individuals are suffering from a void but are stuck, and don’t know what to do about it. Our objective is to help them find a path to a healthy, spirit-filled place on the other side of what may seem like insurmountable problems. Many of those we counsel are in a place where their previous lives have come to an end due to their transgressions. In many cases their legal problems have led to divorce, estrangement from their children, families, friends and support communities, and loss of a career. The toll this takes on individuals and families is emotionally devastating. White-collar crimes are often precipitated by other issues in the offenders’ lives such as alcohol or drug abuse, and/or a physical or mental illness that lead to financial issues that overwhelms their ability to be present for themselves and their families and cause poor decision making. We recognize that life often presents us with such circumstances, sometimes which lead us to make mistakes in violation of the law.
All conversations and communications between our ordained ministry, and licensed clinical relationships, and those we serve fall under state privilege laws. This is one reason that attorneys often allow and encourage their clients to maintain relationships with us while in active prosecution or litigation situations.
If you, a friend, family member, colleague or client are suffering from a white collar criminal justice issue or are experiencing some other traumatic or life-altering event, and would like to find a path to a healthy, spirit-filled place on the other side of what seems like insurmountable problems, please contact us to schedule an initial call or appointment.
Copyright 2020, All Rights Reserved, Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc.
Please join us on Friday, Dec. 4, 2020, 9:00 am ET, when Gus Marks-Hamilton, Shelby Henderson, and Anderson Curtis of ACLU Smart Justice Connecticut will be our guests on the Criminal Justice Insider Podcast with Babz Rawls Ivy & Jeff Grant – Live on WNHH 103.5 FM New Haven, rebroadcast at 5 pm. Live-streamed on Facebook Live. On podcast platforms 24/7 everywhere. Criminal Justice Insider Podcast sponsored by the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven and Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc.
ACLU Smart Justice Connecticut is grounded in the knowledge that the people closest to the problem are closest to the solution. We are an unprecedented cohort of leaders who have ourselves been directly impacted by Connecticut’s justice system. We are formerly incarcerated people who are challenging mass incarceration by speaking truth to power, sharing our expertise, and building connections to each other and communities across the state. Together, we are campaigning to cut Connecticut’s jail and prison population by 50% and to end racial disparities in our state’s justice system. We are working to usher in a new era of justice, and we are not alone. We are part of the nationwide Campaign for Smart Justice, a multiyear effort in all 50 states.
Shelby Henderson is a Smart Justice Leader and fierce advocate for keeping formerly incarcerated people at the forefront of reforming the criminal legal system, because those closest to the problem are often closest to the solution. Shelby has been a TOW Policy Fellow at JustLeadership USA, a graduate student at the John Jay College Institute for Justice and Opportunity and is currently in law school at the City University of New York. Shelby’s advocacy for criminal justice stands on the pillars of equality, love, redemption and unity.
Gus Marks-Hamilton has been a field organizer with the ACLU of Connecticut’s Smart Justice campaign since 2018. Gus is passionate about promoting the political and civic engagement of people who have been impacted by the criminal legal system through advocacy, lobbying and direct action at the state capitol and across Connecticut. A lifelong state resident and graduate of the University of Connecticut, Gus is also Licensed Master Social Worker and Recovery Support Specialist.
Anderson Curtis is a field organizer for the ACLU of Connecticut. In his role, Anderson is tasked with mobilizing and expanding the ACLU Smart Justice Connecticut campaign through strategic public engagement, identification, education, and recruitment of supports and volunteers to participate in ending mass incarceration in Connecticut. Anderson is a proud alumnus of Gateway Community College Drug and Alcohol Recovery Counselor (DARC) and was the DARC 2009 Student of the Year. He recently completed the Community Foundation of New Haven’s Neighborhood Leadership program. Anderson developed Life Support, which is a Pilot program funded by Community Foundation and an extension of his mentoring of men on parole, helping them navigate their reentry. After 12 years of seeking paths of healing and freedom, Anderson lives with hope and dignity, despite barriers to employment and housing from the collateral consequences of incarceration, by being a voice for the unheard and uninvited.
Watch on YouTube:
Listen on SoundCloud:
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Please tell your friends, colleagues and clients:
The Criminal Justice Insider Podcast with Babz Rawls Ivy and Jeff Grant is broadcast live at 9 am ET on the first and third Friday of each month from the WNHH 103.5 FM studios in New Haven. It is rebroadcast on WNHH at 5 pm ET the same day.
Jeff Grant
