by Howard
Zehr
Publisher: Good
Books; Original ed. edition (December 31, 1996)
Softcover, 124
pages
“The men and women
in this book are serving life sentences in Pennsylvania prisons. All have been
convicted of homicide. Many have already served long sentences in prison. Most
will die there. Pennsylvania is one of only a handful of states that mandates life
imprisonment without possibility of parole for anyone convicted of first or
second degree murder. For a lifer, the only possibility of release is
commutation by the governor, an exceedingly rare event. Life sentences in
Pennsylvania are real life sentences.”
In
this book, fifty eight lifers from the Pennsylvania correctional system give
their perspective on living at the government’s pleasure for the rest of their natural
existences. A page sized photo of the inmate is provided, along with a quote
from them, or a short essay. Their words deal little with the day-to-day
reality of living in a prison system, but more on their philosophy of life now.
A
lot of it is repetitious. Many have “found God”. All talk about the struggle to
keep going and not fall into a black hole of despair. The sincerity of each is
nearly impossible to ascertain. Where they putting on a front in hopes of
bettering their chances for commutation? Maybe. Some seemed very self-involved,
which may be a by-product of the prison environment. The stories I found most
believable are the ones which discussed why they were in prison in the first
place. Others were just sob stories.
The
photographs are somewhat candid. Prisoners are not in prison fatigues nor are
they shown in prison facilities. They are deliberately placed in street clothes
in order to humanize them as, the author states, many people cannot see beyond
the prison fatigues. And it works. If you randomly flip through the book, you
would not automatically think you were gazing at a collection of killers.
For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst.
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